electronic dance structure

8/3/2019 Electronic Dance Structure

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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MUSIC

MAPPING THE SOUNDSCAPE:

RHYTHM AND FORMAL

STRUCTURE IN ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC

By

ROBERT KELLER

A Thesis submitted to theSchool of Music

in partial fulfillment of therequirements for the degree of

Master of Music

Degree Awarded:

Spring Semester, 2004


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The members of the committee approve the thesis of Robert Kellers defended on

November 3rd

2003.

___________________________Jane Piper Clendinning

Professor Directing Thesis

____________________________

Evan JonesCommittee member

____________________________Matthew Shaftel

Committee member

____________________________

Michael B. BakanCommittee member

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee

members.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Examples.................................................................................................................V

Abstract............................................................................................................................VII

INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................1

1.THE SOUNDSCAPE.......................................................................................................2

The Entrance Line...................................................................................................2

The Venue...............................................................................................................3

Drum and Bass/Jungle............................................................................................3

Trip-Hop.................................................................................................................6

Intelligent................................................................................................................7

The Dance Floor......................................................................................................9

The DJ...................................................................................................................11

The Minds Eye......................................................................................................12

2. RHYTHM AND METER IN EDM...............................................................................14

Getting Started.......................................................................................................14

A Generative Approach.........................................................................................16

Grouping Structure................................................................................................18

Lerdahl and Jackendoff in the Case ofThe Deviant Tactus................................................................................................21

Grouping and Meter...............................................................................................24

Cyclic Thinking ....................................................................................................25


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Out of Phase Cycles in...........................................................................................26

In Phase Cycles in..................................................................................................28

Pulse Streams in.....................................................................................................30

3. MAPPING THE SCOUNDSCAPE...............................................................................35

Finding the Form in EDM.....................................................................................36

An Intelligent Approach........................................................................................37

Continuous Variations...........................................................................................37

Plaids Lament.......................................................................................................49

Goldies Monothematic Sonata.............................................................................58

4. CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................64

Closing Time.........................................................................................................64

Complexity Through Technology..........................................................................64

Linking Technology and Repetition......................................................................65

Music Changing Through Repetition....................................................................66

EDM as a Logical Outgrowth of Minimal Music.................................................67

Continuity and Discontinuity................................................................................68

Technology vs. Humans........................................................................................69

EDM as a Compromise.........................................................................................70

Tomorrow..............................................................................................................72

BIBLIOGRPAPHY...........................................................................................................74

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.............................................................................................76


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LIST OF EXAMPLES

1.1 Ram Trilogys Mindscan [Ed Rush and Optical remix]

remixed by Diesel Boy (approximately three minutes in).......................................5

1.2 Ram Trilogys Mindscan [Ed Rush and Optical remix]remixed by Diesel Boy (approximately three minutes in).....................................10

2.1 Lerdahl and Jackendoffs illustration of a stereotypicalgrouping structure..................................................................................................19

2.2 Kaos, Karl K., and SirensRush (remixed by DJ Dara)with grouping brackets...........................................................................................20

2.3 DJ Shadows Meets His Maker(at approximately 0:45)...................................27

2.4 J. Majiks Solarize (remixed by Diesel Boy).........................................................29

2.5 Pulse streams in DJ Shadows Meets His Maker

(at approximately 0:45)..........................................................................................32

2.6 Pulse streams in J. Majiks Solarize...................................................................... 33

3.1 Greens illustration of Stravinskys ostinato inSymphony of Psalms, Third Movement.................................................................38

3.2 Opening sixteen measures of Squarepushers

Journey to Reedham...............................................................................................40

3.3a Greens graphing of BachsPassacaglia...............................................................41

3.3b Graphing of SquarepushersJourney to Reedham.................................................41

3.4 SquarepushersJourney to Reedham, Variations 1-3............................................43

3.5 SquarepushersJourney to Reedham, Melody......................................................45

3.6 SquarepushersJourney to Reedham, Melody A and............................................47


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3.7 PlaidsNew Home,opening twenty-five measures...............................................50

3.8 PlaidsNew Home, Bass 1.....................................................................................51

3.9 PlaidsNew Home, Bass 1 and Melody 1..............................................................52

3.10 PlaidsNew Home, Melody 2................................................................................53


3.12a PlaidsNew Home, Bass 2.....................................................................................54

3.12b PlaidsNew Home, Melody 4................................................................................54

3.12c PlaidsNew Home, Bass 1 and Melody 4..............................................................54

3.12d PlaidsNew Home, Melody 1 and Melody 4.........................................................55




3.16 Graphing of PlaidsNew Home.............................................................................57

3.17a GoldiesIll Be There For You, Melody,Interpretation 1.......................................................................................................58

3.17b GoldiesIll Be There For You, Melody,

Interpretation 2.......................................................................................................59

3.18 GoldiesIll Be There For You, Melody at the fifth..............................................60

3.19 Graphing of GoldiesIll Be There For You..........................................................61


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ABSTRACT

Electronic Dance Music (EDM), a musical genre left relatively unexplored in

music theory offers music theorists numerous exciting opportunities for analytical

inquiry. This paper focuses on the rhythms and formal structures encountered in three

distinct sub-genres of EDM: Drum and Bass/Jungle, Trip-Hop, and Intelligent. Works by

Diesel Boy, DJ Dara, DJ Shadow, Goldie, Plaid, and Squarepusher are consideredthroughout.

Rhythms are analyzed using Fred Lerdahl and Ray Jackendoffs writings on

listener intuition, grouping structure, meter, and tactus, Gretchen Horlachers writings on

cycles and hierarchical structures, and John Roeders writings on pulse streams. Also

considered are ideas put forth in the writings of Harald Krebs and more recently, Mark

Butler. The paper combines all of the above approaches in an attempt to analyze not only

the metrically consonant structures that pervade most of EDM, but also the metrically

dissonant structures such as those created through the use of displacement dissonance and

the layering of out of phase strata.

The rhythmic structures of EDM expand outward to create large-scale form.

Traditional forms such as Passacaglia and even Sonata form are sometimes evoked in this

music. While the intentions of the composers on producing these forms is doubtful,

analyzing the works as such gives us a unique perspective on what is happening in the

music. Tracing the form produced throughout entire tracks of EDM shows us how these

forms are still being adapted today.


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INTRODUCTION

Music theorists in the past ten years have shown a rising interest in popular music.

With numerous societies and forums dedicated solely to this topic and increasing

numbers of papers presented on the topic, it seems that any musical genre of today is fair

game for analytical survey. Yet, there are still many that remain unaware of the genre of

Electronic Dance Music (EDM), which remains relatively unexplored despite its rich

potential for analytical study.

EDM is encountered almost everywhere. Be it on the radio, in television ads, or in

the background of the big chase scene in a movie, it surrounds us whether or not we evenrealize it. While these previous instances are often commercialized for public appeal,

EDM is most commonly encountered at arduously planned events called raves. These

events bring EDM enthusiasts together by the hundreds and sometimes even thousands.

As a fan of EDM, I have long since been intrigued by the ability of the music to

engage masses of people for hours (and even days) on end. The music itself seems to

create an energy that most fans of EDM agree can actually be felt. What is it about this

music that creates such an energy? Why is it so engaging? Questions like these are what

initially attracted me to the analytical study of this genre.

As EDM is rarely centered on melody and/or harmony like many other musical

genres, rhythm served as the starting point for my survey. In this thesis, I will be using

several existing theories of musical rhythm in conjunction with one another in an attempt

to describe the rhythms and forms of this music. A detailed analysis of rhythmic structure

demonstrates that rhythm can work on higher levels to help give form to a composition.

As will be demonstrated, composers of EDM often appear to emulate traditional forms

such as continuous variation and even sonata form.


