damn odd time signatures!

[the second eye]

anyone now a good book that i could buy on odd time signatures or something, i heard bands like dream theater and planet x use them all the time and i want to get it to odd time signatures instead of 4/4 all the time. mmm help

[darren wilson]

All you have to do is have some imagination and get the whole band to count.

My band once did a PJ Harvey cover that was mostly in 11/8. It was tough to learn, but once you settled into the groove of it, it was a lot of fun.

[Artist]

Although you don't have to stick to them, a lot of odd time signatures have phrasings that are commonplace, this would make is useful to do a bit of reading into these time signatures, rather than just making them up.

For example, ( the first three are normal so you get the idea)

4/4 is
1 2 3 4

3/4 is
1 2 3

6/8 is
1 2 3 4 5 6

7/8 is
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

10/8 is
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(think mission impossible, Duh-2-3 Duh-2-3 Duh-2 Duh-2)[/b]

These are the more traditional classical phrasing for these time signatures

[the second eye]

thanks , that kind of helps, i think
i'm gonna have to see if i can find some books and read up on it,
i was looking on some drummer website and they cover a lot of this stuff

[Fink Floyd]

Odd time signatures can seriously mess with your head when you first come across them, but the only reason for that is that it's unusual and your ear perceives it as such. If you get used to it by listening a lot, you'll find them easier to play.

Check out this band called Ten Men Wide here - they do a lot of very odd time signatures. There's soundclips on the site.

[the second eye]

yeah thats the stuff i'm talking about, I think it starts out in 4/4 and then goes into 3/3 correct me if i'm wrong , it sounds very cool and the guitarist sherds it on the solo

[Drew]

With your name, I'm guessing you're a bit of a Tool fan? Keep listening to their stuff, it'll eventually begin to sound "normal." try counting along, trying to work out the time sigs.

I came very close to buying "Aenima" back when I was in my big punk rock/grunge phase, based on the strength of "Forty-six and 2." I'm still kicking myself for not doing so- my sense of groove would be waaaay different than it is now, had i started getting used to their rhythmic sense back then.

Listen to the stuff until it sounds normal, basically.

-D

[.Matt.]

If you have Power Tabs, here's a good 5/4 workout: http://powertabs.net/pta.php?page=song,10307

If your like MuDvAyNe, learn some of their stuff. They have loads of odd time sigs. They've even dubbed themselves "Math Metal"

[Drew]

Calling Mudvayne "math metal" is kidna a stretch... theyre fairly complex compared to most nu-metal, and i dig their vocalist's voice,s o don't get me wrong here, I'm not bashing them... but I'd say Meshuggah and their ilk have a slightly better claim to that name...

Worth looking into, for my absolute favorite use of compound time signatures/polyrhythms in the world- OSI's title track on their self-titled debut. It starts off in 7/8, then Portnoy drops out and the bass and synth riff away in 7 for a few bars, before Portnoy re-enters in 8/8, and the bass/keys continues in a 7/8 polyrhtyhm over the top, so they all fall on the one every 8 measures. SO cool.

-D

[Kemono]

Polyrhythms - The Musician's Guide
by Peter Magadini

[the second eye]

cool thanks dudes, where can i buy that book that KEMONO mentioned?

[Tubarão Guitars]

Originally Posted by Drew

Calling Mudvayne "math metal" is kidna a stretch... theyre fairly complex compared to most nu-metal, and i dig their vocalist's voice,s o don't get me wrong here, I'm not bashing them... but I'd say Meshuggah and their ilk have a slightly better claim to that name...
-D

DITTO!!!!!!!!
Tubarão

[.Matt.]

Tell that to Gregg Tribbett and Ryan Martinie. The coined the phrase.

[Drew]

Originally Posted by .Matt.

Tell that to Gregg Tribbett and Ryan Martinie. The coined the phrase.

So? Our Fearless Leader coined the phrase "compassionate conservative..."

-D