hmmm...
my introduction to music was as a W-E-E little kid, and had something like 5 or 7 years of "drum" lessons, we're talking from about 5-ish onwards, every week, non stop. Older now, and able to look back with 20-20 hindsight?
My first several years were all percussion lessons. Snare only. what is it? 52 rudiments? we did them in turns, and did them ALL, exhaustively. Sight reading proper sheet the whole time. I had to learn to sight read every time signature, repeat, coda, you name it...
my one older brother was a drumemr too, hence i picked drums. (he switched to guitars and singing... I lay fallow for 20 years and started too get into learning music theory for composing with a computer). My BROTHER after 5 or so years, complained to my MOM that it was a bit "much" and was a "milk job" extracting as much money as long as possible... and my brother got the switch on the lessons to full set.
The last 2 or 3 years was all full set... once again it was all proper sheet music.
THEN lessons were over "for ever" unless I jammed wth someone and a better drummer would help me out, but... I would say 4/4 covers more than 90% of what the band or people jamming with *wanted* out of me.
In lessons for full set? I *hated* learning 4 to 8 "examples" of each and every variety of music I never HEARD of (naningo, tarantella, Bohemian Folk etc etc etc). Example ONE would be easy, but number four or eight was a complicated beat.
EDITORS NOTE: looking BACK on iit? the 5 years of percussion classical lessons gave me a certain "snap" and "precision" to my playing that other faster/better drummers a lot of them didnt have it. Guys could do cool fills and runs and double bass rolls, but, lots of them couldnt do the intimate, interesting hi-hat beats I was doing. Those lessons made my timing good too.
Looking back on it, these *hated* weird beats were all in bizarre time signatures.
What do I like?: I like when writing music on the computer, NOW, to remember to try various time signatures... both for a piece, and then if something is a little boring, try a different time signature against it (with it)
The WEIRD thing is? I already *knew* about other, interesting time signatures all along... THEN when I finally start to computer compose a little bit? Bang... forgot ALL about them and had to be reminded by one of my elders on another site! LMAO...
I mean, if you dont CATCH yourself going to 4/4 or 16/4 like breathing, you dont notice it
Stuff I have tried, and still do...
1) I like the sound of 4/4 and 5/4 together. I also like 5/4 for a whole piece. Musicians will notice the 5/4 setup instantly... but non musicians usually dont. I think the mind "hears" 4/4 when the song is 4/4 and the drums are in 5/4 (a combo I like the sound oof...), but, the 5/4 drums somehow have cool sound I cant put into words, when it works.
Instead of the usual robotic "small fill" every 4 measures of 4/4 or whatnot... the zippy little snare hits and stuff come at different beats throughout the measures.
A closely related topic is "polyrhythm". as an example, if you for instance write the SNARE as 1...2...3... but write the ride cymbal for instance as 1...2...3...4 then the snare/cymbal polyrhythm if 4:3.
I have played with it when making piano melodies as well.
in my big format classical orch stuff I like to make for exercises... I keep TRYING to have a 3 beat for the flutes come in, over a 4/4 or other time sig, and try to "time" the "orch hits" at key points where the 2 out of time beats "catch" temporarily, but, I havent successfully made it "work" yet...
but... mixing 4/4 with 5/4 or 6/4 for the various orch instruments works well...
I like the "prog rock" they always call it... progressive musicians are supposed to exploit the benefits of being advanced students of music, and some of the "hallmarks" of progressive music are:
using odd and mixed time signatures
using polyrhythms to good effect
most popular music, though... is all 4/4 or "standard" time. If you jam with other musicians, and cover stuff, almost all of it will be in 4/4
true about the 4/4 tho..
