The relationship between rhythm and melody, and figuring out the rhythm of a melody

[jancivil]

Ok, the bass line. The lowest note in it, and the highest note in it mark the ONE of 4 beats. Equally, I can feel it the 6/4 way.
But the first impression I had was 4 beats. The 4 feel really swings. I think this is the more jazz perspective, ie., triplets aren't marked, everything is swung but not precisely in measured triplets, it's looser. Funny, I like his music quite a lot, I'm sure I would not enjoy talking with him. Some people...

Looking at the African percussion page, it gets into that in myriad ways. You can focus on a part and then another part and get two perspectives on it. Also talks about proximity and psychoacoustics a bit.

Funnily enough the musicological aspect of the investigation, one person was asked if he or she had tried to get the 'acculturated' perspective of a particular cross-rhythm and they hadn't. Another said it doesn't matter, you just do it.

[IncarnateX]

Ok, the bass line. The lowest note in it, and the highest note in it mark the ONE of 4 beats. Equally, I can feel it the 6/4 way.

Yes, and when you first hear the bassline, you are prone to count in 4 like me, taking it's 1 and 4 (out of 6) and imply triplets (to be expected from white degenerates). However, when the rhythm kicks in, the feeling is meant to change to 6. It works for me to the extent that his tom is saying "this is one" and then the shakers go "yeah, but lets have a little accent on 4 too." Then you could go: "Hey, Rahim, haven't we just made our 12 into triplets?" and he would probably say: "Is that so, massa? Who is in charge of one here? Do your hear me banging my tom at four to imply that this is one?" And well, he would be right to that extent. Case is there are just two figures to be avoided here, one is a 4/4 feel with subdiv of 16, well that one is easy to avoid and may only appear in subdiv variations if at any point at all. The other is simply the Waltz: Bom-ba-da bom-ba-da.

BTW: It is not his own music but covers all along and he has some rare ones. Love Khalahari myself. Some rewritten from triple notations into 6 or 12. Other tunes are in 4/4 with subdiv 16 and played as such, so he cannot take all his favs into his 6 or 12 thing. But then he tends to make these pushings instead and call that a feeling of 12, and at that point, he would have lost us.

Maybe a meeting between the two of you would not be that uncomfortable efter all. He was stubborn but a very nice, happy and funny person apart from that. I liked him a lot and I still own him big time for teaching my white A some of these ahem…"African secrets"..sure..whatever...can we play now?

[jancivil]

Well, it's quite a good groove. 6 vs 4 here is rather academic, it still reminds me of the academic for whom 12/8 is never not 4 beats, 6/8 never not 2, and America fitting the argument having been arranged changing the signature from 6/8 to 3/4 and back throughout.