Polymetric Rhythmic Feel for a Cognitive Drum Computer

Abstract

This paper addresses a question about music cognition: how do we derive polymetric structures. A preference rule system is presented which is implemented into a drum computer. The preference rule system allows inferring local polymetric structures, like two-over-three and three-over-two. By analyzing the micro-timing of West African percussion music a timing pattern consisting of six pulses was discovered. It integrates binary and ternary rhythmic feels. The presented drum computer integrates the discovered superimposed polymetric swing (timing and velocity) appropriate to the rhythmic sequence the user inputs. For binary sequences, the amount of binary swing is increased and for ternary sequences, the ternary swing is increased.