Numbers may mean something. Or they may be random. Let me break it down for you.
Five, Six, Seven
In my suite named “Ritual & Mayhem“, I created three tracks: Invocation, Mayhem, and Ritual Dance. The first of these I wrote in 5, the second in 6, and the third in 7. What I mean by this is that the number of beats is subdivided into five, six, or seven. You can feel and count this most easily in “Mayhem” and “Ritual Dance” because of the drumbeats.
These counts — known as “time signatures” — are not common in popular, non-indigenous music. Much more typical beats are in four or three. I chose the less typical on purpose.
(You may learn more about the initial release of this suite in my previous post. I’ve shared the story of this imaginary ritual at Mirlo and Bandcamp sites as well.)
Numbers On Purpose
One purpose in my use of numbers was matching the idea of ritual. Though I believe that we humans have far more rituals than we usually identify, intentional ritual is beyond the everyday. It is one way we attempt to connect with anything that is beyond or outside our humanity.
My other purpose was to use a sense of building intensity throughout the suite. 5 to 6 to 7. In addition to the time signature, I used the BPM as another way to raise the intensity. More about this in a bit.
Magic Numbers
Five shows up everywhere. It’s the number of fingers and toes many of us (at least mammals, amphibians, and reptiles) have. We have five physical senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste). Seven is the days of the week, continents, colors of the rainbow, and chakras. I’m sure that 6 shows up in our physical world as well. (Maybe you can tell me where six appears in our world?)
In many cultures, numbers go beyond the physical and mathematical. They carry meaning and magic. Certainly, I’ve noticed this in music. Five and seven have particular magic in time signatures. I’ve also found that the subdivisions are part of the fun: 5 = 3 + 2 and 7 = 4 + 3.
Magic meaning five often points to self-discovery and freedom with people who identify with this number. “Six” people often are those who are balanced and who emphasize interconnectedness. And humans who identify with 7 may be highly creative and have healing powers.
Faster Is Not Better
And speaking of numbers: BPM = beats per minute. So, this means that 60BPM is one beat per second. I wanted all of this music to be faster than the clock. And I wanted each one to begin faster than the previous one did.
“Invocation” is 62BPM. Just slightly faster than the clock and not as fast as the average heartbeat (for most human adults), this music is an invitation to the ritual. We are not yet there, but have set the intention to go.
Mayhem Is Different
I started “Mayhem” out at 74BPM. Naturally, I wanted the numerics of this piece to reflect the chaos of the moment in the story. So, I made an instantaneous change in tempo when the drums come in. Suddenly, the beat changes to 98BPM.
Once the faster tempo starts, it never stops in this piece. Even when the musical mood changes back to the one that started this track, the BPM never drops. In the story, the chaos continues.
“Mayhem” is the least melodic music I’ve written in a long time. While the absence of melody was not intentional, I like the way that speaks to the chaos in this part of the story. It’s all about rhythm and harmony; harmony and rhythm.
Time to Dance
Finally, “Ritual Dance” arrives at 86BPM. I chose to make it faster than “Mayhem” started, but not as fast as it ended. This is not a dance party, though. (Those are often at 120BPM or even faster.) This is a ritual dance which goes “at the speed of the body”.
Of course I know that not everyone’s body has the same “clock”. I mostly chose this tempo because of the incrementally between each of the tracks: First, 62BPM. Add 12BPM to reach the start of the second piece. Another 12BPM and we’ve arrived at the dance tempo.
Numbers can be important to music — especially when it has rhythm. And now you know how geeky I can be about my musical creative process when I’m not improvising. Of course, once I formed this numeric framework, the melodies were 100% improvised.
All photos included in this post are by Ketut Subiyanto and obtained via pexels.
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I am fascinated regarding your information here. When part of a djembe group of three, the other guys were colleagues in work, we used to play both recognised rhythms from traditional culture. Also, as two of us had been in bands writing our own songs, beat experimentations, like your own, was a regular occurrence too.
I used to sing Mantra style made up repetitive chants over the drumming. On their own, the three drum skins began harmonising extra notes somehow. We could feel them in the surrounding air. We called it the ‘The Angels’ Visiting’. Have you ever heard ‘extra notes’ not played but they still exist? And for the three of us to hear them, it maybe means not coming from our own individual selves hearing and producing from within our own mind.
My wife has a heart murmur too. Diagnosed when a child. Recently she has started to experience oedema on her ankles after being active at work all day. So your doctor’s investigations are very interesting. Cheers Stan.
Gray,
Very cool musical experiences! Yes, angel voices are part of why singing in harmony is so magical: there are almost always “extra” voices. I’m sure that audio scientists could tell us which harmonics we’re accentuating and why those resonances are particular to our ensemble. But I prefer the angel voices explanation (at least for today).
Regarding heart health, eating nutritious foods with the accent on vegetables is one key for me. Reducing as many inflammatory environmentals and foods is also helpful. I workout 4-7 days per week. Still, I occasionally feel a flutter and then I rest.
Good to chat with you!
Stan
Good to chat too Stan. Over the decades I hear note additions in my own songs that do not actually exist in the song’s reality. Never know if they are wishful thinking at times. Or if they are notes against notes producing extra ethereal notes. Or extra harmonies that were never added in reality, but did exist as hoped for inclusions I never got round to recording.
You have a very fine outlook on lifestyle Stan. Active sensibly and thoughtful in consuming the right foods. Ayurveda philosophy comes to mind. I have been vegetarian for fifty years now. Started when I was eighteen. And with my wife having her own Wholefood Shop, it has been fantastic getting quality foods and with a lot of choices too. Her choices re: stock variety is massive. Currently eating organic chopped dried dates, figs, prunes, apricots, walnuts, brazils, almonds, pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds and plump raisins all mixed into a gluten free oats/buckwheat grits/milled hemp seed hot ‘porridge’. Herbal tea (yarrow) and water to chase. Activity? I potter.
I always promoted holistic therapy for people with Chronic Illness/Conditions as a Staff Nurse. Lifestyle like you yourself pursue. And of course….music is both the icing and the cherry too on top of life’s cake.
Cheers Stan.