Authors: Poudrier, Ève
Publication details: 2nd International Conference Música Analítica, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Music Time, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, 12-14 October 2023, p. 48.
Weblink: https://www.uc.pt/site/assets/files/1190234/ma_abstracts_1.pdf
Abstract: This paper proposes a definition of polyrhythm that affords classification of a wider variety of polyphonic textures along a set of characteristics derived from”composite rhythms,” i.e., the sequential presentation of event onsets reduced to a single strand. Examples of notated rhythmic polyphony from the Suter 1980 Corpus (https://polyrhythm.humdrum.org/) that have been encoded in kern for computational analysis using the composite tool (https://doc.verovio.humdrum.org/filter/composite/) are provided as case study. One of the advantages of this approach is that it allows for comparison across different types of ensembles, regardless of the number of instrumental parts. By dividing the polyphonic texture into contrasting rhythmic strands, aspects of metric orientation, rhythmic patterning, event density, coincidence, and salience can be assessed. It is argued that measures derived from composite rhythms not only afford more fine-grain characterization of rhythmic structures, but also provide an opportunity to address issues of perceived complexity using realistic musical stimuli.
Source: https://www.uc.pt/site/assets/files/1190234/ma_abstracts_1.pdf