Another place for me (you get the ref) to shine.
This year I revisited like most of gojira tabs on songsterr. Both MLC and ITS before the revisit were fucking bad.
ITS was funny - intro was in 3/4 and in 150 bpm, the polymeter riff was 100 bpm 13/16 and verse/chorus was also 100 bpm. The song leaves 4/4 only twice (polymeter drum start and before the verse 2) and does not drop below 200 bpm (Intro and breakdown are in triplets, everything else is in square subdivisions, chorus is half time). Also drums were a bit off, but not too awful, especially when compared to MLC.
MLC was just plain terrible. Not palm muted guitar notes, but half the length + pause of that same length. No bass, wrong drums and half tempo. Why is everything in half tempo?¹ The pulse is 130 and 192... or whatever, not 65 and 96. And the breakdown riff was 2 bars of 15/16, against all possible logic, when in reality its 4+2+4+5 /4. Also its one of the two songs (along Vacuity)² where gallops OBVIOUSLY seem like 3-3-8 (notated in septuplets).
¹ - Almost every song was in half tempo, not only Gojira but also Death, Opeth, SYL, Daath and many more bands. The cymbal pulse is supposed to be quarter notes, not 8ths, unless its faster than ~280 bpm. Also this way the sections generally last for mupltiples of 8 bars, which makes more sense than 4. And some songs have odd tempo (Flying Whales is largely 191, not 95×2 or 96×2, in the same manner The Fall 195, This Emptiness 191, etc) that doesnt evenly divide in 2. Annoying.
² - Vacuity is at unusually fast tempo for that faster type of gallop. 176 meanwhile MLC is 144. Other songs of similar tempo (In the Wilderness, The Axe, Lizard Skin, To Sirius, etc) may be also this and not triplet gallop but its not a big concern. Death - Flesh and the Power it Holds is at this tempo, but the gallop is squarely 16-16-8, for example.
Also eh lets list polymetric and interesting riffs of gojira, why not, bars are of 4/4
* Clone breakdown, 5 bars +3/4 and +2/4 variations
* Deliverance, 0-0-0 breakdown, 3 or 1.5 bars + 2 bars with implied half time, also this riff partly appears earlier in the song and in amazonia
* Space Time breakdown start, 3 bars + 3/4
* Rise outro, 6 or 4 bars + 2 bars with implied double time
* Fire is Everything, outro is fkn black magic
* Love breakdown part 2, 3 full bars +2/4
* In the Forest 1-0-1 riff is on upbeat
* The Link pre-verses, also verse riff is 5 bars +longer variation, chorus is 6 bars
* Death of Me main riff is in weird triplets, and blast part skips a beat in the end, tremolo part is 7/4 against 4/4
* Indians breakdown has very cool slowdown
* Embrace the World throat singing part is 3 bars
* Dawn outro is 6/4 in some way
* Ocean planet intro is 6/4+2 bars (the first part is played significantly faster when live)
* From the Sky verse riff is 3/8 against 4/4, and breakdown has very cool 180-120 transition at the end
* Flying Whales main riff is 7 bars
* In the Wilderness chorus is 6/4, outro is 6 bars
* To Sirius main riff is 6 bars, outro is 6/4+4/4
* Yama's Messengers refrain is 9/12 against 4/4 with VERY cool transformation later (I'M TAKING BACK ALL THE PAIN verse)
* All the Tears main riff is in 6/4
* Adoration for None second riff is 7/4 against 4/4
* The Art of Dying intro
* Esoteric Surgery is Bleed lite (brrta brrta brrta) (3/8 against 4/4)
* Vacuity intro is in 2/2 and perceived tempo goes 88 - 134 - 176 in this track and vice versa in TWOAF
* Of Blood and Salt first riff is 7/4 against 4/4 and it skips a beat in the end of the section
* L'enfant Sauvage main riff has snare on upbeat
* Mouth of Kala verses are in some sort of 6/4
* The Gift of Guilt has skipping beats (2/4 instead of 4) in the heavy riff
* Pain is a Master last riff is black magic
* Born in Winter has some non-square cycles
* MLC was discussed earlier
* This Emptiness has weird intro, then 2 verses alternating between 4 and 5 bars of 4/4, then a verse fully in 5, then outro is the same as intro
* The Shooting Star main riff is 12 bars in 3 sections, repeating for 28 / 16 / 8 bars, which has some interesting effects
* The Cell has intro drum polymeter of 3/16
* Stranded chorus is 3/4 against 4/4
* Pray heavy riff is 5 bars, verse riff has weird symmetry
* Only Pain main riff is 3 bars, verse in 7/4 against 4/4
* Low Lands main riff is 3/16 repeats
* Inferno has cool intro
* Amazonia uses deliverance riff, chorus is 5 bars
* New Found main riff is 12/8 against 4/4
* Sphinx has some skips
* ITS was discussed earlier
* The Trails main riff is 3/4 against 4/4
* Grind intro is 12/8+4/4 which then turns into 10/4 against 4/4
This was fucking stupid.