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CHAPTER 1

THE SOUNDSCAPE

Repetition is of primary importance in the analysis of the rhythms and forms

encountered in electronic dance music. Repetition of motivic ideas, whether in ostinato

figures, motor rhythms, or other compositional techniques found across the many musical

genres of our past and present, is by no means a new concept. Today however, in an age

where it seems fewer performers and listeners prefer the execution of marked repeats, it

seems repetition is sometimes frowned upon. Electronic dance music, among the genres

based on incessant repetition, is thus often viewed as being dull and uninspired. Listeners

unfamiliar with the genre are often quick to mistake this dependence on repetition for

lack of complexity. Much of electronic dance music, however, is saturated with

complexities if one knows how to listen for them.1

The Entrance Line

In an attempt to acquaint those unfamiliar with the genre of EDM and the rave

scene, this survey begins with a quick account of what one would expect to find at an

EDM event. As such, we begin in the middle of a large conglomeration of very curiously

dressed individuals:2

the entrance line to the biggest hypothetical rave of the year.

While the entrance line to some raves may reach mammoth proportions,

something tells the dancers even at the end that it will be worth the wait. Though only at

entrance line, whether the event is inside, outside, or both, it is common to hear the

blasting music from the event. This, just a taste of what is to come after the wait in line

makes many of the rave-goers around us jittery with anticipation. Even though these

dancers have not yet gained entry into the event (and may not if the crowd is too large),

they are filled with a certain energy that pulsates throughout their bodies.

1 This same impression of simplicity based on the repetition of rhythmic patterns also occurs in Balinese

and Afican music. One must be actively engaged, as we shall see, to fully appreciate the music.2 Ravers are notorious for wearing more colors than even the most avid crayon collector is aware of. The

brighter the color, the more reflective the material, or the more outrageous the outfit in general, the better.


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When listening to electronic dance music, the listener may become aware of a

fascinating paradox. Though the music is based on the repetition of only a few patterns, it

can still be very engaging of ones perceptions. In other words, the music seems to be

constantly moving forward while actually standing still.3 Though some listeners may

become uninterested by the stagnant use of the repetitions of these few patterns, other

more attentive listeners may take notice of the several interesting metrical phenomena

that occur within the organization of the patterns and their repetitions.

The Venue

After braving the entrance line and entering the rave, we feel as if we have just

crossed over into a different world. We are bombarded with intensely loud music, bright

flashing lights, psychedelic projection screens, lasers, and smoke machines. For the time

we are in the rave, it is difficult to conceive of the world outside of it.

Whether in a legitimate dance club, an abandoned warehouse or supermarket, on

the beach, or wherever, the venue that a rave takes place in or on can often add or detract

from the overall experience. Many raves are held in venues that consist of multiple

rooms, each with a different type of dance music. Because of this, dancers can move

around the venue freely in search of the room that most closely matches their musical

tastes. The rave to which we have just been admitted has three rooms playing three

distinct sub-genres of EDM. They are: Drum and Bass, Trip-Hop, and Intelligent. The

following sections introduce the basics of each of these sub-genres.

Drum and Bass/Jungle

Drum and Bass started in the early 1990s and was originally called Jungle.4

Prendergast writes: If 1960s rock led to treble-heavy, guitar-focused music, 1980s

Though it should be noted that not all ravers take part in this tradition, those that do make it a mesmerizing

sight for all.3

Paradoxes such as this have intrigued theorists studying genres of other music. Noteworthy is GretchenHorlacher whose writings on cycles will be discussed later.4

The terms Jungle and Drum and Bass are more or less interchangeable. There are some that try to

distinguish between the two, and others that say the term Drum and Bass replaced Jungle, and yet othersthat say they are the same thing. It is not my intent to attempt to describe such a distinction. The reader is

advised that these two terms are taken as synonymous in this thesis.


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House was all about beat and rhythm. Nineteen-nineties Jungle stripped the dressings

back until the popular term Drum and Bass became the moniker for a music entirely

made up of electronically morphed drum and bass sounds.5

While this quotation does describe the general sound of the sub-genre, it is not

entirely accurate. Originally, Jungle was made from combining two or more breakbeats

on turntables. Reynolds defines a breakbeat as the percussion-only section of a funk or

disco track, the peak moment at which dancers cut loose and do their most impressive

steps.6

Early Jungle music was made from speeding up the breakbeat sections of popular

funk and soul artists like James Brown and the Winstons. Gradually it became more

technologically advanced and electronically oriented.

The process of combining breakbeats, or breaks as they are commonly called,

often creates a dense polyphony. As Example 1.1 illustrates, composers of EDM combine

several independent layers of sound to create a rhythmic web. In this music, as with much

of Baroque polyphony, none of these layers can truly be said to be of more import than

the others. Rather, layers work with and against each other while retaining their

individuality and equality. Differing from Baroque polyphony of course is EDMs

abandonment of the traditional use of harmony, melody, and tonality, which is replaced

here by rhythm.

While this music is composed and/or arranged to be danced to, it is interesting to

see exactly how difficult it actually was to dance to this music originally. Reynolds

writes: "While jungle, like most pop music, is in 4/4 time, it lacks the stomping ,

metronomic four-to-the-floor kick drum that runs through techno, house, and disco. Funk

rhythms [were deliberately simplified] to make it easier for the white dancers; the

'jungalistic hardcore' that emerged in 1992 reversed this process, and for many ravers it

was simply too funky to dance to."7 Reynolds later describes the morphing character of

this music as well as the often frantic dancers desperately attempting to keep up with it on

the dance floor:

5Prendergast 2000, p.448.

6 Reynolds 1998, p.252.7 ibid, p.253.


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Example 1.1: Ram Trilogys Mindscan [Ed Rush and Optical remix] remixed by Diesel

Boy (at approximately 3:00).

While this music is composed and/or arranged to be danced to, it is interesting to

see exactly how difficult it actually was to dance to this music originally. Reynolds

writes: "While jungle, like most pop music, is in 4/4 time, it lacks the stomping ,

metronomic four-to-the-floor kick drum that runs through techno, house, and disco. Funk

rhythms [were deliberately simplified] to make it easier for the white dancers; the

'jungalistic hardcore' that emerged in 1992 reversed this process, and for many ravers it

was simply too funky to dance to."8

Reynolds later describes the morphing character of

this music as well as the often frantic dancers desperately attempting to keep up with it on

the dance floor:

8 Reynolds 1998, p.253.


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Dance moves spread through the crowd like superfast viruses. I wasinstantly drawn entrained in a new kind of dancing tics and spasms,

twitches and jerks, the agitation of bodies broken down into separatecomponents, then reintegrated at the level of the dance floor as a whole.

Each subindividual part (a limb, a hand cocked like a pistol) was a cog in a

collective desiring machine, interlocking with the sound systems bassthrobs and sequencer riffs. Unity and self expression fused in a force fieldof pulsating, undulating euphoria.

9

Unlike sixties psychedelic rock, which was head music, junglesdisorientation is as much physical as mental. Triggering different muscular

reflexes, jungles multitiered polyrhythms are body-baffling anddiscombobulating unless you fixate on and follow one strand of the

groove. Lagging behind technology, the human body simply cant do fulljustice to the complex of rhythms. The ideal jungle dancer would be a

cross between a virtuoso drummer (someone able to keep separate timewith different limbs), a body-popping breakdancer, and a contortionist.10

Despite jungle's overt funkiness, it gradually gained the popularity it attains today.

Once the underground's best kept secret, drum 'n' bass has crept into mainstream

consciousness. A sub-genre that traditionally held second-class status in the rave music

scene, the style also known as jungle now seems ubiquitous.11

Some popular names in

this sub-genre include Diesel Boy, DJ Dara, and Goldie.

Trip-Hop

Trip-hop, another sub-genre of electronic dance music also got its start in the

early 1990s. Unlike Jungle, this music is more toned down and less demanding on the

listener. Prendergast describes the music as follows:

9Reynolds 1998, p.5.

10 ibid., p.254.11 Taken from www.djdieselboy.com


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Originating in Bristol, Trip-Hop was a slow, reflective blend of Rap/Hip-Hop, Dub Reggae, Rock, Slo-Mo Soul and film soundtrack. Its key was a

brittle production sound which openly brandished the scratched-recordsources of its samples. It relished the slow breakbeat, the strangely

oscillating loop and inhabited a twilight world of late-night stoned

reverie.

