IL GROOVE COME 'TECNOLOGIA' E LE TECNOLOGIE DEL GROOVE

Groove is one of the most important features in many styles of popular music and an aesthetic goal for musicians and producers. I begin by formulating a model of groove as a Gestalt, describing the constituent syntactic components and the ways in which they coalesce. Next, I will examine theories of groove based on performance nuances, attempting to show how (in light of empirical studies) they fail to account for groove in programmed electronic music and sampled loops. I will then address the "phenomenology" of groove as a set of interdependent rhythmic elements and how this perception is actively shaped by the listener and accompanied by a quality that leads to the description in terms of a specific and embodied rhythmic feel. In the second part, which deals with the progressive mechanization of rhythm in groove music (beginning with funk and disco music of the 1970s and ending with electronic popular music of the late twentieth century), I present the main developments of “technologies of groove” and examine some of the devices used to automatically design/program and execute rhythmic patterns. Finally, I interview professional producers who have been active for some time. Some began their music careers in the 1970s, before the advent of drum machines and sequencers. They told me how their approach to ” groove composition" changed as music technologies evolved. Other producers started directly with electronic devices and digital audio workstations, and explained their practices for creating effective grooves with such tools.