My first contribution to a #bonkwave #notBonkwave release is out now! Listen to "Starling Reverie" (and bunch of other great music!) on The Four Seasons of Bonk Wave: A Midsummer Bonk's Dream disc 1:
Available on Bonkwave.org: https://music.bonkwave.org/the-four-seasons-of-bonkwave-a-midsummer-bonks-dream-1/
EDIT: Damn, I accidentally copied all of @sknob 's links along the way, haha! That's what happens when I try to post before I've finished my coffee
Also thought I'd take the opportunity to talk a bit about how to count the rhythm of the track and why I like odd time signatures so much.
So the first bit is easy: the piece is in 9/8 time, but rather than try to count to nine, you'll find it much easier to count 1234-123-12. The emphasized beats follow this pattern, so it settles much more easily into your (or at least my) brain.
Which takes me to one of the things I like about odd time signatures: they can be broken up like this in lots of interesting ways. You can do this with 8/8 as well (e.g. break it into 12345-123), but your (or at least my) brain tends to detect this as 4/4 no matter what.
But in the case of odd time signatures, there are more ways to divide and group your notes. So I almost always start with how I will divide my notes. For 9/8 will I do 12-1234-123? 12-12-12345? etc
Then once you've made that decision for your melody or drums or whatever you're starting with, other parts of the track can use different groupings to give you a sort of false polymeter effect that can feel more intense than syncopation normally would.
If your melody is divided into 1234-123-12 but your harmony is divided into 12-1234-123 you can have a sense of the two things running in different meters without having to actually resolve two meters
So in Starling Reverie, the kick is hitting the downbeat very overtly on the 1's in that 1234-123-12 pattern, with the bass and chord stabs reinforcing the snare in that pattern. Then the very reverb-y synth comes in in a different pattern which gives it a polymeter-ish sound without leaving the 9/8 signature.
Hopefully this all makes sense! I love finding fun things to do with odd time signatures, and I hope someone enjoys my little diversions with them!
Sometimes music is about trying to construct a perfect little clockwork toy that spins and hums and is just fun to experience entirely for its own sake.
Paul Griffin (he/him)
sknob
Alida Tripp 