Musical time seems to me to be quite the challenging subject to discuss through text, but I will do my best. First and foremost, I find that it would be useful to define actual time rather than musical time. My personal definition of time would be the medium in which events occur. Musical time relates to this definition in many ways, but on a very different level. It can be agreed upon that these “events” in time can translate to notes in musical terms. With the expanding genre of electronic music that I am personally familiar with, it is safe to expand these “notes” further, encompassing terms such as samples, clips, and effects. For those that don’t know, these terms essentially refer to recordings of actual sounds that have been manipulated in various ways. Nevertheless, musical time enables various rhythms, melodies, and harmonies to exist at different points in the composition. Musical time provides a basis for these components of a song to be interwoven to form something truly unique. The possibilities are endless as far as songs go (especially in electronic music), yet they all share a common medium: musical time.
One should not get the impression that musical time, the basis of music, is a fixed foundation of composition. It too can be transformed to a completely customized preference. Perhaps the most important alteration of musical time is tempo. Tempo is the speed of the song, most often notated by beats per minute (BPMs). Yet a song is never constricted by a single tempo, for the composer can choose to speed up or slow down the tempo whenever, and to whatever extent, he or she desires. Tempo sets the mood for other components of a song, such as rhythm and meter. With a fixed tempo, one can calculate exactly how long the composition should last, given the notes and their durations. Dynamics, or the amplitude of sound, can also be changed at the composer’s disposal. The impact of the fluctuations of dynamics can have a remarkable effect on the flow and mood of the song. Volume can be set, both realistically and electronically, anywhere from the lowest absolute threshold to the point of blowing out one’s own brains (or speakers!).
Clearly, musical time is subject to many different variables. There truly is no limit to what one can create in terms of music, yet all music is subject to musical time. Without musical time, it is impossible for melodies, harmonies, tempos, rhythms, or even dynamics to even exist. Without musical time, music itself would not exist.