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Superimposed Subdivisions (Polyrhythm Hell) [Sallan Tarkistama]

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Superimposed Subdivisions (Polyrhythm Hell) [Sallan Tarkistama] HEIKKI MALMBERG Superimposed Subdivisions (Polyrhythm Hell) Polyrhythms or Polymeters? Usually when musicians talk about polyrhythms, they refer to rhythmic structures that are made of two or more simultaneous time signatures, in which the secondary (superimposed) time signature basically revolves around the dominant time signature. I suggest that we use the term polymeter in such cases, and use the term polyrhythm solely in situations where there are two or more subdivisions happening in the same time interval (e.g. eight note triplets over sixteenth notes). Here’s a simple example of a polymeter where the bass drum plays in 5/16 while the hands keep common (4/4) time. 3 3 3 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 5 5 5 5 And here’s a not so simple example of polyrhythms using eight notes, eight/quarter note triplets and sixteenth note quintuplets. So What Should I Do? In order to learn to play any two subdivisions against each other, or rather superimpose them if you will, you should get a reference of how they sound played simultaneously on one instrument (A good teacher and a sequencer are of paramount help here), and learn to phonetically mimic the result. You can make up halfwitted sentences or just blabber away with any foolish sounds that you come up with. as long as you’re mimicking the rhythm, it doesn’t matter. 3 3 3 3 or cold cup of tea blah bla da blah Here’s two subdivisions Here they have Here’s their daily dialog after waiting to get married. become one. 50 years of marriage. MEMORIZE IT! Superimposed Subdivisions (polyrhythm Hell) Heikki Malmberg 3 Now you can use their dialog to learn any 2 against 3 -based patterns. 3 3 3 3 cold cup of teacold cup of tea etc... blahbla3 da blah blahbla 3 da blah etc.. 3 3 The same trick works for any two subdivisions. 3 3 3 pass the gol3 -den3 but- ter Any two subdivisions Played on one surface Have something to say (though sometimes it's just a jumble of meaningless phonetics) So how can I decipher their "dialog"? Let's see how 5 and 7 land on each other. First you have to count their lowest common multiple (LCM). The formula is as follows: A x B = LCM In our instance a=5 and B=7 and we get: 5 x 7 = 35 Now write two lines of 35 notes. the note value doesn't matter, but sixteenth notes are clear and easy to read, so let's use them. Superimposed Subdivisions Heikki Malmberg (polyrhythm Hell) 4 Now place accents to every fifth note on the upper line and to every seventh note on the lower line. Now remove the unaccented notes and there you have it. The remaining notes create the polyrhythm of 5 against 7. Here's the same pattern written out a bit more clearly. Here's the same pattern once more written out in common time. 7 5 This procedure works perfectly well for figuring out how any possible combination of two subdivisions land on each other! Superimposed Subdivisions (polyrhythm Hell) Heikki Malmberg 5 The toughest part, however, is to really master these polyrhythms so well that you can use them flawlessly in your playing. And for composers who are interested in using these polyrhythms in their music; Try to learn to hear/feel them so thoroughly that you can tell the difference between 11 over 13 and 12 over 13. They all have their distinct feels, and they all have something to say. The following pages contain a lot of stuff that will take ages to learn properly. Some of them might seem downright impossible to play, but everything is possible if you really set your mind to it! I haven’t written out any stickings or used more than two sound sources for the following examples, because the rhythms play the leading role here. But i’d say that the best place to start would be playing the upper rhythm with one hand, and the lower with another. After that (and preferably only after you’ve assimilated their “dialog” at least to some degree) you can try to play the upper rhythm on the snare using a single stroke roll (rlrlrl...) and the lower rhythm on the bass drum using... ...well, a single stroke roll. After these steps; experiment, experiment and experiment. "Numerous studies have proven that people who set goals and pursue them are much more successful than those who float along, waiting to see what comes their way. Remember the old ádage: If you aim at nothing, you will surely hit it." -G. Douglas Rockwell Superimposed Subdivisions Heikki Malmberg (polyrhythm Hell) Superimposed Subdivisions HEIKKI MALMBERG 6 1 2 3 3 5 4 6 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 9 10 11 12 11 12 13 14 13 14 15 15 17 16 18 17 19 18 3 19 20 5 3 3 21 6 22 7 3 3 23 24 9 3 3 25 26 10 11 Superimposed Subdivisions 3 3 (polyrhythm Hell) Heikki Malmberg 7 27 28 12 13 3 3 29 30 14 15 3 3 31 32 17 3 3 33 18 34 19 3 3 35 36 3 37 5 38 6 39 40 7 41 42 9 10 43 44 11 12 45 46 13 14 47 48 15 49 17 50 18 51 52 19 5 Superimposed Subdivisions Heikki Malmberg (polyrhythm Hell) 8 53 54 3 5 5 55 6 56 7 5 5 57 58 9 5 5 59 60 10 11 5 5 61 62 12 13 5 5 63 64 14 15 5 5 65 66 17 5 5 67 18 68 19 5 5 69 70 3 6 6 71 72 5 6 6 73 7 74 6 6 75 76 9 10 6 6 77 78 11 12 Superimposed Subdivisions 6 6 (polyrhythm Hell) Heikki Malmberg 9 79 80 13 14 6 6 81 82 15 6 6 83 84 17 18 6 6 85 19 86 6 7 87 3 88 7 7 89 5 90 6 7 7 91 92 9 7 7 93 94 10 11 7 7 95 96 12 13 7 7 97 98 14 15 7 7 99 100 17 7 7 101 18 102 19 7 7 103 104 3 Superimposed Subdivisions Heikki Malmberg (polyrhythm Hell) 10 105 106 5 107 6 108 7 109 110 9 10 111 112 11 12 113 114 13 14 115 116 15 117 118 17 18 119 19 120 9 121 3 122 9 9 123 5 124 6 9 9 125 7 126 9 9 127 128 10 11 9 9 129 130 12 13 Superimposed Subdivisions 9 9 (polyrhythm Hell) Heikki Malmberg 11 131 132 14 15 9 9 133 134 17 9 9 135 136 18 19 9 9 137 138 3 10 10 139 140 5 10 10 141 6 142 7 10 10 143 144 9 10 10 145 146 11 12 .
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