Attuning a Rhythm

[Keef]

TL;DR: Are the rhythms that singers/listeners attune to constant and shared among all singers/listeners through some means, or is it simply just a way that they express their emotions in lieu of tone/facial expressions?  (Also, I am only 2/3 through Rhythm of War, so please try not to spoil anything if you do reply.

Total Post:

I am new to this board; in fact I have not had an account where I posted on a message board in well over a decade.  I say that to try and explain any faux pas I may make in this post, including the post itself.  With that said, hello everyone!  I’ve been a fan of Brandon Sanderson ever since the first book of his I read, The Way of Kings, which was a free e-book offered through iTunes several years ago.  I love Sanderson’s writing ability, especially with regards to battle scenes.  I love all of Sanderson’s works that I have read; even the Steelheart series, which was my least-favorite, was a good series of books.  Anyway, on to my actual question and point of making this account.

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS* But I don’t think there are any.

What does it mean for the Listeners/Parshmen/Singers to attune a rhythm.  Specifically:

1: Are the rhythms “constant,” being a part of Roshar itself?  So when the listeners attune peace, in order to keep time, is this a constant song that they can jump into at a given point?  So if they start attuning Peace and are on the second stanza while earlier in the day they were at the second to LAST stanza, does this tell them exactly how much time has passed?  OR, is it more likely that the singer using Peace for time-keeping just plays the song in their head, from the beginning, to help them maintain time?

2. Are the emotions they express the same way?  So if a listener says something to “joy” do they always start at the beginning, or do they jump to an imperceptible place within the song that they can feel within the planet itself?

3. Basically, I’m trying to figure out if the songs that these people attune are constantly being transmitted where ALL the Parshendi can feel/hear them, it’s just that they select which one to attune to and jump to the place within the song that they all can feel, not necessarily the beginning.  Is there a link among all the Parsh-people that is caused by the rhythms that only they can hear/feel.

 

I hope these questions actually make sense.  Thank you all for reading/helping me out!

[LewsTherinTelescope]

As I understand it, they're kind of always playing in the background and singers can just tap into them, but I'm not super sure on the details or where an explanation is, so could be wrong.

[mathiau he/him]

21 minutes ago, LewsTherinTelescope said:

As I understand it, they're kind of always playing in the background and singers can just tap into them, but I'm not super sure on the details or where an explanation is, so could be wrong.

If I recall correctly the Rhythm playing in the background depend of the moment of the day, Listeners even use them to mark time

[Halyo_Alex he/him]

I feel like the Rhythms are an audio equivalent to the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMB) that we have irl, which is the light from when the universe first became transparent (hydrogen and helium atoms as opposed to subatomic particles whizzing around as a plasma, as if it was the sun everywhere at once). It might be that each Rhythm is an echo of the Shattering.

[Crucible of Shards he/him]

In the WoR interludes, the Five agreed to hold a meeting at a specific point in a specific rhythm. Unless they all started attuning simultaneously and didn’t switch  rhythms at any point (which is hard to believe, given what we see in singer perspectives), it doesn’t make sense to set the meeting time this way, unless the rhythms are always playing independent of singer observation. I believe we see Eshonai even checking time by tapping into a rhythm BECAUSE the rhythm is objectively tracked, not subjectively tracked.

@Keefasks a good question. Singer rhythm dynamics have become much more than mere worldbuilding based on the last few series of WoBs.

Edited August 7, 2021 by Crucible of Shards

[AquaRegia he/him]

My impression is that the Rhythms, being generated by Roshar, are truly constant and thus the same for all Singers at all times and places.  I think of them as radio transmissions - always there, all the time, even if unheard... but with the right equipment, you can tune in a number of different stations, and every other person attuning that Rhythm will simultaneously hear the same thing you do.

There are numerous examples of Singers using the Rhythms to coordinate actions while physically separated.

[MGershone]

I think the Rhythms are at least partially a byproduct of Shards simply being on Roshar, Investing it with Investiture. Other Shardic planets have rhythms similar to the ones on Roshar, though each Shards' rhythm is different. (This was confirmed in some WoBs, I believe)

Edited August 9, 2021 by MGershone

[mathiau he/him]

32 minutes ago, MGershone said:

I think the Rhythms are at least partially a byproduct of Shards simply being on Roshar, Investing it with Investiture. Other Shardic planets have rhythms similar to the ones on Roshar, though each Shards' rhythm is different. (This was confirmed in some WoBs, I believe)

We have confirmation other planets have pure tones, not that other planets has equivalents of the Rhythm of mornings

[spaidapig he/him]

I want to throw in this WoB to the argument:

Quote

Aethenoth

Can an Allomantic bronze burner hear the Rhythms on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, this is possible.

General Signed Books 2016 (May 2, 2016)

If the Misting can hear the Rhythms, they must be playing in the Background, like all the time.

[+Harrycrapper]

So, I think this is answered in part by a particular part of Gavilar's biography that Shallan was studying. I don't remember the exact wording but it mentioned someone hearing a Listener humming to a Rhythm and then encountering another Listener picking up the "song" exactly where the other one was at. So, it seems to me that all of the Rhythms are constantly playing and they pick it up wherever it is currently at, they don't start from some sort of beginning point to the Rhythm. Otherwise, it would be no different than the Singers/Listeners just collectively knowing a bunch of songs. The very word "attune" to the Rhythms implies that it exists apart from the Singers/Listeners, therefore it is just continually playing. I think of it kind of like a radio station; it's always there and doesn't start over just because you "(a)tuned in."

[+Invocation]

46 minutes ago, Harrycrapper said:

I think of it kind of like a radio station; it's always there and doesn't start over just because you "(a)tuned in."

Singers are living ham radio sets, confirmed.