Contrasting with the elaborate polyphonic procedures he used in his sacred music, Canis's chansons show a mix of both Netherlandish polyphony and French, particularly Parisian, simplicity. During the 1540s and 1550s there were two general types of chansons being composed: the Parisian, by composers such as Clément Janequin and Claudin de Sermisy, which tended to be homophonic and written in short phrases, with only brief periods of imitation; and the Franco-Flemish, which was more polyphonic and imitative: the Franco-Flemish chansons were akin to the sacred music by the same composers. Canis used some features of the Parisian chanson, including homophony, short rhythmic units, and cadential formulae, grafting them onto an otherwise polyphonic fabric.