Don Ellis on You Tube

If you are jonesin for some visual Don Ellis Orchestra, or really would like to see how odd meter funk orchestra is done,  - go here.... now.....

http://www.youtube.com/user/electricbathhouse 

These are some incredible videos....

And you know who told me about this link? 

David Crigger, oddmeterite drummer extrodinare, who I might add played with Mr. Ellis on a few albums, including (my favorite one): Music from Other Galaxies & Planets (imagine my luck).  He can be found playing and recording in many places and online at  www.DavidCrigger.com

Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe13 
Odd Time Obsessed 

New Sun - Damage Done

In case you were hungry for some fresh prog, try some New Sun with flavors from the 70s and the mystical 2012. Damage Done is their 4th release with a nice balance of meters. Here is the metoric lineup: Shards in the Sand - 4/4 (with 1/16 shift by drums and bass in versus) Damage Done - 15/8, 6/8, 4/4 Antigravity - 5/4, 5/8, 7/8, 4/4 She Moved Me - 5/8, 4/4, 6/8, 7/4 Dreams - 4/4 Miscreants 4/4 (with 6/8 variant in verse groove) Chasm City - 4/4, 5/4, 13/8 www.new-sun.com Keep your ears open for them on OddTimeObsessed.com radio. Keepin' it ODD, BetZe13

Obsessing 7 with BetZe13 - SeeVan

Here is a little diddy I did a few years back for the RPM Challenge. Drums are spliced from BetaMonkey Odd Meter Meltdown, and the rest I played live, simple but groovy...

BetZe13 - SeeVan 7/4

Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Tesla - Edison's Medicine

Its like a block, I just can't put a hair flipping, camera smuggin' glam band and the injustice to Tesla together. Call me a stero-typer, but I saw most of these bands back in the day and they really just had a one track mind, okay 2. So give it to Tesla for alerting us to something so far out of this genre and after sifting through their dancing distractions, you can't help but notice they are excellent rock musicians. They stay in 4 most of the time but these unlikely emissaries slipped into some oddness here, and right at the correct line wouldn't you say?

Chorus
Nor did the man outta time, man outta time. 7/4
Thought you was crazy. You was one of a kind. 4/4
Man outta time, man outta time. 7/4
All along, world was wrong. You was right. 4/4

Tesla - Edison's Medicine 4/4, 7/4


Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Orange Goblin - Hot Magic, Red Planet

Here's a little 7 diddy tucked in some stoner metal from the UK. This is hard to find in this genre... perhaps they are too busy experimenting with the fuzz sounds. Of course I wish there were a whole lot more metric oddness in this realm, but this is a good example of the possibilities. In this song they use 7/8 in the pre-verse and 4/4 the rest of the song. This is a neat trick that some writers use to contrast sections. Since this genre likes to take us into other realms, why not into the numeric dimensions...

Orange Goblin - Hot Magic, Red Planet 4/4, 7/8

Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Meshuggah - Ritual

See, the softer side of Meshuggah knows the sacredness of seven and its effectiveness in the use of rituals. What the diddledang you talkin' bout....? The common denominator of this song is 7 (with the exception of the solo). If you look closely and pull this song to pieces you would agree with me. The first section we shall call the verse has a 14/8 feel divided 8+6 or you could say 7/4 4+3, but my subjectivity would stay with the 14/8. So then we move onto the chorus sounding part and that for sure has a 7/4 feel. The solo then departs the 7 and goes to an 8 feel or most commonly known as 4/4. The singing interlude same, but I think they are superimposing the feel of the 14 6+8 over 2 bars of 8 here... trippy eh?... Now, can you see how their seductive use of 7s effectively sets the trance for the ritual?

Meshuggah - Ritual 7/4, 14/8 [8+6], 4/4


Seduced by 7s,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Animals as Leaders - Behaving Badly

The first thing I said when I heard this band was.... where's the bass? I mean real bass, not the 8th string tuned down & played by a guitarist. I immediately dismissed them... Somehow they got back into my player... perhaps it was the pull of the 7 & 9s.. hummmmm So here they are Behaving Badly, maybe because they are giving the finger to four & skipping that last anticipated beat resulting in that magical number 7... (and 6 & 3).

Animals as Leaders - Behaving Badly 7/4, 6/4, 3/4


Behaving ODDly,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Moondog - My Tiny Butterfly

Celebrating 7/8 with Moondog. I do believe he had direct contact with all the dimensions - here is one in the seventh.


MoonyB,
BetZe13
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Still Obsessing 7: New Playlist 7-8 to 7-15-12 all 7s

New 7s this week on Odd Time Obsessed Radio
Tracks from Don Ellis Orchestra - Pieces of Eight
Meshuggah, Metallica, Dijeridu Drone, Bulgarian, Moondog, Porcupine Tree, Ozric Tentacles, OSI, the Flowbots, the Fallen, Radiohead, TypeA, Sting, less, fred and more.

