Rhythm and Meter

As the foundations upon which music is built, rhythm and meter will play an obvious and pivotal role in my program. Unfortunately, I have read very little on the topics, as Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy devoted only a single chapter to the subject in general. I need to delve deeper into the topic. To do so, I'll need some good sources.

Here are some books I'm looking at:

• The Rhythmic Structure of Music
  
• Hearing in Time: Psychological Aspects of Musical Meter
  

The first one looks extremely comprehensive and helpful.

Coordination Module

As I have continued to work on generative plugins and attempted to reverse-engineer familiar music, I have found something lacking in my Core Modules group. I need more than just a structure and progression module - I need a meter/rhythmic module. Such a module would generate information concerning where the strongest beats of each measure lie, how melody should interact with harmony, - with room for syncopation and counterpoint - and more for each segment of a composition.

Although such a module wouldn't make much difference in the case of a standard 4/4 beat where ,beats 1, 5, 9, and 13 are heavily accented, it would shine through when unusual rhythmic and metric patterns occured. Almost any metric pattern can sound good if used consistently and coherently. This new module would allow the drum plugin to make sure it hits the accented beats harder - and choose its base beat accordingly, as well as enable the melody to follow a predictable metric pattern.

In short, I need a coordination module.

Now the real question: what rules govern the metric and rhythmic patterns of compositions?

Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy

Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy
Chapter 5: Rhythm

• Meter vs. Phrasing
• Phrasing is a higher-level unit 0f perception than meter, and encompasses harmonic tension, contour, and dynamics
  
• Pulse lies at the core of meter
  
• Perception of meter is based on prime numbers
• Polyrhythms are made by playing more than one meter at a time
• Syncopation is created when beats are accentuated apart from the regular metrical pattern; often the offbeats are regular enough to anticipate
• Memory vs. Anticipation
• Memory recalls what has already happened, anticipation draws on memory to predict notes to come (usually only a beat or two in the future)
• Importance of tempo: if music moves too slowly, the relations are not close enough to be intelligible; if music moves too quickly, the brain cannot keep up with the relation modeling and has to move to shallower relations, missing the nuances of the piece
• Music needs some gradual changes in tempo; sounds unnatural without them
• Harmonic complexity vs. Metrical Complexity have an inverse relationship
• Most listeners and composers alike now opt for harmonic complexity since harmony information is parallel, while metric information is serial, thus more harmony information can be modeled in a shorter time
  
• "Memory is music's canvas"
  
• "In music, it is phrasing that reaches farthest across time to encompass the deepest relations"
• "Composers gain maximum effect by interweaving the tensions created by music's various aspects"
• "Tempo matters because the mechanics of music perception are exceedingly sensitive to the rate at which musical structures are presented to the brain"
• "Most tempo fluctuations are made intentionally. Music just doesn't sound right without them"
• "The more harmony wanders from its tonal center, the more it requires rhythmic buttressing"
  

These constitute the notes I took on my reading today.