Time signatures

One thing I really love in music, but just don't see enough of, is interesting time signatures. I'm not saying that a good ol' 4/4 or 2/4 are dreary, but when an obscure band whips up a crazy sound in 26/4 it just adds another element to the music, it brings out something that would normally be missed. This might sound stupid but let me explain. 

A lot of bands would use drums to just keep the rhythm and rely on other elements of the song, such as AC/DC, to create the sound the artists are after. I'm sorry if you're a fan but just flick through Black Ice, the drums in every song boil down to dun, tss, dun, tss, dun, tss, with minor variations (granted, with the exception of the last track, Black Ice, which is a little more lively). Now, sure enough you can tap along to this music and it's very easy to listen to, but if you really want to push your listening experience, you have to move into something with a bit more vigour and technicality. A good example of making good use of a set of drums would be Tool's Lateralus when the vocals start at around 1:40. Rather than keeping the rhythm alone, it also helps to tell the story, making it a much more satisfying experience because everything in the song works to submerge the listener into it, in the same way that a film does. Instead of actors working in a white room, the background is brought to life to convey a mood, a setting, part of the story. Something we'd not usually notice directly is what's doing a lot of the work to get the audience in the best place to experience the whole product.

This is why time signatures have a certain something about them that can be exploited to add many more layers of sounds to a song. As we usually don't think about them, we don't notice that they seldom vary much in mainstream music, we're happy tapping along to the same basic rhythm because we're too easily pleased by the superficial aspects - primarily the melody followed very, very closely by the vocals and lyrics, then by the sexually suggestive dances and facial expressions. It seems a lot of chart-topping stuff is they same template repeated over and over, because that is what works, it's what people like. It's a shame that most of these people wouldn't want to stray into music that mixes things up because you can't dance to it, and it takes a little more work to get the full experience. But I assure you, there's a whole other world to music if you're willing to put the effort in, and the enjoyment you get out of it will be ten-fold what it is with today's most popular.

Anyway, back to time signatures. I'm not an expert on the matter but I can understand the basics, which has been enough for me to pick out some more interesting rhythms. For example, Meshuggah's (who have built up a reputation for odd time signatures) "Future Breed Machine" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOd-T58qHLA), at around 3:40 in has a solid 7/4 for the guitar laid onto a 4/4 drums. The drums follow the basic tss tss tss dun tss tss tss dun... and the guitars follow two lots of three beats, which is some kind of djent chugs, followed by one beat of rest. I count it as:

1, 2, 3 - 1, 2, 3 - 1 -  1, 2, 3 - 1, 2, 3 - 1. 

This may be a little more difficult to grasp at first, but don't worry it gets obscenely worse. If the previous song seemed easy enough to follow, have a listen to "Rational Gaze" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkrjE4QRsys) which has been said to follow a 23/16 during the second part of the intro, from around 0:29. If you're trying to count this and follow the beats, try counting it as three groups of 7/16 and one of 2/16, so:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,  1,2.

I have yet to find out myself or from anywhere what the rest is timed in. Regardless, I think I can fully appreciate it. One way to get the most out of one of these songs is to listen different instruments and try to zones out others. For example, if the drums are very prominent in a song, try to listen more to the bass guitarist. Maybe he's playing a different rhythm or is bouncing between the lead guitar and the drummer, enhancing both at the same time. Once you've done this to all the instruments, go back and listen to it as a whole and you'll see that there is much more to some (albeit, rarely chart-toppers) songs that you would've never noticed. 

This may seem to be approaching the limit of complexity that a mere human can identify, but there's one more level - math rock. These guys know how to knock out something that will leave you in awe of it's sophistication and technicality. Some of them border on the random...some are random, but there are some that have written their music and sheets and made tabs and all the rest, so it these guys that are the masters. A brilliant song with a very interesting signature is "26 is dancer than 4" by This Town Needs Guns (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhPljk5EZ0Q). Here the song title acknowledges the life that more complicated rhythms breath into music. It says that 26/4 has more feel and can please the listener more than a 4/4. Yes, that does mean:

1,2,3,4,...,24,25,26.

each measure (but there is only one from the start to the first chorus). It's a slow beat in the song dispite the pace of the melody, taking from the start until around 23 seconds in to count the 26 beats. 

Okay, I lied, there is another level (maybe two). I've a few pieces of music that offer an other worldly approach to music and seek only to demonstrate how the pitches and volume of notes and tones, and their distances apart, at the most fundamental level can give a very rewarding experience to the listener, if only s/he has the patience to find it. Some examples are Stockhausen's Klavierstück I - X (especially IX) which feature a very interesting approach to music, as well as incorporating very odd time signatures, including a mind melting 142/8. Returning to math rock, there is Tera Melos. Give them a listen and see what you think. They've passed the point where humans can tap their foot to feel the rhythm, I think if you tired tapping your foot along to "A Spoonful of Slurry" you're likely to give yourself and injury. However, to those brave souls that do, I will offer a KitKat (fo' serious) as a reward to anyone that can figure out all of the time signatures for this song, first one to comment with the correct signatures wins. God speed and good luck.