artists that make odd time signatures sound natural/ danceable

henryspencer · 07-01-2012, 07:27 PM

I have noticed that in the area of rock music there are artist like dream theatre that use all kinds of strange times but it just sounds like they are trying to show off the math they drew up on the board in their rehearsal space rather than make something sound natural. Tool on the other hand seem to throw in strange timing and prior to leaning about rhythms and stuff I never even noticed.

Are there any electronic artists/edm/idm people that you can think of that manage to do this sort of thing. The only example I could come up with is Venetian Snares but there must be others...

Dataf1ow · 07-01-2012, 07:35 PM

_Mystik_ · 07-02-2012, 01:13 PM

i tried to make a track in an odd time signature once, but i couldnt get a chorus down for it. it was pretty good all the way up to the buildup, but then i couldnt think of a chorus, and after 2 or 3 days of trying to figure something out, i abandoned it. i might try it again sometime, but probably not soon.

YoMyEX · 07-03-2012, 12:11 AM

Not exactly odd time signatures, but Meshuggah's poly-rhythms very danceable.

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_Mystik_ · 07-03-2012, 12:20 AM

[QUOTE=YoMyEX;909132]Not exactly odd time signatures, but Meshuggah's poly-rhythms very danceable.
/QUOTE]
Dude i love meshuggah! not really electronic or dance music by any means haha, but i can agree with you that its very danceable. well, rock outable haha. i listened to a helluva lot of metal before i got into edm scene, so i definitely have an appreciation for metal music. rock on \../

Sicc · 07-03-2012, 06:49 AM

Not sure the signatures he produces in but this guy fried my noodle the first time i tried to follow his music. I was quickly lead to frustration while trying to count in beat with his productions

His artist name is cooptrol.

I'd post a link but I cant yet xD

Onyxmizer · 07-03-2012, 06:16 PM

I know v.snares makes a lot of 7/4 stuff. Most of it feels really natural. It's all a cultural thing though.

Personally, i've found that what you need most is a strong backbeat to keep everything together and mix it up with syncopation where appropriate to give it that pop/dace feel, then throw in poly rhythms for flair.

Also, this thread: showthread.php?t=60637

Siktec · 07-04-2012, 12:20 PM

I feel that Savant uses some weird half time beats and stuff in some of his songs.

essenthy · 07-04-2012, 12:46 PM

Tool arnt really doing much odd time signature , but they rather have a very very very good drummer , its more about the way of how the time signature is built/filled

you can try A perfect circle since its nearly another Tool band , or Koan sound if like jazzy/electro , they have some very odd swingy bass

IamOthello · 07-04-2012, 05:20 PM

Time signatures are all relative and you can metrically modulate to include grooves from other time signatures in any signatures or cross meters. That being said, any time signature works to "dance". For a solid dance rhythm, the strong beats must be accented, so even if you are in 5/8 and you strongly accent the 1, you can build a dance rhythm, it's dependent on how you voice the rest of the percussion.

Odd time signatures in dance though, can create some very interesting grooves. I don't know about the commercial viability for a house producer to do a lot in obscure time sigs though. It would be interesting to try! My latest piece is in 13/8, or 5/8 5/8 3/8 and I think it has quite a bit of groove!

Dr Insano · 07-05-2012, 07:59 PM

Ruby My Dear uses 6/8 (?) signatures but you barely notice. He's brilliant at it.

Benwaa · 07-05-2012, 08:07 PM

triton on here or as he's called on SC [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click here to register]
does it really well too

lebeux · 07-05-2012, 08:28 PM

Shellac.

Oh, EDM artists... Can't actually think of any. All time signatures will sound natural if you follow their natural grooves, the problem is a lot of the people who use odd time signatures are wankers who really really want their music to sound awkward.

Benwaa · 07-05-2012, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lebeux

Shellac.
.

port and bow.....stern and starboard!

fucking awesome band

Maraball · 07-05-2012, 09:05 PM

Muydvayne use quite a few none 4/4 time signatures (or at least their first couple of albums did, I haven't followed them since). Or Sikth, who are essentially the precursor to Djent but with actual talent and songwriting skills.

In terms of EDM, I'm sure there was a Chemical Bros song that managed to do pretty well which seemed to be in 5/4 or something. I can't remember what it was called though.

Edit: It was Galvanise, and it was 6/4. Not that 99% of the people dancing to it would have noticed.

stem collector · 07-05-2012, 09:14 PM

i read somewhere the main melody to this song is in like 29/8. its hard to count to. all the percussive stuff is in 3/4 or 4/4 though, which makes it sound more natural

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Stereo Surgeon · 07-05-2012, 09:21 PM

from a DJing prospective it makes it hard or impossible to smoothly mix 4/4 to some wild time sig, beyond doing a slam a drop or out of time crossfade in a break out.

i have tried a few odd ones as well as 3/4 waltz kinda swag, but none really blossomed out

Dataf1ow · 07-05-2012, 10:16 PM

For the record, I don't think you can consider 6/8 or 3/4 "odd". They are actually pretty standard rhythmic constructions. Odd comes into play when the beat divisions get a little harder to feel in 2. You can still feel 3/4 in 2, but with triplets. 5/8, 7/8, 10/4, 13/8 etc. The track I submitted for the compilation has sections in 7 and 5, so maybe you all will get to hear that soon.

Also I did some weird sampling shit a while ago that I will shamelessly promote right now.

there are some interesting (at least I thought so) rhythmic constructions in there. Although I don't know if they sound danceable.

EricXL · 07-09-2012, 05:13 AM

Everything should be 4 on the floor. Nthing else. lol

chasedestroy · 07-09-2012, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stem collector

i read somewhere the main melody to this song is in like 29/8. its hard to count to. all the percussive stuff is in 3/4 or 4/4 though, which makes it sound more natural

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counting out this track has pissed me off so many times... i cant tell you how many times i've just said fuck it.