Rhythm in Acousmatic Music

'Rhythm' is often equated with 'metered pulse'; as the latter is often eschewed by contemporary music, including acousmatic music, this is often assumed to mean an absence of rhythm. This article proposes that, in fact, acousmatic music does indeed contain rhythmic qualities, and further, that rhythm is one of the dominating forces of acousmatic music, even when pulse or metre at first glance appear to be lacking. This is closely linked to a distinction between the Greek concepts of 'kairos' – time as experienced – and the 'clock time' of 'chronos'. The temporal qualities of acousmatic music stem from the roots of acousmatic philosophy, in phenomenology and a steady focus on our experience of the world around us. Importantly, this points simultaneously towards rhythmic qualities of our environment, and towards rhythmic qualities of our embodied experience of that world, due to rhythmic aspects of our bodies, our perception, and our cognitive faculties. The author draws upon both personal experience and research in several fields to demonstrate these points.