A Circular Plot for Rhythm Visualization and Analysis
Fernando Benadon · Music Theory Online · 2007
Seeing how music is organized can help us understand how it is heard. Musical rhythm usually operates within a recursive temporal framework such as a (periodic) beat or a (metered) measure. Therefore it makes sense to visualize tactus-based rhythm as a cyclical concept. This can be done using a graph that uses polar coordinates to plot temporal information. The beat is represented by a circle, with all possible time-points within the beat placed along the circle’s circumference. Radius length denotes interonset interval, with longer notes lying farther from the center of the circle. The circular plot is well suited for visualizing and analyzing expressive timing data. It can also be used to re-interpret complex rhythms, partition tempo curves, and summarize rhythmic profiles.