Psssst....I have a music making app coming out soon....it's kind of related to this video because you can do polymeters in it but really it's a full on sample-based DAW for iOS :D Sign up to get notified when it drops - it will be 20% off for the first week or two: flipsampler.com Thanks for watching! Leave any ideas for future Theory Thursday vids below! Much love.
@@fluffartistt We're looking into whether that's possible. Android doesn't handle audio as well and there are a LOT more screen sizes / device types to deal with, so it's a challenge
I have a big... BIG... BIIIIGGGGG... muscles!!! HAHAHA!!! What did you think I was going for? That's so DIRTY of you! GAGAGAGA!!! I am the funniest RUclipsr ever! Maybe that's the reason why I have TWO (!!!) HOT (!) GIRLFRIENDS. Thanks for being alive, dear mr
It's amazing how much you do for the music community. So much free information organised into concise and entertaining videos. I've learnt so much over the years and feel like I never had to "study", just watch entertaining videos.
0:25 someone finally freaking said it. And doesn't surprise me it's coming from the one youtube music persona who writes odd rhythms but makes it actually sound like it is musical.
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Sungazer. The rhythms are extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of music theory most of the songs will go over a typical listener's head.
starting at 6:05 the amount of editing correlating with visuals and then audio plus to mention the emotions expressed simultaneously is extremely impressive. *hands applauding*
Holy, I love some of the random sprinkles of over the top or unexpected editing (like 3:02 where another Andrew passes the goddamn butter or 6:05 where everything just hits differently)!
you have no idea how much it pleases me to see this broken down for viewers in a manner that simplifies the misuse of this term. Ive had this conversation more times this year than I could possibly remember and now I can just send this link instead. Nailed it.
The editing in this one was incredible, Andrew. The best part by far, for me, was the simultaneously functional and visually striking typography using the font alignment. Genius.
If you are using Studio One, then you can apply the 2nd or non-time consuming method 8:08 (both audio and midi) although the particular two (or more sounds) need to be on different tracks. I will be using the order of tracks as given in the video for my examples and methods. For Midi, arrange the notes in the way that Mr. Andrew has instructed you to 8:12 (on different tracks in S1 of course). Now Time Stretch the midi event of the longer track so that the last note is at the very start of the next bar (somewhat like the instructions here 8:31). It is quite the same for audio, with a few changes. For audio, follow the first step used for the midi track. Now merge the 2nd track and bounce to new track. Then Time Stretch it so that the start of last sound of the bounced out event is at the very start of the next bar. I hope you found this useful! (Please pardon my mistakes in my English if there are any, as I'm not a Native Speaker) [Also a huge thanks to you Mr. Andrew as I did not understand the difference between Polymeters and Polyrhythm until today]
Anyone else facepalm hard watching this... The number of times I've referred to polymeter as polyrhythm! You've just explained it in such a clear, concise and coherent way. Thanks, Andrew.
Awww... that’s so cute 😂 Fryderyk did make a lot of pretty emo comments, including: "It is not my fault if I am like a mushroom which seems edible but which poisons you if you pick it and taste it, taking it to be something else,"
As a drummer love this video and how oversimplified - in a good way this is. Took me about 50mins of youtube videos to understand 4:3 and you did it in 30 seconds haha
Bro, I love your channel. It fucking crushes man. I've learned so much from you. You're literally the definition of how to be an educator in the 21st century. Straight up, you're better than any educator ive ever scene in university. Mad props.
hey, you can hold down shift to drag the grey marker with the notes selected staying intact. that way you can do note transformations without needing to add an extra note.
As a Brazilian person myself I instantly identified the tambourine sound and rhythm and expected you to say something about Brazilian music! Very interesting to know that you used to play samba Andrew :)
I was recently practicing both these techniques in piano and was naming them in my mind as Polyrythm type 1 & Polyrythm type 2 😀.. thanks a bunch for clarifying this
I have no idea if I'll ever end up using polymeters or polyrhythms all that much but I just love to learn about a new topic with the way you explain things so clearly. Keep killin it man!
The algorithm brought be back here and I think it was solely to appreciate that at 3:00, not only does he bring himself some goddamn butter, but there is also a _hot cup of tea_ on the table as well. I don't think I noticed the latter originally. Thank you, Al Gorithm.
