Time, Rhythm, Metre, Lattice
Time, Rhythm, Metre, Lattice
Time, Rhythm, Metre, Lattice
CMPO 101 TUTORIALS START THIS WEEK (next week for Chris)
Course notes
Please scribble on these extensively!
Rhythm = ARTICULATION of TIME Music makes time audible, and its form and continuity
We tend to interpret rhythm INTEROCEPTIVELY sensible It creates an image of time measured by the
motion of forms that seem to give it substance, yet a
Conventional musical notation imposes a GRID (lattice) substance that consists entirely of sound, so it is
on time, and a HIERARCHY of strong / weak beats transitoriness itself
We can choose to REINFORCE, SUBVERT or even SUSANNE LANGER, Feeling & Form (1953)
REJECT this grid/hierarchy through the rhythms we
write
MUSIC IS A TIME-BASED ART (TBA)
Introduction to MIDI Sequencing in Sibelius and Logic +
so it is crucial that we think about how our music articulates TIME
first minor assignment + major assignment brief
sic
d/mu fy,
soun d quanti r
WHAT IS RHYTHM? n e
nt of
leme erceive
an
y o f oth
e
a tl
nden
WHAT IS RHYTHM? A DEFINITION th a t
an p
we c l indepe rs
o ete
contr param
and
As
sou ound,
nds or c
belo , that w ollectio
i.e. ng e n
som ing to perceiv of
ethin an
g th ev e as
at h ent
app
ens
!
WHAT IS RHYTHM? WHAT IS RHYTHM?
SPEECH & BODY SPEECH & BODY
We are (in)formed by human/biological rhythms Our emotional state typically relates to the SPEED and
REGULARITY of these rhythms
e.g. internal or bodily rhythms
When we listen to music, we tend to empathise
heartbeat, breath, walking, circadian cycles (sleep/wake)
interoceptively with the rhythmic and gestural material
e.g. speech/vocal rhythms
EXAMPLE
WHAT IS RHYTHM?
INTEROCEPTIVE EMPATHY p. 243 Course Notes
BREATH MEDITATION,
CONTEMPLATION, THE WHAT IS RHYTHM?
SUBLIME BODY AND ENERGY
? . . . b . . . # . .
;
# . n n ;
. . b b . n
. . b . b . b .
.
. b b . n n . b b . b b . b b . b b .
b b . b b . n . b . b . b . n . n . n . n .
b . b n . b b n .
n n .
57
& n n
. . . .
? . # . . .
b . .
b b . . # . .
b . b . b .
. .
b b . b b . b b . b b . . . . . . . n .
n . n . n . n . # n # n .n
PERCEPTION OF RHYTHM PERCEPTION OF RHYTHM
OTHER PARAMETERS OTHER PARAMETERS
EXAMPLE
Music for 18 Instruments by STEVE REICH
FAST repetitive rhythms, but harmony changes very SLOWLY
Our experience of time is subjective & depends on rate of We hear a kind of static activity frozen motion
change of musical information non-organic metaphor (modern transport/urban environment)
TREVOR WISHART
On Sonic Art (p. 88)
Polemical attack on Western scribe EXAMPLE whats wrong with this picture?
culture that venerates notation
[Time Signature dialog box from Sibelius music software]
Argues that time is a continuum, but
conventional Western notation A: Wheres the Free Time or unmetred button???
quantizes time onto a grid or lattice
Conventional musical notation and notation software forces and
normalizes a lattice conception of rhythm
This is so COMMONPLACE we
dont even notice it!
