polyrhythm
noun
poly·rhythm ˈpä-lē-ˌri-t͟həm 
: the simultaneous combination of contrasting rhythms in music
polyrhythmic
ˌpä-lē-ˈrit͟h-mik
adjective polyrhythmically
ˌpä-lē-ˈrit͟h-mi-k(ə-)lē
adverb 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The instrumental rockers still pack a punch through core musical ingredients, including electric guitar, bass, drums and saxophone, to produce otherworldly polyrhythms. 
Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2020 What hasn’t changed is the group’s penchant for Caribbean polyrhythms, Afrobeats and Latin-American melodies. John Ochoa, Billboard, 23 Sep. 2019 Backed by funky polyrhythms from Dyson’s sticks, saxophonist Khari Lee blew a serpentine alto solo. Dan Emerson, Twin Cities, 16 Oct. 2019 But Ode was again a wild card, working yet another polyrhythm of such power that even as Croker was playing beautiful, vibratoless romances, the drummer’s back-line improvisation was more interesting. Michael J. West, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2019 The interesting thing here is that the polyrhythms found in traditional music are fundamentally different than the general 4/4 beat of Western music. Katie Bain, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2019 There are more layers of vocal melody, more percussion, more polyrhythm, more direct connections to the guitars and horns of African pop, more languages among the lyrics and, of course, enormous soul and annunciatory power in Ms. Kidjo’s voice. Jon Pareles, New York Times, 8 June 2018 But for her own productions, Ms. Borges mixes these childhood influences with polyrhythms, frantic beats, air horns and elements of genres like trance, European techno, Afro-house and American R&B. Her drums thwack like a bucking bronco. Kate Hutchinson, New York Times, 14 June 2018 Like juju, the style popularized by King Sunny Adé, fuji was originally built upon an embarrassment of pulsing polyrhythms shaped on kit drums, congas, bells, shakers, and talking drums, without much else beyond hectoring call-and-response singing. Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader, 5 July 2018 See More
Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2020 What hasn’t changed is the group’s penchant for Caribbean polyrhythms, Afrobeats and Latin-American melodies. John Ochoa, Billboard, 23 Sep. 2019 Backed by funky polyrhythms from Dyson’s sticks, saxophonist Khari Lee blew a serpentine alto solo. Dan Emerson, Twin Cities, 16 Oct. 2019 But Ode was again a wild card, working yet another polyrhythm of such power that even as Croker was playing beautiful, vibratoless romances, the drummer’s back-line improvisation was more interesting. Michael J. West, Washington Post, 19 Sep. 2019 The interesting thing here is that the polyrhythms found in traditional music are fundamentally different than the general 4/4 beat of Western music. Katie Bain, Billboard, 12 Sep. 2019 There are more layers of vocal melody, more percussion, more polyrhythm, more direct connections to the guitars and horns of African pop, more languages among the lyrics and, of course, enormous soul and annunciatory power in Ms. Kidjo’s voice. Jon Pareles, New York Times, 8 June 2018 But for her own productions, Ms. Borges mixes these childhood influences with polyrhythms, frantic beats, air horns and elements of genres like trance, European techno, Afro-house and American R&B. Her drums thwack like a bucking bronco. Kate Hutchinson, New York Times, 14 June 2018 Like juju, the style popularized by King Sunny Adé, fuji was originally built upon an embarrassment of pulsing polyrhythms shaped on kit drums, congas, bells, shakers, and talking drums, without much else beyond hectoring call-and-response singing. Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader, 5 July 2018 See More Word History
First Known Use
1908, in the meaning defined above