Favorite Tempo Shifts

[stasz]

Since we drummers are always focused on tempo tempo tempo I was wondering if you guys have ever found that a shift in tempo ever really was integral to a song. It could be anything from a straight double time into normal time or just an ever-so-slight waning or waxing of the bpm. You could also mention time signature shifts which have the same feel, but I'm talking more about a change in feel rather than a rush song that switches between bars of 3/4, 7/16, 9/8, 5/8, every 4 bars or whatever.

One that I just really discovered that really sticks out to me is on the Raconteurs track Consoler of The Lonely. From verse to chorus there's a shift in which I believe the quarter note becomes the dotted eighth (in other words a slight slow down of the tempo). There's a neat trick in the intro where the guitar riff plays in the slower tempo while a stick-click count in is in the faster tempo and lands right on beat 1 after the guitar intro. The shift from slow to fast and back in that song just feels so natural to me. Take a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgWBhlH4mC4

In Battles' Ddiamondd I really like the double time feel that's kind of implied by a blast beat-esque groove at about 1:11 and then with later frantic 32nd notes on the snare at about 1:38.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES6DSbPBBSE

One that plenty of listeners can recognize- a sort of double time feel at the end of The Beatles' Ticket To Ride (the "My baby don't care" part). The backbeat stays the same but the tambourine accents the "&"'s so the feel is changed, not to mention that the rest of the song doesn't really have a steady backbeat in the snare drum. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etjpcF2X_mY

Genesis' Los Endos from a A Trick Of The Tail has some cool shifts between faster and slower tempos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbxswV2a6l0

Anyway... hopefully you guys can think of some and it's not just me having too much free time.

[blade123]

For me, I love playing build-ups while slowing down. It's just so powerful.

[crdirtRider856]

Uhmmmmm, welllll... my two favorite bands- Tool and Porcupine Tree seem to mislead me as far as mathematics and keeping a "beat" are concerned.... And Mars Volta..... I was wonderin, do I have to learn how to calculate rhythemic composition in relation to structurally "based" compositions to learn a certain song? Cause ones been botherin me lately...not sure what it is, really. I guess I like a shift....sometimes.......I just dont know......You re confusing me!...........(5 minutes later)I like drums................tough question!(4 me at least)

[Nodiggie]

WoW! this post got me thinking. Cool clips, I never heard that stuff before...except Beatles

I will have to think harder, I am sure there is more out there.. lol

[bonzolead]

One of my favorite tempo shifts is "Fairies wear Boots" by Black Sabbath the tempo gets a little quicker about 3/4 of the way in the song and yes I think it's makes the tune just a little more sweeter.

Bonzolead

[caddywumpus]

In the middle of Steve Miller's "Livin' in the U.S.A." where there's that little flub and the tempo suddenly picks up. I haven't been able to figure out if it's a bad studio splicing job or if the band royally messed up. Either way, it has been intriguing me lately...

[Billy Brown]

I've always thought the end of this song drags in a cool way. But I'm pretty sure there is no tempo change.

http://www.myspace.com/themercuryprogram

Go to the song "You Yourself are to Serious"

[crdirtRider856]

As has been brought up...One time change I m not sure of is- "No Way Out" by the one n only Allman Bros.

After the short "solo" they try to pull it back into the groove, but with 2 drummers it gets a bit muddled....I always lose it here, but usually end up in the right spot...With some luck, I guess it sounds OK, but has anyone else noticed this?

[NUTHA JASON]

'come on eileen' dexy's midnight runners has that great speed near the end that gets the dance floor heaving.

also nelly the elephant. and my favourite is the dance of zorba ... just makes me wnat to break plates.

[stasz]

'come on eileen' dexy's midnight runners has that great speed near the end that gets the dance floor heaving.


How could I forget?? I love that part...

[tugnut]

you guys ever hear of Cursed? they have a sick tempo shift in "reparations"
awesome

[hauk]

I'm a big fan of the tempo shift Gavin Harrison does in Porcupine Tree's "Prodigal" at 5.09. Everybody else stays the same, but it gives a great feel to the song for just a small bit. One of his many "rhythmic illusions."

[mallendion]

I wish I had run across this thread earlier - it's probably dead by now.

It always seemed to me one song that just does not work without a tempo shift as part of the actual song is The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go.

[The Colonel]

Almost all the songs I write have meter shifts and or tempo changes. But they don't sound forced (to me) which is a big deal in my enjoyment. My favorite that I did was a shuffle-ish rock piece (12/8 feel I guess) and the chorus tempo is taken from the quarter triplet from the first part - so those quarter triplets are now 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4 - seemingly sporadic and faster - more urgent.

One of my favorite tempo changes is in TV On the Radio's Wolf Like Me - the upbeat tempo throughout the first half (with the slightest lilt to it) of the piece is suddenly dropped for a new MUCH slower tempo - very straight-ahead molasses slow. It's dramatic when it happens and totally breaks up the monotany (sp?) of the first half.



Peter Hammill is all over the place on meter changes. Off his first solo album is a song "Re-awakening" with some great meter changes...let me see if I can find any of these...

[The Colonel]

Wolf Like Me - @ 2:05

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUB1xSAAADk

[TheGroceryman]

I really like the tempo shift in Cinderella man by Rush. Normally, songs seem faster and more energetic in the chorus parts and slower and more laid back in the verses. But this song is just the opposite, the chorus is the laid back part and the verses are the quick sections. IMO thats just genius.

[mallendion]

Here is what this site does best:

The Colonel's recommendation of Wolf Like Me - beautiful example in which the drum is literally signalling the tempo change. It is something that is also easier to relate to for those of us who are mere mortals. I've never listened to much TV on the Radio and will have to check out some more.

Meanwhile, equally representative of the topic is TheGroceryman's Cinderella Man recommendation. Well beyond the reach of the majority of us is the artistically crafted drum work of Peart. I can never figure out how he manages to do this without having scores of sheet music around him. Dude has got to have one heckuva memory to go with all that skill.

Thank you to each of you and DRUMMERWORLD. All we're missing is a way to write riffs into this editor for sharing. :-)

[drumbandit]

Campaign of hate - The Libertines

[The Colonel]

[QUOTE=mallendion;482056] I've never listened to much TV on the Radio and will have to check out some more.[QUOTE]

They have some earlier stuff that still sounds like they're getting their stuff together - okay for completists, but their last album (and they have a new one coming out soon I hear) Return to Cookie Mountain is amazing. Lots of great stuff on that one.

[Vipercussionist]

Tempo shift of ALL tempo shifts, Black Betty from Ram Jam. Sounds like they put about 12 different peices of 13 different songs in here. Just random time warps throughout the tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMLnDuzgkjo
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__________________
Most respect the badge, but all fear the drum.

[stasz]

Rage Against The Machine- Killing In The Name

tempo picks up a little in the "now you do what they told ya" and then settles back down immediately in the verse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkuOAY-S6OY

[mallendion]

Whoops! I forgot, from Led Zeppelin II, the Lemmon Song but, even more so, the transition from Heartbreaker to Living Loving Maid is pretty fun.

Though the latter doesn't occur within the same song I still love the way it transitions. Similarly in Abbey Road between Carry that Weight and The End.

To paraphrase a commercial here in the states - hear them again for the first time.