Time for a Change - Musical Creativity 10
I remember talking to a drummer I used to play with about timings and accents on beats. His answer was that he only counted to "one". Every hit was "one", "one", "one". Fortunately for that drummer he was technically very proficient and had a great knack for playing what felt right at the time. More importantly, what he played, sounded right to everyone else.
I remembered that conversation when I looked at my computer screen the other day. There I was looking at Logic Pro noticing that the template I'm using is set to 4/4 and 120bpm. I change the bpm to match what I want to record, but I rarely change the time signature.
The chances are that if you're using a standard DAW (Logic, Cubase, etc), then the template project for recording is 4/4 and probably even 120bpm. Understanding time signatures is important and understanding the rhythms and emphasis created by a different time structure opens a whole new world to you. You probably know most of it from how it feels anyway, but understanding the underlying theory wouldn't hurt. The standard 4/4 has its uses and is incredibly popular, but it's worth trying other time signatures. I'm not suggesting you change your template project, but instead to think about the time signature before you start composing.
The standard for DAWs is 4/4, 4 beats to the bar. While good for pop and rock and the vast majority of music in the western charts, changes can be nice. You can change the time signature for the complete piece of music or have the time change signature change when you want it to.
Simply:
If you're used to 4/4, try 3/4
If you're used to 3/4, try 6/8
If you're used to the above, start playing with any other combination. 5/4, 12/8, 9/8 are probably the next most common but still rare enough in modern pop music.
3/4 has been commonly used for waltzes but also works well in songs where you want a swinging feel (different to swing - meaning a divergence from the timing). A good example of 3/4 in a modern setting is Change The World from Them Vs You Vs Us
6/8 isn't the same as 3/4 although it would appear that they would resolve to the same 3 beats to a bar. From my perspective, the main difference is to be found in the stress pattern.
3/4 has 3 beats (crochets to the bar) so over 3 bars the stress would be:
*1*, 2, 3,
*1*, 2, 3,
*1*, 2, 3.
6/8 has 2 groups of 3 (quavers in this case) to each bar, so over 3 bars the stress for each would be:
*1*, 2, 3, *4*, 5, 6,
*1*, 2, 3, *4*, 5, 6,
*1*, 2, 3, *4*, 5, 6.
A good example of the difference is found at the start of America from West Side Story, see the Wikipedia article for more detail. I hadn't seen the difference encapsulated so well in a piece of music as that before. But seeing it written down and thinking it through in my head, I can really hear the difference between the two.
I can think of a few songs that people love to (try to) dance to, but they generally can't due to the odd time signature.
Golden Brown - The Stranglers
Living In The Past - Jethro Tull
Take Five - Dave Brubeck
Maybe the would-be dancers would be better off counting to one instead. Actually that can work.
Dave Brubeck recorded two albums, Time Out
Studybass.com has a nice simple reference to time signatures. Very useful as a starting point.
Wikipedia also has a list of songs not in 4/4
Perhaps a better list is at Aufrecht which hosts a list of songs in different time signatures including the abiity to filter them on the time signature.
Part of a series by Award Sounds offering a selection of creative ideas to kick-start or rejuvenate a composition.