Explaining Meshuggah using KONNAKOL (Stengah)

[@frankov_83]

Very similar to the Mexican Tuesday Method: Taquito Taquito Taco Dame Taquito Taquito Taco Dame Taquito Taco Tequila Dame

[@YogevGabay]

hhahaahaah

[@ChristopherT1]

Awesome!

[@Jazzguitar00]

My ex-girlfriend made almost the exact same joke when I was working through this stuff a couple years ago. 🤣🤣🤣

[@SlyHikari03]

Nice mnemonics

[@zombizombi]

Also similar to the TaKaDiMi system.

[@JimmySixPickles]

I love how his guitar drawing appropriately has 8 strings

[@filipberntsson6634]

Once upon a time it didnt! Check his breakdown of Clockworks. Good stuff.

[@dgbjackgibson]

I CANNOT tell you how satisfying it is to listen to Rohith recite those konnakol syllables perfectly in time with Meshuggah's polyrhythms! 😍

[@YogevGabay]

AGREEDDD

[@AidanMmusic96]

Yes to Konnakol! It's revolutionised how I get through all Meshuggah, particularly thanks to Mattias Eklundh. Thanks so much Yogev!

[@V3xxe]

I was about to mention Matthias IA Eklundh! I love his konnakol videos and how he uses it for weird proggy shit

[@Max_Payn3]

This was a great discovery now I can communicate rhythms to a drummer without sounding like a total idiot

[@frankfertier34]

Henrik Andersen did a great job previous to Eklundh, and in Great Britain the Israeli drummer Asaf Sirkis has some great stuff on KZbin

[@SlyHikari03]

Matthias is awesome.

[@jonathanjeffers8340]

Dude this is some of the best musical analysis I’ve ever seen!

[@JeremiahFernandez]

konnakol is actually how I started to understand odd time signatures in general

[@straazz]

yeeeeeh. Stengah was the first Meshuggah song I was exposed to, which was when I was 18 years old. My younger brother had just started high school specializing in music, and came back home to visit after his first week. He gave me a CD (remember those things?) with some new and interesting metal music one of his new class mates had made for him. I took a listen, and the first track was Stengah. At this point I was a fairly accomplished flutist, so I already knew my way around notation, scales, harmony and some rhythmic concepts (mostly derived from the pieces I'd played or from bands ranging from Pantera to Dream Theater). Stengah was the heaviest song I'd ever heard. And it made absolutely no sense to me. I simply could not understand it! And so I was hooked, digesting the entire Meshuggah catalog with a thirst of grasping first and foremost the rhythmic concepts much like you've laid them out in every Meshuggah song to date (nice job, btw), but also the harmony (phrygian and diminished scales). And it made me pick up the guitar. At some point though, it became pretty much internalised, and I stopped thinking about subdivisions and ostinato lengths. I started feeling the pulse, or the half pulse (meaning the one and three) to a greater degree, and started seeing what I felt were incredibly complex concepts as just interesting spices, creating depth to each song. I hear Meshuggah is in the studio now. And that Fredrik is back. Times are getting better! And kudos to Mr. Rohith for whipping out the 32nd note konnakol! *Badhiya, mere dost!*

[@spike05]

Hopefully a new album at the end of this year with Frederik back

[@Egoblivion]

_Immutable_ out April 1st MFers!!! It's gonna...wait for it....melt your face!

[@surveil3548]

@@spike05 Two days from now IMMUTABLE drops!!!

[@spynae]

"An Indian musician and a metalhead walk into a bar." It's the other two pieces of the Art Metal trio, Jonas Hellborg was already there.

[@spynae]

This is such a niche joke, I don't expect anybody to appreciate shit like this.

[@JeremiahFernandez]

fuck yes, Aram of the Two Rivers was the shit

[@nissenilsson9158]

Instantly thought of IA

[@AidanMmusic96]

Art Metal's self-titled albums is one of my favourites.

[@Egoblivion]

Hey, _Abstract Logic_ is amazing! I'll have to check out this "Art Metal trio."

[@RexIsOnline]

I love how literally any video you watch from Yogev just upgrades you

[@Enthalpiste]

Drummers are very likely to love konnakol anyway because it is very close to the way they already sing their drum part (but often way cooler, because drummers can´t really sing). "- So how is your fill fitting in the end? - Well you know, drutututu toum Pschhh papa pouta papa pouta dum pschhhhh and it ends on the up beat."