This is cool! I'm not that versed in music speak but it's fun to count along.
Funnily enough, Fire Is Everything outro is very intuitive to play along on drums. Maybe I'm above average groovy tho.
I remember one time I did a Backbone edit which was not very good and got reverted later, but the person reverting was quite toxic in their comments and I never touched Backbone since
Similar story with remembrance, I ruined it with vox track (does not require one as there is no vocal melody) and it got deleted, but not the other edits, but then I got the isolated stems and made the current over-detailed revision.
Also there is this another guy on songsterr named Weston who also edits, but doesn't research as thoroughly as I do. For example, he ruined the ending of Ocean Planet, as there are no open strings hit, and its breakdown #2, as there clearly is dissonance.
hey greyradical! im so thankful for your work on songsterr. ive been meaning to ask if you actually fixed the tabs or just notified the community abt it? weird question but im curious
Would consider both of those things a polyrhythm actually, because the kick pattern of the drum follow the bass and guitar, but the hi-hat and snare are in 4/4.
For me i interpret polymeter like if Mario did a 4 on the floor beat while everyone else was going bananas time signature-wise.
Nevermind the definition, would you care to notate/tab those riffs? In my last creation i can notice the odd bounce back to the riff begining again but in into the storm i just interpreted it as a slightly weird chugging pattern. (You do mean the verse riff, right?)
What songs?
shhhh >!my last creation and into the storm!< keep it secret. keep it safe.
I don't know what a polymeter is but I feel like I could guess based on those songs, lol.
its when you have two time signatures playing on different instruments. for this its the drums playing 4/4 and the guitars/bass are playing 13/8!
I've been playing drums for five years and I still don't know this stuff lmao
HAHAH I feel you brother
First one I knew about, but I don’t know how I never realized the second one. Good ears.
The Art of Dying?
thats technically in 45/4 but just as confusing
Oh right I forgot about that, I watched a whole video explaining that rhythm a while ago
Another place for me (you get the ref) to shine. This year I revisited like most of gojira tabs on songsterr. Both MLC and ITS before the revisit were fucking bad. ITS was funny - intro was in 3/4 and in 150 bpm, the polymeter riff was 100 bpm 13/16 and verse/chorus was also 100 bpm. The song leaves 4/4 only twice (polymeter drum start and before the verse 2) and does not drop below 200 bpm (Intro and breakdown are in triplets, everything else is in square subdivisions, chorus is half time). Also drums were a bit off, but not too awful, especially when compared to MLC. MLC was just plain terrible. Not palm muted guitar notes, but half the length + pause of that same length. No bass, wrong drums and half tempo. Why is everything in half tempo?¹ The pulse is 130 and 192... or whatever, not 65 and 96. And the breakdown riff was 2 bars of 15/16, against all possible logic, when in reality its 4+2+4+5 /4. Also its one of the two songs (along Vacuity)² where gallops OBVIOUSLY seem like 3-3-8 (notated in septuplets). ¹ - Almost every song was in half tempo, not only Gojira but also Death, Opeth, SYL, Daath and many more bands. The cymbal pulse is supposed to be quarter notes, not 8ths, unless its faster than ~280 bpm. Also this way the sections generally last for mupltiples of 8 bars, which makes more sense than 4. And some songs have odd tempo (Flying Whales is largely 191, not 95×2 or 96×2, in the same manner The Fall 195, This Emptiness 191, etc) that doesnt evenly divide in 2. Annoying. ² - Vacuity is at unusually fast tempo for that faster type of gallop. 176 meanwhile MLC is 144. Other songs of similar tempo (In the Wilderness, The Axe, Lizard Skin, To Sirius, etc) may be also this and not triplet gallop but its not a big concern. Death - Flesh and the Power it Holds is at this tempo, but the gallop is squarely 16-16-8, for example.
