Quick music question

[averygoodun42]

Is there a name for rythmic dissonance? Not syncopation, but, well, the rhythmic equivalant to discord.

I don't listen to the radio much, and R&B even less, but it seems that's a relatively new trend in the hip-hop sector, and it's really grating on my nerves. Call me old fashioned, but if there's a strong bass and rhythm, I like for the lyrics and melody to at least have a passing correspondence with that rhythm. (And this is but one reason why I don't listen to scat, although that at least has the benefit of purposefully trying to free itself from the traditional constraints.)

Comments

[zalena.livejournal.com]

The word you are looking for is probably 'polyrhythmic.'

[averygoodun.livejournal.com]

Perhaps. Probably what it is is people without a really good foundation trying to be polyrhythmic. And failing.

That sounds decidedly bitchy. And snotty. *shrugs* Ach well.

[mundungus42.livejournal.com]

Mr. 42 (the music theorist) suggests "arhythmic," which is excatly what it appears. There's atonality, which is the lack of a single stable tonal center, and arhytmicity would be the closest thing I can imagine. And like you say, polyrhythmic implies a common pulse. Arhythm is only effective if it's shown that yoru performer/composer can do rhythm as well. Your question makes me want to listen to Steve Reich's "Drumming," which has rhythm so precise that it phases into other rhythms in a seemingly magical way. But it works!

But "crap" is a perfectly acceptable term for failed polyrhythm. :D