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Anticipation Snuffed Out by Reality..... It Wasn't What I Thought......

Posted by Todd Krieger (A) on December 28, 2006 at 00:45:21

In Reply to: Re: Drumming Query posted by J on December 27, 2006 at 20:24:26:

My thought of polyrhythms originally involved a drummer playing two distinctly different rhythms with each hand **independently**.... I took the definition literally.

But as I was watching examples of "polyrhythms" on YouTube, it turns out that's not how it's done. My presumption was a misconception.

Polyrhythms in actuality are an integrated beat, using sub-beats to create the illusion of muliple rhythms, by accentuating the correct beats. The common beat is very fast, to enable the creation of multiple sub-beats. Kind of like pulling out different factors from a large number, in real time. And could bring out three or four different sub-beats. (My misconception implied no more than two.) And in retrospect, something I recognize from performances over the years by the great jazz drummers. At least I now know what it's called.

I also have a better understanding of Tool's music, which is one rock band that incorporates this style. And also "speed metal." (Although it doesn't strike me as music as much as a show of rhythmic athleticism.)

Last night, in being introduced to "polyrhythms", I took the definition literally. Which implied that playing distinctive rhythms with separate hands, in spite of skepticism, *was* possible. The misconception made me think- "Boy, I have to see this!", and then searched for independenly-played rhythms by a single drummer. But after a while, nothing remotely like that. And further digging, something clicked- I recognized a method of playing I've seen before- Polyrhythms were something different than I thought. It wasn't literal, but illusion. And as I previously thought, the literal was impossible all along.

And now the rarity in rock makes total sense- The fast common beat is difficult to "synch" with the band playing a standad beat- The band instead has to "synch" with the drummer. Which is Tool.

But in spite of the realization, faith dies hard. There is still one other Rush track I want to listen to ("Digital Man") before putting it to bed, which I thought may have used true independent beats. (If anyone can defy logic, it's Neil Peart.) But I cannot find any full track of it on the web, so I have to do this at home. It's probably more of the same, but you never know....

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