Analytical Approaches to World Music, Vol. 7, No. 1. Published June 10, 2019. Timely Negotiations: Formative Interactions in Cyclic Duets John Roeder MONG the treasures in the collection of Analytical Studies in World Music, edited by Michael Tenzer, is an essay about polyphonic songs of the Aka people in the Central African Republic. The author, Susanne Fürniss (2006), theorized and analyzed recordings collected in the field by Simha Arom. With dense textures of any number of rhythmically and melodically independent voices, these songs are very difficult to grasp. The same song may be performed by various ensembles, and it sounds quite different not only from ensemble to ensemble but also between two performances by the same ensemble. Moreover, the Aka have few words to explain their music. Nevertheless, through some ingenious methods Arom determined that “Aka counterpoint is based on four constituent parts. . . . For every song each of the parts has its own essential melodic pattern” (Fürniss 2006, 174; Arom 1991). The essential patterns for a song Fürniss discussed are shown on Example 1 (which reproduces Example 5.11 in Fürniss [2006, 191]). They are repeated cycles, each twelve beats long; asterisks indicate the beat on which each part begins. The second staff shows the main tune, the mòtángòlè, which identifies the song. The other three parts are distinguished more by contour and timbre (yodeled or not) than by pitch collection or rhythm. The performers, whether solo or in ensemble, may sing these patterns exactly, but more commonly they improvise variants and cross-cut ad libitum among the parts. Example 2 represents the beginning of a particularly interesting version of the song, a duet sung by two young women, Moako and Dikondi. The transcription is essentially Fürniss’s, but I have simplified the rhythms and added color to distinguish the essential parts and to indicate the improvisatory processes that I surmise. Each system shows a complete cycle. The Example 1. Essential patterns for the Aka duet “Dìkòbò dámù dá sòmbé” (Fürniss 2006, 191, Ex. 5.11). A