Rhythm (at)

Subject: Rhythm
From:    at <HARTMANNPA.MSU.EDU>
Date:    Wed, 19 Nov 1997 08:55:12 -0500

Dear List,

This is a question about the ability to perceive irregularity in
rhythm. It comes from Boogie Bob, Lansing's foremost rhythm and blues
artist.

        What is the JND for perceiving an unequal division of a beat into
two notes?

        A quarter note beat could be divided into two eighth notes.
        Theoretically, that would be a 50-50 division.

        It could be divided into a dotted quarter and a sixteenth.
        That would be a 75-25 division, clearly different from 50-50.

        Can you distinguish between 75-25 and 67-33? How about 75-25
        vs 70-30?

Presumably the answer depends somehow on the tempo. How?

Because this is a question about rhythm and not about the perception of tone
duration, there needs to be a context. Probably it's best to think of a
regular and indefinite repetition of the two-note sequence in question.
That establishes the tempo and context.

Anybody out there with information on this subject?

Next: how about the ability to reliably PRODUCE such a division?

Thanks,
Bill