Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World Music

This essay develops and applies a theoretical language for describing a special family of musical cycles that feature five elements at very slow tempos, with the aim of appreciating the listening experiences they afford. Referring to experimentally determined constraints on the perception and memory...

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Main Author: John Roeder
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Analytical Approaches to World Music 2025-06-01
Series:Analytical Approaches to World Music
Subjects:
Online Access:https://zenodo.org/records/15762649?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJpZCI6ImM3MGQxODkwLTg5YmItNGJhNS1hNTYzLTQ5YjM0ZDk0Y2QwMCIsImRhdGEiOnt9LCJyYW5kb20iOiJjYzQ3MjE2MDU3OTFmZjVmZmEzOTA3M2RjZTYzYzhiZCJ9.71dIra6RlA0zs7QyP46adihw44KnELESfwXAeMZkWfVBNZryOZDhUdt1YhMSE-t1G9rj1DtdMDTo4RfAmN2hRg
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author John Roeder
author_facet John Roeder
author_sort John Roeder
collection DOAJ
description This essay develops and applies a theoretical language for describing a special family of musical cycles that feature five elements at very slow tempos, with the aim of appreciating the listening experiences they afford. Referring to experimentally determined constraints on the perception and memory of duration and content, it shows that slow 5-cycling occupies liminal cognitive territory in which sequential expectations begin to dominate over timing expectations. To explore the nature and variety of effects that are possible in this process, it presents transcriptions and analysis of five examples of world music of diverse genres and cultures—work song, ritual, and entertainment— and in a range of textures including solo, choral, call-and-response, and polyphony. Through analysis of grouping, pulse salience, and durational projection–that is, of the features that inform listeners’ sequential and timing expectations—it shows how slow 5- cycles afford some temporal experiences that differ from those in the more common fast 5-cycles, and that they can differ from each other substantially.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2158-5296
language English
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publisher Analytical Approaches to World Music
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series Analytical Approaches to World Music
spelling doaj-art-592a5dd880aa4cefb5fc5e3cc9ad805e2025-08-20T03:31:20ZengAnalytical Approaches to World MusicAnalytical Approaches to World Music2158-52962025-06-01131122Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World MusicJohn Roeder0Emeritus professor of music theory at the University of British Columbia (Canada).This essay develops and applies a theoretical language for describing a special family of musical cycles that feature five elements at very slow tempos, with the aim of appreciating the listening experiences they afford. Referring to experimentally determined constraints on the perception and memory of duration and content, it shows that slow 5-cycling occupies liminal cognitive territory in which sequential expectations begin to dominate over timing expectations. To explore the nature and variety of effects that are possible in this process, it presents transcriptions and analysis of five examples of world music of diverse genres and cultures—work song, ritual, and entertainment— and in a range of textures including solo, choral, call-and-response, and polyphony. Through analysis of grouping, pulse salience, and durational projection–that is, of the features that inform listeners’ sequential and timing expectations—it shows how slow 5- cycles afford some temporal experiences that differ from those in the more common fast 5-cycles, and that they can differ from each other substantially.https://zenodo.org/records/15762649?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJpZCI6ImM3MGQxODkwLTg5YmItNGJhNS1hNTYzLTQ5YjM0ZDk0Y2QwMCIsImRhdGEiOnt9LCJyYW5kb20iOiJjYzQ3MjE2MDU3OTFmZjVmZmEzOTA3M2RjZTYzYzhiZCJ9.71dIra6RlA0zs7QyP46adihw44KnELESfwXAeMZkWfVBNZryOZDhUdt1YhMSE-t1G9rj1DtdMDTo4RfAmN2hRgcyclepulseprojectiongroupingtempotiming
spellingShingle John Roeder
Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World Music
Analytical Approaches to World Music
cycle
pulse
projection
grouping
tempo
timing
title Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World Music
title_full Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World Music
title_fullStr Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World Music
title_full_unstemmed Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World Music
title_short Slow 5-cycles and their Special Properties Heard in World Music
title_sort slow 5 cycles and their special properties heard in world music
topic cycle
pulse
projection
grouping
tempo
timing
url https://zenodo.org/records/15762649?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJpZCI6ImM3MGQxODkwLTg5YmItNGJhNS1hNTYzLTQ5YjM0ZDk0Y2QwMCIsImRhdGEiOnt9LCJyYW5kb20iOiJjYzQ3MjE2MDU3OTFmZjVmZmEzOTA3M2RjZTYzYzhiZCJ9.71dIra6RlA0zs7QyP46adihw44KnELESfwXAeMZkWfVBNZryOZDhUdt1YhMSE-t1G9rj1DtdMDTo4RfAmN2hRg
work_keys_str_mv AT johnroeder slow5cyclesandtheirspecialpropertiesheardinworldmusic