Honestly, 13/16 is a really natural feeling time signature to me, actually. It might be the proximity to 12/16, but especially in the 3-3-3-4 clave, it is a very smooth time signature to my ear.
Mostly signatures with extra measures at the end often sound artificially extended unless bars are based on melodic motive naturally including these portions of 3 and 4.
I always felt it as 4 4's with 3 lopped off of the last one. It's one of those songs where form follows functionin a beautiful way - she's describing being urgently, overpoweringly in love so of course there's no time for those last three notes of filler, we MUST jump right to the next line so she can tell us more. Beautiful song, and great description as always @David Bennett Piano !
0:03 explanation 0:11 Super Mario RPG - Weapons Factory 0:41 Ocarina of Time - Fairy Flying 0:55 Tigran Hamisyan - To Negate 1:17 Pearl Jam - Low Light 1:47 Pearl Jam - Push Me, Pull Me 2:16 Bobby McFerrin - Stars 2:50 Tool - Schism 3:15 Björk - Jôga (to be continued)
The dankest example of 13/8 and 13/4 is King Crimson's Frame by Frame. The guitars moving against each other, one being in 13/8 and the other in 13/4, until they collide again is just magical.
King Crimson has several examples of odd meters. In fact, i'm surprised about the fact that David has never used King Crimson as examples. They're such masterpieces!!
King Crimson is called "king" for a reason haha. The 13/8 solo section (or whatever the heck that is) in the song Starless is just masterful. That part literally taught me counting odd signatures, it's so clear and natural.
Thank you David. Now I finally know what all the artists I love have in common: Genesis, Tigran Hamasyan, Tool, Plini, Björk, Nine Inch Nails, and the Nintendo soundtracks. It's the time signature.
Gavin Harrison played in Porcupine Tree before (and after) his time in King Crimson, and there’s a great video in which he describes how he thinks of The Sound of Muzak in 7/16 rather than 7/8.
I really like your explanation of the difference between13/4 and 13/8 - How one is an odd number of complete beats and the other has an extra half beat leading to it sounding more "wonky" than the quarter note version. Something I feel like I knew, but would probably not have been able to explain to anyone else - until now!
@@DavidBennettPiano Thanks for your channel, David. I would suggest (and maybe someone else has) that the Weapons Factory has 6 beats in it, but the 3rd beat is 1.5 times as long as the other 5. 6/8 has two beats in it, right? And they're 1.5 times as long as the beats in 3/4 - assuming eighth notes are constant. 7/8 often has 3 beats - maybe 2 + 2 + 3 (i.e. a long 3rd beat - common in certain Balkan music), or 3 + 2 + 2 (i.e. a long 1st beat - super common in lots of Greek music). In that part of the world 9/8 can be an irregular meter, 2 + 2 + 2 + 3, very much 4 beats, just one of them longer than the others. And BTW, I prefer irregular to odd. Irregular more descriptive, odd has other connotations. lionandtheeagle.bandcamp.com/track/postupano-and-eleno-mome-andy-busuttil-and-philip-griffin Here's a Macedonian tune in 13/8 (2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2) segued with another Macedonian tune in 7/8 (2 + 2 + 3)
During the formal music training I had back in the 1970s, weird time signatures like 5/4 (never mind 13/8!) were basically not mentioned. You've really expanded the horizons.
It's probably because they are not actually rhythmically coherent. Think of it like the art people make that's just a few lines and dots and people say yep looks like art to me. It may seem like music but in reality it's just a made up signature that doesn't follow the rules of math which is what makes music rhythmic in the first place. It feels like playing along with someone who doesn't count and misses a beat so you gotta compensate and just skip one yourself
Funny that for Turn It On Again, Mike Rutherford played a slow guitar riff at first. Phil told him to speed it up and said ‘Do you realise it’s in 13/8’ on which Mike replied ‘What do you mean it’s in 13/8, it’s in 4/4’ but it was in 13. Classic Genesis jam session
Tony Banks (who doesn't always enjoy playing live) found it amusing seeing people try to dance to this song because it has a strong pulse (making people want to dance) but the extra beat kept throwing them off.
There is an interesting example of using 13/8 as a contrasting doubletime of 13/4 in instrumental part of King Crimson's Starless, really catches that bizarre KC's vibe right after more heavy, more spaced section
Great video, nice to see some Genesis songs being mentioned. Would be cool if you did a video on "How Genesis writes a song", that would be super interesting, loads of slash chords and epic modulations in their music. I would add Robbery, Assault And Battery by Genesis and Free Will, Jacob's Ladder and Natural Science by Rush as songs that have a 13/8 time signature.
I know this isn’t about 13/8 but this song is a bit too wild to ignore. In You Move by Depeche Mode, the verse alternates between 15/16 and normal 4/4, which means you could kinda say that the verse is could be interpreted as being in longer bars of 31/32 which is pretty interesting.
Speaking of DM and odd times/rhythms (not something they’re exactly known for), in the old b-side “Now This Is Fun,” the drum machine does a wacky stutter I’ve never been able to work out. I’m told it shifts to quintuplets, but I still don’t hear it. Anyone?
@@mandel94 I don’t think it’s sucks per se as it does have some dark DM lyrics and some meaty bass synth, but I agree that it is an odd choice for the album in general, with it being quite an angry, politically-themed album
"Concrete Jungle" from the Simcity 3000 soundtrack (by Jerry Martin I think) is another in 13/8. It gave me the feeling of things getting increasingly frantic as the city grows
The hook from Ontology by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is in rotating 7/4 and 6/4. The song has a super manic energy and the feel of the 13 very much adds to that crazy and manic feeling
If he ever runs out of Radiohead and Beatles he could continue this series with just king gizzard. Maybe he could start one on polyrythms using them as a regular example
The Nintendo and jazz examples never landed in my ear no matter how many times I listened. The rock songs were instantly familiar though, which probably highlights the way we have become to accustomed to typical drums patterns (snare on 2 and 4 etc)
I'm glad you referenced Turn It On Again, especially your word about it previously. I think in the comments on that video I mentioned that in interviews, Phil has always said it was in 13. Weirdly Mike didn't realize it was an odd signature until Phil pointed it out to him.
"I am the Doctor" by Murray Gold, from the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who is in 7/8 or 7/4 time (depending on what version you see) and you can really hear the cut-off beat that is actually driving the theme forward.
One of my all-time favorite 13/8 parts is the opening to Promise Pt 2 by Arcane. It really feels like 13 but the time signature changes throughout the piece are fantastic, it plays around in 13/8, 4/4, 6/8, and 7/8. It also has my single favorite metric modulation from 7/8 to 4/4 by holding 1 note just a quarter note longer while completely changing the feel of the song. Highly recommend it.
Videogame soundtracks are a treasure trove of odd time signatures, especially when involving imposing boss fights or alternative dimensions. And the weapins factory from Super Mario RPG just so happens to be one of my favorite odd time signature videogame tracks
I was really hoping you'd mention NIN's The Becoming, it's an awesome track. I covered it like a decade ago and converted it into 4/4 for the main part of the song (it goes into 6/8 for the middle part, which I just worked as four groups of 3/4). It was a bit tricky, but it worked out rhythmically.
Antarctic Reinforcement by DM Dokuro off the Calamity Mod soundtrack for Terraria is the first example of a song in 13/8 I think of. The song primarily has this chopped up breakbeat which helps disorient your sense of time and you seem to get lost in the rhythm of the song. That is until the B section (or drop or whatever you want to call it) where you think you've found where the rhythm is but it's still in 13/8 so even that part throws you off very quickly.
Plini mentioned WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Also, Jóga might be one of the most perfect songs ever made. Ps. the cat coming in meowing in time to the music is great.
The track 'Knowledge' from the OST for the indie game FEZ is a good example of 13/4. The whole song is actually a really cool rhythmic anomaly, it builds up a big polymeter stack of 4/4, 3/4, 5/4, and eventually 13/4. The harmonic idea of the song is also intriguing, it switches back and forth between A minor and F# Melodic Minor.
@@ericowen4469 Of course man! I recommend giving the entire OST a listen, and also playing the game if you can. The music is extremely psychedelic without resorting to just being super weird. Genius work by Disasterpeace imo
I think it’s impressive how many examples you’re able to find that use such obscure time signatures that even I haven’t seen much in concert band music. Personally I would classify Schism as alternating between 5/8 and 7/8 and Jóga as 4/4 with some 5/4 bars thrown in because even though the constantly changing time signatures may confuse the performer, it does give the performer a better idea of where to use accents.
Schism alternates between 5 and 7 in the verses, but in those sections between the verses they double the length of the last note in the 5 part, so it becomes 6/8 + 7/8 = 13/8.
I always heard that section of Schism as 6/8 and 7/8 so the full 13/8 makes sense, also I grew up playing Ocarina of Time (which is still one of my favourite games of all time) and had no idea that part was in 13/8 so that was really cool to learn. Additionally, the verses of Vicinity of Obscenity by System of a Down alternates between 13/16 and 15/16
I definitely hear Joga as 4/4, 4/4, and 5/4. I hear three strong downbeats: STATE of eMERgency, how BEAUtiful to be. Because those downbeats are so strong, it makes more sense to my brain to think of them as the start of a new measure.
I knew all of this stuff. I play most of these tunes. I wan't going to let it finish thinking "Oh, he's left out Genesis". Then it came along. "Firth of Fifth", "Turn it on again" and much more (Supper's Ready etc). God you make me feel so lonely. Can we do lunch someday? Surely we can understand each other. I especially like the bit about 'grouping' and what it 'feels' like to our ears. Somewhat complex stuff but also easy listening if you run it right. The Beatles were masters of bumping beats around mostly via a lyric line. Clever. I do like complex but I LOVE it when it's made listenable. Great little tutorial here!
10:26 On the topic of alternating time signatures, Mastodon's "Sickle and Peace" verse section has three 7/8 measures followed by an 8/8 measure, which finally feels "complete". Then, they stop with the 8/8s before changing to 6/8 for the chorus. Really interesting use of this concept.
Great research! I know what you mean about breaking down into shorter bars. I think of Golden Brown as 3334 and Turn it on Again as 76 too. This is often the case with odd time though. An exception is Take Five.
Apart from the middle section of 'Starless' by King Crimson (as mentioned previously), there are a few more gems from the British progressive rock music of the mid-70s (I know, before you were born): 'Childlike faith in childhood's end' by Van der Graaf Generator, and 'Siberian Khatru' by Yes.
Starless was the most-suggested song on his Reddit post about songs in odd time signatures, but I very much understand why he wouldn't want to include a King Crimson song in his video. Fripp is notorious for copyright strikes...
Tam Lin by Fairport Convention, and (much of) Robbery, Assault & Battery by Genesis are in 13… Although whether it’s 13/4 or 13/8, I can’t recall. Thanks for making these time signature videos! Very enjoyable.
Robbery, Assault & Battery is the first (and the craziest) thing that comes to my mind in 13. That absurd solo right in the middle of a fairly simple joyful song is pretty weird even for my Genesis fetish.
Tam Lin is mainly in 3/4; in the verses, every fourth bar has an extra beat. So one could say that the verses vary between 6/8 and 7/8, but not 13. The instrumental passages are firmly in 3/4.
I love how Fairport played with time, at the beginning they almost sound always the same but then you begin to notice how much they put in the rhythmic section doing apparently very simple things that are actually very particular
I'm in a Music Appreciation class and my professor mentioned Turn it on Again as having an example of an odd time signature, and now I can't get enough that song.
Appreciate the discussion at the end about situations in which you may not want to notate a large time signature. I confused the heck out of my old band doing it the wrong way from what you described. :)
You read my mind man!! I’m a huge Plini fan, so thanks so much for including this!! The way I feel the 13/8 is essentially as if it’s in 4/4. I feel it as two bars of 4/4 (with the downbeat of the second bar occurring on what would be the ‘+’ of 3. I then feel a bar of 5/4 (or 10/8) to turn the phrase around. It sounds crazy, but it didn’t take long to get the hang of it.
Golden Brown is a beautiful example of the 3/3/3/4 grouping, it works so well. The last four notes of the phrase in the harpsichord (?) part tickle my brain so well
Oh, very good video. Two Genesis songs (and a cat!). Well done. I'd be interested if you could look into Down and Out from their album And Then There Were Three. Unusual drum pattern, so I wonder what time signature that is.
Down And Out uses one bar of 4/4 and one bar of 6/4, of course the chorus is in 4/4. It sounds more complicated than it actually is, thanks to the complex and whacky drum beat that Phil plays there. And Tony as usual plays a billion different chords over that d-pedaltone, which doesn't make it sound any easier. Add Mike's guitar riff there and you have some pretty proggy stuff.
@@JeffWardMusic That's interesting, you could count it in 5/4 as well, however, for some reason I have thought about it having a bar 4/4 and a bar of 6/4 instead.
One of my favorite examples is Heat Distraction by Women features an opening riff in 13/8, verses in 5/4, a bridge in 4/4, and then goes back to 13/8. I think it really leans into the uncanniness of the odd meter by starting odd, getting progressively less odd, and then coming back to it
What a great video! Thanks David. Bjork also has a few other songs with odd time signatures, but not 13/8. "Vertebrae by vertebrae" is in 9/8 while "Atom Dance" is 5/8. "Moon" also has an odd time signature but I couldn't figure out which one it is.
You know, this video was going to be great either way but the fact that yes, you did include the theme from The Terminator just elevated it to a higher level. And now that explains also the response you gave me to this on the 11 video. Also, it was very cool to see some electronic and synthesizer music aswell. So, great video. Also: CAT! :)
The song that comes to mind for me is From the Flame by Leprous, which has verses in 13/8 with a pulse that almost feels like 8/8 + 5/8, and a second verse that feels like it's in a polymeter with the snare being on every 8th beat. It's a weird song but it works in its execution.
My favourite song in 13-time is Pete Shelley's "I Generate a Feeling", off the "Homosapien" album, but it's probably better described as alternating bars in 6/4 and 7/4. Much of Tori Amos's "Spark" also has 13 beats. The sax break from "Starless" by King Crimson and the first part of "The Man With 100 Cells" by Stereolab are also in 13/8.
Another song that is technically in 13/4 is the opening number from the Broadway show “13.” It’s about a bunch of 13 year olds in Indiana but the opening number’s chorus is literally a 13 beat phrase repeated over and over again. One of my favorite music Easter eggs.
2:43 Anyone who listens to Zolak and Bertrand on 98.5 The Sports Hub will constantly hear that 13/8 portion of the song whenever they come back from a commercial break. Every time I heard that, I was wondering what time signature it was in. Thanks to you, now I know!
This is fantastic! Thank you! I nominate two songs to add to your 13/8 list: The tag of Skimbleshanks from the musical Cats (forgive me since it’s Cats LOL) - 3 3 3 2 2 On Snarky Puppy’s latest album, Honiara is in 13/8, but largely 7+6 (a la the subdivisions you talked about at the end of the video)
Great video as always ! You should check "Wait" by Pain of Salvation : a 6/4 time signature divided in two alternating bars of 13/8 and 11/8 creating a veeeeery unstable feeling. It resolves at the end, making the last chorus very satisfying :)
Damn I was too late. The third track in my next album (in development), called Fight or Flight, is also in 13/8. I used to claim it as "the world's first song entirely in 13/16 time," but I realized that it wasn't fast enough for that. Out of all the songs in said upcoming album, it is by far the most experimental, with the aforementioned odd time signature and a sort of tacky drum solo. It could possibly be better notated as two bars of 4/8 followed by a bar of 5/8, though. It's one of the more forgettable songs in that album, but for such a weird time signature, I would say I did a good job! Also, cool video.
Between the buried and me has tons of riffs that are broken into several times signatures. Stuff like |:5, 5, 5, 6:| |:6, 6, 6, 7:| |:6, 5, 6, 7:| etc.
I see/feel Bjork’s example as a phrase of 4/4 + 4/4 + 5/4. The harmonic cadence of that Chorus and that the rest of the song is in a 4/4 feel- support this interpretation.
So cool that you included "Stars" by Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin. That is probably my favorite Bobby McFerrin song. I don't think most people know that album.
Millie at the end joining in is one of the sweetest things I've seen in a long time 😭❤️ sorry I'm a bit late to this one, David! Catching up now, see you on the most recent vid :p
a good one is the track "Antarctic Reinforcement" from a Terraria mod called Calamity. 13/4 combined with the aggressive drums and all the different sound textures is pretty interesting. feels crazy and unnatural, in a good way
Seals and Crofts-I poop you not-start a song in 13/8. There’s a twelve string acoustic figure that plays as an intro as well a san interlude during the song. To me it feels like a group of 8 eight notes and a group of 5 eight notes. The song is Say from the Summer Breeze album. It is 100% a progressive rock song. S&C actually have quite a few groggy moments throughout their catalog, but this is the clearest example of an entire prog song.
The 3+3+3+4 version 0f 13/4 is used to great effect in Garnet Mimms's "My baby", one of the most driving 60s soul tracks. It's a great way to make a song move you forward.
Hi, I watched all your time signatures videos and thank you for take the time to explain and exemplify every each of them I really learned a lot. I have a Song which I think it has a interesting time signature progressing because the verse begins with 4/4, next bar changes to 5/4, next bar to 6/4, next in 7/4 and so on until reaching 9/4. The Song I am talking about is Countdown - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club. It could be nice if you analyze it and share with me your opinion.
theres a 13/16 song that i love which is Nasa-Arab by Coil, there's a repeating 13/16 riff throughout the whole song but later on it combines with a typical 4/4 rhythm and it gives a really chaotic effect
Weirdly, TH-cam just suggested a great guitar cover of the song, but Plini's "Electric Sunrise" is also in 13/8, and it is a fabulous 13/8. Its broken up into a 26-beat pattern of 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2 (cover by Yuichi)
If you ever get around to making a video about 17/8 and 17/16, the intro to Changes by Yes and and part of Thrive by The Contortionist are both in 17 with the same sub-groupings and it amuses me to no end that I can count them the same way
I am unbelievably impressed and concerned that David has managed to make a time signature video without a single Radiohead song
No Beatles neither. Isn't his first video without Radiohead or the Beatles?
@@pierreyveshuet1763 nope
I’m afraid with these oddest of odd time signature we are now reaching beyond the realms of Radiohead (and the Beatles!)
@@DavidBennettPiano truly video game music is the highest form of art
@@pierreyveshuet1763 I think it is.
Honestly, 13/16 is a really natural feeling time signature to me, actually. It might be the proximity to 12/16, but especially in the 3-3-3-4 clave, it is a very smooth time signature to my ear.
I agree. Very pleasing.
Mostly signatures with extra measures at the end often sound artificially extended unless bars are based on melodic motive naturally including these portions of 3 and 4.
1 e + a 2 e + a 1 2 1 2 3
I can see the appeal but it’s not really my favorite. It’s pleasing, yes, but it’s hard to make feel natural to me.
Really? I find it incredibly hard to follow. I would love to know how to follow it, but I just can't.
Joga is one of the most effortless pieces of music that uses an odd meter to me. I find it so pleasing.
I love that song 😊
@@DavidBennettPiano i trust no one who doesn't like that song, haven't find such person yet tho.
@@miserirken
Neither have I.
I always felt it as 4 4's with 3 lopped off of the last one. It's one of those songs where form follows functionin a beautiful way - she's describing being urgently, overpoweringly in love so of course there's no time for those last three notes of filler, we MUST jump right to the next line so she can tell us more. Beautiful song, and great description as always @David Bennett Piano !
@@miserirken I don't like it
0:03 explanation
0:11 Super Mario RPG - Weapons Factory
0:41 Ocarina of Time - Fairy Flying
0:55 Tigran Hamisyan - To Negate
1:17 Pearl Jam - Low Light
1:47 Pearl Jam - Push Me, Pull Me
2:16 Bobby McFerrin - Stars
2:50 Tool - Schism
3:15 Björk - Jôga
(to be continued)
Kid
@@yourcommentisntfunnyv2709 what
@@yourcommentisntfunnyv2709 stoopid
@@edgemonster6293 i forgot why i said this
Hamasyan*
You couldn't have shaved 9 seconds of the runtime?
😢
It wouldn't have shown 13:8 anyways, it would show 13:08. It's not the same for me.
13:16 still counts, he showed some 13/16 stuff
The dankest example of 13/8 and 13/4 is King Crimson's Frame by Frame. The guitars moving against each other, one being in 13/8 and the other in 13/4, until they collide again is just magical.
Masterpiece of a song
King Crimson has several examples of odd meters. In fact, i'm surprised about the fact that David has never used King Crimson as examples. They're such masterpieces!!
@@velvetyamaranth8381 hi, I guess his tastes are not of that line, but he should talk more about kc in his videos, yes.
King Crimson is called "king" for a reason haha. The 13/8 solo section (or whatever the heck that is) in the song Starless is just masterful. That part literally taught me counting odd signatures, it's so clear and natural.
starless from what i know also uses 13/8 close to the end
Thank you David. Now I finally know what all the artists I love have in common: Genesis, Tigran Hamasyan, Tool, Plini, Björk, Nine Inch Nails, and the Nintendo soundtracks. It's the time signature.
They’re all prog and math rock.
My proposal for a musicology thesis project looks at this. its more common than you think.
I want to mention Starless by King Crimson. It has that odd time signature of 13/4 in the second half of the song which is a masterpiece.
Then it switches up to 13/8 in the third part if I recall correctly
Exactly what I thought of. The jam at the end of the track is mostly in 13/8 and yet has an incredibly infectious groove
Gavin Harrison played in Porcupine Tree before (and after) his time in King Crimson, and there’s a great video in which he describes how he thinks of The Sound of Muzak in 7/16 rather than 7/8.
wow i guess im not the only one who clicked here with king crimson in mind
It also switches up to 13/8
I really like your explanation of the difference between13/4 and 13/8 - How one is an odd number of complete beats and the other has an extra half beat leading to it sounding more "wonky" than the quarter note version. Something I feel like I knew, but would probably not have been able to explain to anyone else - until now!
😊😊😊😊
@@DavidBennettPiano Thanks for your channel, David. I would suggest (and maybe someone else has) that the Weapons Factory has 6 beats in it, but the 3rd beat is 1.5 times as long as the other 5. 6/8 has two beats in it, right? And they're 1.5 times as long as the beats in 3/4 - assuming eighth notes are constant. 7/8 often has 3 beats - maybe 2 + 2 + 3 (i.e. a long 3rd beat - common in certain Balkan music), or 3 + 2 + 2 (i.e. a long 1st beat - super common in lots of Greek music). In that part of the world 9/8 can be an irregular meter, 2 + 2 + 2 + 3, very much 4 beats, just one of them longer than the others. And BTW, I prefer irregular to odd. Irregular more descriptive, odd has other connotations. lionandtheeagle.bandcamp.com/track/postupano-and-eleno-mome-andy-busuttil-and-philip-griffin
Here's a Macedonian tune in 13/8 (2 + 2 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2) segued with another Macedonian tune in 7/8 (2 + 2 + 3)
see bjork, i click
trues
During the formal music training I had back in the 1970s, weird time signatures like 5/4 (never mind 13/8!) were basically not mentioned. You've really expanded the horizons.
😊😊
It's probably because they are not actually rhythmically coherent. Think of it like the art people make that's just a few lines and dots and people say yep looks like art to me. It may seem like music but in reality it's just a made up signature that doesn't follow the rules of math which is what makes music rhythmic in the first place. It feels like playing along with someone who doesn't count and misses a beat so you gotta compensate and just skip one yourself
@@michaellopez4746
On a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you enjoy smelling your own farts? Eight? Nine?
@@michaellopez4746 what does this even mean
Complete nonsense.
Funny that for Turn It On Again, Mike Rutherford played a slow guitar riff at first. Phil told him to speed it up and said ‘Do you realise it’s in 13/8’ on which Mike replied ‘What do you mean it’s in 13/8, it’s in 4/4’ but it was in 13. Classic Genesis jam session
didn't know that! That's amazing
Tony Banks (who doesn't always enjoy playing live) found it amusing seeing people try to dance to this song because it has a strong pulse (making people want to dance) but the extra beat kept throwing them off.
There's a section of "Robbery, Assault and Battery" that is in 13 as well. That's Phil at his Brand X best.
@@dougdrazga4461 Phil in his prime was a drumming monster. His duo with Bruford on the live version of the cinema show is incredible.
Yessss Firth of Fifth made it in!
That intro also has several measures of 15/16, so it's also valid material for the inevitable "songs in 15" video ;)
"Skimbleshanks" from Cats also uses 13/8 in its chorus... and lots of other Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals also flirt with odd time signatures
Trying to figure out what it says about me that this was the first example I thought of and went looking for this comment
@@alyssagendron4209 Me, too. It was the song that I first noticed the time signature. It's probably why I find it so catchy.
Yes!! Everything's Alright from Jesus Christ Superstar is my absolute favorite 5/4 piece.
he knows and chose not to include it :(
This comment section is not free from Cats (2019) discussion
There is an interesting example of using 13/8 as a contrasting doubletime of 13/4 in instrumental part of King Crimson's Starless, really catches that bizarre KC's vibe right after more heavy, more spaced section
That ending piece is such a lovely little thing. It feels introspective and dreamy.
ikr? Ive been trying to figure out if its a cover or not bc i need the full version!
I had the same thought. Also, wouldn't mind the lighter version that includes the car meows.
Great video, nice to see some Genesis songs being mentioned. Would be cool if you did a video on "How Genesis writes a song", that would be super interesting, loads of slash chords and epic modulations in their music. I would add Robbery, Assault And Battery by Genesis and Free Will, Jacob's Ladder and Natural Science by Rush as songs that have a 13/8 time signature.
Me too. I’d love that
I know this isn’t about 13/8 but this song is a bit too wild to ignore. In You Move by Depeche Mode, the verse alternates between 15/16 and normal 4/4, which means you could kinda say that the verse is could be interpreted as being in longer bars of 31/32 which is pretty interesting.
Nice! I’ll check it out
Yeah, that song has an interesting time signature. Talking as a DM fan, it's a shame that the song sucks :-(
Speaking of DM and odd times/rhythms (not something they’re exactly known for), in the old b-side “Now This Is Fun,” the drum machine does a wacky stutter I’ve never been able to work out. I’m told it shifts to quintuplets, but I still don’t hear it. Anyone?
@@mandel94 I don’t think it’s sucks per se as it does have some dark DM lyrics and some meaty bass synth, but I agree that it is an odd choice for the album in general, with it being quite an angry, politically-themed album
@@sharpphilip yeah, that's a tough one to count, as that weird little break even switches up in thr middle.. love that section, though
Three examples in, and we're already doing Armenian Jazz...
"Concrete Jungle" from the Simcity 3000 soundtrack (by Jerry Martin I think) is another in 13/8. It gave me the feeling of things getting increasingly frantic as the city grows
The hook from Ontology by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is in rotating 7/4 and 6/4. The song has a super manic energy and the feel of the 13 very much adds to that crazy and manic feeling
If he ever runs out of Radiohead and Beatles he could continue this series with just king gizzard. Maybe he could start one on polyrythms using them as a regular example
The short riff at the end of searching is in 13/8 but this one follows the 3-3-3-4 pattern like golden brown
Ontology goes so crazy live
The Nintendo and jazz examples never landed in my ear no matter how many times I listened. The rock songs were instantly familiar though, which probably highlights the way we have become to accustomed to typical drums patterns (snare on 2 and 4 etc)
I'm glad you referenced Turn It On Again, especially your word about it previously. I think in the comments on that video I mentioned that in interviews, Phil has always said it was in 13. Weirdly Mike didn't realize it was an odd signature until Phil pointed it out to him.