12

While Trip-Hop is a hybrid form of Hip-Hop, it is an entirely different world from

what American Hip-Hop is today. Reynolds makes this distinction as he writes:

[Trip-Hop] is a spacey, down-tempo form of hip-hop that's mostly abstract

and instrumental. It's a handy tag for a style that emerged in the earlynineties: hip-hop with the rap and the rage removed. While not exclusively

UK-based, trip-hop nonetheless remains totally out of step with currentAmerican rap, where rhyming skills and charismatic personalities rule.

13

DJ Shadow, Portishead, and the Sneaker Pimps are a few of the names associated

with this sub-genre of electronic dance music.

Intelligent

Around the mid-1990s, Jungle was starting to catch on with the public or at least

the parts of Jungle that were most were easily commercialized. This commercialization

lead to a movement away from public appeal. Reynolds writes:

All this infuriated the self-consciously experimental contingent of the

drum and bass community labels such as Moving Shadow, Reinforced,and Good Looking, artists such as Goldie, Omni Trio, Foul Play, 4 Hero,

and LTJ Bukem. Together, these artists had forged a sound I dubbedambient jungle because of the way it combined frenetic beats with a

soothing overlay of multitextured atmospherics. Within the scene, vaguerand ultimately more problematic modifiers for drum and bass deep and

intelligent emerged to designate the new style.14

12Prendergast 2000, p.438.

13 Reynolds 1998, p.319.14 ibid., p.335.


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He continues that:

Ambient jungle was partly the result of an emerging generation gap within

breakbeat. While younger producers still oriented their music towards DJs

and dancers, the older hardcore artists were now starting to make musicthat worked better at home than on the dance floor, as album tracks ratherthan material for the DJs relentless cut n mix. As the intelligent drum

and bass style took shape, its purveyors increasingly defined themselvesagainst the popularist fare that ruled the dance floor.

15

While Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) is often intended more for home listening

than dancing, it is still encountered at raves. However, the extreme difficulty and

sometimes utter impossibility of dancing to it give it many opponents. Detractors of thissub-genre offer descriptions like: The breakbeats are so sped up they sound like Woody

Woodpecker on PCP16

or perhaps more descriptive:

What the Squarepusher-like [intelligent] artists have responded to andexaggerated ad absurdum is only one aspect of jungle: the musics

complexity. Theyve ignored the feelings the music induces and thesubcultural struggles that the sound and the scene embody. As a result, no

matter how superficially startling the form-and-norm bending mischief

sounds, [intelligent]feelspale and purposeless compared with musiccreated by the jungle fundamentalists. So while I marvel at the art-technocrats efforts, I often feel curiously unmoved by them, physically or

emotionally. Fascinated but uninvolved...17

From these quotations, while bringing up some good points, Reynolds gives off

the impression that he strongly favors the jungle fundamentalists he writes of. The truth is

that Intelligent music is not intended to produce the same effect as Jungle. A parallel

comparison to the music above would be criticizing the music of Brahms because it does

not feel like Wagner. Intelligent music is the art music of EDM.

15Reynolds 1998, p.336.

16 ibid., p 360.17 Ibid., p 374.


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Perhaps a better description comes from Hughes when he writes: [The music]

got our attention with its merciless onslaught of hyperedited, hyperdetailed, and just plain

hyper audio. Percussive taps and skritches skitter across the soundfield drum n bass

style one moment, then swirl and coalesce into catatonic plains of static textures. Its a

bizarre and challenging experience, but one that rewards the listener by revealing more

detail with each spin.18

Some names of more popular producers in this genre include

Squarepusher, Aphex twin, and Plaid.

The Dance Floor

Even with all the lights and special effects of the venue, the dance floors are still

usually the center of attention. Here, dancers physically interact with the music. A careful

observer may gain some insight about the music just by watching the dancers. As we

enter the Drum and Bass room, we hear Diesel Boys remix of Ram Trilogys Mindscan

(Notated in Example 1.1) pumping through the sound system and are struck by the fact

that some dancers are dancing at faster rates than others.

The multiple, equal layers of recurring rhythmical patterns in EDM create

conflicting cues as certain patterns last longer than others before repeating. Example 1.1

demonstrates this as the pattern in the first layer, marked Mel. 1, lasts for sixteen beats,

the layers marked Mel. 2, Bass, and Toms 2, last eight beats, and the lower layer for the

percussion lasts four beats. The layer marked Toms 1 is an interesting case because it

technically lasts for eight beats before repeating due to the eighth notes notated on D4 of

that staff. However, with all of the other layers repeating simultaneously, most listeners

would never hear those notes. Thus, they would hear the repeating pattern as four beats.

As no layer is primary, the listeners can experiment with different interpretations

of what they are hearing. As listeners do this, what they perceive as the beat will

shift.19

To clarify, when someone dances to EDM (or any other music) they are marking

time. In order to do this, they typically have some reference in the music. As certain

18Hughes 2001, p.44.

19Butlers papers (2001 and 2003) analyze the rhythmic surfaces of EDM pieces with reference to the

shifting of beats. Also relavent is Jocelyn Neals writing (1999) on how the shifting of beats pretains to

country music.


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patterns in EDM are longer than others, dancers are forced to favor certain layers over

others.

As such, Example 1.1 is notated how a dancer favoring a faster pulse would interpret this

piece. Here, the dancer is drawn in by the speedy percussion part found in the lowest

system. As such, the dancer would most likely interpret that pattern as lasting four quarter

notes and hear the other patterns relative to that as the example shows.

However, if the same dancer were to base his/her interpretation on the bass part,

he/she would probably hear that as four quarters. This would result in the initial four

beat layer being felt as two quarters and the initial sixteen beat layer being felt as eight

quarters. The music would be notated as Example 1.2 and this dancer would now be

dancing half as fast.20

Example 1.2: Ram Trilogys Mindscan [Ed Rush and Optical remix] remixed by DieselBoy (at approximately 3:00).

20 This imposition of a subjective beat creates another parallel between the musical textures associated with

EDM and African music.


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Dancers are free to favor either of these interpretations as well as others. If

listeners were to base their interpretations on the system marked Mel 1., they would

probably hear the repeating pattern as four quarters. This would make the original four

beat layers from Example 1.1 felt as one quarter and the original eight beat layers as

two quarters.

While repeating patterns influence the dancers interpretations at larger levels,

these choices also occur on a smaller level as the listener is confronted with several rates

of motion at the same time. If, for example, hearing constant thirty-second-notes,

sixteenth-notes, eighth-notes, and quarter-notes at the same time, as the music is not in

notation, the listeners are free to interpret what they are hearing. This interpretation

would be based upon whatever rate they perceive as the primary rate of motion or tactus

at that particular time.21

The deliberate choices of listener intuition are evidenced at EDM events on the

dance floor by the dancers themselves. For some of the dancers, the night (or morning, as

it may be) is still young. These dancers are more likely to interpret the music as what I

have notated in Example 1.1. These dancers would be dancing twice as fast as those more

exhausted dancers who choose to interpret the music as in Example 1.2. Of course, with

music that is highly repetitive, there is nothing stopping either of these groups of dancers

from changing their perspective at any given moment to favor an even faster or slower

pulse. These physical interactions visually demonstrate the choices of perception made by

the dancers. Simply put, electronic dance music engages our perceptions of rhythmic

organization.

The DJ

Armed with two or more turntables and a barrage of records from genres both

within and outside the realms of EDM, the DJ (disc jockey) is the one responsible for

creating and maintaining the dancer energy levels. DJs commonly layer two or more

21 Peter Martens paper (2003) presents a similar discussion of discrepancies encountered between listeners

attempting to choose the proper tactus in pieces of traditional tonal music.


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records simultaneously to create a new combination known as a mix.22

Mixes can often

be quite complex as each record by itself may contain several rates of motion.

