---
key: mechanic/voice-audio--family-08
type: mechanic
id: voice-audio--family-08
lang: en
title: 'Duration, tempo and pauses'
summary: >-
  Rules consider sound onset, duration and gaps. Performance must match the
  required timing pattern.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-08/'
jsonUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-08.json
markdownUrl: >-
  https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/voice-audio--family-08.md
aliases: []
tags:
  - Voice and sound
  - Voice as physical action
sourceIds:
  - source-ab07b52c1329e133
  - source-d5b7ed9f3ea34a9b
sources:
  - id: source-ab07b52c1329e133
    title: One Hand Clapping
    url: 'https://baddreamgames.com/one-hand-clapping/'
    verifiedAt: null
  - id: source-d5b7ed9f3ea34a9b
    title: One Hand Clapping - OHC
    url: 'https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-hand-clapping-ohc/id1524426643?uo=4'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: voice-audio
    id: family-08
    title: Voice and sound
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/voice-audio/#family-08'
    categoryIds:
      - voice
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: 'Duration, tempo and pauses'
    description: >-
      Rules consider sound onset, duration and gaps. Performance must match the
      required timing pattern.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/sensor-one-hand-clapping-1.webp
      width: 1280
      height: 720
      game: One Hand Clapping - OHC
      sourceUrl: 'https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-hand-clapping-ohc/id1524426643?uo=4'
      originalUrl: >-
        https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple126/v4/f1/c4/ab/f1c4abe8-d24a-e0d7-173d-b2285473fa1a/60ee6b32-9e9f-4eca-ac38-820ffcaaa605_OneHandClapping_Screenshot_02_2208x1242.jpg/1280x1440bb.jpg
      credit: THQ Nordic Mobile GmbH
      rights: >-
        © THQ Nordic Mobile GmbH. Developer-distributed App Store screenshot.
        All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: 'One Hand Clapping: vocal performance follows a target contour'
      alt: 'One Hand Clapping: vocal performance follows a target contour'
      markers:
        - x: 52
          'y': 30
          label: The glowing points define the performance contour
    tips:
      - Distinguish timing errors from pitch errors.
    examples:
      - title: One Hand Clapping - OHC
        url: 'https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-hand-clapping-ohc/id1524426643?uo=4'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked
  sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/voice-audio
---
# Duration, tempo and pauses

id: voice-audio--family-08
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/voice-audio--family-08
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/voice-audio--family-08/

Rules consider sound onset, duration and gaps. Performance must match the required timing pattern.

## At a glance

![One Hand Clapping: vocal performance follows a target contour](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/sensor-one-hand-clapping-1.webp)

[One Hand Clapping - OHC](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-hand-clapping-ohc/id1524426643?uo=4) · © THQ Nordic Mobile GmbH. Developer-distributed App Store screenshot. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. The glowing points define the performance contour

- Distinguish timing errors from pitch errors.

- [One Hand Clapping - OHC](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-hand-clapping-ohc/id1524426643?uo=4)

## How it works

Control sound onset, duration and the gaps between sounds.

## Variants

### Duration

<a id="family-08-branch-1"></a>

- Sustain sound to charge or maintain an effect. <a id="family-08-branch-1-variant-1"></a>
- Distinguish short and long impulses. <a id="family-08-branch-1-variant-2"></a>
- Stop a sound at a precise moment. <a id="family-08-branch-1-variant-3"></a>
- Accumulate a total duration across several sounds. <a id="family-08-branch-1-variant-4"></a>

### Rhythmic patterns

<a id="family-08-branch-2"></a>

- Repeat a sequence of sounds and pauses. <a id="family-08-branch-2-variant-1"></a>
- Speak syllables or produce impulses in a target rhythm. <a id="family-08-branch-2-variant-2"></a>
- Speed up or slow down under a condition. <a id="family-08-branch-2-variant-3"></a>
- Perform syncopation, polyrhythm or alternating strong and weak beats. <a id="family-08-branch-2-variant-4"></a>

### Speech timing

<a id="family-08-branch-3"></a>

- Fit a phrase within a time window. <a id="family-08-branch-3-variant-1"></a>
- Choose the right moment to speak a command. <a id="family-08-branch-3-variant-2"></a>
- Wait for another line or sound cue to finish. <a id="family-08-branch-3-variant-3"></a>
- Include a pause of a required length in a combination. <a id="family-08-branch-3-variant-4"></a>

## Context and limits

A working design-space map: 27 families, 81 branches and 324 variants. Voice control, audio-based play and communication can combine or exist separately. Released-game examples support particular techniques; supplementary combinations are design proposals.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Original taxonomy adapted from user-selected design discussions; linked sources support specific examples, not the whole classification.

- [One Hand Clapping](https://baddreamgames.com/one-hand-clapping/) (id: source-ab07b52c1329e133)
- [One Hand Clapping - OHC](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-hand-clapping-ohc/id1524426643?uo=4) (id: source-d5b7ed9f3ea34a9b)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors