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Swing songs danceable at several tempo

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:03 am
by djman
Hello

I'm looking for swing songs that could be danced at different tempo.

For example, you play a track and some dancers dance it at 120 BPM (slow song) and others at 240 BPM (fast song) and both dancers would be correct.

I wonder if the tempo of a song is unique or if they can be an uncertainty.

Thanks,

DJ Man

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:18 am
by omsuperhoops
i dont understand your question....if you play a song thats 240bpm, there are dancers that know how to dance it half-time and there are those that rock it at 240...its not something you can control...

Posted: Wed Apr 10, 2013 10:20 am
by omsuperhoops
i dont know any dancer that would dance to a song that is 120bpm as if its 240 bpm...that would look and probably feel weird...

Posted: Thu Apr 11, 2013 3:10 am
by djman
In 2006 there was a contest to find the best algorithm to compute the tempo (BPM).

See http://www.music-ir.org/mirex/wiki/2006 ... Extraction
for more information. A few quotes from this article:

"If you ask a group of listeners (including skilled musicians) to annotate the tempo of music excerpts, they can give you different answers (they tap at different metrical levels) if they are unfamiliar with the piece. For some excerpts the perceived pulse or tempo is less ambiguous and everyone taps at the same metrical level, but for other excerpts the tempo can be quite ambiguous and you get a complete split across listeners."

They distinguish the tempo for the musician (written on the music sheet) and the tempo for the listeners (perceptual tempo). If I understand well the perceptual tempo may ambiguous for some music.

I was wondering if for some swing songs the tempo could be ambiguous. I have already met disco-like songs where listeners were tapping at different tempo (of course by a factor of 2).

DJ Man

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Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 10:58 am
by penguin
Although I agree that there are songs in other genres that have an ambiguous tempo I don't believe that I've ever come across anything in the swing genre - and given the emphasis on the rhythm section I don't believe that it would be likely.

Posted: Sat Apr 13, 2013 2:06 pm
by omsuperhoops
I believe I agree but I have spent the last few days going through possibilities in my head and in my computer. I cant figure one out...If you find one that fits, I would be inclined to know, please pass on the info...

Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:10 pm
by trev
An example I can think of is "Ride Red Ride" by Lucky Millinder. This track can be interpreted as either super fast or nice and cruisey depending on which part of the orchestra you are listening to.

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:10 am
by J-h:n
trev wrote:An example I can think of is "Ride Red Ride" by Lucky Millinder. This track can be interpreted as either super fast or nice and cruisey depending on which part of the orchestra you are listening to.
There is something similar going on in many of the classic flagwavers of the period, such as Lunceford's "White Heat", Casa Loma's "Casa Loma Stomp", Ellington's "Braggin' in Brass" etc. Although they are really super fast, parts are played at half tempo, and probably most people attempting to dance to them would do so at half tempo - that's what Frankie said they used to to at the Savoy when a super fast song came up.

Oh, and check out Mills Blue Rhythm Band's 1935 "Ride Red Ride". By my measure it's a brisk 384 BPM, which would make it the fastest song in my music library.

Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:42 pm
by anton
Another nice example is 'Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet' [1937] by Jimmie Lunceford. The main melody is played/sung at 175 bpm, while the rhythm section is rompin' away at 350 bpm.