[@YogevGabay]

drutututu toum Pschhh papa pouta papa pouta dum pschhhhh is one of my favorites

[@Epyxoid]

So there wasn't a poll this time, because you already wanted to present Stengah to us? That's the BEST freaking song what could be chosen here EVER!!! FINALLY!!!! 😭 And that was an excellent follow through! Wish I'd understand all of it! Utterly wonderful that was!

[@YogevGabay]

Yeah for this month I had a certain agenda I wanted to go over, and I knew Stengah is one of them !

[@Egoblivion]

@@YogevGabay And we're glad you did! StengAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhHh!!!!!!!

[@thehorsehunter]

i would love to listen to the entire album with konnakol vocals on top of it. it sounds awesome and really adds so much to the groove of meshuggah

[@MarshTheDarsh]

Imagine Jens doing it 😂😫

[@Egoblivion]

Danny Carey should play percussion on some songs...doing mostly tabla, conga, djembe, and his mandala e-drum stuff...!

[@dr.weeniehutjr]

Today I learned that I subconsciously count my rhythmic subdivisions in a traditional Indian manner, except for the specific Konnakol syllables. That makes so much sense. Your channel is such a dense informational resource, I’m obsessed

[@YogevGabay]

Haaaaaaaa great !

[@sepiarain]

This is absolutely fascinating and very incredible. Yogev, I know you went to Berkeley, but I hope you have managed to complete a PhD. Your knowledge and theory and multiple approaches to dissecting and presenting complex and unique music is utterly astounding...

[@YogevGabay]

Well I did go to Berklee yes, and actually applied for Masters (don't ask why it didn't work out hahaha) but I may go back again at some point! Not necessarily Berklee, but school.

[@sepiarain]

@@YogevGabay I sort of feel that there should be a space for a thesis in re: representing music from different musical traditions using different scoring techniques, and exploring what it teaches or unlocks. I could imagine some really interesting data being inviting a varied subsection of people to produce graphic scores to music with complex or quite alien feeling conventions, and look at what themes might derive from the subjective interpretations? Like how you choose to use a 'calculator' graphic sometimes, due to the arithmetic required to break down a Meshuggah riff. And sometimes once your coloured counters and cardboard cut out instruments are all in position, it is an eye catching arrangement in itself within the frame of your video, lending somewhat from cut-up and collage, as well as minimalism... One thing I notice right away is that your fun/educational and digestible presentation of hard to unlock musical ideas makes for very compulsive viewing... very easy to completely drop what I'm doing and be immersed in your content. Anyway, thank you for your reply. I am a guitarist, but was in a bad traffic collision 5 weeks ago and I'm currently unable to play any instruments due to extensive musculoskeletal trauma. Your content has helped keep my ear in and kept me somewhat sane. X

[@YogevGabay]

@@sepiarain Oh man first and for most, feel better! It's so hard to not be able to play for a long while so hang in there! Second, yeah that topic is something that interests me quite a lot obviously. Also an extension to what you've said is the notion of how being locked in 1 musical system actually shapes the music we produce way more than we think. Stuff like the overwhelming songs in 120 bpm just because it's the default tempo in a DAW and things like that.

[@sepiarain]

@@YogevGabay Thanks yogev! Very interesting looking at the historical reasons why certain conventions exist and persist... I've never heard stories around the west's fixation with 120BPM. It would be interesting if it had a historically significant disruptive factor, like how scientific/verde tuning was changed because of the resonant frequencies in grand auditoriums and concert venues built in Germany in the 1930's - so everything got pitched slightly higher to accommodate for the new standard.

[@optimus]

Taquito tacquito taco 🌮😋

[@DarthCalculus]

This is Earth at its best

[@Nexushuggah]

Meshuggah has been my all time favorite band since June 1995! Glad to see people finally getting it about them. For so many years I tried to show people them and they said they were just noise.

[@blairmillward8408]

I never quite understood stengah and thought I was hearing an "optical illusion" of sorts, the whole way through, and then when the solo came in the riff "made sense".... Now you've taught me the riff actually changes and "fits" and that's why I hear it as making sense!! The solo wasn't just adding the layer that my brain thought was missing. Awesome!