I was in Drumline in high school, and now that I write music a little, I find that I do this somewhat naturally, so thank you Andrew for giving some reason to it.
That tiny detail of explaining the difference between both concepts by animating their respective name (3:07) in a way that visually reflects their audible properties is the entire reason I watch educational RUclips content. Like I'm never gonna forget the difference between these two things now thanks to that. Great stuff as always, Andrew! :D edit: fixed timestamp
Going deeper into the math-rock, the "djent" subsubgenre of progressive metal can very much be about that - whether it be Meshuggah's "New Millenium Cyanide Christ" (23/16 on 4/4), or TesseracT's "Palingenesis" (13/8 on 3/4). Also if you want another "spoken word polyrhythm", 5:4 can have the phrase "go to bed, go upstairs to bed".
i listen to a lot of mathy stuff but meshuggah are the gods of polyrhythmic/polymetric metal as far as i'm concerned, no one else commits to it like them
@@patrickcompton1483 Indian Classical Music is one of the most complicated musical systems in the world. I am particularly a fan of the Raga Bhairav :)
My favorite way to do polymeters is to start with a bassline at, for example, a 7 beat loop. Then take another 3 beat loop of *intervals* such as 0, 4 & 7 which is a major chord (root=0, maj 3rd = 4, perfect 5th = 7), and create a melody line to go with the bassline by elevating it an octave and modulating it with the 3 beat loop. Really easy to do when you're working with CVs for the melodies, because you just add the cycling interval voltages to the bassline v/oct CV and there you are. The Doepfer A-185-2 Precision Adder is perfect for this because it can add or subtract octaves as well as the input CVs. You get a resulting melody pattern that works with the bassline, but is 21 beats long (3*7). And such melody lines are often very, very cool...
My new favorite thing is poly phrases: For example, putting a 4-measure melody over a 3-measure chord progression, so the chords shift every time the phrase repeats
Not quite. Everything in the same time signature, but one part is playing three-bar phrases and one is playing four-bar phrases. It's a lot more subtle than polymeter when you listen to it.
Fair... I guess I'm just saying that if you keep your polymeter in multiples of an underlying time signature, it stops sounding like polymeter and sounds like something else, which is less in-your-face
Not only are you clearly a talented musician, but I'm always struck by the creativity of your filming and especially editing. Always educational, inspiring, and entertaining!
Gustav Holst, 2nd Suite in F, the 4th Movement. There's a section where the brass is playing in 3/4, and the woodwinds are playing in 6/8, the conductor leads on the downbeat of each measure. Really cool polyrhythm all the way back in High School band.
i often use polymeter to help learn polyrhythms. for example, for 5:4, i used a rhythm in my head of *1 + 2 + a* for one hand and *1 + 2 +* for the other, and tapped only one the ones. this gives you an easier way to count while you learn the feeling of the rhythm, and then you just work at internalising the feeling
I had exactly the same thought. Saw him do it and concluded "our brains are just different". But then he gave the vocal phrase trick and it just worked right away for me.
So let me get this straight... Polymeter: we chew at the same pace but have different amounts of food and can eat leisurely Polyrhythm: same orders but the restaurant closes in a bit so get to eating? --- edit: spaced on the english
Don't know anything about making music or music theory , but listening to you talking about that stuff is kind of relaxing , and makes listening to music more interesting for me. And Long gone is such a good song , for getting a good mood. Thank you Andrew :3
Another similar system is 'phasing' à la Steve Reich. The system that he originally used was to play the same sound on a group of tape players that are set to playback at slightly different speeds, producing massively long polyrhythms that don't match up for the whole length of the piece - this can take half an hour or more to complete. The latest method that I've been using to get this effect in Ableton Live 10 is to create a midi clip in arrangement view for each voice. I freeze and flatten each track at a different tempo for each track (calculated so that they each complete after a specific time), turn off Warp and loop each clip. This produces some very interesting rhythms.
@@00042 The first piece recorded was Steve Reich's "It's Gonna Rain" and anything by Reich with the 'phase' in the title. The method I mentioned above was used on my piece "Phased Serialism 2020" (the other pieces used different recording methods) and can be found on my Soundcloud . The Wikipedia article, that also contains some more examples of phasing, is at .
