Rhythm and pace is an overall characteristic of reproduced music. As I eluded to above it is the characteristic(s) that convey the connection to the pace / beat, the emotional content of the music. The term became very popular in the 1990’s because of the rise of solid state equipment that performed spectacularly from a technical point of view, but would leave the listener unaffected emotionally… a problem that is still common.
I read extensively about it, but just never really could perceive it. This in large part because it is more or less omnidirectional and is a characteristic of the whole sound field.
However, as I thought back… there were certain systems I had heard that just gripped my emotions and drew me in… that made me want to move and sway… actually to get up and dance (well… made me feel that way… not actually do it… I used to be a young white nerd, not a Risky Business kind of guy... now I’m an old white guy). I’d just forget about the small elements of the music and get emotionally involved in the music.
Finally, this happened on enough disparate systems I realized this characteristic is Rhythm and pace. That it is present in different systems to different degrees. It was a breakthrough moment. After that, it became easy to sense it and evaluate it. Like lots of variables in audio, at first you can’t hear something, then when you do, and you cannot unhear it.
From a classic Stereophile article… “The definitions of "pace," "rhythm," and "dynamics" inevitably involve such related aspects as drive, timing, involvement, flow, and coherence. "Pace," for example, connotes speed; indeed, the concepts "fast" or "slow" have often been applied to sound reproduction.”
The article is worth reading.
