Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Rhythm
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Rhythm
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Overview of Rhythm
- Part II Performing Rhythm
- Part III Composing with Rhythm
- Part IV Rhythm in Jazz and Popular Music
- Part V Rhythm in Global Musics
- Part VI Epilogue
- 18 The Future of Rhythm
- Select Bibliography
- Index
18 - The Future of Rhythm
from Part VI - Epilogue
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2020
- The Cambridge Companion to Rhythm
- Cambridge Companions to Music
- The Cambridge Companion to Rhythm
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Music Examples
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Overview of Rhythm
- Part II Performing Rhythm
- Part III Composing with Rhythm
- Part IV Rhythm in Jazz and Popular Music
- Part V Rhythm in Global Musics
- Part VI Epilogue
- 18 The Future of Rhythm
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
As long as the human race keeps going, there can be no end to rhythm: we will always need to place events in musical time. It is unlikely that a drone music monoculture will hold static sway for future millennia or take over all perpetuity; humanity’s hyperactive search for meaning needs more reactionary pacing and diversity. Yet while there should be no dispute that there is a future for rhythm, the contents of that future are inevitably impossible to predict, this being the only accurate prediction in the field of futurology. The present chapter will attempt to extrapolate a few current trends and anticipate interesting and, it is hoped, inspiring scenarios but acknowledges the dangers of dropping a crystal ball on our dancing feet. I proceed by considering the space of possible rhythms, the limits of human production of rhythm, the transformation of rhythm through technological means, and the latest repercussions of artificial intelligence technology on rhythmic practice.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to Rhythm , pp. 315 - 330Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020