#5/4

[poppitron360]

saw your post abt epic & music theory! Are there any interesting time signatures (non-4/4), key signatures, or tempo changes in epic?

and/or something similar?

Yes!! Charybdis is actually in 5/4!!

For the normies out there, the “4” on the bottom refers to the fact that the bar is counted in Crotchets (or quarter notes if you’re American). The number on the top refers to the amount of them that there are- i.e 5/4 being five quarter notes. Most music you hear is gonna be in 4/4, but another song you might know that have 5/4 time is “tolerate it” by Taylor Swift.

Now Jorge has said many times that one of his main influences in writing Epic is videogame music. I recently watched a video about time sigs in music for nintendo games- linking that vid here (part 1, part 2)- and one thing I noticed is that the “weirder” (translation: more awesome) the time sig got, the more often it was used in a boss battle. Charybdis DEFINITELY feels like a boss battle.

“I told myself I’d never write a song in 5/4 […] And the one idea that kept coming into my head was this idea that Charybdis throws Odysseus’ balance off. The same way 5/4 initially threw my balance off.” - Jorge, in one of his videos explaining how he made Charybdis’ music. Now what’s special about 5/4 specifically, is that it’s SO CLOSE to 4/4. SO CLOSE to what our brains are accustomed to hearing, to what sounds “right” and “natural”, but it’s just that one extra note that throws us off.

At this point in the story, Ody has lost everything. He’s back after 7 years on Calypso’s island, and he’s changed. I love how with each progressing Saga the music gets darker and wilder (re: my post about Scylla being my all-time fav in Epic in terms of music production and composition). The fact that this is the only song in non-4/4 makes it stand out. It throws us off.

Also, the little intro bit to the song (before the electric guitar kicks in)- it’s hard to tell but I believe it’s in 4/4. This is showing that it’s before we meet Charybdis.

What’s interesting to me is that after Ody survives Charybdis and sees Ithica again after 20 years, his instrument switches back to his gentle nylon-string guitar, but the music doesn’t switch back to 4/4. It stays with that extra beat. Odysseus is still shaken.

Even though he’s home, he will always be looking over his shoulder at what’s behind him. He will always be flinching at every noise. He will always see the faces of the men he was responsible for in his nightmares.

It could just be that Jay didn’t wanna have to write the melody in mixed meter, but I prefer this interpretation.

In music, we often count odd time signatures in smaller chunks, which can differ depending on the way that it’s phrased (e.g 10/8 could be counted as “one two three, one two, one two, one two three” OR “one two, one two three, one two three, one two”). What’s interesting about this specific use of 5/4 is that it’s counted as “one two three, one two”. In the video I referenced earlier, Jorge explains his struggles to get a song in 5/4 to be “catchy”. The way he tackled this was to have each instrument + the vocals highlight this rhythm. So even though Ody is being thrown off by Charybdis, he is still in control.

Let’s look at how the melody in the verse reinforces this:

The first four beats of the bar are completely conjunct (moving in steps)- staying within three notes of the root note (1st note in the scale). Then on the 5th beat (the one that throws you off) goes lower than the root:

1 2 3 1 2

You be Her men

must who mes

tioned-

This solidifies the feeling of being thrown off, showing not only how Charybdis but this whole voyage has shaken Odysseus, which makes Poseidon’s appearance afterwards even more terrifying, because we as listeners are completely disorientated by this effect.

[mistabobalina]

I want to thank RAGING_BONER for their contributions to the preservation and comprehension of the English language

[monster-every-day]

day 125 - 5/4/24 - sandpile

they hate each other so much

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 5/4

What am I feeling today?

I feel rather relaxed today but also guilty. There was a church event I wanted to attend early this morning but my brother and I had gone late to bed and this morning we were both really tired and he didn’t want to make the drive. I wish I was there, spending time with the kingdom but I’ll give myself grace. Either way, I’m looking forward to the rest of my day bc I’ll be heading to the rink twice and teaching ice skating which is always fun! I’m also grateful for how free my time has become now that I’ve finished my semester!

