Exactly. Quite difficult to say and define, since it's open to interpretation.

Freewill by Rush is much the same way. Are we supposed to count it as two measures of 6/4 and 7/4 respectively, or do we count it as one big 13/4 motif? I personally choose the latter, but I can see how people split it up as well 

Listen to any of SONAR (Switzerland) or Stephan Thelen. It's all polyrhymic and odd time signatures to the max.

Here is the drum pattern of Orbit 5.7 taken from the liner notes of the album Black Light. The Kick & Snare appear to be 5/8, while Hi Hat is 7/8. Oddly, the measures appear to be divided into 10 notes, not 8, so does that make it 5/10 and 7/10?

https://youtu.be/ygql3Gwb8pI" rel="nofollow - https://youtu.be/ygql3Gwb8pI

A friend of mine counted out part of the instrumental for Hunting Girl as 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4, which makes it 10/8.

i remember seeing sheet music for Birds of Fire and one song was presented in 15/16 time.

Some Weather Report pieces do not list any time signature or even key. Talk about free jazz!

Wouldn't a more unique thread involve those rare prog rock songs in 4/4?

Weirdo timesigs remains one of the more critical stylistic markers of prog?

Hi,

Agreed.

The tough thing, though is thinking about something else ... take two or three children and let them bang on something or whatever, and you will find that their "timing" is all over the place, and they explore the sound and the feel of what they are doing.

In many ways, we have stopped that "feeling" and replaced it with a mechanical process, that supposedly defines "music" ... and it reminds me of folks when I was at UCSB in the early 80's ... the folks in the musician department thought that making music was about changing a few notes here and there ... and they could not actually "feel it" or have what I thought would be a good idea of what it did or did not do ... and for my ears, it made for a lot of empty music ... hard to even call that music in my book, but we have to give them 2 inches of effort!

Time signatures, in my book, is something that rock music requires, because the majority of folks playing it can only count, and not play ... and this is the main reason why the book by Robert Wyatt is so valuable ... and to this day ... no one understands the joke about Syd Barrett ... when in the studio one guy turns to Robert and asks what key is he in? And Robert replies ... he don't know no chords or notes ... he just plays!

We still think he wasn't a great musician in his small amount of time ... and that the exploding loud guitar folks were better ... musically, I don't think they were ... simply because the most important factor that creates music is not there! The mental aspect yes, but the rest, for me, is not!

The one that comes to mind, and that I've checked a few times, is Watcher of the Skies.

The exquisite 6/4 at the beginning..

But the odder (polyrhythm) 8/4 over the 6/4 mellotron at the end, starting at 6:20..

From Wikipedia:

Another one I remembered was Doug's (from Daily Doug Reaction videos from this http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=126201&KW=doug&PN=1" rel="nofollow - thread ) take on 'Machine Messiah' (live), where, starting at 9:58, there's a section where, apparently, there's no (discernible) time signature..  here's my http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=126201&PID=5963632#5963632" rel="nofollow - post and here's the vid:

Yeah love this

If you're having trouble figuring out time signatures, try counting along with your fingers or tapping along with your feet. If you tap your foot every half measure like it's 4/4 but it's in 7/4, you'll probably correct yourself naturally because it doesn't feel right.

Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard is a great 'my first weird time-signatures' album. It's a very driving album with a steady beat, making it easy to follow, but with all kinds of time signatures, some easy to understand (e.g. whenever the title phrase is sung = 7 beats), some more difficult (e.g., the verses of Big Fig Wasp, or Road Train). There's some really fun parts, like how Mr. Beat is mainly 3x 7/4, and then 1x 8/4 over and over.

I found an online score of this here:  https://opensheets.org/sheet-music/machine-messiah/4723.html" rel="nofollow - https://opensheets.org/sheet-music/machine-messiah/4723.html

If this score is accurate (I only have rudimentary score reading skills), it's going from 9/8 to 7/8 to 12/8 to 15/8 and then repeating that again. Honestly, it's going too fast for me to count it to confirm it (I have a slow brain today). Maybe someone with better ears can confirm what's going on in that section?

^ Hey, thanks for that!

This morning I was relistening, and indeed was able to spot the 9/8..  (I wonder if the "9" makes it especially elusive.., because it is fairly clear for me now).

But beyond that, let's say the 2nd. part of the same section I got lost. So thanks!

(Still.. imo, the section achieves at seeming to have an ethereal or atemporal quality nonetheless).

If you're looking for more 5/4 stuff

I could've SWORN Tubular Bells PT. 1 started in 15/16

Dün's sole album was "Eros" (1981). The album was inspired by an idea from the Dune series by Frank Herbert, and it is widely considered a masterpiece of French progressive rock. My favourite song, "Bitonio," begins with an xylophone-accented odd time signature and a build-up before launching into its primary piano riff and continuing to expand from there. The song transitions from the main riff to a brief ambient-like part and back again, with amazing flute and guitar performances by the band members Vandenbulcke and Geeraerts completing the picture.

Also Caravan gives plenty even on "The Land of Grey and Pink" for instance.

"King Crimson is the only band, that is able to play in 17/8 and still live in expensive hotels" Bill Bruford :).

I can not say that I have ever listened to any music for some music this or that ... these "mechanics" are great for teaching things some, but I think that when it comes to handling and trying to tell someone it is this or that, I think it is a problem. 

Having been around many writers, and musicians, a lot of them talk about what, and how, they see the inside, and some were even good enough to kinda describe it as if it were some kind of a movie ... and then one day Daevid said ... let them find the time signatures in the wind! 

In the end, I find that a lot of these details are, often, a matter of comfort and simply trying to do something or other, or in some cases a "mistake" ... but if you are a theatrical type of person and have enough experience with things, "mistakes" are never mistakes ... they usually are a doorway to something else, perhaps new parts for something else.

I tend to turn off material that comes off like ... showing off the signature changes ... as if it were some kind of outstanding musical ability ... which I'm not sure is the case, and it could have happened because someone accidentally dropped a note here or there, and the engineer said ... actually it sounds better than way!

I trust the instinctive design of things, but the mechanical style of a lot of things mentioned here is something that I can not seem to enjoy a whole lot. A good example, is Frank Zappa ... I never really thought about a time signature ... it's just great music, regardless.

"Slike" (English: "Images") is a brilliant and unique heavy-prog album by Croatian band Grupa 220, released in 1975. They were a keyboard-less band; however, there is some really nice twin-guitar progressive music. With these continuously layered vocals right next to it, the bass sounds thick and lush at the same time. The way the Croatian drummer Ivan Stančić rides the hi-hat is so contagious that his drumming is incredible.

The album's best moments, such as the instrumental passages on the title track, are full of odd-time signatures.