PROXY RHYTHMS
Proxy rhythms describe a way of working with time where fixed grids are replaced by surrogate rhythmic structures. The concept offers a practical approach to tuplets, metric modulation and tempo relationships, treating complex rhythmic structures as playable musical material rather than abstract calculation.
Instead of relying on even subdivisions or explicit tuplets, asymmetrical cells, often derived from clave-like patterns or uneven pulse groupings, act as substitutes for more complex temporal relationships. These structures allow rhythms to stretch, morph, and drift without locking into a single metric authority.
Proxy Rhythms is an ongoing artistic and pedagogical research project developed by Petter Eldh.
An important lineage for this way of thinking comes from
Mulle Holmqvist’s Reference Rhythm Method and his Tuplet Trainer app. Holmqvist uses familiar reference rhythms as perceptual and physical pathways towards more complex subdivisions. Through a process of rhythmic morphing, the proportions of a reference rhythm can gradually transform towards another temporal organisation while its underlying identity remains perceptible. This allows complex rhythmic relationships to be approached through listening, bodily familiarity, and transformation rather than primarily through calculation. Holmqvist’s concept of rhythmic morphing has been foundational to my own thinking about Proxy Rhythms.
The work and pedagogy of
Malcolm Braff provide another important point of departure. Braff has developed extensive ways of using asymmetrical rhythmic structures as practical substitutes for complex subdivisions, allowing musicians to approach otherwise difficult temporal relationships through groove, repetition, and embodied listening. His Max for Live applications turn many of these ideas into interactive musical tools.
Proxy Rhythms brings these approaches into a broader compositional, improvisational and pedagogical framework.
A proxy can be borrowed from an existing rhythmic structure or invented from scratch. Once established, it can function as a temporary grid, be continuously morphed towards another temporal organisation, or contain further subdivisions and nested rhythmic structures within its individual parts. The aim is not necessarily to arrive at a mathematically “correct” destination. The transformation itself can become the musical material.
Rather than treating rhythm as a system to be solved, proxy rhythms frame time as a negotiated space. Grooves function as approximate carriers of tempo, modulation emerges from musical behaviour, and precision is achieved through embodied listening rather than numerical subdivision. The result is a flexible, groove-based approach to rhythm that resists metric fixation while remaining performable, shareable, and deeply collaborative.
SIMPLE BRAFF GENERATOR
A browser-based rhythm and tuplet generator for exploring proxy rhythms, asymmetrical subdivisions and nested rhythmic structures.
Malcolm Braff has developed a series of Max for Live applications that demonstrate a lot of the possibilities within this approach to rhythm. His applications are available for download here:
http://general-theory-of-rhythm.org/downloads/professor-braffs-m4l-patches/
I made a browser-based adaptation of Braff’s Professor Steps, allowing the basic idea to be explored outside the Ableton Live ecosystem. I added a more conventional step sequencer and the possibility of creating nested tuplets and subdivisions within any given pattern or proxy rhythm, opening up another layer of rhythmic relationships inside the surrogate grid.
Try it here:
SIMPLE BRAFF GENERATOR
THE PROXY RHYTHM ARCHIVE
proxyrhythmarchive.org
The Proxy Rhythm Archive is an evolving collection of music emerging from the AMM (Advanced Metric Modulation) workshop at ZHdK, conceived and initiated by Petter Eldh.
The archive grew from a shift from repertoire to creation. Rather than working towards the performance of existing material, the workshop becomes a space for collective composition, improvisation and record production.
Each session begins with a rhythmic proposition. These propositions provide conditions for making music rather than determining what that music should become. The resulting works reflect the particular musicians involved and are developed collectively through playing, listening, recording and production.
The recordings have a dual function. They document an educational and artistic process, while the finished pieces are presented as autonomous artistic works rather than études or demonstrations of rhythmic concepts.
Each semester adds new works to the archive, along with source material available for further use and transformation.
THE PROXY RHYTHM INDEX
The Proxy Rhythm Index is a collection of reference rhythms for approaching tuplets and temporal ratios through asymmetrical rhythmic structures. Native Proxy Rhythms use a single reference pattern. Nested Proxy Rhythms place a second structure inside the first.
This index is not intended as a comprehensive catalogue, but as a practical starting point for exploring different rhythmic relationships with the Simple Braff Generator.
3/4
Native Proxy Rhythms
4:3 — 3333
5:3 — 23232 / 32322
7:3 — 2122122 / 2212212
8:3 — 12121212 / 21212121
10:3 — 1111211112 / 2111121111
Nested Proxy Rhythms
11:3 — 444 → 434
13:3 — 444 → 454
4/4
Native Proxy Rhythms
3:4 — 444 (triplets)
5:4 — 33433 / 23232 (triplets)
7:4 — 2232232 / 2122122 (triplets)
9:4 — 221222212 / 112112112 (triplets)
10:4 — 2122121221 / 2212212121
13:4 — 2111211112111 / 2111211121111
14:4 — 11121111112111
13:8 — 1112 1112 11121 (8:5 + 5:3)
Nested Proxy Rhythms
9:4 — 444 → 333
10:4 — 565 → 343
11:4 — 33433 → 22322
13:4 — 565 → 454
15:4 — 444 → 555
5/4
Native Proxy Rhythms
3:5 — 555 (triplets)
4:5 — 5555
6:5 — 433433 / 323232 (triplets)
7:5 — 1212121 / 3332333
8:5 — 23232323 / 32323232
9:5 — 212212212 (triplets) / 313313213
11:5 — 22221222221 / 21121121121 (triplets)
12:5 — 212212212212
14:5 — 21112212111215
16:5 — 1112111211121112
Nested Proxy Rhythms
6:5 — 555 → 222
7:5 — 334 → 223
8:5 — 5555 → 2222
9:5 — 555 → 333
12:5 — 555 → 444 / 5555 → 3333
13:5 — 343 → 454
17:5 — 1212121 → 2323232
7/4
Native Proxy Rhythms
3:7 — 777 (triplets)
4:7 — 7777
5:7 — 12121 (7/8) / 33332 (7/8)
6:7 — 223223 / 554554
8:7 — 21222122 / 33443344
9:7 — 212212121 / 223223223 (triplets)
10:7 — 1212112121 / 3333233332
11:7 — 33222233233
12:7 — 232322232322
17:7 — 21221 2322322 21221
Nested Proxy Rhythms
9:7 — 43 → 54
10:7 — 3434 → 2323
11:7 — 455 → 344
9/4 _ 9/8
Native Proxy Rhythms
4:9 — 9999
7:9 — 3323322
8:9 — 22322232
11:9 — 21221212221
Nested Proxy Rhythms
14:9 — 4545 → 3434
11/8
Native Proxy Rhythms
Nested Proxy Rhythms
13/8
Native Proxy Rhythms