General Music Chat

ahhhh. you old farts need to quit yer whining! there's few things i can't do better now than when i was in my 20's and 30's.....well, i can't mix it up under the boards quite as ferociously as i did when i was younger, but i can still knock down the medium range jumper and i'm still deadly from the corner!

OK Marky-

How many grandchildren do you have??

zip! zero! zilch! (and no, those are NOT their names!)

Gee...take a couple days off and... Relax, Dayne. If you remember, what I initially said was 'if you ever do a chart...' It was unusual, I like unusual, that's the reason I offered. Some things I can handle right away, others take a bit more time. I'm used to playin' w/ my gnome (gad, that sounds odd in a sexual sort-of-way), and am very sensitive to timing. All I noted was that since there are subtle tempo shifts, it makes it somewhat more difficult to find (and hold) a groove. If you don't want us doing anything w/ it, no prob.

Hear what you're saying, Jook--but vocalists (and I specifically refer to those who don't play any instrument--a tamborine and maracas don't count) still need to work w/ what the band is layin' down. They can shift tempo, but if they aren't with the band, they're out on an island, all alone (and it's always the band's fault, right?). I've heard some tell me 'but that's my style,' but it's asking a lot of the folks who play the instruments. That's partially why I tend to avoid working w/ dedicated singers--aside from the obvious ego thing. True, there are those who work with the band and keep their egos in check, but my experience has typically been otherwise. Dunno that I want to be a downtrodden sideman again, esp. since the $$ never seems to be very much (hey, I'm just an interchangeable spare part)--relative to haulin' around a freaking hefty piano, another board, a heavy amp, etc. Been there, done that, just too old for it now.

yes indeedy, you can make small fluctuations in timing to create an aesthetic effect .. so the naysayers that have trouble and insist on a metronome to keep perfect time are not necessarily correct in their thinking..

Timing in music refers to the ability to "keep time" accurately and to synchronise to an ensemble,[1] as well as to expressive timing—subtle adjustment of note or beat duration, or of tempo, for aesthetic effect.

Research in music cognition has shown that time as a subjective structuring of events in music differs from the concept of time in physics.[2] Listeners to music do not perceive rhythm on a continuous scale, but recognise rhythmic categories that function as a reference relative to which the deviations in timing can be appreciated.[3][4] In fact temporal patterns in music combine two different time scales—rhythmic durations such as half and quarter notes on the one hand, and on the other, the continuous timing variations that characterize an expressive musical performance.

what got me interested into responding to the naysayers (one of which suggested using a metronome) was the fact I was listening to tidbit of Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" listen to it, and hear the sway back & forth in the timing, which gives it an eerie feel..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M_Gg1xAHE4

seen Radiohead on Austin City Limits, and damn, the lead vocalist puts on a great show, a true entertainer!.. moves around doing little shaking things and wiggling his feet and really cool to watch..