Odd Time Signatures in Video Game Music
Here's the video! Hope you all enjoy!
Comments (4)
I’m an EXTREMELY beginner-level drummer, but even the very very limited amount of drumming training I’ve received has opened my ears to time signatures way more than I ever realized, so I really liked this one! I understood more of it than usual. Quick question: is there a name for the rhythm that goes 1-2-3 / 1-2-3 / 1-2-3 /1-2-3 / 1-2-1-2? You can hear it crystal clear in the chase scene at the beginning of Majora’s Mask (where Skull Kid steals Epona), but I’ve started noticing it everywhere, and I kind of absolutely love it. (It’s in FF6’s The Decisive Battle, it’s in parts of Lufia 2’s Sinestral Battle, it’s really subtle but still there in La-Mulana’s Interstice of the Dimension, etc.) Is that sufficiently well-known and well-discussed to have a name or to say much about it other than “hey, this rhythm is catchy and cool”? I like that it’s a cool way to squeeze both a three-count and a four-count (I’m certain those can’t be the real terms, sorry) into sixteen beats, but if anyone can discuss it better, I’d think that would be you.
It's definitely a well-known rhythm, and you can actually find a ton of examples in modern pop songs (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk2udkCEUC0" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk2udkCEUC0</a> for example) but I don't think it has an official name or anything like that. It definitely opens up a conversation about rhythmic interest and how 'breaking out of the barline' can open up the music. Glad you enjoyed the video!
I'm super late to the punch, but I wanted to say thanks for taking my request! I thought the video was great, and you touched on some neat examples I hadn't considered before. I'd like to say I'm normal, but here I am making requests to a stranger on the internet to analyze video game music, so...
Glad you enjoyed it! Being normal is probably overrated anyways!