[@YogevGabay]

I was also surprised I won't lie hahah

[@sirtorchington]

dude I’ve been comparing Konnakol to Meshuggah all week this is wild that u just did this lmao. fucking love these vids dude

[@YogevGabay]

hahahahah rock n roll !

[@thomaskeyser294]

I'm so happy he's bringing Konnakol on the channel... I've been fascinated in it for a while!

[@fr33433]

OH YES, I love this video, please more konnakol in the channel!!!

[@twhndrd2008]

Your content is 5-million-subscriber-quality!

[@frankfertier34]

the ratio "thumbs up/number of views" is around one out of ten: that only is über excellent.

[@Morrellphoto]

Could be the greatest deconstruction video - or just any video - ever. Bravo.

[@faselblaDer3te]

I love how this analysis feels like a fever dream

[@Megaghost_]

The first time I listened to konnakol my jaw dropped. Such an amazing music!

[@raphaellaliberte8991]

Great video as usual, I think it's kinda cool that your series anniversary is also the 30th anniversary of Meshuggah's first album

[@YogevGabay]

Good call!

[@Nexushuggah]

And Meshuggah is my all time favorite band since 1995.

[@drumer789]

This is my favorite episode so far! I've been so interested in Indian music and tablas. What a fantastic bridge you've made! I feel like I've just learned a lot a not only a drummer, but as a world music novice. Thank you!

[@YogevGabay]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@dandman2798]

Oh nice! This is the konnakol guy from the berklee college of music song they made with Tigran Hamasyan!

[@cattypat6]

holy shit tigran hamasyan mention!!! i had no idea these 2 worlds in my music taste would collide!!

[@davidmace4353]

We dont deserve videos this well made.

[@taranloses]

Stengah is my favorite song. LETS GOOO

[@zacknemtsev5104]

Stengah was the first song I truly got an idea of what this band is and from that moment on I fell in love with Meshuggah still one of my favorite songs by them

[@joshmccary]

One of the coolest, best channels on KZbin. Your vids are outstanding and are a great teaching tool. Love the way the information is presented. Keep 'em coming.

[@YogevGabay]

Glad you like them!

[@garrettcopeland8136]

Epic! and thank you for the KONNAKOL education, fascinating!

[@RickrajOfficial]

Hell yeah man!!! Loved it. One of my favourite songs ever, explained with the help of one of my favourite taal systems ever. Thank you for this!

[@jsabbott0]

This is unreal. What an amazing service this is to all of us. I should have expected that demystifying this song would make me like it more but for some reason I forgot. Thanks for unlocking and sharing this!

[@CTyler84]

Only seen that demonstrated once before in "Life of Pi". And this is what I figured it would work like. Interesting.

[@arbitrarymadness]

I’ve been dreaming of this day. Thanks to you both!!!

[@OUTLAW767]

Honestly, you guys should be so proud that people come away from your videos thinking “I’ve learnt something today”, because I did for sure, and I do every time I finish a video. Very talented lads you are! Also hooray I share my birthday with the channel! I’m a day late but happy birthday! :-D

[@YogevGabay]

Ohhhhhhh well happy birthday !! And man, I'm so happy you learned something from this video that's exactly the goal !!

[@MegaDeox]

The drum part in riff 4 is one of the best drum riffs in Meshuggah's history, IMO.

[@mammontustado9680]

When the ad that plays before a Yogev Gabay video is also Yogev Gabay. It's a pretty jamming tune too. I don't think I've ever watched an ad til the end before. Love your work, Yogev. Fist bump from the Philippines!

[@CriticalofOnions]

Just realized Rohith worked on a Tigran Hamasyan song doing a konnakol solo!

[@dancarlson4944]

That song is absolutely incredible, deserves to be on this channel some time.

[@jonatandjurachkovitch460]

Oh that's him!? Wow. The song's called "Drip" btw.

[@YogevGabay]

YESSSS HE KILLS IT THERE

[@qgloafhun]

Yogev was there too, drumming :D

[@kevinbraidot]

well basically I guess even Trilok Gurtu enjoys Meshuggah, this is EPIC

[@loganamaral]

What a team!! Incredible video and breakdown.

[@sagittila]

Congrats on the Channelversary!

[@ratamacue0320]

What a fantastic team up!

[@leonelrojas1516]

Hahaha that joke at the intro. Amazing video, DREAT STUFF!!! Konnakol is way too hard. I have to search more info about it

[@UncleRJ]

This video makes me remember that you are the drummer for the Konnakol Nostrum cover!