"I am the Doctor" by Murray Gold, from the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who is in 7/8 or 7/4 time (depending on what version you see) and you can really hear the cut-off beat that is actually driving the theme forward.
The solo on Robery, Assault and Battery from Genesis is also in 13/8 but subdividing it in different forms but still all of them in 13/8
One of my all-time favorite 13/8 parts is the opening to Promise Pt 2 by Arcane. It really feels like 13 but the time signature changes throughout the piece are fantastic, it plays around in 13/8, 4/4, 6/8, and 7/8. It also has my single favorite metric modulation from 7/8 to 4/4 by holding 1 note just a quarter note longer while completely changing the feel of the song. Highly recommend it.
Videogame soundtracks are a treasure trove of odd time signatures, especially when involving imposing boss fights or alternative dimensions. And the weapins factory from Super Mario RPG just so happens to be one of my favorite odd time signature videogame tracks
I was really hoping you'd mention NIN's The Becoming, it's an awesome track. I covered it like a decade ago and converted it into 4/4 for the main part of the song (it goes into 6/8 for the middle part, which I just worked as four groups of 3/4). It was a bit tricky, but it worked out rhythmically.
I think he did briefly, about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through the video.
@@wozaow I meant that when I clicked on the video, I was hoping for it! I know he mentioned it :)
Most of The Collector from With Teeth is also in 13/8.
Antarctic Reinforcement by DM Dokuro off the Calamity Mod soundtrack for Terraria is the first example of a song in 13/8 I think of. The song primarily has this chopped up breakbeat which helps disorient your sense of time and you seem to get lost in the rhythm of the song. That is until the B section (or drop or whatever you want to call it) where you think you've found where the rhythm is but it's still in 13/8 so even that part throws you off very quickly.
Oh yeah, that came to my mind too! I'm gonna have to listen to that album again, it's so good...
Plini mentioned WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Also, Jóga might be one of the most perfect songs ever made.
Ps. the cat coming in meowing in time to the music is great.
So great that you start to include Genesis!!!
Wow that "half beat" explanation was extremely helpful, you're amazing
The track 'Knowledge' from the OST for the indie game FEZ is a good example of 13/4. The whole song is actually a really cool rhythmic anomaly, it builds up a big polymeter stack of 4/4, 3/4, 5/4, and eventually 13/4. The harmonic idea of the song is also intriguing, it switches back and forth between A minor and F# Melodic Minor.
This song is melting my brain right now dude thank you so much.
@@ericowen4469 Of course man! I recommend giving the entire OST a listen, and also playing the game if you can. The music is extremely psychedelic without resorting to just being super weird. Genius work by Disasterpeace imo
@@guyedwards22 the game is actually so freaking hard to beat it 100%
That soundtrack and the game are a masterpeace or should i say a Disasterpeace?
I think it’s impressive how many examples you’re able to find that use such obscure time signatures that even I haven’t seen much in concert band music. Personally I would classify Schism as alternating between 5/8 and 7/8 and Jóga as 4/4 with some 5/4 bars thrown in because even though the constantly changing time signatures may confuse the performer, it does give the performer a better idea of where to use accents.
Schism alternates between 5 and 7 in the verses, but in those sections between the verses they double the length of the last note in the 5 part, so it becomes 6/8 + 7/8 = 13/8.
I always heard that section of Schism as 6/8 and 7/8 so the full 13/8 makes sense, also I grew up playing Ocarina of Time (which is still one of my favourite games of all time) and had no idea that part was in 13/8 so that was really cool to learn. Additionally, the verses of Vicinity of Obscenity by System of a Down alternates between 13/16 and 15/16
I definitely hear Joga as 4/4, 4/4, and 5/4. I hear three strong downbeats: STATE of eMERgency, how BEAUtiful to be. Because those downbeats are so strong, it makes more sense to my brain to think of them as the start of a new measure.
Fine.
I always hear it as three measures of 4 and one measure of 1.
I knew all of this stuff. I play most of these tunes. I wan't going to let it finish thinking "Oh, he's left out Genesis". Then it came along. "Firth of Fifth", "Turn it on again" and much more (Supper's Ready etc). God you make me feel so lonely. Can we do lunch someday? Surely we can understand each other. I especially like the bit about 'grouping' and what it 'feels' like to our ears. Somewhat complex stuff but also easy listening if you run it right. The Beatles were masters of bumping beats around mostly via a lyric line. Clever. I do like complex but I LOVE it when it's made listenable. Great little tutorial here!
10:26 On the topic of alternating time signatures, Mastodon's "Sickle and Peace" verse section has three 7/8 measures followed by an 8/8 measure, which finally feels "complete". Then, they stop with the 8/8s before changing to 6/8 for the chorus. Really interesting use of this concept.
this is a similar time signature shifting in Alfred Reed's El Camino Real for concert band
“Päikesevene” (“The Sunboat”) by Estonian progressive rock group In Spe is very conspiquously in 13/8 (7+6).
Great research! I know what you mean about breaking down into shorter bars. I think of Golden Brown as 3334 and Turn it on Again as 76 too. This is often the case with odd time though. An exception is Take Five.
Apart from the middle section of 'Starless' by King Crimson (as mentioned previously), there are a few more gems from the British progressive rock music of the mid-70s (I know, before you were born): 'Childlike faith in childhood's end' by Van der Graaf Generator, and 'Siberian Khatru' by Yes.
A great song in 13/4 and 13/8 is the second half of King Crimson' starless, for anyone who is interested.
Starless was the most-suggested song on his Reddit post about songs in odd time signatures, but I very much understand why he wouldn't want to include a King Crimson song in his video. Fripp is notorious for copyright strikes...
