Was it deliberately punchy, or was that a happy accident? ;)

I find there's a lot to be said for creative use of silence (even just a "breath") in music.

I suppose both, since everything I do is the result of experiments and accidents =P

It's funny you say that, since only recently have I come to terms with the fact that the absence of sound is also a form of music, given the context.

Fair enough. ;)

Yeah, even something simple like cutting off a natural decay (be it manually or with a gate... synth note or sample.. etc), if timed properly, can yield a lot of "funk factor." It shows up in a lot of late 2000s dance music, probably the most extreme example that comes to my mind is Newjack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfDQg2dF8uw) from Justice. They even have a deliberate hang at times (0:33-0:50 for example). Sort of a little anticipation of the downbeat, only for a few milliseconds, but enough to notice.

Less overt but also Phantom Pt II (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR035Mhd58o) which has a slight moment of complete silence between phrases during the first couple times through. If that's your style of music to begin with. ;) Not sure why I'm on a Justice kick this morning. It also shows up a lot in electroclash and other sort of industrial-ish sounding electronic genres. Or heck, even classical.

It's kinda like negative space in art. It can be its own element hidden in the "main work," or it can just give the eye/ear some context for measuring contrast, etc. I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I like it. ;)

Knowledge button activate XD

But yeah, that's exactly how I see it, as negative space just like in art.

And Justice <3