Bangriddim 594
Notes on Bangriddim 594
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-596493783/bangriddim YouTube: https://youtu.be/ND9tBjDUC6w
(TM) We appreciate knowing that far more people than we expected have highly reputed Bangriddim since its release in 2016. The starting concept of this track was “a synthesis of two types of regional music” that are quite different musically, geographically, and culturally. We took many options into account and finally selected Bangladesh and Jamaica (Reggae). The motif is an existing melody in Bangladesh’s instrumental folk song. As it sounds, it’s very warm, beautiful, affectionate and sentimental. I asked TI to write it down to the score. (TI subsequently transformed it in various ways.) As for Reggae, there is an incredible genre or method called “riddim.” Fascinatingly enough, riddim often covers rhythm parts (typically drums and bass) only from another track. Thus, we tried to put the Bangladesh folk motif onto a computerised riddim. The first trial was as simple as this:
It felt interesting but not enough. A long way from here, and finally...
The point is “594,” as included in the title. 594 is actually 0.594, where 0 is exactly on beat one and 1 is on beat two. In many cases of the Western music (including pops) swing or shuffle beats are made up with the first and third notes of triplets*. The triplet third (0.667) is late in timing for the human nature, I think.
(* Although there are in many swing beats other than 0.667, of course, there seem a few works in which the artists identify how much the swing should be and deliberately use it.) For example while you are walking, your arms or hands touch your waist or legs. The timings of such touches are mostly near the shuffle rhythm, but in this rhythm off-beats are slightly before 0.667, the triplet third. Actually, many types of ethnic music use something before 0.667. Where is the timing comfortable for the human nature? What we discovered was that 0.594 is much better fit or much more natural. Around 1980 Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) found it was 7/12 (0.583). That’s truly great discovery but we have not heard of any studies that follow them, despite the evolution of technology during these virtually 30 years. (They adopted it in their track “Absolute Ego Dance.”) Whereas YMO used a relatively primitive rhythm machine, we did this on the score software. YMO’s machine then divided one beat into 12, while we did into 32. I’m not saying we are more exact or superior to them, though. We re-knew they had found out 0.583 after we found 0.594 and we made sure that the two findings were so close.
This is a zoomed score of one beat and how to express 0.594. Making this throughout the track was absolutely heavy tasks!! Just like moving pebbles one by one with tweezers... As in the score, the shuffle beat must be expressed, eg, an eighth note + 64th rest + 128th rest + 16th note + 128th rest + 32nd rest. As a result, in most of the track, one bar required one page!! (In FURICO one-bar-one-page often occurs but “in most of the track” rarely.) In addition, we sometimes used triplets intentionally. It should be fun if you find and compare them to 0.594.
(TI)
In this track, as TM has already stated, we aimed to make “groove with notes." My personal goals were to create a DUB with musical notes and to create a track that consists of one chord only but is not minimal.
"Creating DUB with a musical score"
As you might know, DUB is "music to freely process and edit sound materials on the mixer" and is highly improvised. I was interested in "What if I could write the sound effects that I want to sound with notes?"
Since we originally created music only with the playback function of Musescore, we couldn't use effectors. Therefore, this song's delays or cutups are neither effectors nor DAW editors, but "notes written to sound like that".
For example, the sound that moves to the left and right is usually panned with DAW, but for this song, I made each part on the left and right on the score and played it.
"One chord but not minimal music"
The One-chord music is often something that repeats the minimal composition and brings euphoria from subtle changes of that repetition.
Can I make a track with one chord unlike that? At least I wanted to listen. So, when I listened to a song from Bangladesh, which is the motif of this song presented by TM, I thought this song was monophonic (has no harmony), not Western music, and had an attractive melody. I thought that it would be possible to create a song that is not just a repetition with one chord.
(Many traditional folk songs in Asia have different conception of tonality from that of western music, and there is no such thing as western music like harmony progression.)
“The fusion of two kinds of music (as TM says)"
In the first place, I did not aim at "the fusion of two kinds of music" that TM says about this song. However, as mentioned above, there was neither a harmony nor fixed rhythm in this original music (Bangladesh traditional music). There was only melodies.
Therefore, to create a cover song of this, and to make music that can satisfy ourselves with the notes, it is not something that should be transferred as it was. And just playing it does not make it attractive music (if so, I would just listen to the original song).
“So what elements do I need to make it attractive?” I thought.
I noticed that it was a combination with Reggae or disco (the House Music). Both Reggae and disco (House) have a style that can absorb various music. Both are music that does not place much emphasis on tonality. In other words, it is easy to put on a monophonic melody.
However, it was difficult for Disco to be established without a certain amount of BPM. This song is not so fast-paced, and Disco / House is also the Back Beat, so it was difficult to combine it with Disco / House. There was also a side that could kill the goodness of the rhythm of traditional Asian music.
On the other hand, reggae is not necessarily the Back Beat, but in a way accepts various beats, and it is easy to make it even with slow beats.
“Am I able to combine them well?” I thought. In other words, "Disco / House" is music that tunes the melody to the beat, but reggae can tune the beat to the melody.
I think that the prospects were successful in the fusion with the rhythm of TM.
