Metric Modes and Fluid Meter in Mande Drumming Music

Abstract

This article proposes a model that unites a broad range of performances of Mande drumming music within a single cohesive and fluid sub-beat metric framework. The framework categorizes musical performance in terms of two metric modes, each of which includes a set of metric cycles featuring non-isochronous pulsations. A novel feature of the proposed model that distinguishes it from previous research is that it frames metric non-isochrony in terms of the ranges for pulsation positions within a pulsation cycle. This approach is shown to be especially useful for analyzing and describing mechanisms of metrical change and transformation and for connecting seemingly distinct phenomena and repertoire.