One last thing: I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much. It’s been selfish of me to keep my quiet times to myself when what I’ve been learning can be beneficial to other believers beyond me. I’ll try to be better about posting daily again!

Romans 7 NIV

(v. 4) “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”

As disciples of Christ, we belong to Him now and everything that He commands of us rather than the laws of the world (that’s not to say to be rebellious on earth, rather to keep the Lord’s word as the priority).

(v. 14-17) “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.”

In all honesty, I’m having a very hard understanding all this. I believe what Paul is trying to express is how people were before Christ. How they regarded the law and then the sin they felt bound to since they did not have their freedom in Jesus (as is stated earlier in Romans about being a new creation and no longer bound).

(v. 18-20) “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

Again, I had a hard time understanding this so I went to commentary:

This knowledge of what it means to be out of Christ and under the law of Moses is imparted to us, not from the standpoint of the intellectual pagan, but from the viewpoint of the great Christian apostle who saw much more clearly than any unregenerated man could have seen it, just what an awful state of wretchedness and misery must ever pertain to the man who is unredeemed, who is not "in Christ." Apart from Jesus Christ, there is no way by which even the best intentioned of unregenerates could exist in any other state than the one depicted here. That wretchedness, truly considered, is the perfect description of every man who is out of Christ, whether or not he might be less or more aware of it; and it is also a description of the true state of every Christian who for any reason whatever failed to abide "in Christ." The interpretation which would make this marvelous description of every non-Christian to be a description of the true life in our blessed Lord partakes of the genius of the evil one himself, and it should be rejected out of hand. Think what a terrible description of humanity apart from the Saviour this passage presents. It is a picture of humanity unable to do what is approved and desired to be done, and at the same time a humanity condemned to the "practice" (yes, that is the word) of things which are acknowledged to be undesirable and reprehensible even by the victims themselves. If this is not a good description of our own sinful generation which has turned away from God to walk in their own foolish ways, where is there a better one?

(v. 21-25) “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.”

I think what this is trying to say is that before being in Christ, a lot of us wanted to do the right thing but we were bound by our sinful nature because we still took it upon ourselves instead of submitting fully to Christ. Once we have given our life to Jesus, he delivers us from our binding to sin and we are dead to it (we are forgiven fully of our sins but that’s not to say that we don’t struggle, instead we must daily rely on God for the strength to overcome and resist the temptations of the devil).

[pnsge]

your honor they're both autistic

[charliesinfern0]

“Come on!”

Happy 5/4 :)

[cerulity]

found out about a genre someone's dreams made up called "hit em" that was described as 212 bpm 5/4 crunchy music and i decided to take 15 minutes and put my own distorted hellishness onto it

melody and mixing needs a lot of work but this is a good start methinks

i tried to make it "true" 5/4 and not just 4/4 with an extra beat (there is a difference), kinda like what schwank - $1.78 did where it actually feels like 7/8 and didnt just cut off a half beat every measure (at least thats what it feels like to me)

[stuart2dpot]

You turned my dad on.

[mzyk-tmblr]

The World Renewed (ALBUM)

[joss-music]

here is a little thing i made

[sixbucks]

[rastronomicals]

11:44 AM EDT June 25, 2024:

Gorillaz - "5/4" From the album Gorillaz (March 26, 2001)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under: Virtual Pop

--

[kawaii-overboard]

I just want to talk to you. About everything.

I want to send you pictures of the sunset or show you what I bought at the grocery store. I want to share the random ideas I have at 2pm or 2am. I want to send you the songs I listen to and tell you what I did at work today. Every experience I have whether it’s insignificant or something major, I want to share them with you.

And I don’t even know why..

[greetings-inferiors]

Mars my beloved

[krebstar3000]

Sunny Day Real Estate - 5/4