Rashad Becker’s Dances VI from his 2016 album Traditional Music of Notional Species Vol. II displays an exploration of sonic textures and rhythmic complexities. Rashad Becker’s pieces can be easily identified by his use of granular synthesis, glitch-based effects, and subtle tonal shifts that invite constant transformation throughout. Dances VI is no exception, Becker uses extreme sound manipulation techniques to create an immersive auditory environment that prioritises a sensory filled experience over traditional signification systems.

The track opens with a pulsating synth bass accompanied by high pitched chimes seeming to hit the first beat of each bar. As the piece progresses the sense of definite rhythm begins to fade with the additional fragmented sounds of crackling, faint hums, and irregular bursts of noise that immediately create a sense of tension and unease. The combination of the sounds create complex textural elements that shift between moments of near silence and dense, chaotic clusters of sound. Throughout the piece, Becker manipulates these elements using advanced digital processing techniques, such as granular synthesis and pitch-shifting, 

to create a sonic landscape that is constantly in motion. In a Magazine interview with Rashad Becker, Josh Hall describes his use of panning and the effect it takes. ‘They move dramatically across the stereo field, at times appearing as elongated screams and at others as delirious incantation, interlocking with each other in an unsettling chatter’ (Josh Hall, 2013). Unlike the majority of conventional dance music, Becker avoids predictable beat patterns to create a fragmented and non-linear structure. Instead he employs a rhythmic language that shifts unpredictably, often using silence or sparsely placed sounds as key structural elements. The effect creates an immersive listening experience, one that forces you to attune to the restless nature of the sounds as opposed to trying hard to understand or determine a particular structure or melodic idea regularly imposed by fixed conventional music genres.  

Hall, J. (2013) ‘Revolutionary intent: mastering legend Rashad Becker on Lenin, pig bladders and killing the author’, Fact Magazine, pp.1 Available at: https://www.factmag.com/2013/09/10/revolutionary-intent-mastering-legend-rashad-becker-on-lenin-pig-bladders-and-killing-the-author/3/  (Accessed: 12th October 2024).