Thinking outside the box- time signatures

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

I find the almost complete preponderance of 4/4 time in music to be rather sad, so I've got a quick and easy way to show folks how to have a go at using a more interesting timing with stock drum loops.

 

1. Get a 4 bar loop of 4/4 drums(plain .wav or .aif, not an apple loop). Pop it in the arrange window. Set the correct tempo for the loop.

 

2. Set the time signature to 15/8.

 

3. Cut off the the last bit of the drum loop that sticks out into the third 15/8 bar.

 

4. Write a bassline/melody over it, keeping on the down-beat at the beginning of each 15/8 bar.

 

Hey presto, you've got a drum loop that switches on and off the beat. An unorthodox beat that you can dance to!

 

Here's a snippet of something I cooked up a few years ago (90bpm):

 

EDIT: The actual time signature is 15/8(8+7), but has more of the feel of 7.5/4(4+3.5)

15_8 Loop.mp3.zip

[DaveRobinson]

Very nice MoodLoop... 8)

Having session later today trying out your tutorial.

Here's my first session with your MoodLoop..

RJS-15_8-90bpm-Hemiola

 

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

Wow, blast from the past!

 

Glad someone is finally giving this a go after all these years though

 

I may as well attach the unfinished idea that loop came from. It's about a decade old, made on Logic Platinum 4.5 (the only other version of Logic I've ever had, I'm quite a few years behind the bleeding edge ).

 

I'd like to do something more with the idea sometime. I sampled static from a radio and made an EXS instrument out of it, which I think sounds pretty cool and suprisingly tonal.

 

Here's an example of the 15/16 "time-slip" I was talking about in the "breaking the 4 bar loop" thread (best heard from 2'25"):

 

[soundcloud]

[/soundcloud]

 

Post your experiments with the 15/8 timing please!

Static.mp3.zip

[DaveRobinson]

apophenia track is Super 8)

 

Yeah, the old kit can work just fine. Before my Mac, Logic and Linux pc with home built custom real time kernel I used a pentium 4 and Cubase SX, it only had 512 MB ram and it served me well, knocked out some interesting sounds with that rig.

Still got it...

 

Downloaded Static mp3 and i'm into that next.

Is it also 15/8 at 90bpm?

 

Here's a 5/4 100bpm quick mix of logic loops and instruments morphed into a

[Thinking Outside the box- Time Signature] mp3

Again it's influenced by Fz article about Hemiola.

 

Dr-5_4-100bpm-Hemiola

 

Dr-5_4-100bpm-Hemiola.mp3.zip

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

I love that!

 

Good work

 

And yes, Static is the same as the attached loop in my first post, which is just a section of it.

[DaveRobinson]

Thanks Rev

 

I've had a really enjoyable day.

I'm away from the mac at the minute but Static is imported into logic and ready for my next session.

I agree there's loads of potential in there and I've only been able to have a quick listen.

 

There's the assortment of time signatures and tips you posted in the Escaping the 4 bar Loop thread to start on yet

[DaveRobinson]

The Score-Tab in my first post has been written into different software many times and yet to date capturing the sound to make it work how I hear it in my mind is still an on going project.

The chords are so simple, playing them on my trusty acoustic guitar really gives me the feel of a 15 bar sequence and gets me away from the basic 16 cycle or 4/4 time.

I've done a rough mix here, still leaves quite a bit to do regarding capturing the sound i'm looking for but I hope it gives you a guide as to what i'm trying to achieve...

 

RJS-15_8-90bpm-Static-Gui.mp3 (mix-1)

 

RJS-15_8-90bpm-Static-Gui.mp3.zip

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

That sounds totally crazy!

 

I like 8)

[DaveRobinson]

As you can see from other posts on the forum LpX has bugs, however the potential is awesome.

Here's an overview of the layered synths.

I'm going to have a break from reverse engineering Hemiola and come back to it later.

Next session is to try and Sculpt a texture to lay across the actual static you've captured.

 

 

[Rev. Juda Sleaze]

That's a lot of synths!

 

You know, some day I'll upgrade. 64bit would be nice.

 

Other than that, I haven't seen anything I'd need. I was playing layered synths just tonight in L8, just with a different workflow. Flex would be useful if I was recording other people, but if my timing is screwy I just record the part again...

 

I can see the appeal of Drummer for lots of people, but the idea of not writing every single note makes me break out in a cold sweat

[DaveRobinson]

Sure, 64bit is working well here.. Love your work 8)

I hope you get to upgrade soon, although as you say it's possible to capture ideas with any version of software.

Drummer and Track Stacks just make the workflow a bit easier.

Same here I like to control all aspects of the work in progress.

The new functions just make it simpler to get down new ideas.

Still haven't checked out Flex properly yet, Drum tracks and Alternate timings seem to dominate my workflow and I like to write most parts.

 

I've got a nice Sculpture preset that I think is going to work really well alongside your Static texture.

If it works out ok i'll upload the preset for you...

 

This is an old MoodLoop it's a bit off topic as it's in 4/4 at 160bpm.

I'm trying here to use a basic 4/4 time and create an alternate feel over it.

 

Dr-4_4-160bpmNuJPsycShoBss.mp3.zip