Swing drum notation

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bjar
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 27, 2016 10:39 pm
Sibelius Version: 7
Operating System: Mac

Post by bjar » Tue Dec 27, 2016 10:49 pm

When i write swing in the tempo, the play back is swing, great :) But if i notate a ride cymbal pattern like standard jazz time keeping obstinato (ding ding a ding), and ads a second voice in triplets, the triplet in the ridecymbal and the snaredrum triplets does not fall together visually and it looks clumsy and wrong. Any suggestions. And I'm not changing it to 12/8 because it looks more messy.
Thanks
Bjar


vlnplyr
Posts: 10
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:06 pm
Sibelius Version: 8
Operating System: Windows

Post by vlnplyr » Thu Jan 19, 2017 6:54 pm

Thinking that *swing* sound is the same as even triplets is a common misconception.
Yes, three triplets within a 1/4 count in swing feel are played as 3 equal durations, and will line up with other triplets in the measure.

But two swung 1/8 notes are by definition not heard the same as two even 1/8s which have equal duration.
The 1st 1/8 of both swing and straight feels are on the count as usual, but the 2nd swung 8th comes later, somewhere between an even/straight 8th and the last 1/8 of a triplet. *Somewhere* depends on whether the swing feel is tight (closer to the triplet 1/8) or wide (closer to the even 1/8).

Because swing feel varies with its players, one generic/mechanical way to conceive of its feel is to divide the count into 5 equal parts, with the first 3 parts comprising the 1st 1/8 note, and the last 2 parts being the swung 1/8. This places the 2nd swung 1/8 as described above.

Therefore, the correct playback (and thus placement in a measure) should have all swung 1/8s later than the straight/even 1/8s and before the last 1/8 of straight triplet 1/8s.

:D

stevenedis
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2016 10:17 am
Sibelius Version: 6.2
Operating System: Windows

Post by stevenedis » Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:22 pm

@vlnplyr, while you may be right in theory, I think what you are saying is not helpful for bjar's problem ;-)

@bjar, how are you notating ding ding a ding? is it crotchet quaver quaver crotchet or crotchet dotted-quaver semiquaver crotchet? It would be much easier if you notated it with a triplet. But if it's crotchet quaver quaver crotchet you want, you could consider having (as a triplet) quaver/quaver rest/quaver in the second beat, then hiding the rest and the triplet bracket/number. Then it would line up with any triplets elsewhere (you may also need to adjust beaming). It's a bit fiddly, but once you've made one, you can copy and paste.

stevenedis
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2016 10:17 am
Sibelius Version: 6.2
Operating System: Windows

Post by stevenedis » Sun Jan 22, 2017 9:24 pm

BTW crotchet = 1/4, quaver = 1/8

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