Of course, EDM is not the only genre where this technique can be encountered.

Thomas Clifton uses Beethovens Piano Sonata op. 111, mvt. II as his example and

writes:

At the beginning of the fifth variation [measures 131-134], it is not

difficult to perceive four rates of motion, which Apel names perfectprolation (thirty-second-note triplets), perfect tempus (sixteenth-note

triplets, perfect modus (the division of the measure by dotted eighthnotes), and imperfect maximodus (the duple phrasing of time itself). Now,

it will not do to say that, as a matter of fact, these levels are only multiplesand divisions of one common meter. As reductionism, this tends to lead

away from contemplating the complexity of the event, or rather, theevents, for what we perceive asphenomena are four distinct events:

multiplicities, not multiples; separations, not divisions; proportions, notmeter; and above all, a clarity achieved precisely by the complexity

inherent in these different spatial and temporal levels.23

Cliftons cautioning of overlooking the complexity in Beethovens work is a prime key to

remember when analyzing electronic dance music. Although EDM may seem

immediately simple, the layering of multiple rates of motion creates musical interest, but

only for those listeners mindful enough to notice.

The Minds Eye

In the words of Carl Schachter, meter is a problem.24

There has often been

disagreement among top scholars on basic elements of meter, such as how it is created

and how it is sustained. Other more complicated questions also arise including whether

22 Sure to create interest is that DJs at raves feed off of the crowds energy. How the crowd is responding to

the DJs mix may prompt him/her to emphasize faster or slower levels in their mix. Although dancers andlisteners are free to make many choices in how they interact with the music, often these choices are

influenced by the DJ who is deliberately attempting to move the dancers. While this is true, this paper sets

out to describe pre-recorded tracks of EDM.23 Clifton 1983, p. 127-28.24 Schachter 1987, p. 1.


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the notated meter of the piece is the actual meter and whether hypermeter is a worthwhile

analytical pursuit.

Meter in electronic dance music is definitely subject to these same questions and

more. Although EDM is composed for dance and can almost always be felt in a duple

meter, there is no truly correct meter because a definitive pulse cannot be gauged. Butler

writes that although almost all EDM can be transcribed in 4/4 (or, less commonly 2/4),

the ways in which the music is layered, in combination with its persistent repetition of

rhythmic patterns over long spans of time, encourages the listener to attend to the

periodicities of individual layers rather than focusing on how those layers deviate from a

single underlying structure.25

26

The listening experience of EDM is highly personal.

In this quotation, Butler is echoing Clifton. Just as Clifton warned against the

reductionism inherent in hearing the multiple rates of motion in the Beethoven piano

sonata as multiples and divisions of the same meter, Butler states that listeners of EDM

are encouraged to the hear the multifarious layers of motion and their stagnant

reiterations in terms of themselves individually as opposed to their aggregate interactions

in the forming of one meter.

This chapter has served to highlight several key elements to be discussed in detail

in the pages that follow. Repetition of smaller rhythmic patterns, larger grouping

structures such as cycles (to be discussed), and even repeated listenings of entire tracks

often change the ways we hear music. This reiterative function, especially in repetitive

music like EDM, can shape our entire experience of the music and even of time itself.

25Butler 2001, [paragraph 27].

26 Here, the rhythmic structure of EDM creates a striking parallel with the colotomic structure of Balinese

gong cycles.


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CHAPTER 2:

RHYTHM AND METER IN EDM

Getting Started

Mark Butler addresses metrical conflicts encountered in electronic dance music

using Harald Krebs models of metrical consonance and dissonance.27

28

These ideas

were developed from other concepts found in writings by Yeston29

as well as Lerdahl and

Jackendoff.30

It is interesting to see that these concepts, originally crafted to fit tonal

music, lend themselves fairly well to EDM and to the overall discussion of rhythm and

meter within this genre. Indeed much of EDM is metrically consonant, but examples of

metrical dissonance, particularly displacement dissonance as Butler shows, can also be

found at the beginnings of many EDM pieces.

Some problems arise when using Krebs model for displacement dissonance.

Krebs forces an analyst to differentiate metrical layers from anti-metrical layers. Due

to the equality of the repeating strata, this judgment cannot unerringly be made. The pulse

that one listener perceives as primary may not be the same for everyone else. If the

primary pulse is impossible to gauge when all layers emphasize other layers, how then is

it possible for this determination to be made in more complicated examples when layers

are out of phase? Indeed, as is often the case, several layers align and reinforce each

other, but if no one layer is meant to be primary, how then can any layer truly be said to

be anti-metrical?

As such, Butler takes his examples from the beginning of pieces where he says

that they are pre-metrical. He first shows the dissonance displacement between the first

layer and the second, and then between the second and first writing that the listener is

free to choose (actually encouraged to choose) which layer is metrical and which is anti-

metrical. It is in this sense that the listener is free to turn the beat around.

27Butler 2001.

28Krebs 1999, 1997 and 1987.

29 Yeston 1976.30 Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983.


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Though Butlers writings have served well to broaden our perceptions of certain

metrical issues encountered in EDM, I feel that his ideas can be extended further. There

is no doubt that displacement dissonances can be heard as Butler illustrates, but is this

what the dancers are really experiencing as they are out on the dance floor trying to find

the right pulse to dance to? After all, even in the vast majority of metrically consonant

EDM pieces, dancers are still dancing to different pulses within the mix. And finally,

what about the dissonances created by out of phase strata as they fade into and out of

phase?

Whether strata are in-phase, out of phase, consonant, or dissonant as the music

unfolds over time, conflicting listener intuitions are produced. This chapter takes a

processive approach to further understand rhythm and meter in EDM. Horlacher writes:

This kind of approach emphasizes the evolution of meter, and underscoresour active engagement with the flow of time: our involvement extends

beyond marking timepoints as strong and weak to include emergingqualitative characterizations of timespans Our concern is not directed

solely toward the maintenance of equal timespans, but rather on howevents shape those spans, both as we come upon the events and as we

subsequently reinterpret them31

... The point is that the act of counting isnot something that happens to us, but rather something in which we

actively engage, and where we are continuously making choices.32

Rather than declaring certain strata as more pertinent to a given meter than others,

it seems more reasonable to regard all strata as equal without regard to meter. Butler

would seem to agree as he writes:

electronic dance music encourages us to hear it in a variety of ways. Aswe have seen, this multiplicity functions on many different levels.

Individual patterns are often intrinsically ambiguous. Furthermore, theyfrequently remain so even when used in combination: when there is no

definitive metrical layer, the distinction between metrical and antimetricallayers may not be apparent. Even when all elements of meterare in place,

reinterpretations can turn the beat around, showing the listener that themetrical structure was not quite what it seemed to be. And finally, the

31 Horlacher 2001, [paragraph] 1.4.32 ibid., [paragraph] 2.10.


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persistent repetition of both asymmetrical and even patterns encouragesmultiple perspectives on rhythmic and metrical structure, thereby

undermining any sense that there is asingularstructure underlying themusic.33

As EDM is created to engage our perceptions, there is no one clear-cut way to

analyze it. Differing ideas, concepts, and viewpoints can be used in conjunction with one

another to generate a number of ways to better understand what is happening within the

music.

A Generative Approach

Lerdahl and Jackendoffs approaches to grouping and meter can be applied to

EDM. Their writings on music are based on studies in linguistics and psychology. Their

theories are also especially relevant to this topic because of their concern for listener

intuitions.

Listener intuitions, as they pertain to musical analysis, are taken into account in

this theory through the generation of a number of Well Formedness and Preference

Rules.34

Following these rules for analysis will help to predict the grouping and metrical

structure an experienced listener would prefer. One of the main complaints against this

theory is that it does not always produce a definitive analysis. The authors defend

themselves as they write:

The reason that the rules fail to produce a definitive analysis is that wehave not completely characterized what happens when two preference

rules come into conflict. Sometimes the outcome is a vague or ambiguousintuition; sometimes one rule overrides the other, resulting in an

unambiguous judgment anyway Our main concerns in this study areidentifying the factors relevant to establishing musical intuition and

learning how these factors interact to produce the richness of musicalperception. To present a complex set of computations involving numerical

values of rule applications would have burdened our exposition with toomuch detail not involving strictly musical or psychological issues.

