2019-07-01_Computer_Music

Thetimesignatureofa pieceofmusicisa

pairofnumberswrittenatthestartofthe

stavewhennotated,orsomewhereinornear

thetransportsectionofyourDAW,that

determinethenumberofbeatsinthebar(the

firstortopnumber)andthevalueofthose

beats(thebottomnumber).Therhythmic

feelofa trackthatresultsfromitstime

signatureiscalledits‘meter’.

4/4– alsoknowascommontime– isvery

muchthestandardtimesignatureinwestern

music,andwhenthetopnumberisn’tdivisible

by2 – 3,7, 9,etc– thetimesignatureisgenerally

referredtoas‘odd’.

Oddmetersdon’tcropupveryofteninmost

moderngenres,butforsomeclassicexamples,

you’ddowelltocheckoutDaveBrubeck’s

seminalTakeFive(in5/4)andBlondie’sHeartof

Glass(abarof3/4replacingtheotherwise

persistent4/4inthesectionafterthechorus).

Thesedays,they’relargelythepreserveof

progressiverock,wherethey’reusedtobrain-

teasingeffect,pushingthetechnicalprowessof

thedrummerandotherplayerstotheirlimits.

Nonetheless,fortheadventurouselectronic

producer,oddtimesignaturesandmeters

presenta uniquecreativeopportunity,albeit

onethatcanbetoughtorealiseeffectivelydue

totherigidlyfour-squarenatureofdancemusic.

Here’sa crashcourse...

Having

previously

servedasEditor

ofdrummer’s

bibleRhythmas

wellas

Computer

Music, Ronanis

clearlytheright

manforthis

particulargig.He’sbeenplayingdrums

forover 30 yearsandmakingmusic

withcomputerssincethe90s.

Ronan Macdonald

withRonanMacdonald

>Stepbystep

ExperimentingwithtimesignaturesinyourDAW

Here’sourstartingpointgroove:a

straightforward4/4beat.Sothat’sfour

(thetopnumberinthetimesignature)

quarter-notesorcrotchets(thebottom

number)inthebar.Thisisthecoreofthe

vastmajorityofwesternpop,rockand

dancemusic.

1

Let’sbeginourexplorationofodd

timesignaturesandmeterswiththe

mostubiquitous:3/4.Settingtheproject’s

timesignatureto3/4andremovingthe

lastbeatfrommy4/4patterntransformsit

toa waltz,witha snarehitinthemiddleof

thebar.Alternatively,I canputthesnare

onbeat3 instead,orbeats2 and3.

2

3/4isn’thugelyusefulindanceand

electronicmusic,asit tendstosound

quitearchaic,butitsdouble-time

equivalent,6/8– sixeighth-notesor

quaverstothebar– certainlycanbewhen

you’reaftera triplet-based,or– withbeats

2 and5 droppedfromthehi-hats–

shuffledrhythm.

3

Let’sgetfreakierwith5/4.Addinga

beattomy4/4originalmakesit sound

verydifferent,throwingthewholerhythm

offbeamandpresentinga serious

challengeintermsofdanceability.This

maybebestsavedforveryoccasionaluse

asa twistattheendofa long4/4section,

orformore‘cerebral’tracks.

4

Howabout7/8,whichtakeshalfa beat

offthestandard4/4– ie,seveneighth-

notesinthebarratherthaneight?While

5/4dragsthebaroutandcomesacrossas

lazyinitswonkiness,7/8feelsmore

urgentandimpatient,duetothe

downbeat(beat1) comingarounda little

soonerthanexpected.

5

Keepraisingthetimesignature’stop

numberforlongerbarlengths(try9/4,

11/4oreven13/4!),anddoublingthe

bottomnumberbeyond8 forhigher-

‘resolution’meterchanges.Addingor

droppinga 16th-notefrom4/4– aka16/16–

forexample,yieldsanotherstyleof

temporalupsetaltogether.

6

TUTORIAL

FILES

Dr Beat

NEXT MONTH Filtering drums

Exploring odd time signatures

Break out of 4/4 and surprise your audience – for better or worse!

#57

74 / COMPUTER MUSIC / July 2019

Seeit invideoandgetthe

tutorialfilesonyourPC/Macat

filesilo.co.uk/computermusic

DOWNLOAD