MTU Library Catalogue

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The geometry of musical rhythm : what makes a good rhythm good? / Godfried T. Toussaint ; illustrative drawings by Yang Liu.

By: Toussaint, Godfried T, 1944- [author.].
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookCopyright date: ©2013Description: xvii, 347 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm.Content type: text Media type: unmediated Carrier type: volumeISBN: 9781466512023 (paperback); 1466512024 (paperback).Subject(s): Musical meter and rhythm | Music theory | RhythmDDC classification: 781.224
Contents:
What is rhythm? -- A steady beat -- Timelines, ostinatos, and meter -- The wooden claves -- The iron bells -- The clave son -- Six distinguished rhythm timelines -- The distance geometry of rhythm -- Classification of rhythms -- Binary and ternary rhythms -- The isomorphism of rhythm and scale -- Binarization, ternarization, and quantization of rhythms -- Syncopated rhythms -- Necklaces and bracelets -- Rhythmic oddity -- Off-Beat rhythms -- Rhythm complexity -- Dispersion problems and maximally even rhythms -- Eucidean rhythms -- Leap years: the rhythm of the stars -- Approximately even rhythms -- Rhythms and crystallography -- Complementary rhythms -- Radio astronomy and flat rhythms -- Deep rhythms -- Shelling rhythms -- Phantom rhythms -- Reflection rhythms and rhythmic canons -- Toggle rhythms -- Symmetric rhythms -- Odd rhythms -- Other representations of rhythm -- Rhythmic similarity and dissimilarity -- Regular and irregular rhythms -- Evolution and phylogenesis of musical rhythm -- Rhythmic combinatorics -- What makes the clave son such a good rhythm? -- The origin, evolution, and migration of the clave son.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Barcode
General lending MTU Bishopstown Library Lending 781.224 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 00161245
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Geometry of Musical Rhythm: What Makes a "Good" Rhythm Good?is the first book to provide a systematic and accessible computational geometric analysis of the musical rhythms of the world. It explains how the study of the mathematical properties of musical rhythm generates common mathematical problems that arise in a variety of seemingly disparate fields. For the music community, the book also introduces the distance approach to phylogenetic analysisand illustrates its application to the study of musical rhythm. Accessible to both academics and musicians, the text requires a minimal set of prerequisites.

Emphasizing a visual geometric treatment of musical rhythm and its underlying structures, the author--an eminent computer scientist and music theory researcher--presents new symbolic geometric approaches and often compares them to existing methods. He shows how distance geometry and phylogenetic analysis can be used in comparative musicology, ethnomusicology, and evolutionary musicology research. The book also strengthens the bridge between these disciplines and mathematical music theory. Many concepts are illustrated with examples using a group of six distinguished rhythms that feature prominently in world music, can be used in comparative musicology, ethnomusicology, and evolutionary musicology research. The book also strengthens the bridge between these disciplines and mathematical music theory. Many concepts are illustrated with examples using a group of six distinguished rhythms that feature prominently in world music, including the clave son.

Exploring the mathematical properties of good rhythms, this book offers an original computational geometric approach for analyzing musical rhythm and its underlying structures. With numerous figures to complement the explanations, it is suitable for a wide audience, from musicians, composers, and electronic music programmers to music theorists and psychologists to computer scientists and mathematicians. It can also be used in an undergraduate course on music technology, music and computers, or music and mathematics.

A Chapman & Hall book.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-336) and index.

What is rhythm? -- A steady beat -- Timelines, ostinatos, and meter -- The wooden claves -- The iron bells -- The clave son -- Six distinguished rhythm timelines -- The distance geometry of rhythm -- Classification of rhythms -- Binary and ternary rhythms -- The isomorphism of rhythm and scale -- Binarization, ternarization, and quantization of rhythms -- Syncopated rhythms -- Necklaces and bracelets -- Rhythmic oddity -- Off-Beat rhythms -- Rhythm complexity -- Dispersion problems and maximally even rhythms -- Eucidean rhythms -- Leap years: the rhythm of the stars -- Approximately even rhythms -- Rhythms and crystallography -- Complementary rhythms -- Radio astronomy and flat rhythms -- Deep rhythms -- Shelling rhythms -- Phantom rhythms -- Reflection rhythms and rhythmic canons -- Toggle rhythms -- Symmetric rhythms -- Odd rhythms -- Other representations of rhythm -- Rhythmic similarity and dissimilarity -- Regular and irregular rhythms -- Evolution and phylogenesis of musical rhythm -- Rhythmic combinatorics -- What makes the clave son such a good rhythm? -- The origin, evolution, and migration of the clave son.

