Unusual time signatures?

swilow

swilow

Sr. Moderator: AADD, CE&P, TD
Staff member
Joined
Mar 9, 2005
Messages
33,323
What are some of your non 4/4-3/4 etc. time signature tunes? Whatever genre works, let's hear it!

To kick start things, here's some Tool. My mind is too weary to try and work it out.

 
Totally awesome clever progressive rock/metal from Sweden's Pain of Salvation. Don't know what's happening here.

 



The verses are in 4/4 time (with the Am/C intro to each verse starting on the second beat of a bar). The introduction and instrumental bridge passages use more complex time signatures. The introduction is 2 bars of 6/4, 2 bars of 4/4, 1 bar of 5/4, 2 bars of 6/4 and 4 bars of 4/4. The riff played in unison by guitar and bass after "float like a feather" is in 11/8. And at the end of that instrumental section, there is an odd bar of 3/8 thrown in in the middle of several bars of 4/4.
 
I'm not well schooled on these things, but the song 5/4 on the first Gorillaz album sounds like the guitar is in 5/4 time but the drums in 4/4. May be wrong. Or is that not all that unusual?

The River by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard goes through a few different times at different stages through the song I believe. Good track if you haven't heard it. I imagine it's how Take Five would have sounded if Dave Brubeck had an acquired taste for peyote.



A lot of John Frusciante's solo stuff shifts rapidly between styles and time signatures. Bit of a wildcard, but he's put out some good stuff.
 
Last edited:
Not sure if it's time signature or what, but this is a pretty good example of the kind of calculated randomness this dude comes out with.
 
Can't say I have. Is that something you did? Either way it made me think of the "noise" genre which pretty much is void of time signatures.





Whether you actually call any of that music is subjective.
 
American Football's Never Meant from their self-titled album

It uses a 4:3 polyrhythm. American Football is considered one of the prototypical bands of the math rock genre — a genre known to make use of unusual time signatures.

 
Vsnares are cool but lets try to keep this thread non-electronic. :)
 
No but there is a sub forum called Electronic Music Discussion. Why not start such a topic ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top