So the intro to our song is 17 beats long. 12 8th notes and 3 half notes and it repeats 3 times.

Should I write this as 3 bars of 17/8? Or one 4/4 then a 9/8 repeated 3x.

Thanks

So the intro to our song is 17 beats long. 12 8th notes and 3 half notes and it repeats 3 times.

Should I write this as 3 bars of 17/8? Or one 4/4 then a 9/8 repeated 3x.

Thanks

12 8th notes = 6 quarter notes
3 half notes = 6 quarter notes

Maybe write it in 6/4?

Wow, I messed that up...
I meant
17 beats long
12 beats = 8th notes
2 double beats = quarter notes
1 beat = 8th note.

So the total length is 17 beats, or 12 eights + 2 quarters + 1 eight

Depends on the phrasing. What's the percussion doing?

Lets see if I can get the font working. I counted it out and it looks like this on the drums:

CR:X
HH: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SN:___X________X_X_X
BD:X_X__XXX_XX

How can I get a fixed width font to work?

Um, I think your music math is a little broken. 12 beats = 8th notes? That doesn't mean anything. In what time signature? If you're in 6/8, 12 beats = 36 eighth notes. If you're in 4/4, 12 beats = 24 eighth notes. How did you determine that they're eighth notes? (and what is a double beat?)

I know you're probably talking about a metal riff that has a bunch of quick feel changes, but if you want to write it out properly you've got to know what you're talking about. Any chance you have a recorded sample you could post up?

You can write music in 17/8 if you want but it's going to be hella ugly and painful (if possible) to read.

+1 to Hunta

If I had to guess, based on the info in this thread, I'd guess that what you are calling an 8th note is really a 1/4 note - so...

it starts with 12 1/4 notes (3 measures in 4/4 time)

then 2 half notes (1 measure of 4/4) PLUS an extra 1/4 note -

making the whole thing 3 bars of 4/4 and one bar of 5/4...


or even more likely, IMHO, the last 8th note you mention really is an 8th note and there are some dotted notes in there someplace that make the rythm seem cool, but really it's 4 measure in 4/4 time (that's what happens to me every time I think I've come up with something really "odd time" - it turns out it's 4/4 and I'm counting wrong)

I agree, I have no idea what I'm doing when trying to write this out. I know how to play it but as to what it is... umm that's what I'm trying to work on. I'm working on getting a mp3 or youtube to post on here.

looking at your drum chart.
I would say that looks like 7/8, 5/4
I am trying to find a pattern on the kick drum.

hel, you can write it out a million different ways.. I always try to find somekinda repeating pattern and go from there with the math.

OK, I have uploaded it. Let me know if it works

I'd arrange it based on the different phrases or implied note groupings within the song...

After listening to the recording, I'd write it like this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/alvabass/Rhythm.jpg

On repeat, the snare hit on the second measure is played by the bass drum and the snare's last 16th notes of the third measure are played by a tom.

Nice job, Alvaro.

If I were playing it...I would think in a 4-bar phrase-
Bar of 3
Bar of 4
Bar of 5
Bar of 5

JimK that's how I think about it when playing it 3,4,5,5.

Alvaro--two questions.
Since I'm veryvery new at this why did you choose 7 5 5?
What program did you use for that?

Thanks everyone for your help.

Alvaro-- Since I'm veryvery new at this why did you choose 7 5 5?

Well, if you start counting 8th notes on a piece in 4/4 meter, there's a downbeat on the 9th eighth note (which is actually the first 8th of the next measure). But here, there's a clear downbeat on the 8th eighth note. I mean, the measure falls short of one 8th note to feel like a 4/4 measure, which has eight 8ths. So that's a 7/8 measure. After that, there are ten 8th notes. My first instinct was to write one single 5/4 measure (Which equals ten 8ths), but trying to conduct that measure as 5/4 feels very awkward, so it's better to keep the 8th note pulse that comes from the previous measure. Of course, instead of writing two 5/8 measures I could write one single 10/8 measure, but I chose the first option because the snare drum plays a downbeat on the second half (The sixth 8th note) of that 10/8 measure (I mean, I feel it that way), so I decided to split that big measure in two halves (5/8 x 2). BTW, here's the MIDI version of what I wrote (http://media.putfile.com/Rhythm-59), just for you to compare with the original. Again, this is just the way I understand it (Not sure if my explanation is clear).

What program did you use for that?

This one (http://finalemusic.com/finale/), man. I'm working with that software since 1999.

Great job Alvaro. I agree, one bar 7/8 and 2 bars 5/8 sounds correct.

If I were playing it...I would think in a 4-bar phrase-
Bar of 3
Bar of 4
Bar of 5
Bar of 5
It's difficult to explain, but this wouldn't be the right way to think about it. It may seem like you can look at it either way; 1 bar of 7 vs. 1 bar of 3 + 1 bar of 4. If you listen to it and feel the pulse, it clearly has a triplet feel. This means you must write in a compound time signature. When you listen to the phrasing and count it in groups of 3, you can tell that the phrase loops after 7 beats.

Using rhythmic solfege, you would say it like:

1-trip-let 2-trip-let 3 | 1-trip-let 2-trip | 1-trip-let 2-trip :|

The easiest way to hear this if you're having trouble (and it can be difficult if you're not used to filtering out the syncopated rhythms), is to listen to the bass line in this example. The bass is just covering the rhythmic pulse.