From eric hill Sent Fri, Dec 12th 1997, 04:43
From eric hill Sent Fri, Dec 12th 1997, 04:43
sorry to belabor this, we'll return to the opinion clashes momentarily. >"Odd" time-signatures are actually not that big-a-deal[a]. For example, >a 13/4 measure could be subdivided by the musician (whether programming >or playing live) into two 4/4 bars + one 5/4 bar. Alternatively, the >musician could break it down as three 3/4 bars + one 4/4 bar... there >are many combinations. The point is, whacky-sounding time-signatures are >in many cases the musical equivalent of "$10 words"[a].. the same can be >accomplished with fundamental 3/4 and 4/4 measures in combination. with pretty much any software sequencer the length of a loop can be set to any length. 2/4, 12/8, 37/4, whatever, it's all just a length of time that has a bunch of slots for sounds to be hooked up. you don't have to worry about subdivisions or any other rush songs, because the little cursor tells you when the beginning of the measure is coming, if you even care. >That having been said, I'm skeptical that the T-Power track in question >is 13/4. If it was, you'd be hearing 3 pretty standard d-n-b measures >(the 4/4) with an extra beat thrown in here and there (the lone 5/4), many producers spend some time looping the pattern and moving notes around until it sounds good. the idea that some producers use is to have an odd length of time with heavily broken-up rhythms, enabling them to avoid the magnetic pulse of a 4/4 loop. this pulse isn't just in four on the floor tracks, either. artists like tpower and atom heart create dizzying loops that typically destroy any downbeat-location abilities of the listener. i find this produces a parallax effect where certain sounds are foregrounded and others slip by, depending on what sounds i'm listening for and where i expect them to be next. >nothing too terribly extreme this seems to be a comment based on classical music theory and not about sequenced music descended from the dancefloor, which is about as apples and oranges as you can get when talking about music. >> Just explain one thing......what on *earth* is 13/4?? What does it >> sound like? it's like you're listening to a track and tapping your toes, and the music starts over on the wrong beat and you look over at the stereo to see if the cd is skipping. >everyone dancing kind of stumbles every 2 or 3 seconds. not if the dj is good ;) ranty the ericman