[@michaelhanford8139]

You two work so well together❤️👍 Thanks for the lesson in south Indian percussion too😍

[@YogevGabay]

Love this guy !

[@Tantacrul]

This is ridiculously cool

[@YogevGabay]

I tend to agree. As you might have noticed.

[@gredangeo]

I like the visuals of the circles better, and seeing "1,2,3," being counted out. I find that personally better to follow.

[@dan.j.boydzkreationz]

It really inspires me to see and hear exactly what I've been struggling to fathom for like a decade

[@mistamop]

@0:21 “ladies and djents” 😎

[@thornlessgnu412]

Another week, another great video! Thanks for the lesson in konnakol as well, I've learned the basics of Indian rhythmic solfege, but this has given me more understanding of it! Btw, Stengah did an amazing job with the konnakol solo in Tigran Hamasyan's Drip!

[@breadstuff]

best thing about your channel is that you dont share your music knowledge alone, you share it with friends, and by that introduce us to other exellent musicians. thanks Yogev!

[@YogevGabay]

Dude, I have smart friends, no reason to not have them on hahahahaha Happy you like it !

[@HandsomePuggg]

I've been hoping you'd cover Stengah! Amazing how I've been listening to this song for nearly 20 years and your video has helped me hear it in a new light and understand parts of it that have always baffled me. Thank you for the introduction to konnakol too, this was a brilliant way to explain what's going on, I will be practicing my thakita thakita thaka dimi's today!

[@YogevGabay]

YYEESSSS KONNAKOL IS GOLLDDDD

[@mishterpreshident]

00:19 "Hello boys and girls, ladies and djents" Also, playing a shuggah-beat and casually fixing the arrangements of the cardboard pieces while doing so. Superflex. You should do a collab with Mattias Eklundh. He's big into this stuff, and an excellent teacher. And Swedish :)

[@YogevGabay]

Yeeesss I need to get to him some how! I'll definitely try !

[@LeatherCladVegan]

Man, this has been my favourite riff since I discovered Meshuggah about 3 weeks ago. It really threw me. Then I watched this video, and it's like a door opening, and it now makes perfect sense, and I can jump in on the beat at any point in the intro. I love it. Best riff ever. Thank you so much, Yogev. It is an awesome thing you are doing.

[@YogevGabay]

You're welcome my man !

[@VanWhyDesigns]

Best video yet. Great job. My favorite Meshuggah and my first time learning about konnakol

[@YogevGabay]

Thank you very much!

[@studiostelemaque9171]

What I like the best on the intro riff, is the way the crash cymbal is driving the pattern in a straight 4/4 pulse...whatever everybody else is playing :-).

[@salamanteri_]

The post-solo riff is one of the grooviest riffs ever made, I wish they made it a full song instead of a small breakdown part.

[@demisangmusic]

lyrics: thakita thaka dimi thakita thakita thakita dimi thakita thakita thaka dimi x3 thakita thakita thaka dimi thaka jonu thakita thakita thaka dimi thakita thakita thaka dimi thakita thakita thaka dimi thaka jonu x2 thakita thakita thakita thakita thaka dimi x2 thakita thakita thaka dimi thakita thaka dimi x16 thakita thaka thakita thakita thaka dimi x17 thakita thaka thaka dimi

[@coolguy132435]

keep the great content coming. I've loved these Meshuggah vids

[@firstname_lastname3507]

You should do a time consuming video on a vildjharta song!!!! That would be so cool

[@YogevGabay]

Which onneeee

[@firstname_lastname3507]

@@YogevGabay dagger maybe? 😂😂 up to yiu

[@riddarhyttan]

First got into this by way of Jonas Hellborg, Shawn Lane and their work with the Vinayakram family and Selva. Wish I had another lifetime to pursue it but even on my superficial level it's hugely useful and inspiring. Great vid!

[@underscoreisnotvalid]

Thank you for doing my favourite song from my favourite Meshuggah album. Although, I'd like to give an honourable mention to rational gaze, perpetual black second, organic shadows, closed eye visuals, glints collide and straws pulled at random. ALL BANGERS. This album is the grooviest thing ever created by the way. The funky high pitched snare, the grimy guitars, the hot sweaty tone and crusty production all contribute to make this album a masterpiece of chunky grooves from beginning to (almost the) end. P.S I wish I could count like that. It would make this kind of music way easier to understand.

