Re: Polymeter - Polyrhythm - Changing Meter

["Mark Showalter" <folkstone57@operamail.com>]

Hello,

I'd like to point out that the choice of time signatures is purely one of 
a practical nature. You can take a song like "Norweigin Wood" by the 
Beatles, & write it in 3/4 or 6/8 or 12/8 or even 300/8 if you want to. 
However, the choice is obviously what works for whoever has to read the 
music. I have always played & thought of this song in 3/4 as it's simply 
easier to think in a simple time signature rather than something like 12/8 
or the ridiculous 300/8. The choice of time signature involves considering 
what the various lines are going to read as. Putting a melody made up of, 
say, quarter notes & using 12/8 means you end up counting across a huge 
measure, rather than simply counting in 3/4 & having the notes of the 
melody easily fall within individual measures. Keep in minf I'm refering 
here to "Norweigan Wood". Also keep in mind that there is no absolute 
"feel" or "rythm" or "groove" associated with any time signature, even 
though traditionally some types of music may be written in a usual time 
signature i.e. a "waltz" is almost always written in 3/4 or 3/8 etc. You 
can write a "waltz" in 4/4 if you want ( like my mother playing "Moon 
River" in 4/4 ), & just make it feel like a "waltz" using hemiola. Not 
traditional but it can be done, but it would be absolute hell to have to 
read. 


I agree with Fabio that none of this discussion really involves 
poly-anything, so if this discussion is to continue, how about a better 
definition of what poly____ (fill in blank with rythm or time signature or 
whatever) so everyone can get a clear idea of what we are discussinig.
> 
>   Fabio wrote:
> "Yesterday night I was thinking the subject of this discussion is 
> not theoretically correct.
> Here we are talking about "Polymeter", "Polyrhythm" or "Changing 
> meter", as it is the same stuff.  Songs like "Solsbury Hill", Money 
> or 21st Century Schizoid Man are just using odd time signatures or 
> changing meters: that's neither polymeter, neither polyrhythm..."
> 
> 
> Yes,  Fabio,  you are correct but with an explanation.
> 
> Thinks like Solsbury Hill are merely Odd Time Signatures,
> but it is possible to use different groupings of notes,  2s, 3s, 
> 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s, etc.
> to create very long Polyrhythmic structures.   It is just that 
> juxtaposing these rhythms
> takes such a long time that is not possible for human beings to hear them
> simultaneously in the case of simple polyrhythms like 3 against 4  
> or 4 against 5.
> 
> If I play in 84/8  as an example, then I can get polyrhythmic 
> pulses that occur
> equally in 3, 4 and 7 against each other in much the same way
> that 12/8 allows simultaneously even polyrhythmic pulses in 2, 3, 4 and 6
> 
> I think any serious discussion of polyrhthyms and polymeters, 
> however,  naturally
> brings up the subject of odd time signatures which is why I didn't 
> trip out on the
> conversation's accuracy to much.

>



Mark Showalter
Minden Jot!

myspace.com/folkstone57
http://www.last.fm/music/Mark+Showalter
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