Songs with weird time signatures. I find these interesting, what does /mu/ think?
Pink Floyd - Money (7/4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0kcet4aPpQ
Dave Brubeck - Take Five (5/4, as stated in title)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHdU5sHigYQ
Outkast - Hey Ya (11/4)
https://youtu.be/PWgvGjAhvIw?t=1m5s
Got the obvious out of the way.
>>55400372
im not sure about 11/4 on outcast, thats a bit of a stretch. its more like 4/4 with a couple bars of 2/4 thrown in. either way though i never noticed that before, thats neat.
>>55400481
ive heard it counted:
12/4 + 2/4 + 8/4
>>55400372
>>55400481
>Outkast - Hey Ya (11/4)
>https://youtu.be/PWgvGjAhvIw?t=1m5s [Remove]
>(11/4)
This confused me as shit
Here's a fun one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wSkc8TChn0
>>55400578
2/4
Where is the fun?
>>55400566
why not just 4/4 + 4/4 + 4/4 + 2/4 + 4/4 + 4/4
>>55400372
>7/4
>Weird
7/4 is common as shit for lol so quirky "prog" and "experimental" artists
https://youtu.be/fRGtY_gvvYE
5/4
freak kitchen has lots of weird time signatures
>>55400656
That's the point. It's only common for a certain group, and not music as a whole.
>>55400630
Are you serious? Not even close
>>55400372
>Hey Ya 11/4
for whatever reason I actually had to check
I guess it was just such a weird suggestion I was interested
completely not true by the way
Nothing too complicated, but its kinda cool hearing a polymeter in a pop song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93jsY-YdZ1s
What i really hate is when people put songs into weird time signatures for that sake of it being in a weird time signature. They force the lyrics and instruments to "fit" so that they can be all "we're better at music than you"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93jsY-YdZ1s
Gorillaz did this and named it 5/4. They wanted attention. At least their other shit is good.
>>55400784
I just wish it wasn't called 5/4
seems like a such a gimmick due to that
>>55400815
I know :/ Still one of my favorite songs on the album though
>>55400809
it's actually a really cool song... and seems in no way forced as far as timing goes
>>55400718
Could you tell what it is then?
it'd be harder for me to pick a song in 4/4 than to not...
https://expandingsponge.bandcamp.com/album/something-about-that-death
thisis in 11/16 up until 2:43, a bar of 13/16. then it goes and gets real fucky.
8 bars of 11, one of 5, followed by two 11s and another 5. two bars of 14/16 happen, then it goes to a bar of 7 then an 11 and two more 14s. then two 11s, a 7 and three more 11s. ends in 14 for a bar and then a few bars of 31 for the ring out.
i think i posted some of the score?
>>55400809
it's very common for songs that aren't 4/4 to be named by their time signature, or for the band to count in the song so that you know, i find this annoying too
>>55400809
>They force the lyrics and instruments to "fit"
are you seriously arguing that to arrange for an odd meter is some form of selfish elitism?
>"we're better at music than you"
what kind of an inferiority complex you got going on to take such an innocent act personally? lmfao
>>55400896
There are a few, you probably couldn't know all of it without looking at the score, but the "main" one sounds like 9/16.
>>55400372
>Hey Ya - 11/4
Seems more like 11/2 or 22/4
Animal Collective - Sweet Road is in 13/8 as far as I can tell. except for the middle part obvs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN9DPw6x4tQ
>>55400932
>https://expandingsponge.bandcamp.com/album/something-about-that-death
this is pretty interesting
is this you?
>>55400932
this shit is horrible. Throwing times signatures around without any coherence like that is the worst.
>>55401092
writing yes, it's guitar pro playing though
https://youtu.be/orDHGcMk9Ps
https://youtu.be/MvaEmPQnbWk
Both are 17/8, although Crystalline switches to 4/4 in the chorus and Moon switches to 5/8? occasionally
I can't help but feel like most 5/4 tracks lend too much from Take 5's rhythm: stressing the 1, the "and" of 2, and 4. Just seems a bit stale.
here's some Austin Peralta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E3WyWiWnUM
>>55401084
but anco is pretentious af.
>>55401123
I like it
>>55401112
care to elaborate?
>>55401150
yeah I agree. 7/8 sounds natural a lot more often
>>55401170
good criticism
26/8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOmfq5Q5GqE
>>55400372
When writing songs in odd meter, how do you guys go about it? Settle on the melody/riff that works with the rhythm and go with that, or figure out the drum parts/emphases on the beat, first?
>>55401359
honestly if you begin by deciding that you're going to use an odd meter instead of just that happening naturally it's probably going to be pretty mediocre
>>55401192
I think the rythm of a piece and the way it can be changed is an essential part of the articulation and the structure of a piece. Keeping an odd time signature for the whole duration is basically using a slightly unusual groove, but nothing really exceptional. Shifting the signature from a meter to another is a great way of taking the song in a different direction and make the listener feel surprised. Altering the rythm every bar or two to basically cancel every feeling of precise alternation between accents thus "removing the rhytm" feels like an unnecessarily complex way to achieve something that you could do in a much easier way with some witty counterpoint.
Sorry for poor explanation but my english is shit
Unbelievably basic. /thread
>>55401359
I just play for fun and find a rhythm that feels natural despite being in an odd meter, otherwise you risk making it feel forced.