Not trying to be, I dunno, dumb? But the first 6 seconds of this video might be my favorite thing you've made in years. That's not to say that I don't love your other stuff, like Sparkle Mountain for example, but that crazy simple drive of that sound I find incredibly compelling. Please make it longer! Make it into something!
I was literally working with one of my students yesterday on this subject. Doing 3:2 (and subdividing them) in order to feel triplets by switching between compound and meter mode (like "America" in WSS). Thank you for doing this, I now have a perfect go-to for when I need a good explainer.
Awesome that you played with a Brazilian samba group! My college had a Brazilian music ensemble and it got me playing a variety of Brazilian music genres. Great video.
Love the videos Andrew. Just to add, movable polyrhythm is another term for what you refer to as polymeters. It’s a term used fairly often. I would venture to guess “polymeters” are the appropriate term when a musical composition has more than one written meter (ex. 4/4 in violin, 6/8 for cello, 5/8 for piano), and “movable polyrhythm” is the appropriate term when the piece has only one written meter, but note contour and rhythms imply groups over that broader meter (ex. violin plays groups of 4, cello plays groups of 6, piano plays groups of 5, but now we add a drummer in the background laying down a fat 4 to the floor groove as a backdrop.)
In a clinic I attended years ago - Drummer Dave Weckl used the term "Iso Rhythm" to describe what you call "Poly Meter" but from the context of superimposing "odd" groupings of notes over 4/4 or (16/16 if you want to think of it that way). Fusion drummers would know what I am talking about, but it's a technique where you are briefly playing in 5/16 or 7/16 or whatever, and then add a few 16th notes at the end of a phrase to add up to 16 16th notes per bar and therefore 4/4 time. This is not a polyrhythm, but an "Isolated Rhythm" in another meter that is superimposed (and generally repeated) this technique creates interesting syncopations than can feel increasingly unbalanced or unsettling but then "resolves" with a short figure that allows you to end on the downbeat of 1 (or wherever you want to land). The key factor is that whatever sub division you are playing (16 notes, triplets ... whatever) stays consistent... So if you are playing a funky thing in 4/4 and you superimpose a funky riff in 7/16 the 16th notes have the same duration and as long as the math ends up right, you will end up on the downbeat. So if you are "Trading Fours" the drummer would play a stream of 64 consecutive 16th notes, but the grouping could be 7+5+5+5+7+7+7+7+5+7+2 = BAMM! DOWNBEAT! (and the crowd goes wild!!!) The tricky part is counting and eventually just feeling that ;} - Great video - as always -
Psssst....I have a music making app coming out soon....it's kind of related to this video because you can do polymeters in it but really it's a full on sample-based DAW for iOS :D Sign up to get notified when it drops - it will be 20% off for the first week or two: flipsampler.com
Thanks for watching! Leave any ideas for future Theory Thursday vids below! Much love.
will it ever be released on android?
i like ya cut g
@@fluffartistt We're looking into whether that's possible. Android doesn't handle audio as well and there are a LOT more screen sizes / device types to deal with, so it's a challenge
Will it be free?
does the e-mail subscription cost?
0:25
abcdbga
hey there mr jazz man
B A S S
7/11
That was fast
Really clear, effective breakdown of an often confused topic! Nicely done Andrew 👍🏼🙂
That cowbell/cow track was fire.
MOO
MOO
MOO
the cowbell is a superior instrument
Not gonna lie i'd have that as a ringtone/alarmtone
yeah but I really need more cowbell
tupac woulda killed that shit
Music teachers: we're going explain the concepts to make it more understandable
Andrew: *cow*
and cowbells
Right the easiest way to do it
Good timing
good comment
Good reply
Good reply to a reply
Why does it sound like ALL of his music is about an X gf? He mustve dated like carmen electra or some shit. Gr8 musician btw not hating.
Oh.. uou
"What is my purpose?"
"You pass butter."
"... Oh my god."
Had to think of this.
Rick and Morty reference hehe
Robot is lucky. Most people are miserable because they feel like they have NO purpose in life 😂
oooh... that graphic with the letterspacing/wordlength was actually really useful
I have a big... BIG... BIIIIGGGGG... muscles!!! HAHAHA!!! What did you think I was going for? That's so DIRTY of you! GAGAGAGA!!! I am the funniest RUclipsr ever! Maybe that's the reason why I have TWO (!!!) HOT (!) GIRLFRIENDS. Thanks for being alive, dear mr
@@AxxLAfriku wow where can I buy what you're on
couldn't agree more.