35

33Butler 2001, [paragraph] 37.

34Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983, see p.37-38 for Grouping Well Formedness Rules; p.43-52 for Grouping

Preference Rules; p.69-72 for Metrical Well Formedness Rules; p.75-90 for Metrical Preference Rules.35 ibid., p. 54.


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The absence of a definitive analysis is an asset to analyzing electronic dance

music. Because of this, it is possible to view all resulting musical interpretations without

preference. Also, we can see how each interpretation is created and why each is unique.

While this theory allows us to be flexible in order to consider listener intuitions on

grouping structure, it is not the same with meter. Lerdahl and Jackendoff choose to take

a more traditional stance on meter that will later lead to problems in analyzing EDM.

Roeder states:

these interpretations of the formal function of rhythm conceive ofmeter as exclusive that is, only one meter may be present in any

timespan and hierarchizing that is, all timepoints are assigned strong orweak status within a regular grouping of beats. This conception is shared

by many theorists, notably by Lerdahl and Jackendoff in their Well-Formedness and Preference Rules, which reflect the metrically regular,

homophonic foregrounds of tonal music. But this concept of meter greatlysimplifies the fundamentally polyphonic character of this music.

36

Although Roeder was obviously not writing about electronic dance music in this

passage, it still holds true. EDM is and should be considered polyphonic, which would

suggest the inapplicability of Lerdahl and Jackendoffs ideas as their theory is based on

homophonic music. Also of interest is the fact that this quotation came from one of

Roeders writings on pulse stream analysis. Pulse stream analysis (as will be discussed

later) was a theory put forth by Roeder as a means to analyze a metrically irregular

musical surface. While EDM is most times far from metrically irregular, the music

contains conflicting cues that can obscure ones perception of meter. It is interesting to

see that while Lerdahl and Jackendoffs approach to musical analysis is not definite

concerning grouping structure and even the choice of a meter, it is when it comes to the

creation of meter.

There is nonetheless much to be gained from Lerdahl and Jackendoffs writings.

Much of EDM fits perfectly with their conceptions of grouping structure and the conflicts

that result from using this theory outside the genre of its original intent give us the clues

needed to find other theories that are better suited to describe such music.

36 Roeder 1994, p.232.


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Although it has already been made clear that Lerdahl and Jackendoffs approach

to meter --an exclusive one-- leaves something to be desired in polyphonic music such as

EDM, this approach does yield some engaging discoveries. No one can deny the parallel

between these theorists views on hierarchical grouping structure to EDMs layering of

patterns. Certainly no discussion of rhythm in this music would be complete without at

least some reference to Lerdahl and Jackendoffs ideas on grouping structure.

Grouping Structure

As defined by the authors: A hierarchical structure, in the sense used in this

theory, is an organization composed of discrete elements or regions related in such a way

that one element or region subsumes or contains other elements or regions. A subsumed

or contained element or region can be said to besubordinate to the element or region that

subsumes or contains it; the latter can be said to dominate, or besuperdominate to, the

former.37

Hierarchical structures such as the ones described above can be found in much of

tonal music as well as in almost any piece of electronic dance music. The entire basis of

this genre is to combine different layers of varying lengths together to form a new and

interesting whole. While the resulting structure may appear to be hierarchical in the sense

that certain regions subsume others, no one region can really be said to dominate another.

The main reason for this, of course, is the musics polyphonic character, which presents a

problem. As Lerdahl and Jackendoff openly admit: At the present stage of development

of the theory, we are treating all music as essentially homophonic; that is, we assume that

a single grouping analysis suffices for all voices of the piece. For the more contrapuntal

varieties of tonal music, where this condition does not obtain, our theory is inadequate.

We consider an extension of the theory to account for polyphonic music to be of great

importance.38

They later describe music where absolutely no conflicts would be encountered to

their Well Formedness and Preference Rules: Such an example would have strongly

marked group boundaries; the major group boundaries would be more strongly marked

37 Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983, p.13.38 ibid., p.37.


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than the minor ones; and the piece would be totally symmetrical, would have only binary

subdivisions of groups, and would display considerable parallelism among groups. The

theory predicts that the grouping of such a passage would be totally obvious.39 Below is

the example Lerdahl and Jackendoff chose to use to demonstrate this stereotypical

grouping structure.40

Example 2.1: Lerdahl and Jackendoffs illustration of a stereotypical grouping structure.The example is of an anonymous fifteenth-century French instrumental piece titledDit leBourguignon.

While EDM is polyphonic, it certainly seems to fit the mold for what the writers

call a stereotypical grouping structure. Example 2.2 shows how this same bracketing

process also works in EDM.

39 Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983, p.65.40 Taken from Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983, p.66.


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Example 2.2: Kaos, Karl K., and SirensRush remixed by DJ Dara (at approximately

0:32).

How is one to account for this paradox? The grouping structure of EDM

according to Lerdahl and Jackendoff is obvious, but at the same time, listeners will hear

different yet equal interpretations. One possible answer is that while EDM is polyphonic,

it is based on repetition. The total repetition of phrases is of course the strongest form of

parallelism41

and parallelism is a large part of grouping structure.42

The authors continue

that the importance of parallelism in musical structure cannot be overestimated. The

more parallelism one can detect, the more internally coherent an analysis becomes, and

the less independent information must be processed and retained in hearing or

remembering a piece.43

While grouping structures can be shown with brackets underneath the score

producing the most internally coherent analysis as Lerdahl and Jackendoff demonstrate,

the relentlessly repeating nature of electronic dance music tends to encourage

experimentation with the strength of the different levels of the groups. In other words,

while groups may appear obvious with brackets underneath the score, they fail to show

how the listeners intuitions of grouping structure may change over time. While these

41Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983, p.67.

42 ibid., See Grouping Preference Rule 6, p.51.43 ibid., p.52.


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structures are regular, they give off conflicting cues causing listeners to hear things a

little differently. The musics immediately apparent simplicity results inevitably in its

intricacy.

Lerdahl and Jackendoff in the Case of the Deviant Tactus

Imagine, if you would, we are back at our rave from the previous chapter. After

gaining admittance and checking out the venue, we become aware of a sight both peculiar

and unanticipated. Though we failed to notice through the hustle and bustle of the

entrance line or in the pandemonium of the moments thereafter, Lerdahl and Jackendoff

are here and despite their inconspicuous arrival, are currently partying it up on the dance

floor. Although the music is too loud to hear their words, it appears as though they are

acting out the discussion in the previous chapter concerning the proper rate of dance to

the music notated in Example 1.1.

Lerdahl, clutching an energy drink in his right hand, picks up a faster pulse than

Jackendoff who is clutching his head with his left. As they dance and debate they take

notice of the wealth of dancers around them that support both rates as well as other rates

both faster and slower. Concluding that their arguments are inconclusive, they resolve

their differences and lose themselves in the music once again dancing however they see

fit.

