In the film The Wild One, a defiant, motorcycle-jacketed Marlon Brando taps out a dance rhythm with his fingers atop a juke box.

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Some software synthesizers are designed for creating dance and rhythm loops--repeating series of bass and drum lines.

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He was to rhythm and dance music what Bob Dylan was to lyrics.

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The missing ingredient turned out to be sub-bass: The lowest frequencies audible to the human ear, used extensively by dance acts to give their rhythm tracks an added wallop.

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Today, Lapa attracts an equally diverse mix of cariocas (Rio locals) - rich and poor, favela dweller and condo-owner alike - all drawn to the old-fashioned gafieiras (dance halls) and the electric sound that crackles over these battered, rhythm-filled sidewalks.

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Its quick frenetic and vigorous rhythm draws upon the fusion of musical genres such as marching music, Brazilian tango, square dance, polka and pieces of classical repertoire, performed by martial bands and fanfares.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES