quoted 3 lines From: Ian Pojman [mailto:ian@webice.net]> From: Ian Pojman [mailto:ian@webice.net]
> allow me to remind you of the subjectivity of time signature!
>
Of course. Time signatures are subjective in many ways:
1) 4/4 might easily be re-interpreted as 4/8 or 8/4 some other even
multiple.
2) One can sample an incomplete portion of a 4/4 measure so that the sample
becomes some other time signture.
3) Time signatures may repeat over several measures to become other time
signatures (repeating 3/4 measures in sets of four makes what some might
call 4/4 triplets and what others call simply a fast waltz). Patterns change
when you zoom in and out of a score.
etc...
But I stand by my statement that Amen is 4/4, and if we accept time
signature subjectivity as an argument to the contrary then we might as well
stop talking about time signatures all together.
Amen ain't 7/8 or 9/14 or anything, and it ain't free form. It's a funk
record, and funk is almost without exception 4/4. Breakbeats typically trod
all over the usually-steady beat of a funk track, breaking the clockwork and
intruducing a great deal of syncopation and improvisation: but the
foundation 4/4 rhythm is still there under all the drum flash, tick, tick,
ticking away. That's what makes breakbeats so fun -they fuck up the beat but
you can still dance to them.
I think IDM fans (and critics) habitually confuse syncopation with time
signature trickery to make themselves feel smarter. (I'm not saying you did,
Ian)
- Cf
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