@@mintegral1719 Oh, right! I forgot about Fripp' infamous streak. Nice to see it was, at the very least, considered. :D
Tam Lin by Fairport Convention, and (much of) Robbery, Assault & Battery by Genesis are in 13… Although whether it’s 13/4 or 13/8, I can’t recall. Thanks for making these time signature videos! Very enjoyable.
Robbery, Assault & Battery is the first (and the craziest) thing that comes to my mind in 13. That absurd solo right in the middle of a fairly simple joyful song is pretty weird even for my Genesis fetish.
Hey, we already got 2 Genesis songs in this video, 3 might be pushing it ;)
@@mintegral1719 no amount of Genesis songs can ever be too many Genesis songs :D
Tam Lin is mainly in 3/4; in the verses, every fourth bar has an extra beat. So one could say that the verses vary between 6/8 and 7/8, but not 13. The instrumental passages are firmly in 3/4.
I love how Fairport played with time, at the beginning they almost sound always the same but then you begin to notice how much they put in the rhythmic section doing apparently very simple things that are actually very particular
So happy you mentioned electric sunrise! Thats the first song that comes to mind for 13/8
I love when i get notification from david
Oh hey Weapons Factory is the first example of 13/8 i thought of, weirdly enough. Love seeing SMRPG on your channel :D
😊😊😊
I'm in a Music Appreciation class and my professor mentioned Turn it on Again as having an example of an odd time signature, and now I can't get enough that song.
Appreciate the discussion at the end about situations in which you may not want to notate a large time signature. I confused the heck out of my old band doing it the wrong way from what you described. :)
Who else is watching not because of the time signature but because these videos are an endless treasure trove of awesome music
You read my mind man!! I’m a huge Plini fan, so thanks so much for including this!!
The way I feel the 13/8 is essentially as if it’s in 4/4. I feel it as two bars of 4/4 (with the downbeat of the second bar occurring on what would be the ‘+’ of 3. I then feel a bar of 5/4 (or 10/8) to turn the phrase around. It sounds crazy, but it didn’t take long to get the hang of it.
I saw the title and immediately thought of Golden Brown by the Stranglers and Turn It On Again by Genesis
Golden Brown is a beautiful example of the 3/3/3/4 grouping, it works so well. The last four notes of the phrase in the harpsichord (?) part tickle my brain so well
13/8 is my favorite odd meter, and what's even better is you mentioned the song that made me realize it was my favorite meter, "Electric Sunrise"!
Kitty showing her attitude ☺
Such a cutie 🥰
Thank u for mentioning electric sunrise!! I love this song
Oh, very good video. Two Genesis songs (and a cat!). Well done. I'd be interested if you could look into Down and Out from their album And Then There Were Three. Unusual drum pattern, so I wonder what time signature that is.
funnily enough, the solo of robbery assault and battery is in 13/8
Down And Out uses one bar of 4/4 and one bar of 6/4, of course the chorus is in 4/4. It sounds more complicated than it actually is, thanks to the complex and whacky drum beat that Phil plays there. And Tony as usual plays a billion different chords over that d-pedaltone, which doesn't make it sound any easier. Add Mike's guitar riff there and you have some pretty proggy stuff.
I've always counted the verse in Down & Out in 5/4, chorus 4/4
@@JeffWardMusic That's interesting, you could count it in 5/4 as well, however, for some reason I have thought about it having a bar 4/4 and a bar of 6/4 instead.
Down and Out is in 5/4 or possibly 10/8
Awesome video, as usual. Yield by PJ is such a great album - thanks for highlighting it. Well done!
One of my favorite examples is Heat Distraction by Women features an opening riff in 13/8, verses in 5/4, a bridge in 4/4, and then goes back to 13/8. I think it really leans into the uncanniness of the odd meter by starting odd, getting progressively less odd, and then coming back to it
What a great video! Thanks David.
Bjork also has a few other songs with odd time signatures, but not 13/8. "Vertebrae by vertebrae" is in 9/8 while "Atom Dance" is 5/8. "Moon" also has an odd time signature but I couldn't figure out which one it is.
Loving Millie's commentary! What a cute floof 💕
🐱🐱
'Thirteen' by Frank Zappa - subdivided 5/8 and 4/4. Awesome electric violin solo by L. Shankar.
You know, this video was going to be great either way but the fact that yes, you did include the theme from The Terminator just elevated it to a higher level. And now that explains also the response you gave me to this on the 11 video. Also, it was very cool to see some electronic and synthesizer music aswell. So, great video. Also: CAT! :)
🐱 😊
The song that comes to mind for me is From the Flame by Leprous, which has verses in 13/8 with a pulse that almost feels like 8/8 + 5/8, and a second verse that feels like it's in a polymeter with the snare being on every 8th beat. It's a weird song but it works in its execution.
My favourite song in 13-time is Pete Shelley's "I Generate a Feeling", off the "Homosapien" album, but it's probably better described as alternating bars in 6/4 and 7/4. Much of Tori Amos's "Spark" also has 13 beats. The sax break from "Starless" by King Crimson and the first part of "The Man With 100 Cells" by Stereolab are also in 13/8.
Another song that is technically in 13/4 is the opening number from the Broadway show “13.” It’s about a bunch of 13 year olds in Indiana but the opening number’s chorus is literally a 13 beat phrase repeated over and over again. One of my favorite music Easter eggs.
2:43 Anyone who listens to Zolak and Bertrand on 98.5 The Sports Hub will constantly hear that 13/8 portion of the song whenever they come back from a commercial break. Every time I heard that, I was wondering what time signature it was in. Thanks to you, now I know!
My favourite song in 13/8 is Dreaming, by Avishai Cohen. Truly one of the best jazz songs out there.
