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In music, the terms additive and divisive are used to distinguish two types of both rhythm and meter:
When applied to meters, the terms perfect and imperfect are sometimes used as the equivalents of divisive and additive, respectively.
For example, 4 may be evenly divided by 2 or reached by adding 2 + 2. In contrast, 5 is only evenly divisible by 5 and 1 and may be reached by adding 2 or 3. Thus, 8 is divisive while 8 is additive.
The terms additive and divisive originate with Curt Sachs's book Rhythm and Tempo , while the term aksak rhythm was introduced for the former concept at about the same time by Constantin Brăiloiu, in agreement with the Turkish musicologist Ahmet Adnan Saygun. The relationship between additive and divisive rhythms is complex, and the terms are often used in imprecise ways. In his article on rhythm in the second edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Justin London states that: