cap.iv

Cap.IV and Dial. are out of this world. I like the whole EP, but these two really shine

I've had this track stuck in my head for the last 24 hours - the first half at least. Even had trouble sleeping last night because of it. Odd how it can feel so appropriate nearly two decades later.

Glorious

  On 12/20/2020 at 5:29 PM, dcom said:

Polyrhythms are simply parallel repeating patterns of different lengths, they don't have to map to bar lengths/boundaries or anything else. As long as theres two (or more) patterns with different lengths, e.g. you have straight up 4/4 bass drum (over 16 beats on 1, 5, 9, 13) and a TB-303 pattern repeating every 3 or 5 beats - that's it, you've got a polyrhythmic track. When you combine (poly)rhythms that make the track sound off-beat, you've got syncopation. Add weird time signatures like 7/8, 11/16, 15/16 or 31/32 to the mix and you can frustrate people who like to count beats to no end.

 

 

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Actually... to be precise, my understanding is that what you are describing, and what dingformung describes as the first kind of polyrhythm is actually called polymeter. 

However... everyone just calls it polyrhythm anyway, so does it matter? I dunno.

Actual polyrhythms, where the bar length is the same but the division length is different, usually sounds super messy and shit when it's anything that isn't divisible by 3 (eg 3 against 4, 4 against 3, 6 against 4 etc). I've heard examples of 5 against 4 that worked but rarely. I think that will probably change over time as audiences get used to listening to the "quintuplet swing" (a bar of 4 beats each subdivided by 5) which is all the rage at the moment in prog and jazz and will surely become mainstream in the not too distant future (oh yeah I THINK Cfern is an example of quintuplets but it could just be triplets).

  On 1/10/2021 at 7:56 PM, springymajig said:

Actually... to be precise, my understanding is that what you are describing, and what dingformung describes as the first kind of polyrhythm is actually called polymeter.

You're right, and I conflated the terms like you mentioned, on purpose. True polyrhythms are used in electronic (dance) music, but very sparingly. Fold4, Wrap5 comes to mind.

  On 1/10/2021 at 8:14 PM, dcom said:

You're right, and I conflated the terms like you mentioned, on purpose. True polyrhythms are used in electronic (dance) music, but very sparingly. Fold4, Wrap5 comes to mind.

OMG! I totally didn't realise that till you mentioned it! It's right there in the title! (well... kinda)... as if the weird tempo shifts (which is probably some kind of audio illusion... possibly using metric modulation or something) in that track wasn't weird enough already!

undial

  On 5/23/2008 at 12:24 AM, Guest vodor said:

i always thought that cap.iv was a whole lot like lentic catachresis. practically a remix. it's lentic with harsh squeeks and gut-punches rather than ticks and hisses.

 

right down to the slow chords, chopped up vocals, and of course the acceleration into insanity.

 

am i right? i've tried to say this before, and people are like "eh whatever," but i think it's blatant.

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Absolutely agree!

Moreover, I (unfoundedly) suspect that Cap.IV may have been the original closer for Confield. The similarity of both tracks and also the nearly identical runtimes (so it could also fit on the CD?). Maybe the boys deemed it a bit too wild for the album, but didn't want to ditch the idea. Hence, a similar track, but somewhat more in line with the general atmosphere of the album. Too good a track to let go to waste, it was perfect for an EP.

I believe I've read somewhere on WATMM that Gantz Graf (the track) was made in 1997 or so and was something they didn't know what to do with. So together with this and Dial. it made a smashing EP. Perhaps Dial. is the only track specifically written for that release?

Could be total bollocks though...