Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Rock with unusual time signatures

I'm into music that uses time signatures other than the standard 4/4. Can anyone think of rock music that uses those? An example would be Ozzy's Diary of a Madman, which switches from 3/4 to 4/4 and back in the course of the song. Tool does this as well.

Checkout the album Calculating Infinity by the band The Dillinger Escape Plan if you want some complex time signatures.

The Mars Volta is another awesome band as well. The Dillinger Escape Plan is not "rock" music btw more metalcore/hardcore/mathcore style. Somebody that is not used to that type of style of music will be in for quite a shock .

There's also Faraquet, they aren't actively making music anymore, but their stuff is interesting.

What is mathcore? Or metalcore for that matter? Hmm. Sounds like a lot of growl-metal--not something I'm fond of. Well, I'll check 'em out anyway.

Start with the song 43% burnt. It probably won't be your cup of tea but imo they are soooo talented.

Have you ever listend to The Mars Volta? They might be more your style and defintely worth a listen.

Metalcore/hardcore/mathcore are sub genres of metal. My favorite ones . Time signtures can be really odd and can change frequently within a song. That is only one aspect though.

What about marinecore?

Music for jarheads.

Ken, if you're into music with meters other than 4/4, or even better, that alternates the time signature, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring should be a real favorite of yours since in some sections the score shows a change of meter(and odd ones)for practically every measure.

Be that as it may, another rock example would be Radiohead's 2+2=5 , where after demonstrating an inability to navigate 7/8, they prove to be equally inept at 4/4, in some appallingly bad music.

Sorry John, Stravinsky drives me up the wall. Just a little too strange...

There is some rock listed here if you haven’t checked it out already.

List of musical works in unusual time signatures

A lot of progressive rock is in odd signatures. I'm not a musician, so I don't generally notice exactly WHICH signatures are being used. Anything with Bill Bruford (King Crimson, UK, some Yes, etc) is likely to go that direction, it seems.

I think I started a thread a long time ago on a similar topic after I realized I couldn't tap out a beat to Tool.

I'm just at the point in my drumming now that I can play a few entire songs in 4/4. Actually, I can 'mimic' some odd signatures if I'm listening to the song at the time but can't do them on my own for very long before I lose time.

This song reminded me of this video.

He had trouble remembering the song because they don't play it live much, and then bangs it out with no music, 6 minutes long... Super cool IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCJajVY_ucI

Ken,

Porcupine Tree (with Gavin Harrison on drums) has a lot of unusual time signature changes. I have been studying a lot of Gavin's transcribed drum parts from Procupine Tree and I have to say it is a little overwhelming for the average drummer. That's probably why King Crimson used Gavin on their tour last year. BTW, Robert Fripp has asked Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) to remix some of King Crimson's albums to 5.1 surround. Should be interesting.

Silent Lucidity from QueensRyche. Every other song on any Rush album. :-)

Dream Theatre would be another one. Very talented band but their singer makes me cringe. I would also add Protest the Hero to the list as well.

Well, it looks like I have a lot of stuff to audition! Of course I already have Rush and some Dream Theater, as well as one PT album (which I am thoroughly sick of and kind of weirded by). Thanks guys!

I think you will really like The Mars Volta.

Anytime someone from Metallica gets taken down a notch, it's a good day. That being said, I do strongly respect his drum playing ability.

I just searched Youtube for The Mars Volta and was surprised to realize I had heard them before a few times on Satellite radio and liked them but never caught the name.

The first video that came up was "Televators". VERY Cool video with AMAZING visuals. Watch it even if you don't enjoy the tune. I envision it as being what it would be like to meet Yoda while on acid.
The Mars Volta - Televators

Other videos are more representative of their more rockin style but "Goliath" certainly doesn't do much for their cred., visually. Let's just hope it was an early high school project redubbed for fun once they made it to the studios.

The pink record by Sunny Day Real Estate has a couple of songs in odd time signatures. This was one of my favorite albums of the '90s.

Sunny Day Real Estate is an awesome band hempy.

I would also recommend Mastodon, especially their newer stuff. Crack the Skye was released this year, they're touring with Metallica, and the singer reminds me a bit of Ozzy, especially on the first track, Oblivion.

Also check out Badmotorfinger and Superunkown by Soundgarden. Even when in 4/4, Matt Cameron, their drummer, does a great job of keeping the rhythms electric.

Hey, great thread!... don't know how I missed it.
Sting pulled off a few catchy songs with unconventional time signatures in "Ten Summoner's Tales". My favorites are "Saint Augustine in Hell" [7/8] and "Seven Days" [5/4]. He's done others, but aren't as catchy or good. Steely Dan has a few good ones too. Form the top of my head, Gaucho is a compounded time signature; Steve Porcaro (drummer) made it feel like a well played waltz. I'll ping back if I remember a few more...

Mastodon has some critically acclaimed albums under their belt. I have not listened to them in a while. Didn't even know they had a new album, good to know.

Just found out that Sunny Day Real Estate is playing here in Vancouver in a month or two...wonder what they've been up to lately?

ELP - Tarkus
About half of early Genesis and a few of the later songs
Schicke Fuhrs Frohling, esp first album (Symphonic Pictures)

The most popular I can think of is Pink Floyd's "Money" in 7/4.
Peter Gaberial's "Solsbury Hill" is another at 7/4.
Many songs from Jethro Tull have unusual times, like "Living In The Past" in 5/4.
And if you can tell what time Led Zepplin's "Black Dog" is in, let me know!

Ken, ditto for Rush. Often, they change signatures many times in a song. Listen to "Free Will" and "YYZ" for starters - the intro triangle chime in YYZ is in 5/4, I think, whereas the rest of the song is in the more standard 4/4.

Dig this tshirt.

Thats one of the things I really like about Rush.

Gentle Giant is another oldie but goodie that do a lot of time signature changes.

for sure, Gentle Giant

this dvd is amazing:

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?h...um=5#ps-sellers

Frank Zappa is king of odd time signatures.

Ditto on Porcupine Tree, Yes, King Crimson, ELP and Rush.

Who els would write a song titled the Illinois Enema Bandit...

or Bobby Brown....