Polyrhythm?

[subdude]

While reading some music reviews of about a few Talking Heads songs I came across the term polyrhythm. I never realized it but polyrhythm is the element of these songs that I really enjoy. The keyboardist Bernie Worrell from Parliment Funkadelic contributed to the TH songs, so I have inferred that P-Funk and other "funk" type music makes use of polyrhythm.

Which got me wondering how common is polyrhythm in music in general?

How about EDM?

Anyone know some good examples of polyrhythm in songs I may have heard? Or suggestions on stuff I should check out?

Reading up on it a little...

http://www.xs4all.nl/~marcz/Polyrhythm.html

Poly rhythm is the systematic exploitation of different rhythms performed simultaneously.

To qualify as a poly rhythm, the contributing rhythms should be chosen such that the numbers denoting their rhythmic relation, are relatively prime to each other.

If the sum of two (or more) simultaneously sounding rhythms results in a subdivision of the beat that is not present in either of the constituting rhythms, we call this resultant rhythm poly rhythmic.

[tiddles]

yeah...you hear alot of it in the tribally stuff.
it's not really complex when it shows up in dance music.

usually you hear the kick drum going in 4/4 then there is a congo/bongo sample playing halfnote triplets on top...so it's like 3 over 4.

i'll see if i can find a good example


you hear polyrhythms alot more in jazz...some prog rock stuff too - dreamtheater or rush

[MJ]

Is there any chance you could translate that last bit into English for me? :?

[tiddles]

Re: Polyrhythm?

http://www.ancient-future.com/midi/africa.mid

can you dance to it?

[MJ]

Ahh now i see, thanks mate.

[subdude]

Re: Polyrhythm?

I like the line for the dance steps...right left right left....

MJ > the numbers describe the ratio of beats played in the different rhythms over the same time period. So 3:4 means one rhythm plays 3 beats in the time it takes to play 4 beats in the second rhythm. But apparently they get more complicated...

[MJ]

^^ yeh i know suby, i was taking the piss as usuall, just ignore me. But thanks anyway kid.

[tiddles]

indian music has a cool way of dealing with polyrhythms...
if i remember correctly it kinda goes like this:
you take the phrase Ta Ka Di Mi...that is what you're going to use for the polyrhythm

so stamp out a 4/4 with your foot.
say Ta on the one, Ka on the two...and so on...that's just 4/4
now, to do 3 against 4, say Ta Ka Di so that it fits over one 4/4 measure.
if you wanted to do 5/4 just extend it to Ta Ka Di Mi Ta
or 7:4 use Ta Ka Di Mi Ta Ka Di
fun stuff


now if someone would use it in a tune