African Polyphony and Polyrhythm

Abstract

In this detailed study Simha Arom takes a new and original approach to the understanding of the complex and sophisticated patterns of polyphony and polyrhythm that characterise African music. Considering in particular the harp, sanza, xylophone and percussion music of Central Africa, Simha Arom develops a rigorous method for the analysis of the music and for the recording and deciphering of the many strands of polyphony and polyrhythm. Through a systematic breakdown of the many layers of apparently improvised rhythm he reveals the essential structure which underlies this rich and complex music. Inspired also by linguistic techniques, Professor Arom regards the music very much as a grammatical system.

Comparing Timeline Rhythms in Pygmy and Bushmen Music

“…The majority are commercially available on CD and/or online and usually accompany published texts (e.g. Arom, 1991;. However, one set of recordings of Mbendjele Pygmy music used in this study comes from recent fieldwork by a colleague, Camille Oloa-Biloa, that is not publicly available.…”

“…The third representation, an interval vector, is popular amongst some musicologists as it shows the lengths between strokes and indicates intervallic structure (e.g. Arom, 1991;Pressing, 1983). Finally, the fourth representation depicts a rhythm as a binary sequence, used in mathematical and computer-orientated studies of musical rhythm, where a '1' represents a sounded stroke (onset) and '0' a non-sounded pulse (rest) [6].…”

“…A secondary source, and means of checking my interpretation, was the transcriptions in the accompanying literature. Scholars such as Arom (1991), Olivier (2001) helpfully provide numerous transcriptions in books and articles in TUBS or Western notation that indicate the timeline pulse subdivision, as well as the starting point and rotations of rhythms.…”

“…In sub-Saharan African and related musical contexts, timelines have been described by scholars as distinctive and foundational cyclical rhythms (or rhythmic ostinati) that provide the structural and organisational bases for composition and performance, and serve as time-keeping devices for musicians and dancers (Agawu, 2006;Arom, 1991;Kubik, 2010;Peñalosa, 2009). Kofi Agawu (2006) highlights the importance of timelines in research on rhythm in West African ensemble music, arguing that "practically every scholar writing about West African rhythm during the last half century has taken note of time lines" (p. 3).…”

“…Drawing on Kubik's (1989) work and Arom's (1991) influential theory of rhythmic structures in Central African music, Godfried Toussaint has used computational phylogenetic techniques, typically used by biologists for DNA analysis, to study the evolutionary relationships between subSaharan African timelines and those used in a range of musical styles. In numerous publications dating back over ten years [3], his work suggests that phylogenetic analyses can be fruitfully applied in musicological research and that "timelines are effective markers of the structural evolution of rhythms, and their cultural transmission" (Toussaint, Campbell, & Brown 2011, p. 389).…”