DIVISIVE RHYTHM = decreasing divisions of a long EXAMPLE Billie Jean by MICHAEL JACKSON
time-span into a symmetrical hierarchy of latticed
rhythmic durations
PIECE = INTRO [4 + 8] + A [12] + A [8] + B [8] + C [12] + A [12] +
PIECE divided into A [8] + B [8] + C [8] + C [12] + I [8] + C [4] + C [12] + OUTRO [2
repeated]
SECTIONS divided into
1 SECTION = 8 bars (4 x 2-bar segments) or 12 bars (6 x 2)
PHRASES divided into
1 BAR = 4 beats
BARS divided into
1 BEAT = 2 subdivisions [quavers]
BEATS divided into SUBDIVISIONS
NB: In 4/4 time, STRONG beats are on 1 & 3, WEAK beats on 2 & 4
Tends to result in simple, stable time signatures (e.g. 4/4) Bass tends to reinforce metre
ADDITIVE RHYTHM
EXAMPLE Volume Pig by GARETH FARR
bars & phrases are developed from varying multiples of a fundamental
p. 25 Course Notes unit (typically the semiquaver)
3+2+2+2
5
4
E
55
5
55555 55555 55555 E555 5! 5555
4 3 EXAMPLE Ratchenitsa by VARNA FOLK DANCE GROUP
$ $
G 3 E5555 3 5555 3 E5555 555 5555 E!E555 !55 5 5 5
5 5 5 55 5 E 55 E! 555 E5555 5555 5555 2+2+3
5 55 55 55 55 !! 55 55 5 5 5 5 5 55 55 55
5 5
5 55 55 55 55 55
5 5 5
= PULSE organised into a repeating pattern of accentuation (e.g. Working against, or subverting the metre, creates a musical
strong beats and weak beats) friction or tension
In Western music strongest beat is usually beat 1 (not the case in other Tension is important to generate musical interest
cultures, e.g. gamelan music)
Music without tension is boring!
However, music with constant tension is also problematic!
Irregular emphasis
We can distinguish between PULSE and METRE
Musically interesting because it plays with our perceptions, stops the
We can write music that is clearly pulsed but not clearly metrical music from becoming too predictable builds musical tension
OR we can write music that is metrical but not clearly pulsed
NOTE
Col legno bass slaps have equal emphasis NOTE
Irregularity of string tremolo accents causes difficulty in metrical Metrical reinforcement/stability at opening
perception
From b. 9, this is undermined by accentuated irregular offbeats & fast
What is the expressive effect of col legno (bow slapped against tempo
fingerboard)?
Sense of pulse is very clear, but metre is difficult to locate
What is the musical effect of the strong pulse reinforcement?
FOR EXAMPLE...
N 5 = 5 4 5 = 5 4 5 5
N 5 : 5 = 5 4 3 5: 5: 5 = 5 3 5: 5 5
5
N 4 4 5 4 4 5 4
SYNCOPATION EXAMPLES SYNCOPATION EXAMPLES
SYNCOPATION
AT
QUAVER LEVEL
SYNCOPATION AT SEMIQUAVER LEVEL
N 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4
N= 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5
N= 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5
N 5 = 5 4 5 = 5 4 5 5
N 5 = 4 = 4
N 5 :
5 5 5 5 5
5 = 5 4 3 5: 5: 5 = 5 3 5: 5 5
N 5 : 5 = 5 4 3 5: 5: 5 = 5 3 5: 5 5
LATTICED RHYTHM SYNCOPATION EXAMPLES
SYNCOPATION
ACCENTUATION SYNCOPATION
N 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4
N = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5 = 5
N 5555555555555555 5555555555555555
N 5 4 4 5 4 4 5 4
EXAMPLE Hoketus by LOUIS ANDRIESSEN
N 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
p. 32 Course Notes
LATTICED RHYTHM
SYNCOPATION TODAYS MAIN POINTS
Calm is broken at LETTER G Next week we will see how we can use advanced rhythmic
techniques to create more fluid and interesting rhythms
Funk-based rhythms (complex semiquaver-level syncopation)
FIRST MINOR ASSIGNMENT FIRST MINOR ASSIGNMENT
LESSON: The way that rhythmic tension varies over the Music must be quantized to a semiquaver grid
piece, through metrical reinforcement or subversion, That does not mean the music is a series of semiquavers!
creates form/shape
You should vary these factors to create a form/shape:
Metrical reinforcement = stability/cadence
Metrical reinforcement/stability
Metrical subversion = instability/forward motion
Metrical subversion/instability
LESSON: Rhythmic density (the number of notes in a
beat) contributes to the overall energy (along with Rhythmic density
dynamics) The piece must be sequenced and presented on an audio
CD, not notated
YOUR ASSIGNMENT: Write a piece for 5 drums that
displays these lessons in practice Use Logic Express or Sibelius (or your own sequencer)
MAJOR ASSIGNMENT
Due at the end of term, but talk to your tutors about your
initial ideas