The natural meter challenge!

I don't have access to my drums right now, but how about doing it with a practice pad? Would that pass the contest rules? If not, I'll have to wait a week or so before I can put something up.
 
I don't have access to my drums right now, but how about doing it with a practice pad? Would that pass the contest rules? If not, I'll have to wait a week or so before I can put something up.

I think drumset would be a better medium, as it's more of a musical thing. But then again, might not be too bad doing it on a pad either! THe idea is to "check thyself" and see what your "drift" is.
 
I'm willing to give it a whirl. I will be in the studio Wed and will try to get time to try it.

On a similar topic, I walk a lot, and sometimes check my steps per minute when I start vs when I stop. Over an hour long walk my tempo usually stays withing 5 spm or so.
 
I'm willing to give it a whirl. I will be in the studio Wed and will try to get time to try it.

On a similar topic, I walk a lot, and sometimes check my steps per minute when I start vs when I stop. Over an hour long walk my tempo usually stays withing 5 spm or so.

There will be a definite correlation between your walking pace and your drumming meter.
 
OK, very simple. NO CLICKS ALLOWED.

Play a simple beat for five minutes. No wanking about, just a simple beat. Record this part of the process.

When you have completed step A, see what the starting tempo is and compare it to the ending tempo. Discover the drift and post your results (w/ video)

Here's mine: My drift was 3bpm over 5 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqpelvCfEhQ
Interesting idea, maybe I'll try! Actually if you count your last few bars, when
you're kind of showing that you can play more notes ;), it's more like
a 15bpm drift, but I suppose you meant before that. That was indeed very
steady, well done!
 
How are we tracking bpm drift, by the way? I have the LiveBPM app on my phone. Are you guys using something similar?
 
Well I am gonna put up a clip as soon as I have my drums in front of me. Seems like a fun challenge!
 
Interesting idea, maybe I'll try! Actually if you count your last few bars, when
you're kind of showing that you can play more notes ;), it's more like
a 15bpm drift, but I suppose you meant before that. That was indeed very
steady, well done!

The last 30 seconds was sort of a "thank GOD I can now release!!" and was actually not part of the original 5min. It was just a bit of frill I left in. :D
 
3 bpm difference over five minutes is really good BillyRay. If you were doing multiple takes of a 3:30 minute song the variation from version to version would be one or two seconds. That kind of tempo change is imperceptible to the human ear. Good clock man!
 
See, I can't do any one thing for 5 minutes, but I can already tell you that my time has always been fine on just a single groove. Almost always, if I lose or gain time on a song, it happens between parts or in a transition.
 
Play Bolero (easy little repetitive sequence no problem) on your snare for 15 minutes-I think that is the short version. You may not test your time but you dang sure will your sanity. LOL.
 
I like the push pull of human time better than "always the exact same" metronome time. My bandleader likes most stuff relentlessly on top, with nothing laid back.

We differ there, in that I like some very subtle playing around with feel (which translates to meter). Bass solo for instance. I usually like to lay it back just slightly, and then resume the regular feel when it's done. I'm not supposed to be doing that in this band but it's my natural inclination. I like elastic time...in certain places. Unwavering meter has it's place most definitely, but the thing that makes it interesting to me is the ever so subtle manipulation of the feel, but only during certain parts that benefit from it. Like if I played Billie Jean, there's no room for laying back. But if a song has a big drop in volume, that's a candidate to play with feel a little. There's a noticeable difference between lagging the time and laying back on the feel. I heard it described best as either reclining in a seat as opposed to being on the edge of your seat. Your ass is still in the seat, but the attitude takes on a different feel.

I might take the challenge and just report the results. 5 minutes is a long time with no variation.
 
OK I did this. 1 take with a quick and dirty audio only recording. Afterwards, I played it back over the PA with a metronome in my ear for a quick and dirty evaluation.

The tempo started off at 120, and at 5 minutes time it was at 120...HOWEVER, during the 5 minutes I went as high as 122 and as low as 118. I only lagged one time, the rest of the drifts were in the faster direction. I'd say I was drifting about half the time and on the mark for the other half. At 6 minutes time I was back up to 122. (I accidentally went a minute longer) So I had a 4 BPM drift. I had some long stretches where I lined up for like 45 seconds, but there would be drifts mostly up eventually, where the down beat on the metronome eventually became the upbeat and back. The drift was only 2 BPM in one direction so I guess I'm pretty happy for a first attempt. When I did drift, I stayed on it for probably 30 seconds before drifting back to 120. Sadly, it all felt even to me lol.

I played quarters on the hi hat, a full shuffle pattern on the bass, with the back beat on 2 and 4 and ghost notes filling in all the space between backbeats ala a half time shuffle.

With that beat, the quarters on the hi hat is my rock. I just zen in on the quarters as best I can and everything else falls where it falls. The backbeats and ghosts and the bass were sometimes a tad sloppy but I tried not to let it affect my quarters.

But I'm no metronome.

The real test for me is to play a tempo or maybe a beat that doesn't come naturally. This beat is totally within my comfort zone.

If I really need to post the recording for proof I will. My recording machine is getting to be 10 years old and it's slow slow getting files off. Like 45 minutes slow.
 
OK I did this. 1 take with a quick and dirty audio only recording. Afterwards, I played it back over the PA with a metronome in my ear for a quick and dirty evaluation.

The tempo started off at 120, and at 5 minutes time it was at 120...HOWEVER, during the 5 minutes I went as high as 122 and as low as 118. At 6 minutes time I was back up to 122. (I accidentally went a minute longer) So I had a 4 BPM drift. I had some long stretches where I lined up for like 45 seconds, but there would be drift up or down eventually, where the down beat on the metronome eventually became the upbeat and back. The drift was only 2 BPM in one direction so I guess I'm pretty happy for a first attempt. When I did drift, I stayed on it for probably 30 seconds before drifting back to 120. Sadly, it all felt even to me lol.

I played quarters on the hi hat, full shuffle pattern on the bass, back beat on 2 and 4 with ghost notes filling in all the space between backbeats ala a half time shuffle.

With that beat, the quarters on the hi hat is my rock. I just zen in on the quarters and everything else falls where it falls. The backbeats and ghosts and the bass were sometimes a tad sloppy but I tried not to let it affect my quarters.

But I'm no metronome.

The real test for me is to play a tempo or maybe a beat that doesn't come naturally. This beat is totally within my comfort zone.

THat's amazingly steady, Larry! Great work!
 
Thanks ID. You'd think I'd feel good about that but all I can think of is I was drifting at least half the time lol. I might do this with a straight no frills money beat to see if a beat with less notes and no ghosts still has the drift.
 
Thanks ID. You'd think I'd feel good about that but all I can think of is I was drifting at least half the time lol. I might do this with a straight no frills money beat to see if a beat with less notes and no ghosts still has the drift.

I've been thinking about that, too. I don't have access to my kit yet, so I've been experimenting on a pad to see if more notes vs less notes has an effect on meter. So far nothing conclusive.
 
OK, here's the video-- I started at 96.0 and ended at 95.1.


Great job Todd.
I'm gonna' have to try this.


Hey Bill Ray, you have figured out a way to make us create some really boring videos.

Next challenge: Can you watch ten five minute Natural Meter Challenge Videos all the way through in one sitting. LOL

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