Re: [microsound] AI & rhythm perception - 'groove' heuristics?

[michael trommer <trommer@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is one of the most anti-groovy things I've ever read.


On 11/20/06 6:31 PM, "Damian Stewart" <damian@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> Does anyone know of any research into rhythm perception which talks about
> possible heuristics for determining whether a 1/2/4-bar rhythmic pattern in
> 4/4 has a 'good' 'groove' or not?
> 
> I know from my own composition efforts with looping rhythmic material (read
> 'electronic dance music') that, during the construction of a 'groove' in
> 4/4 time, adding particular sounds to particular places in a pattern can
> make it 'groovier', while adding the same sounds to other places in the
> pattern can make it distinctly less 'groovy'. By the same token, removing a
> particular sound that is 'getting in the way of the groove' can vastly
> increase the 'grooviness' of the pattern. (Sorry about the scare quotes, I
> don't know any other language that would convey what I mean effectively.)
> 
> Having done this for about four years now I've reached a point of skill
> where I can do this mostly intuitively; ie, I can listen to a 'groove' and
> tell in my mind (or by beatboxing with my mouth) what sounds to add, and
> where to add them, to make it 'groovier'. The development of this intuitive
> skill has led me to believe that my brain is somehow hooking into the maths
> of the pattern, that said additions work to enhance certain mathematical
> properties of the pattern. I'm fairly certain that a lot of the 'organic'
> 'funkiness' of a good funk band is paradoxically due to the performers
> being metronomically precise with their rhythms and accents, and I believe
> this mathematical basis could be extended further.
> 
> So I'm looking for some research into the heuristics of 'groove', or even
> just analysis along these lines. I'm well aware that such heuristics may
> not even exist, but I'd like to believe otherwise :-)



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