What is the problem here? What in the music could possess Lerdahl to dance

twice as fast or faster than Jackendoff? The answer to this is vague listener intuitions

produced from non-conflicting yet ambiguous cues in the music. The combination of

multiple levels of equal and independent sound material result in an indeterminable

primary level of metrical hierarchy ortactus. According to Lerdahl and Jackendoff,

metrical intuitions about music clearly include at least one specially designated metrical

level, which we are calling the tactus. This is the level of beats that is conducted and with

which one most naturally coordinates foot-tapping and dance steps. When one wonders

whether to feel a piece in 4 or in 2, the issue is which metrical level is the tactus.44

Even in the Western tonal music that the authors set out to describe there is often

confusion over exactly which level is the tactus. And if the tactus is truly meant to be


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recognized as the one that most naturally corresponds to dance steps, there is a serious

problem with reference to this and EDM. This problem does not dissipate when the

authors attempt to explain the preference mechanism made for choosing the tactus. They

write:

Although we cannot provide a full account of how the tactus is chosen,certain influences are fairly clear. The first is absolute speed: the tactus is

invariably between about 40 and 160 beats per minute, and often close tothe traditional Renaissance tactus of 70. (The relationship of this rate to

the human pulse has often been noted, though an explanation of why thereshould be such a relation between physiological and psychological rates is

far less obvious than one might first think.) Second, the tactus cannot betoo far away from the smallest metrical level: a succession of notes of

short duration is generally an indication of a relatively fast tactus, unlessthe subdivisions are introduced gradually, as often happens in slow

movements or variation movements [this will become important laterwhen we discuss form]. On the other hand, the tactus is usually not faster

than the prevailing note values.45

As we have learned, drum and bass music contains successions of notes that range

from very fast to very slow. This allows the tactus to be at many levels simultaneously

depending on how one wants to hear the piece. Also, prevailing note values are heard not

only at the measure level, but also at larger levels as the pulses felt from pattern

repetition. As such, everything in between and including constant thirty-second notes to

tied whole-notes may be sounding simultaneously. While the tactus is said to sometimes

be at more than one level in Western tonal music, it certainly seems this confusion is

significantly intensified in EDM.

Tonal Western music, although having some similarities, is obviously a world

apart from EDM. Dance steps have certainly changed over time. Many pieces in the

electronic dance music repertoire, especially those in the sub-genre of Drum and Bass,

are composed to make dancers step at rates often in excess of 200 beats per minute.

Needless to say, not everyone could maintain that rate of motion indefinitely and so

movement at 100 beats per minute may also be witnessed. This, however, is just the beat



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level. The repetitions of layers moving at these high rates of motion may make dancers

react to the repetitions of groups rather than that of beats causing dancers to move as

slowly as 50 to 25 beats per minute all to the same piece.

Another interesting aspect of the above quotation is the mention of the

relationship between the tactus and human pulse. This is particularly relevant due to the

undeniable prevalence of drugs in the rave scene. While there are many EDM enthusiasts

that go to raves solely to enjoy the music, there are those that ingest a variety of drugs to

alter their perceptions. Anything from alcohol and marijuana to energy drinks and over-

the-counter ephedra or caffeine-based products to ecstasy and LSD and more may be

encountered at raves. Any of these substances can alter the human pulse rate and change

perceptions. There is no doubt that these substances helped influence the style of EDM.

Ecstasys prevalence in rave music is hard to play down. Reynolds writes:

over the years, rave music has gradually evolved into a self-consciousscience of intensifying MDMAs

46sensations. House and techno

producers have developed a drug-determined repertoire of effects,textures, and riffs that are expressly designed to trigger the tingly rushes

that traverse the Ecstatic body. Processes like EQ-ing, phasing, panning,and filtering are used to tweak the frequencies, harmonics, and stereo

imaging of different sounds, making them leap out of the mix with aneerie three-dimensionality or glisten with a hallucinatory vividness.

47

So, where is the tactus? Perhaps an answer to this can be found in another quote

from Lerdahl and Jackendoff:

The tactus is the central and most prominent of the metrical levels, and is

regular throughout. The levels immediately smaller and immediatelylarger than the tactus likewise tend to be regular and aurally prominent. As

the structure extends to extremely small and large levels, metrical intuitiontends to fade out. Irregularity and extrametricality are tolerated at small

levels; levels larger than one or two measures are often somewhatirregular, if present at all.

48

46MDMA is the abbreviated form of Methylene Dioxymethamphetamine otherwise known as Ecstasy.

47 Reynolds 1998, p.85.48 Lerdahl 1983, p.74.


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Electronic dance music is more prone to have tactus level confusion than other

musical genres due to its regularity and repetition of layers. Metrical intuitions do not

fade out at smaller or larger levels because larger levels are emphasized by smaller levels

and vice versa. This technique causes the line between grouping and metrical structure to

become blurred and ambiguous allowing dancers the freedom to dance to whatever tactus

they want to whenever they want to.

Grouping and Meter

Lerdahl and Jackendoff write, the perception of grouping is one of the more

important variables the performer can manipulate in projecting a particular conception of

the piece.

49

This passage may seem irrelevant because there are usually no performers inEDM, at least in the traditional sense, to project their conceptions onto this music. The

performers in the case of EDM are the listeners and the dancers - - these performers have

an interactive role in the music.

Analyzing grouping and metrical structure independently will not account for the

differences in listener intuition in EDM. In fact, I believe that it is the blurring of this

distinction, that between grouping and meter, that is a primary factor in creating musical

interest within this genre. Of course this concept contradicts Lerdahl and Jackendoffs

viewpoint that they are to remain separate. The authors write that grouping structure

consists ofunits organized hierarchically; metrical structure consists ofbeats organized

hierarchically. Two points in particular need to be emphasized: groups do not receive

metrical accent, and beats not possess any inherent grouping.50

The problem with this statement is that groups, or layers in this case, because of

their highly repetitious nature, do receive metrical accent when they repeat. It is

important to remember that Lerdahl and Jackendoffs ideas were written to analyze

specific genres of music that are Western, tonal, and homophonic. EDM is composed all

over the world, almost never has any functional harmony, and is polyphonic. While many

of their ideas can help illuminate the intricacies of this music, some of them need to be

reexamined to more effectively work with this genre.

49Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983, p.63.


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Layers, or groups, repeat causing accents of varying degrees depending on which

layer/s are repeating. Weaker accents are produced from the reiterations of layers with

shorter groups. This is interesting because these are the layers that dancers would feel

most comfortable for dancing. However, particularly strong accents are heard when

multiple layers, both long and short, repeat simultaneously, each emphasizing the other

marking the end of a cycle. It would seem that these stronger accents would create the

beats necessary to create a sturdy meter. After all, as Lerdahl and Jackendoff state it is

the interaction of different levels of beats (or regular alternation of strong and weak beats

at a given level) that produces the sensation of meter.51

However, these particular

accents often occur on such a higher level that many listeners and dancers would never

hear them. While this is true, as will be discussed later, the accents of these large repeats,

or cycles, play a vital role in the creation of large-scale form in EDM thus making them

of considerable importance as well. As visual evidence of this, dancers can sometimes be

seen dancing at these larger levels.

Cyclic Thinking

Types of analysis that examine a musical surface at higher levels seem

particularly relevant to this genre of music. Gretchen Horlacher discusses one such

method of analysis in her article on cycles in the music of Stravinsky. Here, she uses

cycles to illuminate the formal aspects and musical interest that can be generated by the

repetition of only a few short ostinati. She writes:

How does Stravinsky build a large structure from motivic material that iscompletely or nearly unchanging? How are formal divisions established?

Do the repetitions begin and end arbitrarily? In sum, how do therepetitions fit into the larger framework of the piece? The questions are as

pressing from the listeners point of view [as the analysts]. Much of theexcitement of a Stravinskyian phrase derives from the driving character of

its repetitions, and from an expectation for change which this charactercreates. This viewpoint emphasizes the stasis of the phrase. But beyond

this experience, is there not also a kinetic experience, a sense of being



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within or between phrases, and of having reached the completion of aphrase? How is the listeners interest sustained over such spans?

52

Though Horlacher is questioning Stravinskys use of ostinati in his music, these

same questions can be applied to many pieces of electronic dance music as they are also

based on repeating ostinati. Horlachers writings on cycles are of interest to us in our

analytical survey of EDM. She writes: While each stratum defines a single level of

repetition, together the strata determine a second [or higher] level of repetition.53

This

hierarchical organization shapes how we experience music whether it is Stravinsky or

Squarepusher. While much of her writing on cycles can (and will later) be applied more

efficiently towards the formal aspects of analysis, several points can be made first on a

smaller level concerning the rhythmic aspects.

