Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction emerged out of the Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction (RADR) project at the University of Oslo. The RADR project ran from 2004 to 2009 and explored the use of digital music technology in contemporary groove-based music. The project aimed to fill the void of musical research in the area of groove-based popular music. Its primary objectives were to investigate microrhythmic relationships and to reach new insights into their use within contemporary and popular music using new technological means. Edited by Anne Danielsen (who managed the project), the book is a compendium of articles from a variety of authors, most of whom were participants in the RADR project.

Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction is a musicological examination of the advanced complexities in rhythm in the digital age. It is divided into three sections: Microrhythm and Rhythmic Structure; Groove and Embodiment; and Mediation and Music Production. Each author has written a chapter that sits within one of these sections, covering topics such as the flexible timing in Scandinavian fiddle music, digital cut and paste, and the relationship between modern recording techniques and the accuracy of drum set playing.

Several diverse musical genres are examined. African American styles including neo-soul, rap and R&B are covered along with older musical styles such as Afro-Cuban clave-based musics and Scandinavian folk fiddling. Other chapters deal with contemporary styles like trip-hop, rock and dance genres such as house and micro-house. Each chapter breaks down the different elements of rhythm used within a song or genre and discusses the rhythmic use in context. It dissects the intimate use of rhythm as created using digital technology or using digital technology to break down the music so that the rhythmic components and structure can be analysed.

To provide an overview of the material in greater detail I have singled out individual chapters that are good examples of the writings within the book. The first chapter of the book, ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ by Danielsen, deals with three different accounts of tempo in D'Angelo's track ‘Left and Right’. The author breaks down the different rhythmic elements and discusses how a deliberately ambiguous pulse has been created. By juxtaposing rhythmic elements against each other D'Angelo has created an ambiguity which allows the pulse to be felt in three ways. Elements that are normally signifiers of a pulse are combined in opposing patterns so that where the pulse lies is largely interpretative. This deliberate ambiguity creates a sense of rhythmic unease and thus creates a sense of interest for the listener. Danielsen has gone into the music at a microscopic level to analyse the rhythmic complexity that has been created and how it is used to cause a sense of rhythmic unrest. The author uses in-depth technological analysis of the music to give an account of the deliberate rhythmic play within the track. The chapter is an example of one of the African American musical styles covered in the book.

In ‘Microtiming and Rhythmic Structure in Clave-Based Music’, Chor provides a quantitative analysis of rhythm elements in clave-based music. An individual performer was recorded playing along with several clave-based pieces to analyse their accompaniment style. The analysis provides a breakdown of where in the clave pattern an instrumentalist will place accents. Chor provides detailed graphs of the accent breakdown over the two-bar clave pattern and commentary on the use of accents in the style. In this analysis Chor used midi to undertake a quantitative study of the rhythmic accents in a piano accompaniment to clave-based music. This chapter is an example of an author using digital technology to dissect long-standing musical and rhythmic conventions and to examine the minutest detail of how rhythm is felt by performers in this context. It demonstrates how the rhythmic feel of clave is felt by a performer as well as showing how technology can facilitate detailed analysis of older genres of music. A similar analysis of Norwegian folk fiddling is undertaken in another chapter, using technology to analyse a performer's intuitive sense of rhythm within the style.

In ‘Real and Unreal Performances’, Zagorski-Thomas provides an interesting commentary on the effect that music production has had on the consistency of drumming over the past 40 years. The chapter discusses the progression from a rhythmic base led by the drummer to the current industry standard of a metronomic timebase. How the use of metronomes, programmed drums and the current drive towards tempic perfection have homogenised drumming technique is discussed, along with the increased listener expectations of rhythmic perfection. Unlike the other chapters I've mentioned, this chapter doesn't examine a specific musical use of rhythm; instead it examines how the mediation of modern recording techniques has affected the drummers and drumming technique in the period examined. The chapter is a sociological study of how the phenomenon of repeated listening and the advent of machine time has caused the listener expectation of perfectly quantised time and how this has caused drummers to improve their consistency.

Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction is an interesting compendium of discourses analysing the use of rhythm in both contemporary and older musics. It provides an in-depth analysis of specific songs and shows the rhythmic complexity that is currently being applied in some popular groove-based music. Some of the sections of the book are stronger than others, but with so many authors contributing it must be hard to keep the quality of the text consistent throughout.

Musical Rhythm in the Age of Digital Reproduction is a welcome addition to an underrepresented facet of musicology. The book will be a valuable resource for musicologists involved in research in the area of popular groove-based music and musicologists researching rhythm and microrhythm. The text could also be a useful source of inspiration for composers and producers, as it could provide them with ideas for rhythmic motifs that could be explored in their own music or give them the impetus to add more rhythmic complexity to their compositions.