General Music Discussions: YYZ Morse Code rhythm

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YYZ Morse Code rhythm

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Forum Name: General Music Discussions
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Topic: YYZ Morse Code rhythm

Posted By: Hiram
Subject: YYZ Morse Code rhythm
Date Posted: May 31 2009 at 07:15

A friend brought the following to my attention:

Toronto's Pearson International Airport broadcasts Y-Y-Z in Morse code for navigational purposes; this code inspired both the rhythms and title of the song "YYZ".

"The title refers to the identity code used by the Toronto International Airport. We used the Morse Code signal emitted by the control tower as a rhythmic device for the introduction (-.--/-.--/--..) dah dit dah dah dah dit dah dah/dah dah dit dit, = Y-Y-Z." - Neil Peart, "Notes On The Making of Moving Pictures", Modern Drummer, Feb. 1983

I'm sure there are other songs as well that have been musically influenced by patterns or series of numbers or alphabet. Can anyone point out examples? I know of serialism in classical music but I was thinking about this in (prog)rock context.

Replies:

Posted By: zappaholic
Date Posted: May 31 2009 at 15:11

Don't know if anyone's done it for reals, but I think the rhythm mentioned in this comic would make for an interesting song:

http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=909 - http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=909

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BRUTAL.

Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: May 31 2009 at 15:16

The vocal syllables in Tool's song "Lateralus" are based on the Fibonacci sequence. The concept is quite ingenious.

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Posted By: Henry Plainview
Date Posted: May 31 2009 at 15:17

Originally posted by topofsm

The vocal syllables in Tool's song "Lateralus" are based on the Fibonacci sequence. The concept is quite ingenious.

Isn't the drum beat or time signature also based on that? Although it's still a painfully boring song. ;-)

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if you own a sodastream i hate you

Posted By: Angelo
Date Posted: May 31 2009 at 15:42

Originally posted by Henry Plainview

Originally posted by topofsm

The vocal syllables in Tool's song "Lateralus" are based on the Fibonacci sequence. The concept is quite ingenious.

Isn't the drum beat or time signature also based on that? Although it's still a painfully boring song. ;-)

Like the Fibonacci sequence itself I guess - unless you are a math addict. Tongue

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Even prog is rooted in the blues, at some point...

Posted By: topofsm
Date Posted: May 31 2009 at 15:55

Originally posted by Henry Plainview

Originally posted by topofsm

The vocal syllables in Tool's song "Lateralus" are based on the Fibonacci sequence. The concept is quite ingenious.

Isn't the drum beat or time signature also based on that? Although it's still a painfully boring song. ;-)

I will forget your comment for now on this flawless, epic, and energetic wonderful song.

But as for the time signatures, most of the song is in either 5/4 or 6/8. The choruses do something interesting though.

If I were to write out the time signatures of the chorus on sheet music to make it easiest to play reading the sheet music, I would probably write out the measures like this:

3/4 + 3/4 + 3/4 + 3/4 + 3/4 + 2/4 + 3/4 + 4/4

Sorry if it's confusing, but it's just the way I think. If you group the time signatures into when the chords change, it looks like this:

(3/4 + 3/4 + 3/4) (3/4 + 3/4 + 2/4) (3/4 + 4/4)

So essentially it could be notated as:

(9/4) + (8/4) + (7/4) Or ([9+8+7]/4)

987 is the 16th number in the fibonacci sequence.

And yes, I am mathematically inclined.

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Posted By: zappaholic
Date Posted: May 31 2009 at 18:27

Originally posted by topofsm

The vocal syllables in Tool's song "Lateralus" are based on the Fibonacci sequence. The concept is quite ingenious.

Damn, how could I have forgotten about that. I need to go back to prog school.....

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BRUTAL.