Odd Time Signatures

Check this out

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_in_irregular_time_signatures

Asyte2c00 wrote: Check this out   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_in_irregular_time_signatures

OpethGuitarist wrote: Hierophant wrote: Most of what I heard from Meshuggah is in 4/4 with way over the top syncopation One thing I can't stand is bands using time signatures with little or no melodic development and just tastelessly pounding out the time signature almost as if to say "hey look we're playing in 7/8!", anyone can add or take away an eighth note or two, the real skill comes in actually feeling the time signature and playing comfortably. The musical phrasings should dictate what type of rhythms should be used, not the other way around - it's no wonder that many bands wind up sounding like droning machines rather than actually conveying musical ideas. I'm not refering to any band in particular here, but it seems to be like some sort of trend - to grind out those weird time signatures without the music to back it up. If you are referring to Meshuggah with that statement, I'd like to ask since when has Meshuggah been about melody. Meshuggah is a band not concerned with melody. The lack of melody is the cornersone for their intriguing sound.

You guys are all too simple. check out some of John McLaughlin`s stuff in 11/8 in wierd keys.

Wild time signatures are cool... sometimes fun to play, but it can also be f**king hard to play.

One of the more interesting time signatures I`ve heard lately is Sieges Even.  Sometimes it seems they use Pascal or Fibonacci series, rather than arithmetic bar counts, changing rythm form one bar to the next (hmmm... sounds like my college days ?) 

I've gotten to where I do 5/4 and 7/8 as naturally as 4/4 (as in I'll just be siting there tapping my feet mindlessly, and then in retrospect realize it was in 7), but I like to think I've grown out of using odd time sigs just for their own sake. I mean, really. It's really quite arbitrary at some points, but others, it can be entirely necessary and cool. But especially when someone forces a song into a predetermined meter, it just sounds...forced. Like Apocalypse in 9/8. Boo. It's just such a good setup, and then...bum bum BUM bum BOM bum bum bum BUM!!!! I mean, come on. It's a bit sad really; it's like the later works of the Residents. Idea first, music second. Doesn't stand up (I feel the same way about 'neo-prog'). That said, I love odd time signatures when used appropriately. For me, 7/8's crowning moment is Soft Machine's b-side suite on "Volume Two" ("Pig", "Orange Skin Food", "A Door Opens and Closes", "10:30 Returns to the Bedroom"), and of course "As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still". In fact, now that I think about it, most of that album is in 7! Let's see, uh..., "A Pataphysical Introduction" (Pts. I and II), "Hibou, Anenome, and Bear", the first bit of "Thank You Pierrot Lumiere"...all in 7/8! Then there's "Out of Tunes" in 5, but that's beside the point... anyway, what was I talking about again? Oh well.

Vibrationbaby wrote: You guys are all too simple. check out some of John McLaughlin`s stuff in 11/8 in wierd keys.

    

Grow up

The weirdest time signature I've ever heard isn't even in prog.  It's on Don Ellis's big band record, Live at Monterey.  It's in 19/4, and the title of the tune says how to divide each measure: 33 222 1 222.  There's like 3 bassists bowing the main bassline on their acoustic basses, and two drummers.  And the horns actually solo in this time signature.  And it's live.  Wow.

I love the use of extreme odd time signatures in my songs. Our band has lots of changing time signatures in each song, some are like 19/16 and so on but it is a pleasure to play such stuff and it sounds very good in my opinion...