Virgil
03-14-2005, 08:47 PM
Clonus has always been a part of the Planet X repertoire when playing live. It has a driving rock feel and is always a crowd pleaser. However, it did go through a few feel changes before I settled on the final groove.
I still remember sitting in my rehearsal space playing an idea which was divided into 2 bars of 5 and 2 bars of 3. At the time I was trying to come up with songs for the Universe record, and thought I could develop this pattern into something interesting. I started playing bass lines on my keyboard, and came up with the riff. I programmed it into my sequencer, and played along with it. I decided it wasn't grooving at all if I kept dividing it that way. That's when I tried a 4/4 groove over it, and it all came together.
The video demo has some different elements to the original recording, but I
have notated all the main ideas used in the piece. The backing track I'm playing to on this video is the original ideas I programmed into the sequencer.
<img src="images/attach/wmv.gif">For a video demonstration, click here. (http://www.virgildonati.com/msgboard/attachments/explanation-clonus.wmv)
Here is the rhythmic idea that inspired this song in it's original form.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-a.gif">
Once I wrote the riff to this rhythm, I didn't feel it had a good groove if I followed the 5-5-3-3 pattern. It became apparent to me that two 5's and two 3's equal 16, therefore I could condense it all into a measure of 4/4.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-b.gif">
When I re-worked it in this form, I started playing a 4/4 groove, and it all fell into place. The feel was so much better. I still followed the pattern with the bass drum, but laying the 4/4 groove over the top gave it the feel it needed.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-c.gif">
On the video demo, towards the end of the intro, I play a variation where the snare plays an upbeat on the second 16th of beat 2. This is where the back beat would be if I were still thinking of it in 5/16. It makes an interesting
pattern.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-d.gif">
Now I take the previous variation one step further. Here the Hi Hat also follows the 5-5-3-3 pattern with the snare playing the downbeat of the second group of 5. This is a variation I sometimes play live. Once you've established the 4/4 groove this has a great feel to it. Unfortunately I didn't play this on the video demo.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-e.gif">
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-f.gif">
The bass riff in the solo section is quite syncopated. If you analyze it closely, you'll find that it is mainly composed of groups of 6 and 5. Here is the single bass version.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-h.gif">
On the original recording I played the following pattern for the whole solo section. Notice the bass drum part has accents to emphasise the phrasing of the bass riff. I find this a difficult phrasing to make feel comfortable, and to give it a swing.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-i.gif">
<img src="images/attach/wmv.gif">For a video demonstration, click here. (http://www.virgildonati.com/msgboard/attachments/explanation-clonus.wmv)
I still remember sitting in my rehearsal space playing an idea which was divided into 2 bars of 5 and 2 bars of 3. At the time I was trying to come up with songs for the Universe record, and thought I could develop this pattern into something interesting. I started playing bass lines on my keyboard, and came up with the riff. I programmed it into my sequencer, and played along with it. I decided it wasn't grooving at all if I kept dividing it that way. That's when I tried a 4/4 groove over it, and it all came together.
The video demo has some different elements to the original recording, but I
have notated all the main ideas used in the piece. The backing track I'm playing to on this video is the original ideas I programmed into the sequencer.
<img src="images/attach/wmv.gif">For a video demonstration, click here. (http://www.virgildonati.com/msgboard/attachments/explanation-clonus.wmv)
Here is the rhythmic idea that inspired this song in it's original form.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-a.gif">
Once I wrote the riff to this rhythm, I didn't feel it had a good groove if I followed the 5-5-3-3 pattern. It became apparent to me that two 5's and two 3's equal 16, therefore I could condense it all into a measure of 4/4.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-b.gif">
When I re-worked it in this form, I started playing a 4/4 groove, and it all fell into place. The feel was so much better. I still followed the pattern with the bass drum, but laying the 4/4 groove over the top gave it the feel it needed.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-c.gif">
On the video demo, towards the end of the intro, I play a variation where the snare plays an upbeat on the second 16th of beat 2. This is where the back beat would be if I were still thinking of it in 5/16. It makes an interesting
pattern.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-d.gif">
Now I take the previous variation one step further. Here the Hi Hat also follows the 5-5-3-3 pattern with the snare playing the downbeat of the second group of 5. This is a variation I sometimes play live. Once you've established the 4/4 groove this has a great feel to it. Unfortunately I didn't play this on the video demo.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-e.gif">
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-f.gif">
The bass riff in the solo section is quite syncopated. If you analyze it closely, you'll find that it is mainly composed of groups of 6 and 5. Here is the single bass version.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-h.gif">
On the original recording I played the following pattern for the whole solo section. Notice the bass drum part has accents to emphasise the phrasing of the bass riff. I find this a difficult phrasing to make feel comfortable, and to give it a swing.
<img src="images/!charts/clonus-i.gif">
<img src="images/attach/wmv.gif">For a video demonstration, click here. (http://www.virgildonati.com/msgboard/attachments/explanation-clonus.wmv)