Can you timestamp me that part?? I'm not getting the reference..
@@cloudscape5996 3:08
The visual representations at around 3:10 are such a nice touch
Right?? I loved that! I'm definitely using that representation from now on 💯
Enjoyed this video a lot! You’re killing it my friend
hi rami
Enjoyed this video a lot! You're killing my friend
Roomie and andrew collab on a poly rhythm track plz
Roomie can you do a video showing how you produce your music? BTW Love from India
roomieswami
The way Andrew represents the difference visually at 3:10 is genius
Didn't know Andrew has his twin as a slave that passes the goddamn butter.
He also waters and talks to plants.
That is his purpose.... Oh my God!
You pass the butter
Nor did I. Someone does have to pass the goddamn butter, though.
It's not a twin, it's an imprisoned demon clone andrew tricked into staying with his immaculate music
That polyrhythm midi editing in ableton just blew my world apart.
we got polyproblems here
good one
Then I would recommend the podcast poly-weekly ;) it helped my relationship(s)
😂🤣👌
Polycliche
It's amazing how much you do for the music community. So much free information organised into concise and entertaining videos. I've learnt so much over the years and feel like I never had to "study", just watch entertaining videos.
0:25 someone finally freaking said it. And doesn't surprise me it's coming from the one youtube music persona who writes odd rhythms but makes it actually sound like it is musical.
😅
It makes sense
To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Sungazer. The rhythms are extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of music theory most of the songs will go over a typical listener's head.
@@crapadopalese It's a variation on old copypasta about Rick&Morty
@@crapadopalese in the words of a classic: "it's a meme you dip"
starting at 6:05 the amount of editing correlating with visuals and then audio plus to mention the emotions expressed simultaneously is extremely impressive. *hands applauding*
the cow-cowbell thingy could do as an awfully effective alarm
That animation of the words at around 3:20 was pure gold
Holy, I love some of the random sprinkles of over the top or unexpected editing (like 3:02 where another Andrew passes the goddamn butter or 6:05 where everything just hits differently)!
I freeze framed @6:16 and was not disappointed.
@@raverone909 that is one musical butt
⚠️ Warning: this channel contains a killer level of aesthetics hidden under the guise of simplicity
*production value 🙄
me, as a brazilian: ih rapaz o tamborim igualzinho uma chamada de bateria
*3s later*
andrew: so i got that from brazilian samba
Eu quase escrevi um comentário em inglês, mas vamos deixar os gringos aqui com a beleza do nosso idioma à mostra :P
I knew j heard something Brazilian sounding in there
Brazilians watching the video:
Wait a minute, is that SaMbA?
😂👌🏼
Eu tambem sou brasileiro
Yo fellow Logic Pro users, to use the method shown at 8:26, hit control + T (on Mac) while in the piano roll, have funnn
eyyy it's Aldo
"Pass the god damn butter." ~Andrew Huang, Thanksgiving 2020
The video, the editing, Andrew him self, just so professional
you have no idea how much it pleases me to see this broken down for viewers in a manner that simplifies the misuse of this term. Ive had this conversation more times this year than I could possibly remember and now I can just send this link instead. Nailed it.
Cute roast on Adam Neely and Jacob Collier.
Polymeters=Same Beat
Polyrhythm=Same Measure
Thanks!
I'm so glad you finally discussed Long Gone. It's my favorite song off Stars and the rhythm always satisfied my mathcore soul
The editing in this one was incredible, Andrew. The best part by far, for me, was the simultaneously functional and visually striking typography using the font alignment. Genius.
If you are using Studio One, then you can apply the 2nd or non-time consuming method 8:08 (both audio and midi) although the particular two (or more sounds) need to be on different tracks.
I will be using the order of tracks as given in the video for my examples and methods.
For Midi, arrange the notes in the way that Mr. Andrew has instructed you to 8:12 (on different tracks in S1 of course).
Now Time Stretch the midi event of the longer track so that the last note is at the very start of the next bar (somewhat like the instructions here 8:31).
It is quite the same for audio, with a few changes.
For audio, follow the first step used for the midi track. Now merge the 2nd track and bounce to new track.
