About the project
During the past twenty years, the field of popular music has seen a remarkable increase in computer based, groove oriented music. It seems plausible to assume that characteristic features in the sound of these styles, which to a great extent dominated popular music in the 1990s, can be linked with the possibilities provided by developments in music technology in the same period. For example, it seems that the combination of sampling and audio- and MIDI-sequencing prepare for a collage-like repetitive form.
The interplay of new music technology and African-American musical traditions seem to have been particularly fertile in producing new styles and new sounds. Not least did rap in the early 1990s present completely new soundscapes to the popular music scene.
Micro-rhythmic relationships
Another striking aspect of the musical development within this field has been the increasing experimentation and manipulation on a micro-rhythmic level, that is, the level of rhythm that in performed music is usually understood in terms of phrasing and timing. This development has been especially noticeable within African-American dominated styles such as rap, neo-soul and modern rhythm and blues.
Objective
The objective of the project was twofold. On the one hand it had a special focus on investigating micro-rhythmic relationships. On the other, one aimed at reaching new insights into the relation between contemporary popular music and the new technological means.
A main question was to what extent and in what ways changes in rhythm and sound in computer based, groove oriented music are related to developments in digital music technology. The empirical focus was on the African-American popular music styles neo-soul and contemporary R&B, as well as electronic dancemusic and trip-hop.
Final report
Funding
The project was jointly funded by The Research Council of Norway under the program for Outstanding Young Investigators and the University of Oslo.
Publications
Andersen, R.B. 2007. Musikk og mediering - Teknologi relatert til sound og groove i trip-hop-musikk. MA-thesis, University of Oslo
Bjerke, K.Y. 2007. Klanglig forming av grooveopplevelse - en studie av sound som groovebestemmende parameter. MA-thesis, University of Oslo
Bjerke, K.Y. 2010. 'Timbral Relationships and Microrhythmic Tension. Shaping the groove experience through sound.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Brøvig-Hanssen, R. 2010. 'Opaque Mediation. The cut-and-paste groove in DJ Food's Break'.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Bøler, K.K. 2008. A Study of Groove and Improvisation in Afro-Cuban Jazz, MA-thesis, University of Oslo
Carlsen, K. 2007. Hvor er eneren? - Mikrorytmikk og pulsforhold innenfor kontemporær afroamerikansk populærmusikk. MA-thesis, University of Oslo
Carlsen, K. and Witek, M. 2010. 'Simultaneous Rhythmic Events with Different Schematic Affiliations. Microtiming and dynamic attending in two contemporary R&B grooves.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Chor, Ives. 2010. 'Microtiming and Rhythmic Structure in Clave-based Music. A quantative study' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Clarke, Eric F. 2010. 'Rhythm/Body/Motion. Tricky's contradictory dance music.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Danielsen A. 2006. Presence and Pleasure - The Funk Grooves of James Brown and Parliament. Middletown,
Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press
Danielsen A. 2008. 'The Musicalization of Reality. Reality Rap and Rap Reality on Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet' in European Journal of Cultural Studies 11(4), p. 405-421
Danielsen, A. (ed.) 2010. Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate.
Danielsen, A. 2010. 'Here, There and Everywhere. Three accounts of pulse in D'Angelo's 'Left and Right'' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Danielsen, A. and Maasø, A. 2009 'Mediating Music. Materiality and Silence in Madonna’s ‘Don’t Tell Me’' in Popular Music 28/2
Harkins, P. 2010. 'From Akufen's Microhouse to Todd Edwards and the sound of UK Garage.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Johanson, M. 2010. 'The Concept of Rhythmic Tolerance. Examening flexible grooves in Scandinavian folk fiddling' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Kvifte, T. 2004. 'Description of grooves and syntax/process dialectics' in Studia Musicologica Norvegica 30, p. 54-77
Kvifte, T.2007. 'Categories and Timing' in Ethnomusicology 51(1), p. 64-84
Kvifte, T. 2010. 'Composing a Performance. The analog experience in the age of digital (re)production.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Lacasse, Serge. 2010. 'Slave to the Supradiegetic Rhythm. A microrhythmic analysis of creaky voice in Sia's 'Breathe Me'' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Waadeland, C. H. 2006. 'Strategies in Empirical Studies of Swing Grooves.' in Studia Musicologica Norvegica 32
Zagorski-Thomas, S. 2010. 'Real and Unreal Performances. The interaction of rcording technology and rock drum kit performance.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate
Zeiner-Henriksen, Hans T. 2010. 'Mooved by the Groove. Bass drum sounds and body movements in electronic dance music.' in Danielsen A. (ed.) Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate