videogame music with unusual time signatures

King of Posters Galaxy Oddity
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videogame music with unusual time signatures

it doesn’t have to be music you like.

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first thing that came to mind

this is incubus i think

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Is “unusual” just not in 3 or 4?

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Pretty much. 3 or 4’s fine as long as it’s not the primary time sig

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^ lol

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I’m not great with time signatures but this one seems unusual.

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as far as i can tell it all lines up in 4/4, just with a lot of interesting rhythmic emphases. if you count from the beginning of the ostinato, the ending figure lines up perfectly.

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as some of the entries here already suggest, this section has motoi sakuraba written all over it. What throws the listener off is him changing from … something to something different several times in a song. And somehow you are wondering if it is just one instrument/lane or the whole song, I for sure cannot tell most of the time.
if you like that, you’ll be fine w/ motoi. if not - stay away.
(wait no, watch at least the bonus-song added at the bottom. then go away.)




Needless to say, kinda like that, obviously:











bonus:
f***in awesome live version of VP-classic “confidence in the domination”:




(and finally, last but not least, cheatin’ here: only arranged by Motoi S.


)

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Sakuraba really loves to do 5/8.

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expanding on my last comment, i really like the fact that time signature in video game music can be almost entirely subjective. no written score means you cannot actually confirm time signatures, especially in more ambiguous pieces; this effect is heightened in older “chip” music in which there is little in the form of dynamics or articulation to further suss out meters

Sagat’s Theme is in delicious 11/8 (e: just noticed Diplo already posted this one, whoops!)

This tune’s breakdown (originally the battle theme from Dragon Quest IV) has some really interesting meter fuckery that I can never count, but can always feel

MK64’s Results Theme is somehow a subtle, yet very peppy 11/8. Counting this one just feels amazing

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Dave Wise is such a troll

Epic Yarn is a pretty underrated game among people I know

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I honestly have no idea

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This might be somewhat borderline, but the cyclical phasing is absolutely gorgeous so fuck it

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