Then Time Stretch it so that the start of last sound of the bounced out event is at the very start of the next bar.
I hope you found this useful! (Please pardon my mistakes in my English if there are any, as I'm not a Native Speaker)
[Also a huge thanks to you Mr. Andrew as I did not understand the difference between Polymeters and Polyrhythm until today]
Anyone else facepalm hard watching this... The number of times I've referred to polymeter as polyrhythm! You've just explained it in such a clear, concise and coherent way. Thanks, Andrew.
That intro to Theory Thursday is SO well made Andrew
5:58 -6:35 Is a masterpiece
Holy shit the editing
Always. A Train is next level.
As a beginner (two years now), your videos and their range of subjects have been invaluable. Thank you!
3:12 Great animation for understanding the difference! That's going to be my new background
dude ur visual metaphors for things are mindblowing - the letters of polyrhythm and polymeter symbolizing their definitions... genius
Now I can‘t stop imagining a young emo Chopin yelling at his mom to stop calling him Freddy. “My name is ‘show pain‘ now, UGH you just don‘t GET me“
Awww... that’s so cute 😂 Fryderyk did make a lot of pretty emo comments, including: "It is not my fault if I am like a mushroom which seems edible but which poisons you if you pick it and taste it, taking it to be something else,"
As a drummer love this video and how oversimplified - in a good way this is. Took me about 50mins of youtube videos to understand 4:3 and you did it in 30 seconds haha
Great visualizations and editing to explain the music theory, I’ve always realized you make complex rhythms sound really good
Oh man this is a pet peeve of mine; thank you for setting the record straight! 3:12 is a great way of showing the difference between the two.
polyriddim.
ye
yeah, we know by now
WOOP WOOP
I can hear the drop
I don't really know much about it and probably have it confused with samba, but don't some carribean genres use polyrythms?
I am thankful for this video. Thanks for releasing it on thanksgiving
The part from 6:05 - 6:35 was so dramatic I thought he was going to say it would take a year or something for it to line up again.
xD
The fact that you used king crimson as an example for math rock has just won me so many arguments.
Polyriddim converted into polymeters? Someone do this
Weh?
Polymetrim?
Phonon?
@@s-zz yes
Oh look it's dwooswa again
Whoever took over your video graphics is doing a BANGIN job.
5:4 is a fun one, the saying is
I’m looking for a home to buy
:))
For more fun with meters with five beats, the Uruk-hai in the Lord of the Rings march to a count of five. Their war drums beat on one and four.
I don't why I've been ignoring your channel for years. Awesome content! You rock
8:30 you can do this in FL without the extra note!
Bro, I love your channel. It fucking crushes man. I've learned so much from you. You're literally the definition of how to be an educator in the 21st century. Straight up, you're better than any educator ive ever scene in university. Mad props.
hey, you can hold down shift to drag the grey marker with the notes selected staying intact. that way you can do note transformations without needing to add an extra note.
?
As a Brazilian person myself I instantly identified the tambourine sound and rhythm and expected you to say something about Brazilian music! Very interesting to know that you used to play samba Andrew :)
Cool samba tambourine, thats a REALLY cliche rythmn here
Hugs from brazil
If you haven't already, go check out Virtual Riot's "I heard you like polyrhythms" track. It's so simple yet beautiful
Also came from that video.
This is a whole unique league of youtubing
I was recently practicing both these techniques in piano and was naming them in my mind as Polyrythm type 1 & Polyrythm type 2 😀.. thanks a bunch for clarifying this
Yo Andrew, that King Crimson piece is called Discipline, not Disciple, I think? Nonetheless, a wonderfull vid. You're a god of music education to me.
this is correct, and I'm glad someone said it lol
Yeah, Discipline is the correct title. An essential prog song from the band😃
The whole album is really great, actually my favorite I think
You totally nailed this explanation. It took a college professor of mine an entire semester to get it across to us... and he had it backwards...
happy thanksgiving everyone 🦃
I have no idea if I'll ever end up using polymeters or polyrhythms all that much but I just love to learn about a new topic with the way you explain things so clearly. Keep killin it man!
Holy shit, I’ve been mixing their names up for *years*, and had no idea-thanks!
Love the new friends you got over in your studio
"what is my purpose?"
"you pass butter."
