12
votes
How are beats divided in simple/compound/odd meters supposed to sound different?
The underlying principle at work here is: Notated music "doesn't show everything."
Compare, say, the sheet music of the Moonlight Sonata to a midi file capturing a performance of it.* The ...
- 7,943
10
votes
What this is, and how can it be put into Sibelius?
The three eighth notes (not 16th notes) with the "3" above the beam are a "triplet": three notes in the space of one beat. There are exactly four beats in the measure.
For ...
- 59.4k
8
votes
Gnossiennes and Free Time
Satie often does dispense with barlines. In Vexations he does so for 18 hours or so! I agree with Andy Bonner that the effect is to suppress the metric emphases we might otherwise apply. But Satie's ...
- 5,305
7
votes
Gnossiennes and Free Time
The Gnossiennes are phrase-driven rather than meter-driven. That is, the presumed emphases of metered time (beat 1 is strongest, etc.) don't apply. Rather, one should apply emphasis according to one's ...
- 59.4k
4
votes
can someone explain me how many beats in my notation in the photo?
In written music there's a simple way to write some notes longer. It involves a dot after the note. Not to be confused with a dot above or below a note.
That dot increases the note value by 50%. So, ...
- 176k
4
votes
Accepted
At what BPM (Beats per Minute; quarter note = beat) will we hear the top note as F4?
The target frequency (F4) is approximately 349.23Hz.
You have to find a common divisor between those two frequencies, which coincidentally is the bar.
So, assuming the frequency above, you can find ...
- 5,780
4
votes
How are beats divided in simple/compound/odd meters supposed to sound different?
Your illustrations of 3/4 and 6/8 meter and beats are right.
Depending on your DAW it may have a metronome feature, and that metronome may have the specific feature of different "dings" for ...
- 49.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Gnossiennes and Free Time
Lack of barlines does not suggest "free time" at all. There have been multiple centuries of very much metered music before barlines became common practice. The start of the piece would ...
- 448
4
votes
Drumming: Where do backbeats/snares go in 2/2 time
When there are 4 beats in the bar, 'Back Beat' is accenting 2 and 4.
It's a 4/4 thing. Or music that COULD be notated in 4/4. Asking where to put the back beat in a two-in-the bar time is like asking ...
- 79.8k
4
votes
Drumming: Where do backbeats/snares go in 2/2 time
The question has fallen into the traps of thinking that the drum beat and back beat are based on quarter notes and that the drum beat necessarily corresponds to the time signature.
What's "really&...
- 59.4k
3
votes
How do I interpret note lengths in this song?
The thing you are missing is there can be more than one "voice" or independent line of melody within each staff.
Rest above notes, up/down stem directions, and offsetting note heads are ways ...
- 49.8k
3
votes
How are beats divided in simple/compound/odd meters supposed to sound different?
After the many good answers, I would like to add the term agogic, which is used to describe actions taken to accent music in a way that distinguishes the actual timing from what is notated.
The German ...
- 507
3
votes
How are beats divided in simple/compound/odd meters supposed to sound different?
Yes, there is a natural emphasis on strong parts of the beats. When you emphasize weak parts of beats then you are syncopating a rhythm. 3/4 six quavers are grouped together your example has incorrect ...
- 13.9k
3
votes
How come these three songs all have the same beat?
The string picking accompaniment (not beat) seems to be the same sample, but with different sound processing.
How come? Why?
The people making the tracks like that sound? Maybe tracks with that kind ...
- 49.8k
3
votes
How are beats divided in simple/compound/odd meters supposed to sound different?
You can try to differentiate the rhythm by accentuating, velocity and phrasing:
In a waltz e.g. you can emphasize the first beat by playing it louder than 2,3 or more tenuto and 2,3 more staccato or a ...
- 25.2k
2
votes
Accepted
How to annotate staff with beat numbers in Lilypond?
Some way to get this automatically:
#(define (Beat_counter_engraver context)
(let ((measpos #f) (grouping #f) (basemom #f) (beatmom #f))
(define (mom->dur mom)
(let ((pair (moment->...
- 5,042
2
votes
At what BPM (Beats per Minute; quarter note = beat) will we hear the top note as F4?
The top and bottom notes are in a speed ratio of 4:3. This means that if the upper pitch is F4, the lower pitch will be C4.
Since BPM = quarter-notes per minute, and one quarter-note = one frequency ...
- 59.4k
2
votes
How do I interpret note lengths in this song?
The notes in the treble clef in that measure represent two separate voices. The notes with the stems pointing down are one part, and the rests and notes with the stems pointing up are the other part.
...
- 319
2
votes
Drumming: Where do backbeats/snares go in 2/2 time
As Laurence Payne wrote, the question isn't answerable in a satisfactory way, because 2/2 meter isn't really a thing in the genres you asked about – very seldom will people say a piece is in 2/2 (or 2/...
- 33.8k
1
vote
Accepted
Drumming: Where do backbeats/snares go in 2/2 time
The time signature 4/4 means: each bar has 4 beats, and those beats are crotchets (quarter-notes). The strong beat is on 1, a medium beat is on 3, and beats 2 and 4 are both weak:
1 2 3 4
S w M w
...
- 8,241
1
vote
Accepted
Can we give each weak beat a weak degree from strong and weak beats notation?
First, a comment that all these may change in various ways.
4/4 S-w-s-w
2/4 S-w
3/4 S-w-W (at least for waltzes) (also 3/8 or 3/16)
6/8 S-w-w-s-w-w (really 2/4 with triplets)
- 23.3k
1
vote
How come these three songs all have the same beat?
All three songs feature the same plucked riff (on a ukulele, I think). They're sampling. I'm not sure whether one of the three songs is the original source of the sample, or whether they're all three ...
- 7,943
1
vote
Gnossiennes and Free Time
In addition to the other insightful answers: yes, in general, when there are several voices not in rhythmic unison, I'd prefer bar lines to be able to make inferences about how to synchronize them. So ...
- 778
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