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-596493783/bangriddim YouTube: https://youtu.be/ND9tBjDUC6w
(TM) We appreciate knowing that far more people than we expected have highly reputed Bangriddim since its release in 2016. The starting concept of this track was “a synthesis of two types of regional music” that are quite different musically, geographically, and culturally. We took many options into account and finally selected Bangladesh and Jamaica (Reggae). The motif is an existing melody in Bangladesh’s instrumental folk song. As it sounds, it’s very warm, beautiful, affectionate and sentimental. I asked TI to write it down to the score. (TI subsequently transformed it in various ways.) As for Reggae, there is an incredible genre or method called “riddim.” Fascinatingly enough, riddim often covers rhythm parts (typically drums and bass) only from another track. Thus, we tried to put the Bangladesh folk motif onto a computerised riddim. The first trial was as simple as this:
It felt interesting but not enough. A long way from here, and finally...
The point is “594,” as included in the title. 594 is actually 0.594, where 0 is exactly on beat one and 1 is on beat two. In many cases of the Western music (including pops) swing or shuffle beats are made up with the first and third notes of triplets*. The triplet third (0.667) is late in timing for the human nature, I think.(* Although there are in many swing beats other than 0.667, of course, there seem a few works in which the artists identify how much the swing should be and deliberately use it.) For example while you are walking, your arms or hands touch your waist or legs. The timings of such touches are mostly near the shuffle rhythm, but in this rhythm off-beats are slightly before 0.667, the triplet third. Actually, many types of ethnic music use something before 0.667. Where is the timing comfortable for the human nature? What we discovered was that 0.594 is much better fit or much more natural. Around 1980 Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) found it was 7/12 (0.583). That’s truly great discovery but we have not heard of any studies that follow them, despite the evolution of technology during these virtually 30 years. (They adopted it in their track “Absolute Ego Dance.”) Whereas YMO used a relatively primitive rhythm machine, we did this on the score software. YMO’s machine then divided one beat into 12, while we did into 32. I’m not saying we are more exact or superior to them, though. We re-knew they had found out 0.583 after we found 0.594 and we made sure that the two findings were so close.
This is a zoomed score of one beat and how to express 0.594. Making this throughout the track was absolutely heavy tasks!! Just like moving pebbles one by one with tweezers... As in the score, the shuffle beat must be expressed, eg, an eighth note + 64th rest + 128th rest + 16th note + 128th rest + 32nd rest. As a result, in most of the track, one bar required one page!! (In FURICO one-bar-one-page often occurs but “in most of the track” rarely.) In addition, we sometimes used triplets intentionally. It should be fun if you find and compare them to 0.594.
(TI)
In this track, as TM has already stated, we aimed to make “groove with notes." My personal goals were to create a DUB with musical notes and to create a track that consists of one chord only but is not minimal.
"Creating DUB with a musical score"
As you might know, DUB is "music to freely process and edit sound materials on the mixer" and is highly improvised. I was interested in "What if I could write the sound effects that I want to sound with notes?"
Since we originally created music only with the playback function of Musescore, we couldn't use effectors. Therefore, this song's delays or cutups are neither effectors nor DAW editors, but "notes written to sound like that".
For example, the sound that moves to the left and right is usually panned with DAW, but for this song, I made each part on the left and right on the score and played it.
"One chord but not minimal music"
The One-chord music is often something that repeats the minimal composition and brings euphoria from subtle changes of that repetition.
Can I make a track with one chord unlike that? At least I wanted to listen. So, when I listened to a song from Bangladesh, which is the motif of this song presented by TM, I thought this song was monophonic (has no harmony), not Western music, and had an attractive melody. I thought that it would be possible to create a song that is not just a repetition with one chord.
(Many traditional folk songs in Asia have different conception of tonality from that of western music, and there is no such thing as western music like harmony progression.)
“The fusion of two kinds of music (as TM says)"
In the first place, I did not aim at "the fusion of two kinds of music" that TM says about this song. However, as mentioned above, there was neither a harmony nor fixed rhythm in this original music (Bangladesh traditional music). There was only melodies.
Therefore, to create a cover song of this, and to make music that can satisfy ourselves with the notes, it is not something that should be transferred as it was. And just playing it does not make it attractive music (if so, I would just listen to the original song).
“So what elements do I need to make it attractive?” I thought.
I noticed that it was a combination with Reggae or disco (the House Music). Both Reggae and disco (House) have a style that can absorb various music. Both are music that does not place much emphasis on tonality. In other words, it is easy to put on a monophonic melody.
However, it was difficult for Disco to be established without a certain amount of BPM. This song is not so fast-paced, and Disco / House is also the Back Beat, so it was difficult to combine it with Disco / House. There was also a side that could kill the goodness of the rhythm of traditional Asian music.
On the other hand, reggae is not necessarily the Back Beat, but in a way accepts various beats, and it is easy to make it even with slow beats.
“Am I able to combine them well?” I thought. In other words, "Disco / House" is music that tunes the melody to the beat, but reggae can tune the beat to the melody.
I think that the prospects were successful in the fusion with the rhythm of TM.