"oh my God"
3:02
...yeah, welcome to the club pal
The algorithm brought be back here and I think it was solely to appreciate that at 3:00, not only does he bring himself some goddamn butter, but there is also a _hot cup of tea_ on the table as well. I don't think I noticed the latter originally.
Thank you, Al Gorithm.
Gonna use the second example at Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Credit will go to Andrew!
I was in Drumline in high school, and now that I write music a little, I find that I do this somewhat naturally, so thank you Andrew for giving some reason to it.
That tiny detail of explaining the difference between both concepts by animating their respective name (3:07) in a way that visually reflects their audible properties is the entire reason I watch educational RUclips content. Like I'm never gonna forget the difference between these two things now thanks to that. Great stuff as always, Andrew! :D
edit: fixed timestamp
the "crazy math" montage is still fire two years later
the thumbnail is just my melted music brain seeing the title
The jocke blew my mind. Loved it.
Thanks
Going deeper into the math-rock, the "djent" subsubgenre of progressive metal can very much be about that - whether it be Meshuggah's "New Millenium Cyanide Christ" (23/16 on 4/4), or TesseracT's "Palingenesis" (13/8 on 3/4).
Also if you want another "spoken word polyrhythm", 5:4 can have the phrase "go to bed, go upstairs to bed".
Autechre and The Algorithm use polymeter as well. I also use it in my metal and IDM projects, it's freakin fun as heck to play guitar to.
i listen to a lot of mathy stuff but meshuggah are the gods of polyrhythmic/polymetric metal as far as i'm concerned, no one else commits to it like them
If you really want to see some odd meters, check out indian konnokol rhythms
@@patrickcompton1483 Indian Classical Music is one of the most complicated musical systems in the world. I am particularly a fan of the Raga Bhairav :)
My favorite way to do polymeters is to start with a bassline at, for example, a 7 beat loop. Then take another 3 beat loop of *intervals* such as 0, 4 & 7 which is a major chord (root=0, maj 3rd = 4, perfect 5th = 7), and create a melody line to go with the bassline by elevating it an octave and modulating it with the 3 beat loop. Really easy to do when you're working with CVs for the melodies, because you just add the cycling interval voltages to the bassline v/oct CV and there you are. The Doepfer A-185-2 Precision Adder is perfect for this because it can add or subtract octaves as well as the input CVs. You get a resulting melody pattern that works with the bassline, but is 21 beats long (3*7). And such melody lines are often very, very cool...
My new favorite thing is poly phrases: For example, putting a 4-measure melody over a 3-measure chord progression, so the chords shift every time the phrase repeats
Isn't this just polymetric?
Not quite. Everything in the same time signature, but one part is playing three-bar phrases and one is playing four-bar phrases. It's a lot more subtle than polymeter when you listen to it.
Fair... I guess I'm just saying that if you keep your polymeter in multiples of an underlying time signature, it stops sounding like polymeter and sounds like something else, which is less in-your-face
I had this question in my head the other day and I'm so happy you answered it!
Not only are you clearly a talented musician, but I'm always struck by the creativity of your filming and especially editing. Always educational, inspiring, and entertaining!
Gustav Holst, 2nd Suite in F, the 4th Movement. There's a section where the brass is playing in 3/4, and the woodwinds are playing in 6/8, the conductor leads on the downbeat of each measure. Really cool polyrhythm all the way back in High School band.
They taught us “pass the bread and butter” because we were classy.
brits?
And not as Sassy
I love your sense of humor Andrew. Your choice for cowbells and cows is priceless.
Calling Jacob Collier and Adam Neely out for being so extra to flex all the time lol
I'm not really interested in making music and yet, here I am, watching this man teach you how to make music. Why?
Any tool fan out there?? 😂
We are used to this mate!
i often use polymeter to help learn polyrhythms. for example, for 5:4, i used a rhythm in my head of *1 + 2 + a* for one hand and *1 + 2 +* for the other, and tapped only one the ones. this gives you an easier way to count while you learn the feeling of the rhythm, and then you just work at internalising the feeling
I could NEVER do that ... the snapping at different rates... never.
that butter though, lol
I had exactly the same thought. Saw him do it and concluded "our brains are just different". But then he gave the vocal phrase trick and it just worked right away for me.
You definitely could with a little practice. It's not that hard once you get the rhythm
Yess Long Gone is one of my absolute favourites because of all these cool things!
