VART3492 :: Advanced Studio Technologies 2 - Polymeter Studies

Basic Polymeter studies & Rhythmic Displacement:

Asymmetric lengths force pulses to shift around each other.

(Equal measures appears to shift as odd measure begins a new cycle, we perceive the odd measure to be in the foreground (figure) as it contrasts prominently against the constant equal measure that appears more background (ground))

7/8 (top) against 8/8 (middle: downbeat/kick, lower: downbeat/snare)
 - taking 8 measures to resolve

9/8 (top) against 8/8 (middle: downbeat/kick, lower: downbeat/snare)

 - taking 10 measures to resolve

Using mixed meter to force resolve around another meter (in this case 4/4)

Re-casting Metal: Rhythm and Meter in the Music of Meshuggah Author(s): JONATHAN PIESLAK Source: Music Theory Spectrum, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Fall 2007), pp. 219-245

"The difference between metric dissonance and the overlay used by Meshuggah lies in the structure of repetitions within each rhythmic layer. Whereas the rhythmic layers of metric dissonance involve recurring, uninterrupted patterns, Meshuggah uses asymmetric repetitions in the guitars and bass part resulting from mixed or changing meter. Krebs points out that even metric dissonance “invariably involves some alignment of attacks, the alignment occurring after a number of pulses generally determined by the product of the cardinalities of the interpretative layers” (Krebs 1999, 31)."