Prog Digest – Klyde Kadiddlehumper

Prog Digest – by Klyde Kadiddlehumper

And then there was the one.

And it was good.

Time has come up here from time to time.  In the case of music, it is about the most important thing you can have. If you are a science fiction fan, there are as many theories about time as there are authors.

Some claim time is linear.  Some that it is variable and can be bent. Others that time is purely relative.

Regardless of those theories, time in music is a wild ride. The vast majority of music produced follows a rather simple structure. Three quarter time is 3 beats to a measure (123,123,123 etc.). 4 – 4 time is 4 beats per measure. There is 6 -8, a variant of 3 -4… you get the idea.

However, that is just the surface.  Time signatures can change, they can be fast or slow, even or odd.  There is even music (well, perhaps more performance) that is based on time but not a signature.  A prime example is from a modern composer, Philip Glass. One of his most famous pieces is called 4’33” and it is 4 minutes and 33 seconds long written for piano. No notes are played.  The pianist opens, then recloses the lid, sits for 2 minutes 40 second then restarts the stopwatch and sits another 1 minute 20 seconds and then politely bows to the remaining audience… It is all about the time.  Absolute brilliance.

Time is also essential to The Grateful Dead. Many years ago, someone put a very interesting bit in front of me.  Taking the easiest example (there are many more) is to listen to Iko. Feel the beat.  Don’t count it. Don’t think about it. Feel it.  You will notice something interesting.  It, and much of the rest of the catalog, follows your heartbeat. Soothing and more like putting your head on your lovers’ chest, it’s easily recognizable as among the most soothing things on the planet.

That is known, mostly from African rhythms, as the clave. Most of us know what the instrument the clave is, usually two sticks that when held properly, make a lovely and louder sound than one would expect.  That is not what clave really is.  It is the rhythm that holds African, Latin and Cuban music together. You can play it on most anything, but it is essential.

The musician responsible for the clave carries a singular rhythm throughout a piece. Sticks, bells, heck, I’ve even been responsible for clave on a hoe (yup, when asked, constant companion would tell people calling for me that I was out banging my hoe).  Around the clave there could be anything happening.  All kinds of other rhythms and time signatures and stuff happening.  In the end, the whole thing would come back around to the clave and – you got it – the one.

It is certain we will revisit this topic.  No mention here of the Mike Portnoy’s of the world, or the crazy things Rush would do.  Or Take 5. Or Stravinsky. And the list goes on.

Or, maybe more appropriately, The Beat Goes On.

Until next time.

Klyde

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