Acoustics & Music Theory
why it sounds like that
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Time is a circle

Rhythm drawn as a line looks arbitrary. Drawn as a cycle, the patterns that recur across continents turn out to be the same few shapes.
12345678x..x..x.3 onsets in 8 stepsthe polygon is what stays the same when the rhythm is rotated Rhythm and metre

Rhythm is a circle, and the bar line is a choice

Draw a rhythm as a line and it looks like a sequence of decisions. Draw it as a cycle and the same pattern turns out to be shared across continents, differing only in where somebody decided to start counting.

 E(2,4)the simplest divisionE(3,8)tresillo — Cuba, and half the world's pop musicE(5,8)cinquilloE(4,9)Turkish aksakE(5,12)West African bell patternE(7,16)Brazilian necklaceone cell per step · filled cells are struck Rhythm and metre

As evenly as possible, which turns out to be a famous rhythm

Ask an algorithm to space five strikes over eight beats as evenly as it can. It produces the cinquillo. Ask for three over eight and it produces the tresillo. Nobody told it about Cuba.

 32they coincide every 6 subdivisionscommon grid: 6 equal steps Rhythm and metre

Two clocks at once, and where they agree

Three against two repeats every six subdivisions and feels like a figure. Seven against five repeats every thirty-five and feels like weather. The difference is one number.

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