223ly yours,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 - Meanings of Seven

So what does seven actually mean? Well here in the mundane world, it comes after six and before eight, its just a symbol that represents an amount. Sometimes we know it as a lucky number, but in times past, it has important significance. It carries mystical meaning because it relates to the seven days of creation, seven chakras, the seven colors of the spectrum, seven planets, seven notes in the scale, seven days of the week, seven archangels, seven deadly sins, seven sages to name a few.

So what if four was replaced by seven in our current dominant musical meterical structure? What would happen? Would our consciousness start to change and vibrate with the higher realms? There are monks who chant the seven vowel sounds to alter their consciousness. What if we could do that with our own rhythms so that seven would be as natural as four is now? Could we exist simultaneously on the 7th dimension instead of being ruled by the fourth? Its just a rhythm... or is it?

If you feel like experimenting, here is a drone in 7 by Randy Graves.

7/8 Dijerido Drone

on the 7th plane,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with less - Another Rapist

There is one song that I tend to default to when going through a break up... 'Its Over' by less. Some how it decisively flushes out the sticky residual emotions and general pissed off-ness. I needed this song yesterday...
...Back in the early 2000s I met less during my shell-shocked San Francisco days. I had moved from city of drones, Washington DC and was in awe of the polar opposite artistic freedomatic approach to life. Tainted by my musical schooling and east coast entrainment, it was ever so foreign for me to see this musical creation process. The rock star archetypal or career concerns did not pollute their process of drawing out bits and pieces stuck between alpha and theta, creating potential for a cult-like following. If they had all the resources they needed, I am sure they would've taken over...
...so since it has been a while (for the need of the break up song) I ended up listening to the whole album. And guess what, amongst other odd meters I found some 7, awesomeness just got wicked awesome. The chorus is 7/4, 7/4, 7/4, 8/4 (4/4) - the rest is in 4.

less - Another Rapist 4/4, 7/4

more to comments on the oddness of this artist to come,
more less info Firecodecore.com/less

Chick in 7,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Gentle Giant - Black Cat

Forty one years ago this juicy prog-ness was bestowed to the underground astute musical masses. Back then, odd meter was more in vogue, or I should say hip, going by their own riffs.

As you can see, the transcription begins with 7/8 and if you would like to see all of the pages the link is available in the notes on youtube. The majority of the song is in 7 with breaks in 3,4,5 & 6. The transcription is from an eighth note point of view, but I feel it more as quarter notes. This is where it might get tricky - is it 7/8 or 7/4? I say 7/4. Why? Because first and foremost is the feel. We can start with the tempo, how fast does it feel? Well at first listen I would say moderate, its actually 114 bpm. So does a quarter note equal 114 bpm (7/4) or an eighth note equal 114 bpm (7/8)? This subject I would say is slightly subjective. So I hear it as moderate tempo, so would call it then 7/4. But really whats more important here is the cool cat bass line...

Sevenly,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Fu Manchu - Pick Up Summer

Today here in the states we are celebrating our freedom and independence and this is usually the real start of summer. So what better way than to kick it off with Fu Manchu - Pick Up Summer. These guys represent hitailin' the open road, California sun, muscle cars and fuzz boxes that perfectly matched my convertible Mustang... that is until I drove it into the ground. Anyways the odd point here is that this is the only song I know by them that is in a odd meter. So here it is: 7/4, 7/4, 8/4, 7/4 (verse type of part) breaks in 8/4 or 4/4 and some 6/4... awesomeness...


Freely,
BetZe13
OddTimeObsessed.com Tune in


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Obsessing 7 with the Don Ellis Orchestra - Beat Me Daddy, Seven to the Bar

Does it get any cooler than this... Experimental Ellis and his orchestra, performing boogie woogie in 7 with three bass players, two drummers a conga player, 5 trumpets, one quarter-tone trumpet, 8 more horns and a piano/organ player? Perhaps it does... ... but have yet to see. Mr. Ellis states that it is in 7/8 but I hear it as 7/4. But who am I to argue with the metric maestro. Anyways, this song really swings the 7, grooves that beat 7 to the bar.

Don Ellis Orchestra - Beat Me Daddy 7 Beats to the Bar - 7/4


Beating 7,
BetZe13
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Obsessing 7 with Alice in Chains

In the early innocence of AIC, they ventured into 7 just for a partial part of one song, a hit song I might add. The pre-verse and verse are in 7/4, and the rest is in 4/4. Sometimes what gives this away is when the singer holds a note because the are not used the feel of the meter. It works here, and so does Cantrell's 7-solo phrasing. Being as creative and inventive as they are, I would/will like to see more experimental with odd meters. If they can hair toss like this to 7 imagine what they could do in 21/8.


Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe13
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7-1 to 7-7-12: Obsessing 7 this week and all month

This is the month for obsessing 7 - 7/4, 7/8, 7/16... Starting off with variations of this rotation and more to come...

Tune in to Odd Time Obsessed Radio

50 Foot Hose – Rose - 4/4, 7/4
Alice in Chains - Them Bones - 7/8, 4/4
BetZe - MIDI Treat - 11/8, 7/8, 3/8, 5/8
BetZe - See Van - 7/4
Bitches Brew - Bitches Brew - 5/8, 7/8, 5/4, 7/4
Boullt, Lindsey - Aurora’s Aura - 7/4, 9/4, 5/16, 9/16
Boullt, Lindsey - Cleopatra’s Third Eye - 7/8, 4/4, 7/4, 6/4, 6/8, 9/8, 15/8, 10/8
Boullt, Lindsey - Moving Panvishnu - 7/8
Broken Social Scene - 7/4 Shoreline - 7/4
Brubeck, Dave Quartet - Unsquare Dance - 7/4
Can - One More Night - 7/4
Captain Beyond - Mesmerization Eclipse - 7/4, 4/4, 11/4
Congreso - Vamos Andando Mi Amigo - 7/4, 4/4
Crimson Glory - In Dark Places - 7/4, 4/4
Devo - Jocko Homo [Booji Boy Version] - 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4
Dillinger Escape Plan - Party Smasher - 8/4, 4/4, 7/16
Don Ellis - Barnum’s Revenge - 7/4
Don Ellis – Orientation - 7/8, 9/8
Ekova - A Soul’s Delight - 7/4
Eskimo – Raven - 4/4, 7/8
Fallen, The - From Fragile to Strength - 7/4, 4/4
Flobots - Rhythm Method - 7/8, 9/8, 3/8
fred - Mucous Music - 9/8, 7/8, 4/4
fred – Mantra - 7/4, 6/4, 4/4
Free Design – Bubbles - 7/8, 4/4
Fu Manchu - Pick-Up Summer - 7/4, 4/4
Genesis - Dance on the Volcano - 7/8
Gentle Giant - Black Cat - 7/4
Hank Levy - Pete Is A Four-Letter Word - 7/2
Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters 6/8 – 7/8 - 6/8, 7/8
King Crimson - Larks' Tongues In Aspic(Part II) - 5/4, 7/4, 9/4 + +
King Crimson - Three of a Perfect Pair - 6/8, 7/8, 8/8
King Diamond - Lucy Forever - 7/4 solo
Lamb – Merge - 4/4, 7/4
Lamb of God - A Warning - 7/4
Lamb of God - In the Absence of the Sacred - 7/4, 6/4, 9/4, 4/4
Led Zeppelin - The Ocean - 4/4, 7/8
Levy, Hank - Bop City Revisited - 7/4
Lords, Traci - Good n Evil - 7/8
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Be Happy - 7/4
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Cosmic Strut - 7/4
Mars Volta - Inertiatic ESP - 3/4, 2/4, 7/4
Melvins - Resolve (New and Improved) - 5/4, 4/4, 7/4
Meshuggah – Ritual - 7/4, 7/8, 6/8, 8/8
Metallica – Blackened - 7/8, 9/8, 6/4, 4/4, 7/4
Michael Karwowski - Is This All There Is? - 7/8, 9/8
Moondog - My Tiny Butterfly - 7/8
Moondog - Voice of Spring - 7/8
National Health – Pleaides - 4/4, 5/4, 7/4 +
Nosfertu – Highway - 5/8, 7/8, 9/4, 7/4, 4/4
Opeth - Hours of Wealth - 7/8, 4/4
Opeth – Windowpane - 7/4
Orange Goblin - Hot Magic, Red Planet - 4/4, 7/8
OSI – Better - 4/4, 7/8
Ozric Tentacles – Myriapod - 4/4, 7/8
Pink Floyd – Money - 7/4, 4/4
Police, The – Mother - 7/4
Porcupine Tree - So Called Friend - 7/8
Porcupine Tree - The Sound of Muzak - 7/4, 4/4
Porcupine Tree – Deadwing - 7/4, 4/4
Prong - Beg To Differ - 6/4, 5/4, 7/8
Quercus - Moonlight Mardigras - 7/4
Radiohead - Paranoid Android - 7/8, 8/8
Radiohead – 2+2=5 - 7/8, 4/4
Rush – Driven - 6/8, 7/8
Ryan Rapsys – Pseudocyo - 4/4, 5/4, 9/8, ¾, 11/8, 7/8
Say Bok Gwai - Yellow 5 - 7/8, 4/4
Self - Lucid Anne - 7/8
Setzer, Brian - Everybody is Up To Something - 7/4, 4/4
Solitude Aeternus - Midnight Dreams - 6/4, 5/4, 7/4
Soundgarden – Outshined - 7/4, 4/4
Spyra - Blue Daffodil - 7/8
Spyra - Sons & Daughters - 7/8
Sting - Like a Beautiful Smile - 7/8, 8/8
Sting - Love is Stronger Than Justice - 7/4, 4/4
Sting - Straight to My Heart - 7/8
Symphony X - Set the World On Fire - 4/4, 7/4, 9/4, 14/4
Symphony X - The Sacrifice - 7/8, 8/8, 4/4, 3/8, 6/8
Symphony X - The Walls of Babylon - 4/4, 6/4, 8/8, 6/8, 14/8, 7/4
Symphony X – Domination - 4/4, 7/4, 5/4
Symphony X – Seven - 4/4, (7/8 + 6/8), 7/4, 8/4, (7/8 + 8/8)
Tesla - Edison’s Medicine - 4/4, 7/4
Tool – Schism - 5/4, 13/8, 12/8, 15/8, 9/8, 10/8, 6/8 ,6/4, 14/8, 7/4
Ween - Even If You Don’t - 7/4, 4/4
Wild Turkey - 12 Streets of Cobbled Black - 7/4, 4/4
William Ackerman - Brother A Teaches 7 - 7/8
Woody Pak feat. Prime – Hyped - 7/8

Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe13
OddTimeObsessed.com Tune in

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6-24 to 6-30-12: New oddness this week

Some cool new discoveries this week in the metric division..

Some 7 madness (getting ready for July) from one of my favorite guitarist/writer
Arch/Matheos: Neurotically Wired - 7/4, Midnight Serenade - 6/4, 4/4, 7/4

Some serious noodling (more to come on this band)
Animals as Leaders: Behaving Badly - 3/4, 7/4

Old School Mystical Metal from 1999
Solitude Aeturnus: Empty Faith - 12/8, 15/8, 18/8, 9/8

Saw these guys live here in Vegas a few weeks ago and the shallow side of me wanted to see a dynamic possessed singer to entertain (this is the city for it right?). But now as I go about my day with headphones I am enjoying the depths of these polyrhythmic tappin' cats. More meter obsessing to come I'm sure.
Scale the Summit: Alpenglow - 6/4, 3/4, 7/4, 4/4

And I'm sure I've played these songs before but I never told you what meter I believed them to be in....
Radiohead: Morning Bell - 5/4, Everything in its Right Place 10/4, Paranoid Android - 4/4, 7/4

Tune in & Have an obsessed week.

Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe
Odd Time Obsessed Tune in

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Cash's version of 9: Hung My Head

Johnny Cash - Hung My Head - 8/8 [332]


Sting - Hung My Head - 9/8 [522]

Both of these versions are smackdab cool. To me it sounds as if Sting is channeling a pastlife, but presently suits Cash's persona better. My rhythmic point here though is the way Cash handled the odd meter: he stayed in 4 but made it sound sort of odd. Cool. Some artists are so grounded here on earth and bound by four that the realms of the rhythmically of ODD aren't ready to seep into their consciousness....

From outer space,
BetZe13
Odd Time Obsessed Tune in

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New Oddness on the Radio this week 6-18 to 6-24

Welcome some new oddness to the rotation:

Les Spritz - math noise from Sicily (as they call themselves)
Villeri & Alfonso Claps

Pantera - yup, the Dimebag & co doing some prechorus 7s on Drag the Water

Jakob Dybro Johansen - Kairoskitser 13/8 Dutch vocals and acoustic guitar.... took my 13-obsessed advice and wrote this creative piece, much 13 awesomeness in a realm that just doesn't go there. But he did.

Keepin' it ODD for you weekly,
BetZe13
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Soundgarden - Black Rain: Monks of Metal in 9 (mostly)

If anyone could do it, it would be Soundgarden; creating musical thoughtforms with their alchemical rhythmical sound structures and now graduating to monkhood. The secret formula: Verse 9/8, 9/8, 9/8, 8/8 Pre Chorus 4/4, 4/4, 4/4, 7/8 Chorus 8/8 Noodle 4/4

Now I know who to call on when the invasion starts - that 9-8/8-7/8-4 combination should do it, oh but of course you will need the correct ring of fire to execute it.

Keepin' it ODD,
BetZe13

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