This is fantastic! Thank you!
I nominate two songs to add to your 13/8 list:
The tag of Skimbleshanks from the musical Cats (forgive me since it’s Cats LOL) - 3 3 3 2 2
On Snarky Puppy’s latest album, Honiara is in 13/8, but largely 7+6 (a la the subdivisions you talked about at the end of the video)
So pleased to see Genesis in here 😁
Firth of Fifth is easily one of my favourite tracks; Selling England one of my favourite albums.
Thank you, just thank you !
😀😀
Great video as always !
You should check "Wait" by Pain of Salvation : a 6/4 time signature divided in two alternating bars of 13/8 and 11/8 creating a veeeeery unstable feeling. It resolves at the end, making the last chorus very satisfying :)
Came up with a 13/8 beat yesterday and it took me a hot minute to figure out the time signature. Now I'm getting recommended this video lol
Damn I was too late. The third track in my next album (in development), called Fight or Flight, is also in 13/8. I used to claim it as "the world's first song entirely in 13/16 time," but I realized that it wasn't fast enough for that. Out of all the songs in said upcoming album, it is by far the most experimental, with the aforementioned odd time signature and a sort of tacky drum solo. It could possibly be better notated as two bars of 4/8 followed by a bar of 5/8, though. It's one of the more forgettable songs in that album, but for such a weird time signature, I would say I did a good job! Also, cool video.
Between the buried and me has tons of riffs that are broken into several times signatures. Stuff like
|:5, 5, 5, 6:|
|:6, 6, 6, 7:|
|:6, 5, 6, 7:|
etc.
I see/feel Bjork’s example as a phrase of 4/4 + 4/4 + 5/4.
The harmonic cadence of that Chorus and that the rest of the song is in a 4/4 feel- support this interpretation.
So cool that you included "Stars" by Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin. That is probably my favorite Bobby McFerrin song. I don't think most people know that album.
Yay Genesis!
My favorite song of all time, Electric Sunrise by Plini, is in 13/8.
9:52
A masterpiece.
It's fucking amazing, right? God when that riff hits...
Ahhh the plini shoutout. One of the best guitarists of the generation.
13/8 sounds like confidence. Can’t fake that resolution every bar.
“Electric Sunrise” is such a killer song. Nice pick!
I had never heard it, or heard of them, but it sounds really cool, just from this little bit. I'll have to check it out.
@@MomLAU All of Plini’s stuff is great. My favorite album of his is Handmade Cities. Definitely check it out!
Millie at the end joining in is one of the sweetest things I've seen in a long time 😭❤️ sorry I'm a bit late to this one, David! Catching up now, see you on the most recent vid :p
Firth of Fifth actually has 13/16 going on for a few bars in the piano intro.
a good one is the track "Antarctic Reinforcement" from a Terraria mod called Calamity. 13/4 combined with the aggressive drums and all the different sound textures is pretty interesting. feels crazy and unnatural, in a good way
This is one of my favourite closing tunes to date, I could easily imagine it in a Ramin Djawadi score.
With ... the cat???
Seals and Crofts-I poop you not-start a song in 13/8. There’s a twelve string acoustic figure that plays as an intro as well a san interlude during the song. To me it feels like a group of 8 eight notes and a group of 5 eight notes. The song is Say from the Summer Breeze album. It is 100% a progressive rock song. S&C actually have quite a few groggy moments throughout their catalog, but this is the clearest example of an entire prog song.
‘’Tam Lin’’ by Fairport Convention is also in 13/8.
YES! I didn't know, but I needed that information on "Golden Brown"!
😊 I love that song!
The 3+3+3+4 version 0f 13/4 is used to great effect in Garnet Mimms's "My baby", one of the most driving 60s soul tracks. It's a great way to make a song move you forward.
Hi, I watched all your time signatures videos and thank you for take the time to explain and exemplify every each of them I really learned a lot. I have a Song which I think it has a interesting time signature progressing because the verse begins with 4/4, next bar changes to 5/4, next bar to 6/4, next in 7/4 and so on until reaching 9/4. The Song I am talking about is Countdown - King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard with Mild High Club. It could be nice if you analyze it and share with me your opinion.
theres a 13/16 song that i love which is Nasa-Arab by Coil, there's a repeating 13/16 riff throughout the whole song but later on it combines with a typical 4/4 rhythm and it gives a really chaotic effect
Plini - Electric Sunrise is in 13/8 and I love how it opened the door for discovering new types of music and hearing funky time signatures
Nice video David.
You made another great one.
Weirdly, TH-cam just suggested a great guitar cover of the song, but Plini's "Electric Sunrise" is also in 13/8, and it is a fabulous 13/8. Its broken up into a 26-beat pattern of 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2 (cover by Yuichi)
A friend of mine also did a cover of this one, i think its on spotify! Nick Loduca, Electric Sunrise :)))
I was at their concert this week and it definitely took some effort to get into their rhythms, but it was awesome when I did!
Cats are always amazingly good listeners... and "assistants". :) :) :)
If you ever get around to making a video about 17/8 and 17/16, the intro to Changes by Yes and and part of Thrive by The Contortionist are both in 17 with the same sub-groupings and it amuses me to no end that I can count them the same way
Fantastic explanation of the difference between odd/8 and odd/4 time signatures.
I absolutely love the Millie outtakes.
there's a 13/8 section in jaco pastorius' portrait of tracy that is very cool and good :)
Turn it on Again surely must be the only song in 13/4 to be a top 10 hit?
13 by Frank Zappa is in 13/8, frank even tells you how to count it at the beginning of the song! It's a bar of 5/8 and a bar of 4/4.
12 123 1 2 3 4...