Share your FAVORITE ODD/CROOKED meters

[All_¥our_Bass]

Post your favorite odd/crooked meters and why you like them.
9/8, When I play scales in straight eighths I always like to hold the octave for an extra eighth.
11/8 and 12/8, parts of tools "Pu****" are in these signatures which have a really "off"/"not quite right" feeling to them that I enjoy.
13/8,If 7/4 wasn't akward enough, take off an eighth to make it feel like it cuts off just a little too early, my guitarist friend introduced me to this one. It's also his favorite meter.
14/8, I recently wrote a riff in 12/8 that has a variation in 14/8, didn't really plan it that way, just sorta happened.

It probably doesn't help that I'm a tool fan and have been expirimenting with polyrythms as of late.

[cowsgomoo]

I like 5/16 grouped as 2+3/16... I have no idea why.. it sounds very natural to me, almost like a heartbeat and not awkward at all

5/16 feels like the truth to me, wheras odd meters sometimes feel dishonest to me somehow... as if you're playing them as a gimmick... don't get me wrong, i've done my time as a hardcore Zappaholic playing in all kinds of meters so i'm not dissing em... but I like to hear them used to enhance a piece of music rather than just to sound clever... i.e. 'Master of Puppets' as opposed to 'Blackened'

[ElBajista]

I really enjoy Take Five's 5/4 meter.

[xolin]

Originally Posted by cowsgomoo

I like 5/16 grouped as 2+3/16... I have no idea why.. it sounds very natural to me, almost like a heartbeat and not awkward at all

5/16 feels like the truth to me, wheras odd meters sometimes feel dishonest to me somehow... as if you're playing them as a gimmick... don't get me wrong, i've done my time as a hardcore Zappaholic playing in all kinds of meters so i'm not dissing em... but I like to hear them used to enhance a piece of music rather than just to sound clever... i.e. 'Master of Puppets' as opposed to 'Blackened'

ARE YOU RIPPING BLACKENED?!!?!?! That song is better than Master IMO. "NEVEERRRRRRRR" that riff there is completely musically perfect...one of my favourite hooks in music.
But I know what you mean by "clever" like some of wooten's stuff on his Soul Circus album, .

[xolin]

Originally Posted by ElBajista

I really enjoy Take Five's 5/4 meter.

Brubecks Coming To Town in July WOOHOO!

[All_¥our_Bass]

Just for your information I don't use odd meters as a gimmick (I'm NOT syaing your accusing me of doing so), I've just been bored of hearing 4/4 all the time. Plus you actually have to think about(and count) what your playing. I'm using it as a chance to enhance my time keeping skills-and not just while playing bass. I've taken to drumming on desks and what not in odd meters and trying different groupings of notes so they feel more familar.

[*ToNeS*]

15/8 on the bass, 6/8 on the guitar. Good times! If my band ever manages to get this tight I'll be one of those happy people you see every now and again.

[Marcus]

2&3/8

[BassChuck]

You guys should check out recordings of Don Ellis big band. He died in 1979 (I think). Big band jazz, but all in odd time signatures and very smooth and swinging. (as opposed to "Take Five" which is kinda clunky IMO).

In addition to his big band work he also did the soundtrack to "The French Connection" and there is a lot of odd time work there.

Then check out Stravinsky's ballets, especially the last 2, "Petruska" and "Rite of Spring". Difficult to play, but they were written as dance music.

[Eli M.]

My favorite meter is 5 (5/8, 5/4, whatever). I've written two songs using it, and one of them incorporates some 7 also.

When I use these meters, I am always very careful to make it sound natural, so people wouldn't even notice anything is unusual. But making it sound natural comes to me very easily (examples: "Cliff Divers" and "Argentina" on my MySpace page).

It's easy for me to tell when someone is using it as a gimmick or they're new at it, or it doesn't sound right. My favorite example of this is Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Everything's Alright" (?) from Jesus Christ Superstar. It sounds wrong. Maybe it has to do with the orchestration. The same can be said for the couple of songs Sufjan Steves has done in 5. It doesn't sound like he's comfortable in 5.