Odd time signatures are great if done right. Sometimes subtlety works best that obvious ones imo. For example, I can't stand contemporary classical music because you can't find a melody/theme due to the ever changing time signatures and chords. Some tracks that you never expect to have odd time signatures do it well, for example The Beatles' Here Comes The Sun. The song is in 7/8 and 11/8 and 4/4, but the pop sound doesn't make it obvious. Take 5, whose name obviously implies the piece is in 5/4 makes a memorable melody before the solo portion, yet sometimes you'll forget that it has the odd time. Radiohead's 15 Step is also in 5/4 but the downbeat will make it seem that it is a regular 4/4 song until you pay attention.
An example I really enjoy is King Crimson's Starless.
The song starts as a slow "ballad" with minor chords and a dark, moody feeling...yet there is some melancholy there. The intro portion along with the vocals are in regular 4/4 time until it climaxes and immediately retreats into the middle portion.
The middle portion is in 13/8, with only the bass providing the time and a wooden block hitting seemingly random beats. The guitar enters a little bit after with syncopated beats, repeating the same thing over and over again but dictating chord changes as time passes. The riff pretty much begins to drive the listener insane as you want something to happen, but it takes its time climaxing longer and longer until the drums start, but the riff continues even then. Eventually it all finishes when the guitar starts getting frenetic, leading to the conclusion with a fast jazz/rock fusion portion that leads to the repetition of the intro melody but sped up until it finishes.
So odd time signatures work best if done in appropriate ways (subjective opinion of course) and can be considered genius if it doesn't make itself obvious.
>>55401430
no that was actually quite eloquent and well put
thank you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-dZNzXylVE
The two guitars play int he following time signatures: 5/8 and 5/8, 5/8 and 4/4, 5/8 and 9/8, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16, 10/8 and 20/16, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16, 12/16 and 12/16, 12/16 and 11/16, 15/16 and 15/16, 15/16 and 14/16.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7S-RhlG1bk&app=desktop
Absolute madman
Why is everyone posting the half of the time signature that tells you which note equals one beat when you're not looking at the sheet music? You're just guessing. If it's above 7 beats per measure are you just assuming it would be 8th notes, and above 15 beats assuming it would be 16ths? What is the point?
>>55401583
music theory pls go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46b2oov3I7M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53QdVDAuriQ
Sufjan Stevens - The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders
11/8
>>55401335
isn't only the end actually in 26? intro and most of the verses are 4/4 just with a few dropped beats.
>>55401430
yeah, i'm not gonna lie, i wrote it the way i did because i got to the end and was a few beats off of having a prime number so i just fucked around until i got a pattern-y thing i liked and was prime.
No one in this thread has mentioned Voila, let alone any song on Niggas On The Moon
>>55401658
or any of the thousands of other pieces of music which have supposedly "weird" time signatures
what's your point
>>55401691
I'm only singling out NOT because this board has such a fetish for DG you'd think that it would have been mentioned sooner
Clipping's Story 2 is all over the fucking place. Probably my favorite song off their last album, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbU9UUwxBxA
what time signature is this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ODKKILZiYY
>>55401583
>when you're not looking at the sheet music
We have ears.
>>55401758
7/8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igJAJV-ckIk
>>55401658
>>55401725
It's nice to hear odd meter being used in Hip-hop.
Any examples in other, more "electronica" genres of electronic music (IDM, etc?). I know Venetian Snares is known for using 7/4, but I'm sure you guys could come up with examples from Aphex or Squarepusher or something.
>>55401774
Nah dude, I'd say it's in 7/4
>>55401583
Are you going to start complaining about not naming the tempo next, because "OMG, you don't know if it's quarter notes at 100 bpm, what if the sheet music was written at 400 bpm with whole notes, lol"
i cant count this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOADttGOVs4
>>55401583
>you're not looking at the sheet music
>implying transcribed versions of music is always correct
kek
>>55401725
I know! Its genius. Makes you so stressy, suits really well.
>>55401797
that would make the BPM around 250 per minute lmao
can an expert figure this one out for me? I think it changes twice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE2Vdcv9Q_o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9SPWok6CuY
heres one for all you nostalgia junkies
11/8 i think
>>55401896
Yeah, listening to it now I think you were right. I was just counting in a weird way, I guess.
>>55401583
The beat division sounds different. 7/8 and 7/4 have different sounds. Learn more about theory and listen to more music. You'll be able to identify them eventually
>>55400372
Happy the Man - Service with a Smile is in 11/8
Bill Bruford - Hell's Bells is in 19 (it might be two measures of 7/8 and a measure of 5/8, repeating; I don't know)
Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel is probably the most natural-sounding 7/4 song I know.
And Back in NYC by Genesis (one album before above) is probably the least subtle 7/4 song I know, the way it's accented.
Turn it on Again by Genesis is in 13/8, and sounds like a straight-ahead 4/4 dance beat if you're not listening closely.
>>55401797
There's a very clear 1234 123 fell in that that you typically don't have in 7/4
>>55401923
4/4
3/4
alternating 9/4 and 5/4
back to 4/4
>>55401926
I didn't know this when i was a kid holy crap
>>55401990
And Discipline by King Crimson has large sections with the percussion in 17, I believe. I have no idea how they would write it down and assign measures. Either two measures of 5/8 and a measure of 7/8, or just phrased that way within one big measure, I think.
>>55401794
Surprisingly haven't seen too much SP with strange time signatures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R9_MBfq5RM
I know his Tetra-Sync sticks in an extra measure every other group of sixteen 4/4 bars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uCyv05SG1g
MmmHmm by Flying Lotus is in 12/4. This is a flawless use of incorporating an uncommon time signature. Nice way to keep the groove moving along with minimal dead space.