So let me get this straight...
Polymeter: we chew at the same pace but have different amounts of food and can eat leisurely
Polyrhythm: same orders but the restaurant closes in a bit so get to eating?
---
edit: spaced on the english
I wish you put this out back when I was working on my polyrhythmic album! Very informative
that snapping of the fingers was freaking lit!!!
when you summarized the concept using the spacing of the letters in the words at 3:12 ... brilliant
Hahaha, illustrating the two concepts with the letters in the words was brilliant. Great job!
Don't know anything about making music or music theory , but listening to you talking about that stuff is kind of relaxing , and makes listening to music more interesting for me.
And Long gone is such a good song , for getting a good mood.
Thank you Andrew :3
Another similar system is 'phasing' à la Steve Reich. The system that he originally used was to play the same sound on a group of tape players that are set to playback at slightly different speeds, producing massively long polyrhythms that don't match up for the whole length of the piece - this can take half an hour or more to complete.
The latest method that I've been using to get this effect in Ableton Live 10 is to create a midi clip in arrangement view for each voice. I freeze and flatten each track at a different tempo for each track (calculated so that they each complete after a specific time), turn off Warp and loop each clip. This produces some very interesting rhythms.
do you have some examples?
@@00042 The first piece recorded was Steve Reich's "It's Gonna Rain" and anything by Reich with the 'phase' in the title.
The method I mentioned above was used on my piece "Phased Serialism 2020" (the other pieces used different recording methods) and can be found on my Soundcloud .
The Wikipedia article, that also contains some more examples of phasing, is at .
I was literally writing a song called polyrythms and it was all polymeters, thank you for saving me Andrew.
You played King Crimson, you made my day, thanks for sharing it to the world.
Not trying to be, I dunno, dumb? But the first 6 seconds of this video might be my favorite thing you've made in years. That's not to say that I don't love your other stuff, like Sparkle Mountain for example, but that crazy simple drive of that sound I find incredibly compelling. Please make it longer! Make it into something!
I was literally working with one of my students yesterday on this subject. Doing 3:2 (and subdividing them) in order to feel triplets by switching between compound and meter mode (like "America" in WSS). Thank you for doing this, I now have a perfect go-to for when I need a good explainer.
Awesome that you played with a Brazilian samba group! My college had a Brazilian music ensemble and it got me playing a variety of Brazilian music genres. Great video.
Love the videos Andrew. Just to add, movable polyrhythm is another term for what you refer to as polymeters. It’s a term used fairly often. I would venture to guess “polymeters” are the appropriate term when a musical composition has more than one written meter (ex. 4/4 in violin, 6/8 for cello, 5/8 for piano), and “movable polyrhythm” is the appropriate term when the piece has only one written meter, but note contour and rhythms imply groups over that broader meter (ex. violin plays groups of 4, cello plays groups of 6, piano plays groups of 5, but now we add a drummer in the background laying down a fat 4 to the floor groove as a backdrop.)
In a clinic I attended years ago - Drummer Dave Weckl used the term "Iso Rhythm" to describe what you call "Poly Meter" but from the context of superimposing "odd" groupings of notes over 4/4 or (16/16 if you want to think of it that way). Fusion drummers would know what I am talking about, but it's a technique where you are briefly playing in 5/16 or 7/16 or whatever, and then add a few 16th notes at the end of a phrase to add up to 16 16th notes per bar and therefore 4/4 time. This is not a polyrhythm, but an "Isolated Rhythm" in another meter that is superimposed (and generally repeated) this technique creates interesting syncopations than can feel increasingly unbalanced or unsettling but then "resolves" with a short figure that allows you to end on the downbeat of 1 (or wherever you want to land). The key factor is that whatever sub division you are playing (16 notes, triplets ... whatever) stays consistent... So if you are playing a funky thing in 4/4 and you superimpose a funky riff in 7/16 the 16th notes have the same duration and as long as the math ends up right, you will end up on the downbeat. So if you are "Trading Fours" the drummer would play a stream of 64 consecutive 16th notes, but the grouping could be 7+5+5+5+7+7+7+7+5+7+2 = BAMM! DOWNBEAT! (and the crowd goes wild!!!) The tricky part is counting and eventually just feeling that ;} - Great video - as always -