Tempo & Time Signatures Most pieces of music written on sequencers have just a single tempo or time signature Generally they are determined early in the composition process So it is good to consider this early on

Setting Tempo tempo time signature Tempo and time signature can be set at the transport bar. Changes can also be sequenced.

Tempo Can be figured out by counting the Beats Per Minutes (BPMs) Imparts a particular feeling Speeding up a piece of music can give a feeling of increased intensity

Time Signature Has a major effect on the feeling of a piece of music 4/4 beats per measure (bar) kind of note that gets the beat 4/4 = 4 quarter notes per bar 6/8 = 6 eighth notes per bar

Time Signature Conundrum Could something in 3/4 be indistinguishable from something in 6/8? Yes, but arrangers don’t generally do this 3/4 and 6/8 have a very different feel Something in 2/4 with two sets of unstressed triplets in each bar (123, 123) is more like 6/8 than anything in 3/4

Time Signature Gives an indication of the number of beats per bar and the feeling of the rhythm of the piece Only achieve a feeling for time signatures when you’ve worked with them for a while

Common Time Signatures Most common are: 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, 6/8 Most music is in 4/4 In rock, pop and modern dance music the second and fourth beats are normally emphasised (one TWO three FOUR) This gives a rolling feel

Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia at the start it’s emphasised with a tom – 8 bars of hecticness (disguises emphasis a bit) – 8 bars emphasised with the guitar then stops doing it.. track loses momentum.. girl speaks some instruments play at double speed cymbals do the same and get louder from (this builds up to emphasis on TWO and FOUR again) emphasis on TWO and FOUR using tom rolls 3.41 crash, then cymbals emphasise TWO and FOUR as track is slowed down 3.56 onwards slowed down - emphasis on THREE - different feel

3/4 - Waltz Time! Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube The Strangler’s Golden Brown Chorus (Intro) (3 * 3/4) & (1 * 4/4) Verse 3/4

Odd Time Signatures 5/4 Dave Brubeck’s - Take Five Nick Drake – River Man "Dave Brubeck's 'Take Five' aside, that was the only time in my life I'd heard a piece of music consistently in 5/4. I could not for the life of me work out how to write a piece of music that didn't stagger along like a spider missing a leg, how you crossed over and missed the bar lines. But Harry's string arrangement is scarcely in 5/4- it goes along like a limpid river all the way, moving regularly and crossing over all the beats and the 5/4 with it."

Odd Time Signatures 7/4 Pink Floyd’s Money or (1 * 3/4) & (1 * 4/4) Venetian Snares’ Hajnal Venetian Snares’ Szamár madár

Mixed Signatures The Beatles – Happiness is a Warm Gun Starts in 6/4 Shifts to 4/4 Before “a soap impression of his wife” - one measure of 5/4 Then 4/4 Then 9/8 & 6/8 “I need a fix” Then 9/8 & 10/8 for “Mother Superior” Then 4/4 “Happiness is a warm gun” Then 12/8 with a 6/4 beat