Notating a long passage in 15/8 with shifting subdivisions

[Trilobita]

Hello,

Yesterday was transcribing "Part IV" from Fates Warning's A Pleasant Shade of Gray, a song with truly amazing lines for all instruments, including (of course) the bass:



The time signature changes quite a bit: I used 4/4, 5/4, 6/4/ and 7/4 to transcribe the song as a whole, and there is the long passage which comprises 24 bars in 15/8 (?) mentioned in the title, which is the reason I am making this post. It goes from 0:41 all the way to 1:56.

What happens in the passage is is that all musical phrases are exactly 15 eighth notes long, which would make 15/8 a seemingly obvious choice, but in previous posts here in the forum I was advised against notating with large numerators such as 15. The problem is that the bars cannot be naturally split as repeating double bars of 4/4(8/8) followed by 7/8, because after some initial repetition (eight bars of 8+7/8 or 4+4+4+3/8) the stresses begin to shift around a lot. This is what to me feels like a natural subdivision to each one of the 24 bars:

4+4+4+3 (x8)
4+4+4+3
4+4+3+4
4+4+4+3
4+4+3+4
4+4+3+4
4+4+4+3
4+4+4+3
3+3+3+2+2+2
4+4+3+4
4+4+4+3
4+4+4+3
3+3+3+3+3
4+4+4+3
4+4+3+4
4+4+4+3
4+4+3+4

What I can glean from the other instruments leads me to believe that the final three notes present in almost all subdivisions imply a constantly missing final eighth note beat on the 7/8 bars (there is a sequence of three eighth-note hits on the hi-hat that end several of these bars) and that the underlying structure is something very close to 15/8 (8+7/8) (this is how the guitar goes most of the time). On the other hand, the bass is clearly the lead instrument in this section, and if the notation constantly alternates between 4/4(8/8) and 7/8, then the bass part becomes heavily syncopated and (I would think) very counterintuitive to read, so I am at a bit of a loss on how to strike a good balance here.

My question: is this a case where actually using 15/8 might be preferable? If not, what would be a reasonable option?

Thanks!

 

[Les Fret]

I would notate it all in 15/8. But I count it as a slow 3/4+3/16.
The subdivision for bass I regard as syncopations in the bar. You don’t have to write out all the syncopations for the bass as being another subdivision.

 

[AGCurry]

What helps the sightreader is how the notes are beamed. If you're transcribing by hand, that's easily done. If you're using software, the beaming should be configurable for each measure.

 

[BassChuck]

What helps the sightreader is how the notes are beamed. If you're transcribing by hand, that's easily done. If you're using software, the beaming should be configurable for each measure.

True. Every rhythmic phrase can be broken into 2's and 3's. If you're making the part, just beam them in the appropriate sub-division. If you're given a part that needs that, writing a triangle above the 3's and a slash or checkmark above the 2's can help in reading and remembering the groupings.