Two of the era's most important composers of isorhythmic motets are Phillipe de Vitry and Guillaume de Machaut. Machaut's second motet, De souspirant / Tous corps qui de bien amer / Suspiro, is an example of typical 14th-century use of isorhythm.

Isorhythm is a logical outgrowth of the rhythmic modes that governed most late medieval polyphony. Discarding modal-rhythmic limitations, isorhythm became a significant organizing principle of much of 14th-century