# Rhythim Is Rhythim — Strings of Life Rhythim Is Rhythim’s Strings of Life (1987) appears on 5 of our lists — Detroit Techno, The Eighties, The Waxonia Desk — A Way In, The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, highest at No. 1 in Detroit Techno. Every verdict, in full. - **Released:** 1987 - **Label:** Transmat - **On:** Detroit Techno, The Eighties, The Waxonia Desk — A Way In, The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Artist:** [Rhythim Is Rhythim](https://waxonia.com/artist/rhythim-is-rhythim/) - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/rhythim-is-rhythim--strings-of-life/ ## What 5 lists say ### No. 1 in [Detroit Techno](https://waxonia.com/genre/detroit-techno/) Derrick May's piano stabs have no bassline and barely a kick for half their length, and the record still functions as the most reliable emotional detonator in dance music. ### Picked by [The Eighties](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/) Derrick May's own label again, and the record the rest of the decade gets measured against. No chorus, no bassline for most of it, and no committee anywhere that would have let it out at that length. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — A Way In](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/) Start here if you think electronic music is cold. There is no bassline and barely a kick for half its length, and it still empties a room into a dancefloor faster than anything made since. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — Detroit, Heard in Europe](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-detroit-in-europe/) Obvious, and obvious for a reason. It was a Belgian and British floor record before Detroit had a market of its own, which is why a city's most famous export sounds nothing like the city that made it. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/) No bassline, barely a kick, and it still empties a bar into a dancefloor faster than anything made since. The one record on this site nobody in thirty-eight years has argued with. ## Analysis 10 sections, the first drop of 6 at 0:51, 11% of the way in. - **Tempo:** 123 BPM — holds throughout - **Key:** Ab minor - **Dynamic range:** 6.9 dB — moderate range, typical of a modern master - **Length:** 7:35 - `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: other - `0:52` B · **steady** (bar 27), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, other - `2:57` C · **steady** (bar 91), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, other - `3:10` C · **steady** (bar 97), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, other - `3:29` C · **peak** (bar 108), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, other - `3:48` C · **peak** (bar 117), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, other - `4:36` C · **peak** (bar 142), instrumental — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, other - `5:17` A · **breakdown** (bar 163), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: other - `5:54` D · **steady** (bar 181), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, other - `7:23` A · **outro** (bar 227), instrumental — the closing fall — playing: other **Drops** at 0:51 (bar 27), 1:34 (bar 48), 1:58 (bar 61), 3:13 (bar 99), 4:36 (bar 142), 5:53 (bar 181). A drop is a moment, not a stretch. **What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names. - **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix - **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix - **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix - **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted rather than hedged. ## Listen [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Rhythim%20Is%20Rhythim%20Strings%20of%20Life) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=vGFw2qeUp0s) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.