Alternate time signatures

[selophaine]

Anyone messing around with stuff not in 4/4? Lately i've been trying out some 12 bar loops, also tried working in 3/3 time which was craaazzzzzeeee, really hard to get it to work but one tune ended up with some awesome swing. Waltzstep. But yea, was wondering if anyone has done anything not in standard 4/4?

[duskky]

Yeah man, check this guy out: http://soundcloud.com/hurtdeer

I think he loves them alternate time signatures a bit too much if ya know what i mean...

[lojik]

I once started a track in 12/8 but never finished it. Got it sounding OK too, was alot of effort matching up loops in FL studio though because if there is a way to change time signatures, I don't know how to do it lol.

[magma]

Dubsteppy/Dancehally rhythms sound great in 3/4.

7/8 is really useful for stealing Eastern European melodies.

[s i c k b o y]

12/8 isnt really too different to 4/4...
i always pictured dubstep to kind of work in 3/4 but iv not tried it. 10/8!

[collige]

7/4 -> 4/4:
http://www.carbonlogic.co.uk/artist/col ... ident-evil
19/4:
http://www.carbonlogic.co.uk/artist/col ... ndence-day

[Sharmaji]

The tension of odd phrases against a consistent pulse of 4 is often way more interesting than just, say, a tune in 7.

Moldy had a wicked little joint in 5 or 7 a while back

That monopoly rmx of flylo's "melt" is in 5

12/8 is 4/4-- just change your grid tgo 12th notes.

In general I'm really skeptical of odd times for odd times' sake. Unless the piece is based a phrase that works best in something odd, I tend to see it as lazy and show-off-y writing--a musician's inner joke, basically.

[Grubby Gnome]

working on a tune in 11/8 at the moment..built around some crazy diminished riff and got clocks ticking over the top in 4/4 which gives it a pretty weird feel - they land on a different beat every bar until it comes back round again if you get what i mean.

havent touched it for a while but i'd like to finish it off!

[lojik]

12/8 isn't the same as 4/4.

12/8 is counted:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

You could count it as
1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4


whereas 4/4 is counted as:
1 2 3 4

or
1 and 2 and 3 and 4

12/8 is the same effect as playing triplets on the hi-hats in a 4/4 time signature but in terms of writing sheet music it definately isn't the same thing.

[lowpass]

3/3?

3 dotted quavers in a bar?

aint that just 9/16?

[Genevieve]

I don't go out of my way to use odd time signatures, I just do what sounds good. I have done 13/8 before, for example and 7/4, but meh. I don't really care what time sig my music is in.

Generally, though, 7/4 grooves much better and more naturally than 4/4 does.

[s i c k b o y]

12/8 isn't the same as 4/4.

12/8 is counted:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

You could count it as
1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4


whereas 4/4 is counted as:
1 2 3 4

or
1 and 2 and 3 and 4

12/8 is the same effect as playing triplets on the hi-hats in a 4/4 time signature but in terms of writing sheet music it definately isn't the same thing.

I only think of a difference when writing a rhythm or a score, when playing in 12/8 it isnt much different as you can count 4/4 as:

1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a

The swing is the main difference in 12/8 (aside from sheet music), but i dont know why 12/8 would be much use for dubstep compositions... I havent used it in much else other than bluesy stuff

[Sharmaji]

if we want to get ants-in-the-pants about it, yes, 12/8 and 4/4 are written differently.

if we want to be practical--and even regarding sheet music for the working musician, á la fake books, broadway scores and the like-- if something's meant to be in 12/8, it's usually notated as 4/4 "with triplet feel" or the good ol' quarter note = dotted quarter note notation up top.

why?

cuz you're still counting 1, 2, 3,4 to the bar.

[slothrop]

In general I'm really skeptical of odd times for odd times' sake. Unless the piece is based a phrase that works best in something odd, I tend to see it as lazy and show-off-y writing--a musician's inner joke, basically.

Agree. There's a word for that - it's got three letters, begins with 'I' and ends with Warp signing Maximo Park...

[Sharmaji]

hey, i like MP! at least, the ones that don't break into some jazzhands, broadway-style romper.

[3rdeye]

I've recently finished a remix for a band called The Bird that's got an 11/4 section in it... a bit mind-melting to sequence in places but it was heaps of fun. The original was in 11/4 so I kicked the remix off in 4/4 before switching to 11/4 for the breakdown/2nd drop. I'm a massive Meshuggah and Dillinger Escape Plan fan so have always wanted to get into some crazy time sig stuff with my electronic productions

[abZ]

Meh.

[ahier]

not hugely worth it for dance music productions cos its gonna be difficult for a DJ to fit in with the rest of his tracks, which are generally 4/4

[stappard]

Anyone messing around with stuff not in 4/4? Lately i've been trying out some 12 bar loops, also tried working in 3/3 time which was craaazzzzzeeee, really hard to get it to work but one tune ended up with some awesome swing. Waltzstep. But yea, was wondering if anyone has done anything not in standard 4/4?

surely 3/3 time doesnt exist?

[collige]

Anyone messing around with stuff not in 4/4? Lately i've been trying out some 12 bar loops, also tried working in 3/3 time which was craaazzzzzeeee, really hard to get it to work but one tune ended up with some awesome swing. Waltzstep. But yea, was wondering if anyone has done anything not in standard 4/4?

surely 3/3 time doesnt exist?

Any time signature can exist. Whether it's used by anyone on a regular basis is another matter entirely. I assume he was talking about 3/4