One of my favorite bands, The Brothers Creeggan, does some great stuff in 7 and 5. They make it sound very natural. (I won't provide examples because I just wrote a paper on them and my brain is overloaded with their music and I can't think).

I think the key to making these meters sound natural is to de-emphasize the beat. The aforementioned bad examples are all instances when the drums clearly play on every beat and it becomes grating on the ears. Syncopation is your friend when working in these meters.

[agreatheight]

I like most odd sigs, 5/4, 7/8, especially 9/8, and when I'm really feeling tricky 15/16! Speaking of which, there are a ton of odd signatures on the new Tool, so pick that up if you want to work out your brain...

[lemur821]

5 and 7 are cool, and I like 3+3+2 a lot.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by BassChuck

You guys should check out recordings of Don Ellis big band. He died in 1979 (I think). Big band jazz, but all in odd time signatures and very smooth and swinging. (as opposed to "Take Five" which is kinda clunky IMO).

"The only thing Don Ellis plays in 4/4 is 'Take Five'"
-Charlie Haden

FWIW, I don't hear "Take Five" as clunky...at least George Benson's version of the tune.

[Special K]

For odd time signatures, I mostly enjoy working in modified 4/4. Cutting and adding beats where the music dictates. Cutting straight to the next bar can spice up the music, sort of a wake-up call, while breaking a rhythm to hold on notes for accent can sound well cool.

For straight timings, probably 9/8. You can play around with 3+3+3, 5+4 or 4+5 for some really interesting rhythms.

13 and 11 beats a bar are really good for confusing, off-kilter riffs. My band's latest work (in progress) includes a 4-bar riff in 11/8 13/8 11/8 4/4. Sounds nicely tech, when we manage to play it.

[BassChuck]

Originally Posted by JimK

"The only thing Don Ellis plays in 4/4 is 'Take Five'"
-Charlie Haden

FWIW, I don't hear "Take Five" as clunky...at least George Benson's version of the tune.

True. I meant the Brubeck version. But then, they were amoung the first to deal with 5/4 in jazz. Actually they do a better job with "Blue Rondo ala Turk".

[vic_6]

hey, im not too familiar with odd times except for songs of this band im doing some session work for and some tool.

would you guys mind putting examples of bands with those time sigs? id really like to check them out.

with my limited experience in odd times, i've been attracted to 5/4 and 7/8.

[All_¥our_Bass]

Originally Posted by vic_6

hey, im not too familiar with odd times except for songs of this band im doing some session work for and some tool.

would you guys mind putting examples of bands with those time sigs? id really like to check them out.

with my limited experience in odd times, i've been attracted to 5/4 and 7/8.

Tool's "Schism" alternates between 5/8 and 7/8 for the majority of the song.

[The BurgerMeister]

revueltas's "sensemaya" (it's classical, i know... but i feel i'm justified putting this in here... rather than in double bass) has some measures of 5 1/2/8 (i.e., "five-and-a-half eight"). wrap your head around that one!!

well it's not that hard, really.... it's another way of saying "11/16."

but that's got some of my favorite odd-meter stuff in it. along with "the rite of spring" by stravinsky.

to speak in the rock vein, though: genesis's "the battle of epping forest," among others, stands out as a fave.

[FUNKonthewall]

I like grouping odd meters with common meters to form phrases. In my band, we have a song with a verse that fluctuates between two measures of 5/8 and two measures of 6/8. We have another song with a chorus that fluctuates between two measures of 7/8 and two measures of 4/4.

If you want to give them a listen, click on "The Round Table" link in my signature. The 5/8-6/8 part is in a song called "The Bridge" and the 7/8-4/4 part is in a song we simply called "7/8". Enjoy!

[geshel]

Bass players in 9/8.

Lead players in 7+11 / 8.

It's part of the bridge section in this piece.