I wrote a song in 17/8 time… it hurt my brain!
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- When it comes to time signatures in popular music, there is virtually no variety. 96% of songs are in 4/4 time, while others are in 6/8 or 3/4 time. So today we're going to try to write a song in the most obscure time signature I could think of: 17/8 time.
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17/8 just sounds like an improper fraction rather then time signature.
A great example of a song that has an odd time signature that doesn't FEEL weird is "Turn it on again" by Genesis.
Great song, great groove, but it's in 13/4 !
I good way to feel 17/8 is 2 bars of 5 and one bar of 7 that is a pretty easy way to count it
Great thinking and great song! Keep being creative and playful!
Wow. This is really good. This gives me the confidence to try and write something on a non standard time signature. Great song. Thank you
you can do it!
That face when you were sitting on the drums. This is how I feel about 7/8. I know how to count but it just doesn't flow. I feel like stumbling all the time! I don't mind ending up with odd signatures, when it feels alright. I naturally ended up in 19/4 and even improvised a solo. Thanks for the video, this may help to recreate my experience :)
Weird time signatures are so strange because they feel so incredibly unnatural but once you practice and get it down it feels normal. This truly did hurt my brain but after awhile it was actually pretty easy to play. The drum take for the final song was literally the first take.
Really like this one. Great guitar tones and catchy chorus. The time signature didn't feel that odd to me. Definitely include this one on the album.
As a classical musician, I never understood why people refer to time signatures lik this as 17/8 etc. I would write this as two 6/8 bars and a 5/8 bar. Easier to break down and count that way. As a prog metal fan, you do get used to changing time signatures and I think they add interest and repeat listening value to music. A favourite is Paradise Lost by Symphony X. You can also have tunes that sound odd and off kilter with syncopation but are really just in 4/4, like And I Close My Eyes by Conception.
I think the mark of a great odd-time song is that you can hear it, feel it, and even though you know it's weird, you can still somehow connect to it. I think you nailed it, and the idea of using insomnia as a topic for that was genius! I always appreciate your work...
Thanks for checking it out and for the kind words!
I had insomnia, then I've started to eat banana with cinnamon one hour before go to bed. Now I sleep all night long.
This is the best song you've done on this channel, really interesting sound, can you do a death metal song next that would be great, thanks.
I agree! I think Spencer might have a hard time with death metal vocals, that's a skill that takes time to learn, but any metal would be fun.
YAY album announcement! Definitely put it on the album, the lyrics are simple but funny and very enjoyable. Plus a great sound with the solo in the end
Honestly it's not my style at all, but yes the song was very good.
It's not the 7/8 time signature that's making your dancing feel awkward!
I appreciate your content here on YT! You are a big inspiration for newbie producers and songwriters here (:
Happy to hear that!
Great video as always, Spencer!
Yes, I think you should include this song on your upcoming album, since the subject really hits home for many people including me.
this is a great description of time signatures. thanks spencer. you're awesome : )
Thank you so much for watching!
I say this to every video of yours i watch ... you are inspiring! Thank you!!
I'm so glad!
Super smooth song, you made it look easy lol
Hell yeah man, you are a musical genius... Put it on the album.
The music is good and I like the verses, but the chorus is pretty mediocre.
I'd give that another try and mix it up a bit each time.
This is a good song in a very uncommon time signature which should definitely be included on your album. I would like to cingratulate you on your inspiring videos. May they continue for a very long time.
Thank you so much for watching and supporting!
As a long time Dream Theater fan, I approve! Great work, Spencer!
This is a very solid song. Great job. A little Jethro Tull meets Kansas.
Great song! Yes include it!
Also, no one ever sees a marimba coming. They are the stealthiest.
MARIMBA = JAMES BOND
@@songsbyspencer I'll bet its serial number ends with '007.'
My favorite way to break down weird time signatures is in combinations of 2s and 3s (It's pretty easy to show that any number of beats other than 1 can be broken up this way). You can get very natural-feeling grooves even in strange time signatures in this way, like breaking 5/4 into 3-3-2-2 on Divine Step by Coroner and True Lies by Mekong Delta.
Then you've got stuff like Keep It Greasy which is an extended 19/16 jam... somehow.
It's SO good!
I think this is the best song you've done on the channel so far.
That was fun. I can't function in odd time signatures as a guitar player - spending time counting which is one more brain function than I can spare. Made me think of another idea for you, the thing Led Zepplin did here and there which is play in two different time signatures so that the drums/rhythm is in something like 6/8 while the guitar is in 4/4 which means every 2 times through for the rhythm section the guitar has done 3 times though (I think that's how it goes anyway). Never understood how they could make that musical, but it is!
I've heard something similar! I'll have to look into it. I don't think I'll have the brain bandwidth to wrap my head around it!
Good job making an odd time signature not feel like prog rock. The difficulty time signature made for more interesting listen.
Plenty of non awkward time signatures in prog
Listen to the piano intro in firth of fifth. Prog rock isn’t as messy as prog metal (not that it’s a bad thing)
Yes definitely it’s a solid tune, add it to the album
Best channel on RUclips. Period.
I appreciate that so much! I've got some even better things cooking up.
This song was great. As almost all other pieces you shared with us. Unfortunately, the best is not always the most popular. Particularly on this platform. But still, keep up the Quality work.
By the way as a Turkish person, I would like to tell about the weird rythms that our traditional music has such as 9/8 5/8 etc. Some of them give the mood of Joy some others are like a requiem. Please check some of them on RUclips.
Wish you the best
This is just magic
I appreciate that! I don't know if it's magic, I just listened and practiced it enough times to where I was able to make something. Definitely a fun challenge though!
Thanks so much for this. Breaking this into 6 6 5 and adding layers really worked well. Now I understand how this works 🎉. Could you sing about FX in music production?
Like write lyrics about the tools I use? That's actually a pretty interesting idea!
I like it when songs have alternate time signatures but you don't feel it or know it. Seems to be the most effective I find.
That's certainly the trick. I never want the audience to feel the complication, even though it's there. Some of my favorite songs are like that. You go to learn them and you realize how difficult they actually are.
it started out so weird, but you made it work.. awesomee 😁
Thanks 😅
Check out the tune Gnome Chomsky's Deep Focus Boogie Woogie by Kim Sanders - that's in 17/8. It's surprisingly straightforward to play
Will do!
I mean why not include it on the album!
It's on the potential track list! My gut is telling me it will probably end up as a b-side but we will see. I have something like 50 songs that I recorded over the past 8 years and I'm adding to it regularly, and the plan is to release 2 albums this year, both around 10 songs each. One geared more toward my indie rock and piano songs, and another geared more toward pop punk. It's so hard to make the decision but over time the great songs have a tendency to reveal themselves and those are the ones that make the cut.
I counted 8 8 1 got it right then wrong.😂
This is brave.
Crazy but brave.
Greeks and Lebs dance to 5/4 easy but 17?😂😂😱😷😵
There's a few songs that made it on the charts that are in 7/8 time. "Money" by Pink Floyd, and "Them Bones" by Alice In Chains. It's crazy how just missing a beat makes something feel so unfamiliar.
Go to a Greek or Lebanese Wedding it's bizzare many time signatures all learned in Villages exotic scales.
Sometimes I think the best thing is to not count, it's bizarre that people can groove to Take Five though Spencer@@songsbyspencer