Bizarre Time Sigs

Hmm...

Van Der Graaf Generator's "Man-Erg" has a section in 11/4 (or 11/8). Anyway, there's 11 beats per measure. On the same album (Pawn Hearts), they use 10/4 (or 10/8 -- again, I haven't figured out how to use the bottom digit yet) in the "Clot Thickens" part of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". Also, I'm pretty sure that "Kosmos Tours" is in some weird signature, but I haven't figured it out yet. Van Der Graaf also used some 9/8 on "Sleepwalkers" from "Godbluff", I think.

65/64, it's got to be.

I put together something in 13/4 on the bass by doing two riffs in 4/4 followed by one in 5/4, and it actually sounds fairly natural. You can do the same with 11/4 by doing two in 4/4 then one in 3/4. The weirdest one I've done is 19/4 by doing a simple measure of 10/4 followed by 9/4. Okay, so I'm not so sure about the "/4s" here, but since I wrote it, hey, it's whatever I say.

Crimson Prince wrote: Rush used 13/4, 4/4, 12/8, and 5/4 in the song Freewill. 13/4 must be the oddest I've ever seen...or want to see!

Beat me to it!

Dave Brubeck was fond of odd time sigs... 5/4 in the classic "take five", 7/4 in "unsquare dance" and 9/8 in "blue rondo a la turk".... but if you're just talking prog then ignore him.

Time signatures are lovely...

Too bad I'm lacking in the english terminology of the field, but I'll try my best to write something comprehensible...


IMO, time signatures themselves cannot be "complex" or "simple". They are simply an instrument of notation (and, when it comes to it, also a means to learn a piece by heart for the musicians...).
This means that the weirdest rhytmic elements aren't necessarily played in the "weirdest" time signature. Sometimes the weirdest rhytmic idea has to be presented via some other instrument of notation than the time signature - just to make sure that the musicians understand what is meant...
An example:

First measure: an "ordinary" 4/4, (8 x 8th note)
Second Measure: again 4/4, each beat divided into triplets (12 x "8th note" when written, where an 8th note really is a 12th note)
Third measure: 7/8 - the last 8th is "missing"
Fourth measure: 11/12... a third note of a triplet is "missing", creating a  rather wild rhythm (especially if the tempo of the piece is high enough).
 
Now, theoretically, I have thought of carrying the rhytmic structure a bit further to the abnormal by adding an 8th note (a real 8th note and not the 12th note) to the 11/12 measure. That would constitute a measure with a time signature of 25/24, but it would probably be too damn hard to play for any band...

Speaking of funny rhythmic elements, I once demanded a drummer to play three beats with his feet while doing seven beats with his hands... It took him a couple of months to get the "beat" going, and when he came to me saying that he finally got it (not that he would have played it nice and easy or anything), I couldn't remember why I wanted such a rhythm in the first place...

Classical (or preferably, modern) music has used such rhytmic changes (from straight beats into triplet beats) for centuries, but those changes have traditionally been long (or longer) lasting than one or two measures and therefore it has made more sense to use a tempo change in the notation instead of a time signature change.

Cheers

-Beau

in the last 2 minutes of "Home" from Dream Theater's "Scenes From A Memory" They jam in a time sig Mike P explains as a 19/16 or 4/4 with 3 extra beats added between each measure.. HUH?

 

I've never studied time signatures. I need to start.

Thought maybe I'd resurrect this old one and see if anyone can shed some new light.

goose wrote: I don't think anyone's going to top 65/64!

Who played in 65/64?

Anything with a first number divisible by three is just compound time (dotted note as the beat value) and is pretty straightforward, but you guys are coming up with some pretty weird signatures here- did you make them up?