To throw in something less "theoretical", I remember having heard 7/8 frequently in german traditional folk music called "zwiefacher". This can be roughly described as a mix of waltz and polka, i.e. beat 1,2,3 like a waltz, then 4,5,6,7 like a polka. There is a similar named dance too. Maybe this is one easier way getting used to that.
Other than that jazz seems to have limitless sources of polyrhythmical content you might borrow some ideas?
7/8 Timing Composition Tips?
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- KVRist
- 43 posts since 11 Nov, 2007 from Auckland, New Zealand
Listen to Bulgarian village (bitov) music or some Turkish folk or art music. Plenty of odd meters there (dance music, too!) When I was learning Bulgarian gajda, my teacher told me that she learned meters like 7/8, 11/8 and so forth by doing the traditional village dances and getting the rhythm into her body.kajiotaku wrote:All I wanted to know was how to start using 7/8 timing because it sounded neat and I wanted to expand my horizons and experiment. What's with all the arguing and such?
I want to try a new way of thinking. There's nothing wrong with that.
Because I now have a lot of these rhythms in my body memory, choosing to compose in a meter like 7/8 is not an intellectual process as much as just "picking a rhythm (or set of rhythms) that I know based on what kind of pulse I'm going for". But that's just me.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 326 posts since 12 Sep, 2008 from Trappe MD
Will do.Lazos wrote: Listen to Bulgarian village (bitov) music or some Turkish folk or art music.
GENERATION 30: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.
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- KVRer
- 19 posts since 9 Aug, 2010
A cool song to check out is Behaving Badly by Animals as Leaders (amazing progressive band!!). The first guitar riff in the song is in 7/8 and its really quick and precise. Another cool odd time signature in 7 is Money by Pink Floyd, although its in 7/4 and not 7/8.
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- Banned
- 12367 posts since 30 Apr, 2002 from i might peeramid
if you archived a copy of my dc09 entry, 'new blend,' it will create music in odd time signatures (until it crashes, which isn't always straight away..). algorithmic techniques are one way of auditioning something until you start to develop a vocabulary.
confirming one of the earliest posts.. using tals (various names) or joining short phrases together is useful, eg. "take five" is 3 + 2. nice to hear of sigs being explored in other genres.
confirming one of the earliest posts.. using tals (various names) or joining short phrases together is useful, eg. "take five" is 3 + 2. nice to hear of sigs being explored in other genres.
you come and go, you come and go. amitabha neither a follower nor a leader be tagore "where roads are made i lose my way" where there is certainty, consideration is absent.
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- KVRAF
- 26033 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
Yeah, in Indian music tala is always thought of as 2s and 3s summing to a whole.
Another thing is to think of one of the 8ths as half of a quarter; 4 1/2 quarters = 9/8, or say 3/4 + 3/8.
Here's one which is very cool: take 12 (a function of duple or triple meter, or both simultaneously*) and divide it assymetrically, 7+5 or vice versa.
Set it up with the implicit *hemiola: 1 2 3 1 2 3, 1 2 1 2 1 2.
Now: 1 2 3 1 2, 1 2 1 2 1 2 3.
That's an African concept... someone else in the choir can do 4 3s against it and it feels like a syncope.
Another thing is to think of one of the 8ths as half of a quarter; 4 1/2 quarters = 9/8, or say 3/4 + 3/8.
Here's one which is very cool: take 12 (a function of duple or triple meter, or both simultaneously*) and divide it assymetrically, 7+5 or vice versa.
Set it up with the implicit *hemiola: 1 2 3 1 2 3, 1 2 1 2 1 2.
Now: 1 2 3 1 2, 1 2 1 2 1 2 3.
That's an African concept... someone else in the choir can do 4 3s against it and it feels like a syncope.
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- KVRer
- 26 posts since 15 Feb, 2005
I played in a little group a while ago, with a guy into greek and balkan music, which tend to use odd metres frequently.
Just by listening and playing existing songs in those metres in the end they became so familiar that when I was creating my own pieces I came up with things in 7/8 and one time even 13/8 (subdivision: 123 123 123 12 12). I'll try to give you some sound examples of those ASAP.
So my advise would be: listen to a lot of tracks in odd metres, try to learn to play them, and once you got the feeling for metre: just go ahead and do your own thing with it.
Just by listening and playing existing songs in those metres in the end they became so familiar that when I was creating my own pieces I came up with things in 7/8 and one time even 13/8 (subdivision: 123 123 123 12 12). I'll try to give you some sound examples of those ASAP.
So my advise would be: listen to a lot of tracks in odd metres, try to learn to play them, and once you got the feeling for metre: just go ahead and do your own thing with it.