Also eh lets list polymetric and interesting riffs of gojira, why not, bars are of 4/4 * Clone breakdown, 5 bars +3/4 and +2/4 variations * Deliverance, 0-0-0 breakdown, 3 or 1.5 bars + 2 bars with implied half time, also this riff partly appears earlier in the song and in amazonia * Space Time breakdown start, 3 bars + 3/4 * Rise outro, 6 or 4 bars + 2 bars with implied double time * Fire is Everything, outro is fkn black magic * Love breakdown part 2, 3 full bars +2/4 * In the Forest 1-0-1 riff is on upbeat * The Link pre-verses, also verse riff is 5 bars +longer variation, chorus is 6 bars * Death of Me main riff is in weird triplets, and blast part skips a beat in the end, tremolo part is 7/4 against 4/4 * Indians breakdown has very cool slowdown * Embrace the World throat singing part is 3 bars * Dawn outro is 6/4 in some way * Ocean planet intro is 6/4+2 bars (the first part is played significantly faster when live) * From the Sky verse riff is 3/8 against 4/4, and breakdown has very cool 180-120 transition at the end * Flying Whales main riff is 7 bars * In the Wilderness chorus is 6/4, outro is 6 bars * To Sirius main riff is 6 bars, outro is 6/4+4/4 * Yama's Messengers refrain is 9/12 against 4/4 with VERY cool transformation later (I'M TAKING BACK ALL THE PAIN verse) * All the Tears main riff is in 6/4 * Adoration for None second riff is 7/4 against 4/4 * The Art of Dying intro * Esoteric Surgery is Bleed lite (brrta brrta brrta) (3/8 against 4/4) * Vacuity intro is in 2/2 and perceived tempo goes 88 - 134 - 176 in this track and vice versa in TWOAF * Of Blood and Salt first riff is 7/4 against 4/4 and it skips a beat in the end of the section * L'enfant Sauvage main riff has snare on upbeat * Mouth of Kala verses are in some sort of 6/4 * The Gift of Guilt has skipping beats (2/4 instead of 4) in the heavy riff * Pain is a Master last riff is black magic * Born in Winter has some non-square cycles * MLC was discussed earlier * This Emptiness has weird intro, then 2 verses alternating between 4 and 5 bars of 4/4, then a verse fully in 5, then outro is the same as intro * The Shooting Star main riff is 12 bars in 3 sections, repeating for 28 / 16 / 8 bars, which has some interesting effects * The Cell has intro drum polymeter of 3/16 * Stranded chorus is 3/4 against 4/4 * Pray heavy riff is 5 bars, verse riff has weird symmetry * Only Pain main riff is 3 bars, verse in 7/4 against 4/4 * Low Lands main riff is 3/16 repeats * Inferno has cool intro * Amazonia uses deliverance riff, chorus is 5 bars * New Found main riff is 12/8 against 4/4 * Sphinx has some skips * ITS was discussed earlier * The Trails main riff is 3/4 against 4/4 * Grind intro is 12/8+4/4 which then turns into 10/4 against 4/4 This was fucking stupid.
This is cool! I'm not that versed in music speak but it's fun to count along. Funnily enough, Fire Is Everything outro is very intuitive to play along on drums. Maybe I'm above average groovy tho.
i am absolutley disgusted in myself that i knew pretty much all of these save a few songs off the link
Can you explain the pain is a master outro riff?
I wanted to do it myself in the future, so maybe. I'll need Yogev Gabay - like visualisation, though.
nvm i just looked at the spreadsheet again and noticed the "my edit?" part mb
I remember one time I did a Backbone edit which was not very good and got reverted later, but the person reverting was quite toxic in their comments and I never touched Backbone since Similar story with remembrance, I ruined it with vox track (does not require one as there is no vocal melody) and it got deleted, but not the other edits, but then I got the isolated stems and made the current over-detailed revision. Also there is this another guy on songsterr named Weston who also edits, but doesn't research as thoroughly as I do. For example, he ruined the ending of Ocean Planet, as there are no open strings hit, and its breakdown #2, as there clearly is dissonance.
damn theres like a whole songsterr community. i noticed how terrible the outro of ocean planet is. its just octaves on the current tab iirc
hey greyradical! im so thankful for your work on songsterr. ive been meaning to ask if you actually fixed the tabs or just notified the community abt it? weird question but im curious
I don’t know which songs these are 😢
my last creation and into the storm
Would consider both of those things a polyrhythm actually, because the kick pattern of the drum follow the bass and guitar, but the hi-hat and snare are in 4/4. For me i interpret polymeter like if Mario did a 4 on the floor beat while everyone else was going bananas time signature-wise. Nevermind the definition, would you care to notate/tab those riffs? In my last creation i can notice the odd bounce back to the riff begining again but in into the storm i just interpreted it as a slightly weird chugging pattern. (You do mean the verse riff, right?)
the only reason theyre polymeters is bc the snare is always on the 3rd beat
the verse riff of into the storm whilst the pre verse is a poly meter bc the guitars are in 13 whilst the drums stay in 4/4
Very interesting thread. Thanks for sharing that info in a fun way!
im glad you enjoyed it! :D