Howard Who?

Practically every pop song these days is in 4/4 (in music that’s a time signature or meter). It’s so common that it’s called common time.

But occasionally musicians break the mold. And often when they do, you notice the vitality, the goodness, the uncommonness. It immediately has some avant garde credibility. And if you do pull it off, you can even land on the Wikipedia listing of all strange meters. I mean, even a relatively conventional meter like 6/8 sounds exciting in the context of a pop song like Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway.

Without going through every possible meter under the sun, I’m going to stick with 5/4 (or 5/8), which has by far the most entries on the Wikipedia list. You can seemingly have your cake and eat it too with this signature. By this I mean it sounds weird and fresh without being undanceable or distracting.  Usually 5 is divided into 1-2-3-1-2 (less often 1-2-1-2-3)…manageable enough chunks for the brain to deem them worthy of booty shaking.

While classical music, jazz, and later prog rock has done much of the leg work with unusual meters, it does occasionally crop up in artsier mainstream work. The most famous classical example is Holst’s Mars followed by Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, where it is used as a waltz! The famous jazz example is Dave Brubeck in a song he even called Take Five. The famous film/TV score example is Lalo Schifrin’s Mission Impossible theme.

Let’s skip ahead to more recent times:

1. Anime is one of those genres that bear some amazing musical fruit. Even a show like Naruto, which is somewhat considered to be the kiddie successor to Pokemon/Yu Gi Oh, can have great ending credits music in 5/8. The story takes place in an alternate world where ninja clans rule kingdoms that are constantly at war. This necessitates the need to train new ninjas with usual unusual powers that are passed down each generation. That’s where our hero, Naruto, comes in…having been cursed with a power beyond comprehension. After the battles of strategy and cunning (really smart stuff) in the first and arguably best season, the closing credits music (sung in English by Japanese singer Akeboshi, who apparently rarely uses 4/4) tied together the show thematically as well with its keep-your-chin-up aphorisms.

Wind (mp3) - Akeboshi Buy

2. Howard Shore is amazing composer of cinematic textures. Though I’m personally not as enthralled with his music for Lord of the Rings as everyone else is, I certainly think it is effective and memorable. Take for instance his Isengard Theme, a poundingly metallic rhythm in 5/4 that is accompanied by a snarling brass line, which works really well because Isengard is Orc-central in the movie. It’s one of many themes used throughout the three films. Don’t think the fans would let this music get past their scrutiny. Read Isengard Theme 5/4 article here. For the theme, listen to the following at 1:38.

A Knife in the Dark (mp3) - Howard Shore Buy

3. Sting’s Seven Days has a kind of buoyancy, especially in the live version which was included on a limited edition single of After the Rain Has Fallen. It’s jazzy with a trumpet soloist and pizzicato bass. And the 5/4 just adds to the oddball joy of it all. Sting even begins by counting down to ten (you only hear the first 6 though), a standard practice when using 5/4.

Seven Days live (mp3) - Sting Buy

4. Can you talk about avant garde pop without mentioning Sufjian Stevens?

All Good Naysayers, Speak Up! Or Forever Hold Your Peace! (mp3) - Sufjian Steves Buy

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 5th, 2006 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Classical Music, Film Music, Pop Music, Minimalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.