CIT Module MATH 6050 - Supplementary reading

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Prolegomenon (p. xi)
  • Author (p. xvii)
  • Chapter 1 What is Rhythm? (p. 1)
  • Chapter 2 A Steady Beat (p. 9)
  • Chapter 3 Timelines, Ostinatos, and Meter (p. 13)
  • Chapter 4 The Wooden Claves (p. 17)
  • Chapter 5 The Iron Bells (p. 19)
  • Chapter 6 The Clave Son (p. 23)
  • Chapter 7 Six Distinguished Rhythm Timelines (p. 27)
  • Chapter 8 The Distance Geometry of Rhythm (p. 33)
  • Chapter 9 Classification of Rhythms (p. 39)
  • Chapter 10 Binary and Ternary Rhythms (p. 45)
  • Chapter 11 The Isomorphism of Rhythm and Scale (p. 51)
  • Chapter 12 Binarization, Ternarization, and Quantization of Rhythms (p. 57)
  • Chapter 13 Syncopated Rhythms (p. 67)
  • Keith's Measure of Syncopation (p. 70)
  • Chapter 14 Necklaces and Bracelets (p. 73)
  • Chapter 15 Rhythmic Oddity (p. 85)
  • Chapter 16 Off-Beat Rhythms (p. 99)
  • Chapter 17 Rhythm Complexity (p. 107)
  • Objective, Cognitive, and Performance Complexities (p. 109)
  • Lempel-Ziv Complexity (p. 117)
  • Cognitive Complexity of Rhythms (p. 119)
  • Irregularity and the Normalized Pairwise Variability Index (p. 120)
  • Chapter 18 Dispersion Problems and Maximally Even Rhythms (p. 121)
  • Chapter 19 Euclidean Rhythms (p. 129)
  • Chapter 20 Leap Years: The Rhythm of the Stars (p. 137)
  • Chapter 21 Approximately Even Rhythms (p. 143)
  • Chapter 22 Rhythms and Crystallography (p. 151)
  • Chapter 23 Complementary Rhythms (p. 157)
  • Chapter 24 Radio Astronomy and Flat Rhythms (p. 165)
  • Chapter 25 Deep Rhythms (p. 175)
  • Chapter 26 Shelling Rhythms (p. 187)
  • Chapter 27 Phantom Rhythms (p. 195)
  • Chapter 28 Reflection Rhythms and Rhythmic Canons (p. 207)
  • Chapter 29 Toggle Rhythms (p. 217)
  • Chapter 30 Symmetric Rhythms (p. 225)
  • Hourglass Drums and Hourglass Rhythms (p. 233)
  • Chapter 31 Odd Rhythms (p. 237)
  • Chapter 32 Other Representations of Rhythm (p. 243)
  • Spectral Notation (p. 244)
  • Tedas and Chronotonic Notation (p. 245)
  • Chapter 33 Rhythmic Similarity and Dissimilarity (p. 247)
  • Chapter 34 Regular and Irregular Rhythms (p. 257)
  • Chapter 35 Evolution and Phylogenesis of Musical Rhythm (p. 265)
  • Guajira (p. 271)
  • Chapter 36 Rhythmic Combinatorics (p. 275)
  • Chapter 37 What Makes the Clave Son Such a Good Rhythm? (p. 279)
  • Maximal Evenness (p. 279)
  • Rhythmic Oddity (p. 280)
  • Off-Beatness (p. 282)
  • Weighted Off-Beatness (p. 283)
  • Metrical Complexity (p. 283)
  • Main-Beat Onsets and Closure (p. 283)
  • Distinct Durations (p. 284)
  • Distinct Adjacent Durations (p. 284)
  • Onset-Complexity and Distinct Distances (p. 284)
  • Deep Rhythms, Deepness, and Shallowness (p. 285)
  • Tallness (p. 286)
  • Phylogenetic Tree Centrality (p. 286)
  • Mirror Symmetry (p. 287)
  • Shadow Contour Isomorphism (p. 288)
  • Chapter 38 The Origin, Evolution, and Migration of the Clave Son (p. 293)
  • Epilogue (p. 305)
  • References (p. 311)
  • Index (p. 337)