Out of Phase Cycles in EDM

Horlacher defines a cycle as [the moment] when out of phase strata come into

phase.54

The immediate objection to using cycles as an analytical tool in our

investigation would be the simple fact that the strata used in most EDM pieces are in

phase. While it is true that much of EDM is made up of in phase strata, it is a stretch to

say that pieces made from out of phase strata are non-existent in the repertoire.

Having thought long and hard about conflicting listener intuitions and tactus

issues in the Drum and Bass room, we begin to feel a little exhausted and decide its time

for a change. We take one last glance at Lerdahl and Jackendoff dancing and head over to

the Trip-Hop room. As we enter, we hear DJ Shadow spinning his trackMeets His

Maker. Example 2.3 illustrates the repeating ostinati that we hear.

52Horlacher 1992, p.171.

53 ibid.54 Horlacher 1992, p.174.


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Example 2.3: DJ Shadows Meets His Maker(at approximately 0:45).

As we listen, we immediately become aware that this piece is composed of out of

phase strata. As these strata go into and out of phase, we realize that the concept of cycles

can be applied as an aid to better understand what we are hearing.

Essentially, most of the piece is made up of four repeating ostinati: Layer A, a

guitar part with heavy reverb lasting twelve beats, Layer B, a percussion layer consisting

of tom-toms lasting eight beats, and layer C, the main drum part that repeats every four

beats. While layers B and C are definitely felt in duple time, layer A is clearly defined in

triple time. Though layers A and C would lead us to believe that there is a twelve beat

cycle, layer B, with its eight beat duration, necessitates the existence of a twenty-four

beat cycle (twenty-four being the greatest common multiple). Horlacher notes that, A


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cycle describes aformal process taking place between two or more strata. It does not

form the basis of meter in a passage.55

As Horlacher writes, a key component of the cyclic process is the variety of

simultaneities produced by the interaction of the strata.56 Example 2.2 demonstrates that

while the music is based on repetition, it is more complex than it may at first seem.

Though the percussion layers are in phase with each other and the keyboard parts can be

heard as helping to emphasize any of the layers, the guitar layer and the percussion layers

are clearly not in phase with each other. The pairing of a triple time melody with a duple

time rhythmic accompaniment forces these layers to repeatedly go in and out of phase.

For example, the snare drum always strikes on beats two and four in layer C.

However, it alternates striking on beat two with one and three in layer A. Even more

interesting is the pairing of layer B with layer A. Within the twenty-four beat cycle, layer

B sounds three times, each time in a different verticality with layer A. First, it goes from

beat three to one, then from beat two to three, and finally from beat one to two. From

there the cycle repeats and layer B once again sounds from beats three to one. Cycles

help us to recognize and better appreciate the hidden complexities of repetition.

In Phase Cycles in EDM

Though we have defined a cycle as when out of phase layers come into phase,

other less structurally important cycles occur within the larger cycle. Points of arrival are

felt from the repetitions of both the smaller and larger cycles. This is one of the devices

that creates musical interest in EDM. Of course, in much of EDM, this effect is achieved

with using only in phase strata.

Can the formal divisions produced by out of phase strata coming into phase also

not be contrived to some degree solely with in phase strata? Are cycles not heard when

the strata are nested evenly such as in Example 1.1? Finally, is there not the same sort of

kinetic energy or sense of being within or between a phrase found in out of phase cycles

with cycles that are in phase?

55 Horlacher 1992.56 Ibid., p.177.


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These questions are of extreme significance to EDM, a music mostly composed of

in phase strata. It should be noted again that while much of the advantage of using cycles

analytically is in formal structure, the cycles must first work together on the rhythmic

level to produce this form. Because of this, cycles on different levels interact with one

another and compete for prominence causing listener intuitions to shift. Cycles also help

keep track of all concurrent layers, their appearances, and their disappearances.

Example 2.4: J. Majiks Solarize remixed by Diesel Boy (at approximately 1:40).


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In this example we see multiple layers of music. While the upper percussion layer

and melody two emphasize a repeating four-beat pattern, the lower percussion layer and

the Bass layer emphasize a repeating eight-beat pattern, and Melody one with its slight

deviation in measure eight emphasizes a repeating sixteen beat pattern. A cycle is heard

at the end of Melody one.

When all layers of music are in phase, that is to say when layers of larger duration

repeat in such a way to emphasize the repetition of layers of shorter duration (as shown

by Example 2.4), the music takes on a sort of hypermetrical organization.57

Accents that

are produced by the repetition of layers with shorter duration have even more impetus

when they are articulated by the repetition of the layers with larger duration.

As the listener becomes aware of the accents produced by the repeating cycles

and cycles within cycles, they will become aware of a steady flow of accents, or pulses,

that helps bring musical interest and order to the piece. It is here where the ideas of

Lerdahl, Jackendoff, Horlacher and Roeder can be combined to give a more complete

picture of the rhythms and forms to be encountered in EDM.

Pulse Streams in EDM

John Roeders pulse stream model has several advantages in dealing with the

metrical conflicts found in EDM.

Essentially the theory represents rhythmic polyphony as two or more

concurrent pulse streams created by regularly recurring accents. Thesepulse streams are considered to be distinct continuities, not levels or

groupings of each other, so this approach does not involve meter in theexclusive and hierarchical senses defined by the other theorists just

mentioned [Lerdahl, Jackendoff, Krebs]. Rather, it analyzes an irregularsurface as the sum of several concurrent regular continuities.

58

As electronic dance music is polyphonic, it deserves to be analyzed as such. Pulse

stream analysis allows the analyst to deal with each layer of pulse separately but equally.

57 This hypermetrical organization is identical to that of gamelan gong cycles.58 Roeder 1994, p.232.


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Another advantage of pulse streams is that the analysis takes place without regard

to the meter. Because of this, judgment calls do not have to be made about metrical and

anti-metrical layers. Streams of pulse occur without regard to meter or strong and weak

beats explored by other theorists, notably Lerdahl and Jackendoff.59

Perhaps the greatest benefit of pulse stream analysis is that it is more true to the

music. Electronic dance music is composed for people to interact with it. Pulse stream

notation using graphic representation gives us a way to actually see the interactions of

layers in the music and give us a better understanding of the ways they interact. Using

pulse stream notation to illustrate the interaction of pulses will also highlight both the

local repetitions of pulses created by pattern repetition and the large-scale groups of

pulses that help to produce form.

Pulse stream notation can be used in conjunction with certain concepts of

grouping and metrical structure by Lerdahl and Jackendoff and cycles to graphically

represent all of the perceivable pulses within a given timespan. At the larger pulse levels,

it is also possible to show how these pulses influence and create form.

Obviously, the concept of pulse streams here is tailored to fit the analysis of

electronic dance music. Most of EDM is composed of an extremely regular hierarchical

surface. This type of structure is the polar opposite of the ones that Roeder sets out to

describe. However, because of the conflicting cues inherent in these structures and their

affects on listener intuition, pulse stream notation serves as an ideal way to illustrate all

of the various pulses with which the dancers can interact.

As Roeder writes, In music that deemphasizes traditional harmonic or linear

processes these pulse streams may integrate the accents of local rhythmic figures

synergistically into compelling large-scale continuities. The nature and the interaction of

these continuities the synchronization of pulse streams and rhythmic motives relative to

each other create rhythmic form in music.60 Pulse streams operate in this exact manner

in EDM. While the creation of steady pulses creates rhythmic form in the music, the

grouping of these pulses together help to produce large-scale form.

59 Lerdahl and Jackendoff 1983.60 Roeder 1994, p.233.


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Also, if out of phase cycles can be part of separate hypermetric structures, then

they are pulse streams that create hypermetric dissonance. The key question is whether

the cycles are on separate "streams" or are part of a nested hierarchy of hypermetric

structures.

Example 2.5 is a reproduction of the music from Example 2.3 with a pulse stream

analysis under it. Here, the music consists of pulses that are out of phase.

Example 2.5: Pulse streams in DJ Shadows Meets His Maker(at approximately 0:45).

