Re: Polyrhythms (was Re: Meditations on the awful sounds of the Alesis SR-16 drummachine)

["Jon Wagner" <jondrums@hotmail.com>]

> I don't have any experience with polyrhythms from African, Afro-Cuban, or Brazilian drumming traditions.  I'm wondering if some of the percussionists on the list like Dennis, Jon or Rick could share some insight on how rhythms are crossed in these traditions and/or any personal tips and tricks they have on polyrhythms?
>

 

Wow James, this is an awesome response to a simple question!  I wish I knew more about the history of drumming traditions, especially with respect to polyrhythms.  I do know a lot about the history of jazz drumming and of course polyrhythms or crossrhythms are a big part of jazz drumming.  However there are many jazz drummers who seem to have no interest in this type of rythmical interplay and they have perfectly valid view points as well.  In jazz, it is very common to hear "3 over 4" or "4 over 3" types of cross rhythms because swing time is more or less based around a quarter note triplet (I'm generalizing here:).  You'll often hear jazz drummers during solos keeping the basic time with their feet (bass drum and hi-hat, or just hi-hat) and playing complex polyrhythmic figures with their hands.  Traditionally you'll hear a ride cymbal+hi-hat pattern with rhythmic interplay on the snare drum and bass drum.  Here's a few examples of this

 

(Excuse the fixed width font)

 

6 over 4 example

 

quarter note:    q     q     q     q   

ride cymbal:     x     x   x x     x   x

snare:           o   o   o   o   o   o 

 

3 over 4 example

 

quarter note:    q     q     q     q      

ride cymbal:     x     x   x x     x   x

snare:           o       o       o       

 

more intricate 3 over 4 example

quarter note:    q     q     q     q 

hi-hat                 x           x

snare            o o o   o o o   o o o 

bass                   o       o       o

 

this one crosses bar lines and is a practical example of 5 over 3 fit into a 2 bar phrase.  Notice that there are 24 triples in 2 bars of 4/4.  You can fit 4 clean cycles of 5/triplet into that and be left with 4 triplets left, so it resolves at the end of the second bar - similar to James description of tying up the loose end of a polyrhythm towards the end of a rhythmic cycle (tintal).  the polyrhythm is mostly in the bass drum, with the snare drum playing a supporting role in both time signatures.

 

 

quarter note:    q     q     q     q     q     q     q     q    

hi-hat                 x           x           x           x

snare            o   o o     o   o   o   o     o o   o   o o 

bass                     o         o         o         o    (o)   

 

There's another thing that happens a lot in jazz drumming called metric modulation, or implied metric.  This is when another time signiature is implied over the base time signiature.  this happens a lot playing in 3/4 time where a "duple" feel is introduced.  Example:

 

duple metric modulation in 2 bars of 3/4 time (this works really well on 3/4 latin tunes - straight eights)

 

quarter note:    q   q   q   q   q   q 

ride cymbal      x     x   x x     x   x

snare                  o           o

bass             o           o        

 

not exaclty a polyrhythm but my favorite metric modulation right now: its a half time feel "slipped" by 2 triplet notes (I first heard this played by Elvin Jones on a Wayne Shorter Album though the name escapes me)

 

quarter note:    q     q     q     q     q     q     q     q    

ride cymbal:     x     x   x x     x   x x     x   x x     x   x

snare            o   o       o   O       o   o       o   O           

hihat                            x                       x

bass                 o                       o          

 

OK, I'm tired of typing these in but if anyone has questions about examples of specific types of polyrhythms, ask me and I can try and type them up.  My all time favorite is a story about Richard Fynman (sp?) who is a famous physicist who also played bongo drums.  Apparently he got interested in polyrhythms and wouldn't stop until he could feel 12 over 13, or 12 beats played in the same amount of time as 13 beats!  I tried it a few times and I definitely don't feel it yet...  These kinds of things CAN get really mathematical and there are tricks to figuring them out which I can post if anyone wants.

Jon