Abstract
Groove-based music, from funk and samba to hip-hop and contemporary pop, owes much of its appeal to how the rhythmic patterns of different instruments combine. Empirical research has typically examined single rhythmic layers and searched for an optimal level of complexity. The FRIPRO project GROOVE (RITMO, 2026–2029) instead treats groove as a multi-layered, culturally constrained and combinatorial phenomenon. The project seeks to develop models for identifying the accent patterns of individual instruments, build an open-source computational pipeline for analyzing Afro-diasporic grooves at scale, and test these models via listening experiments. The aim is to map the diversity of groove archetypes, particularly the interplay between duple and non-duple rhythms. In this Food & Paper, we introduce the project, its aims and approach, and present some of our work from the first weeks, with musical examples. We welcome discussion and look forward to identifying links with ongoing research at RITMO.
Bio
Guilherme Schmidt Câmara is a researcher at RITMO and the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, and principal investigator of the Research Council of Norway FRIPRO project GROOVE. His research focuses on rhythm and groove in popular music, combining computational music analysis, corpus studies, and perception experiments. He holds a PhD in musicology from the University of Oslo (2017-2021) and previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship at RITMO (2022-2026) where he investigated the psychoacoustic thresholds of microrhythm in musical contexts. He is also active as a guitarist, arranger, and producer of groove-based musics.
Paul Didier is a postdoctoral researcher at RITMO and the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, where he leads the computational work package (WP2) of the GROOVE project. His work centers on developing an open-source pipeline for extracting and modelling accent patterns from multi-instrumental recordings. He holds a PhD in audio signal processing from KU Leuven (2021–2025), where he worked on distributed signal-processing methods for wireless microphone networks as part of the Horizon 2020 SOUNDS network, along with an MSc in Engineering Acoustics from DTU, Denmark. Outside of work, Paul also composes music and DJs.
OrganiserFinn Upham and Bálint LaczkóTags:RITMO