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How am I supposed to count this?

Frank77

Frank77

May 2, 2011
2,557
5,500
Montréal, Canada
#1
Ok, so recently I discovered this really cool band named Butcher Brown, and one of the bands I play in wants to learn this tune. I figured the notes to the bass line in a matter of minutes, but the timing is very tricky to me.

I figure there's got to be a time signature change for one bar somewhere in the "A" section, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. Can anyone help me figure this out?

Thanks!

 
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#9
Frank77 said:
No, I'm talking about the "main" riff, the one that starts around 8 seconds in. For some reason I have a hard time feeling the length of the pause.
Click to expand...
That section that runs from about 0:08 to 0:25 feels like eight bars of 4/4 to me. There is a bit of a hang at the end of bar 8, but it counts as 4/4 to me. I could be wrong, but it's just a loose feel to a 4/4 rhythm.
 
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#10
silky smoove said:
That section that runs from about 0:08 to 0:25 feels like eight bars of 4/4 to me. There is a bit of a hang at the end of bar 8, but it counts as 4/4 to me. I could be wrong, but it's just a loose feel to a 4/4 rhythm.
Click to expand...

You're probably right: Counting in fours I always land back on the "1" at the beginning of each 2-bar sequence of that riff. What the drums are doing is probably what's messing with my head!
 
#11
Ha! While I'm not certain on the proper time signature (I do think that 4/4 is correct), but if it were me trying to work it out, when I listen I hear the one and then five up beats followed by four counts of free time, almost half time.

So...

one and and and and and

one... two... three... four...

one and and and and and

one... two... three... four...

Some times they seem to really be cutting that last "four" short though, at least as far as my brain is processing it.

:laugh: I'm sorry that's probably useless!
 
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#12
Kro said:
Ha! While I'm not certain on the proper time signature (I do think that 4/4 is correct), but if it were me trying to work it out, when I listen I hear the one and then five up beats followed by four counts of free time, almost half time.

So...

one and and and and and

one... two... three... four...

one and and and and and

one... two... three... four...

Some times they seem to really be cutting that last "four" short though, at least as far as my brain is processing it.

:laugh: I'm sorry that's probably useless!
Click to expand...

I was able to get it down, finally! Oddly enough the "B" part (3 bars of 4/4 + 1 bar of 5/4) is no problem at all to me (I guess the drums get back in sync with what everybody else is doing at that point of the tune, so it feels more natural), it's the "A" part (which is 4/4) that was the issue for me. If I tap my foot and ignore what the kick drum is doing, I get it right. I'll play it some more during the weekend and I probably won't have to think about it anymore...but yeah, that drum pattern (which sounds super cool) really made things difficult for me.
 
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#13
JimK said:
Checking these guys out on Amazon Prime...pretty cool stuff. Google them and...

They're outta Richmond, VA?!?!
I am officially out-of-the-loop.
Click to expand...

I went to see them at the jazz festival here in Montréal last week and they absolutely killed it! I bought their albums the next day. There's a clear Herbie Hancock (from the "Headhunters" period) influence and even some occasionnal Zappa weirdness in some of their tunes. They also have an afrobeat album they did as a tribute to Fela Kuti. If you get a chance to catch one of their shows, I highly recommend it!

:thumbsup:
 
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#14
Frank77 said:
...it's the "A" part (which is 4/4) that was the issue for me. If I tap my foot and ignore what the kick drum is doing, I get it right. I'll play it some more during the weekend and I probably won't have to think about it anymore...but yeah, that drum pattern (which sounds super cool) really made things difficult for me.
Click to expand...
I agree & would only add that the drums on that section are playing everything but 'the time'. ;)
I have played with guys like that...hard & a challenge (since most of my adult life was in R&B-type bands (1 & 3/2 & 4)...ya gotta count, no mater what!
:)
 
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#15
Frank77 said:
I was able to get it down, finally! Oddly enough the "B" part (3 bars of 4/4 + 1 bar of 5/4) is no problem at all to me (I guess the drums get back in sync with what everybody else is doing at that point of the tune, so it feels more natural), it's the "A" part (which is 4/4) that was the issue for me. If I tap my foot and ignore what the kick drum is doing, I get it right. I'll play it some more during the weekend and I probably won't have to think about it anymore...but yeah, that drum pattern (which sounds super cool) really made things difficult for me.
Click to expand...
Ok for the 4/4 but to me it sounds like a 9/8 at the end the phrase.

But hey real good discovery here ;-)
 
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#16

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#17
Whousedtoplay said:
I hear evenly divided 8th.
Some rhythmic confusion comes from the kick/snare displacement in the drums and the harmonic rhythm, plus that feel of the
"behind the beat" attitude.

A 2-bar rhythmic pattern, just slower.

https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...0/?temp_hash=67dcea605878b9365b827b3183934b4d

A 4-bar rhythmic pattern - from 0:08 - 0:15

https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...2/?temp_hash=67dcea605878b9365b827b3183934b4d
Click to expand...

Yeah, I got it now. The drums were throwing me off, but it's also what makes this tune so cool.
 

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