Steve Reich’s signature rhythm and an introduction to rhythmic qualities

Abstract

The rhythm of Steve Reich’s Clapping Music (1972) features in so many of his pieces that it can be understood as a rhythmic signature. A theory of rhythmic qualities allows us to identify the signature rhythm’s significant features and relate it to other cyclic rhythms like the Central/West African “standard pattern,” from which it probably originates. Rhythmic qualities derive from the discrete Fourier transform, whose mathematical properties make the theory particularly robust. One property, described by the convolution theorem, predicts the effects of Reich’s diverse rhythmic canons. I apply the theory to Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) and Nagoya Marimbas (1994).