As we can see in the example, the music is made from separate strata that go in

and out of phase with each other. The pulse streams map the pulses produced by pattern

repetition. It is the interaction of these pulses that creates a very audible cycle after

twenty-four beats (which also produces a steady stream of pulse). This cycle, made up of

a smaller cycle between the first and third systems of pulses, is repeated numerous times

throughout the piece. It should be also be noted that a quarter note pulse is created by the

bass and snare drums and that an eighth note pulse is created by the hi-hat and guitar part.


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Just as cycles can be used to analyze the structure of out of phase and in phase

strata, so can pulse streams. Again, the concept of pulse streams is to map out

independent streams of pulse without regard to meter. While the traditional usage of

pulse stream analysis is to analyze a metrically irregular surface, the theory also serves

well to illustrate the metrically regular but conflicting musical surface of electronic dance

music. Below is Example 2.6, a reproduction of Example 1.2 with pulse streams under it.

Example 2.6: Ram Trilogys Mindscan [Ed Rush and Optical remix] remixed by DieselBoy (at approximately 3:00).


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While the pulses reflect a clear metrical hierarchy, they are still independent from

each other. Once again, the quarter and eighth note pulse are not shown here though one

can easily trace them. Visually, this example seems obvious, but it is a different case on

the dance floor.

Breaking with the traditional use of pulse stream analysis, we are able to combine

the ideas of other theorists into a visual representation of audible pulses. This

combination of ideas allows us to analyze the rhythmic and metrical structures found in

EDM. Noteworthy is the idea of using interacting pulse streams as an aid in the analysis

of displacement dissonances. Rather than declaring certain strata metrical and anti-

metrical as Krebs would, as there is no real meter, we can analyze them as separate

pulses.

The interacting pulses produced by cycles, groups, or any other device are what

makes electronic dance music interesting. Keeping track of these pulses, especially at the

cycle level lead to insight on how the piece was composed. This concept will be looked

into further in the next chapter.


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CHAPTER 3

MAPPING THE SOUNDSCAPE

Part of the problem with the analysis of electronic dance music is simply that themusic does not exist in notation. This is also probably a major contributing factor to the

musics unfamiliarity in the music theory realm. Also, as much of EDM is based on the

repetition of a few patterns, transcriptions give off the illusion of simplicity. Two major

points for consideration here are: 1) as we have seen, the repetitions of these patterns

encourage multiple perspectives that lead to the discovery of hidden complexities not

reflected by transcription and 2) as the music is composed electronically, producers spend

a great amount of time creating an arsenal of unique sounds and effects to use in their

work transcriptions fall short of being able to acceptably notate and describe these

timbres.

Another downfall of the transcription process is that the transcriptions are often

difficult to create and sometimes even harder to read. This is because EDM producers are

not writing in notation. They are either playing a sound live on a keyboard (or other

instrument) or clicking on a box in a computer program that tells the computer to produce

a sound in the appropriate location. Though most EDM producers lack a formal music

education, they seem to have an evolved sense of rhythm.

There are more shortcomings. Due to the large number of echoes, reverbs, delays,

distortions and other effects that can be applied to the music, it becomes very difficult to

hear individual lines with certainty. Finally, some may feel that the process of

transcription would actually destroy pieces of electronic dance music as they impose the

transcribers inuitions on them.

While there are some serious shortcomings when transcribing EDM pieces, there

are also many benefits. If one is willing to accept the fact that a transcription is just one

out of many perspectives on a piece, while the timbres of musical layers cannot be

accurately notated, the notes that make up the layers can be notated with some certainty.

Though transcription is limited, we can notate the layers and examine how they work

separately and together to form a whole. It is only through the process of transcription

that we can hope to unlock all the mysteries of this music.


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Finding the Form in EDM

Finding the form in EDM is not something that most EDM enthusiasts would

think of doing. This said, much understanding can be gained through the formal analysis

of these works. Though clear structural forms can be shown in this genre of music

(admittedly not in every piece), one must slightly alter the perceptions of how form is

created. Green writes:

It is common for a speaker to make a statement and repeat it at once, either

exactly or in different words. This device emphasizes, or clarifies, theoriginal statement but does not cause the argument to progress. Similarly,

in music a phrase may be sounded, then immediately repeated, eitherexactly or with some variation. The repetition does not contribute to the

growth of the musical form, but exists, if repeated exactly, for emphasis. Itexists as a means of elaboration or clarification if repeated in a variation

the composer is saying, In other words. Identification of the largerunit depends upon the distinction between varied and similar phrases. A

series of phrases, each one of which is no more than a repetition, varied orexact, of the other, remains a series of repeated phrases. They do not form

a larger unit.61

EDM presents a counter-example to this statement. In music that is so deeply

rooted in repetition, any deviation from the repetition is heard strongly. For example,

after hearing a rhythmic/melodic motive repeated countless times, the replacement of that

rhythmic/melodic motive with a new one seems rather striking. Similarly striking would

be hearing that new motive repeated only to hear it followed by a return of the original

motive. Distinct groupings or sections can frequently be formed by labeling sections

based on nothing more than a single repeated motive. Though the motive by itself is

small, its repetition creates pitch centricity. Labeling groups of repetitions as sections can

help us to view a larger structure with greater ease.

Formal structure in EDM may not be immediately discernable. If not listening for

large-scale form specifically, it is easy to only hear local repetitions of simple patterns.

However, larger-scale repetitions can and often do take place giving a formal scheme to

many pieces within this genre. Traditional forms based on repetition such as Passacaglia

61 Green1993, p.52


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and even Sonata form are sometimes used by EDM producers. It is interesting that these

forms are invoked in a genre so far outside where they are expected to be encountered.

An Intelligent ApproachAs we have seen in both Trip-Hop and Jungle, the repetition of motivic ideas,

especially rhythmic ones, is nothing new. However, the employment of repetition is often

greatly altered in Intelligent dance music (IDM). Intelligent music is composed more

often to be listened to rather than to be danced to. Drumbeats are irregular, dissonant with

other layers, and constantly developing. Many fans of this genre often hear the music and

refer to it as a form of musical chaos. However, it is past this complexity that one begins

to understand it as an organized and unified structure.

Although one might not expect it, especially those deeply rooted in popular music

only, the genre of Intelligent music is loaded with structures, forms, and compositional

techniques found in traditional tonal music. Indeed, the similarities between Bach and

Squarepusher may not be immediately discernable, however, upon closer examination,

one would have to try hard to refute them.

In almost all popular music that utilizes percussion, the percussionists job is to

provide the beat which the rest of the musicians follow. Confusion occurs in the music of

Squarepusher and other Intelligent composers because the percussion is often acting more

like a solo instrument. If we hear the percussion as a solo instrument, there must then be

something acting as a ground for it to solo over. Although the percussion parts in

Squarepusher pieces are frequently ever-changing, often times other musical elements are

not. In some cases, these repeated figures, or ostinati, occur almost non-stop throughout

an entire piece.

Continuous Variations

Continuous variations can be composed using either a ground-bass or ostinato

harmonies. Of the ground-bass type, Green says its construction is based around a fairly

short melody, usually a single phrase length and frequently in the lowest voice, which is

repeated a number of times. The recurring melody supports other voices that supply the


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changing fabric above it by added melodic counterpoints, motivic figuration, chordal

harmonies, or any other means the imagination of the composer has devised.62

Squarepushers track titledJourney to Reedham serves as an excellent

demonstration of variation form in Intelligent music. With a continuously developing

voice and a sturdy ostinato figure, it would scarcely be a stretch to label the piece as a

Passacaglia. Although the track does contain minor inconsistencies with this label, these

inconsistencies are not enough to have any major effect on the overall form.

The first thing one should consider when analyzing a variation form is the ground

that it is based on. Upon first listening, hearing the extremely short two-bar ostinato as a

ground may seem rather striking. Most continuous variations are based on a four to eight

bar theme.63

The length of this theme se

electronic dance structure

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