[@superking208]

There's something kind of relieving in knowing that, many thousands of miles away, far smarter folks than myself also obsess over every little detail of rhythmic complexities like these.

[@YogevGabay]

I'm sure I'm not MAY thousands of miles away hahaha but FOR SURE !

[@superking208]

@@YogevGabay Oh, I meant India because of konnakol. Now that I think about it, I guess I assumed you stayed in the states after Berklee. Thanks btw for all these extraordinary videos, it's been so fun and mind-blowing all along the way!

[@A..lie..sha3]

Stengah Is one my favorites for sure.

[@vitalygorbal2133]

You guys are amazing!)

[@Chris.4345]

Amazing content!

[@limeatchangex9526]

This is the single most educational channel on youtube. Cheers, mate!

[@YogevGabay]

Thanks man !!

[@Egoblivion]

You guys went above and beyond the call of duty with this one. I'm subscribing even harder now!

[@YogevGabay]

hahahahah

[@timberfinn]

So sick! You guys are great, learned so many little things I never understood about the song but just “knew” by feel lol. Dun dun...dun dun dun...braaaow...dun dun

[@mglickman13]

Thank you Yogev! I'm studying Konnakol to prepare my self for Freak Guitar Camp (2023) this August. I fortunately heard about you while watching IA (A.K.A Mattias Eklund). But YOU my friend are at this time, the only youtuber discussing Konnakol not boring the fuck out of me! And thank you to vocalist Rohith Jayaraman (I know I butchered it😮‍💨...I'm from NJ)) for making this exercise so learnable and fun (really)! Although I must admit I swore at Rohith several times as I attempted basic counting (NJ?) along w/ him. But press on I shall! Thanks again Yogev for all the content. /MG

[@YogevGabay]

Oh man you're VERY welcome ! And well, I will ask you to practice the stuff as well as you can because I'm gonna be testing you at the Freak Guitar Camp this year ! See you there !

[@mglickman13]

Ahhh ...now I have to actually learn this...

[@josephparry]

This is undeniably incredible! Great job!

[@pkdo1000]

My favorite Meshuggah song! Thanks man!!! 🤘🏽🇲🇽

[@hatejethro1164]

I usually count like these: D-d-djent, d-d-djent , brr-brr, beanie Bambukah, bambukah, banana, banana I pick up a pancake, pick up a pancake Pick up a pancake, I pick up a pancake...

[@Koropokel]

YESSS you are doing gods work my man.

[@Haraamcore13]

Absolutely incredible! Probably one of the best videos uv done so far.

[@YogevGabay]

Glad you think so!

[@Danalmagrodrumsnbass]

8:49 Bruh, thanks so much for covering that part ❤

[@andidecke5984]

This channel is so unsanely underrated

[@Goodstuff12345666789]

Nailed it, as usual!

[@AndresCastroGuitar]

Thank you for the great content, @Yogev

[@secoif]

You two need to do more of these, this is amazing

[@blaeser13]

This was splendid Yogev. You deserve every ounce of success you've had in the past year-here's to consuming much more of everyone's time in the years to come! Also, do you have any plans to do more videos on hip hop tracks with complex rhythms? Your clipping. video is still one of my favorites....

[@YogevGabay]

Thanks ! And yes for sure, but I need tofind some examples. Have any? I know Story 7 has some cool stuff in it I need to give to a listen. I love dealing with non metal stuff !

[@alexs5723]

Thank you both so much. Konnakol is as fascinating as it is practical. I cant believe theres a counting tool from India that can help decipher Meshuggah rhythms. Plus the finger counting method is brilliant. 16bars on one hand, pffffffft get out of here that's too perfect.

[@YogevGabay]

hahaha man, I use it literally ALL the time.

[@LoDzyo]

It'd be super cool if you could analyze tosin's double thump solo in the woven web

[@TheProgSchool]

Great video, as always! It’s cool to see the Konnakol alongside the more ‘western’ approach to counting. I appreciate the added comedy as well, especially since I suck at adding any comedy to my own videos!

[@YogevGabay]

Man thanks and yeah its way harder than I thought hahahha

[@AndMySax]

Hearing kannakol over metal songs makes them groove even harder… Anybody got album recs?

[@8SweetPotatoLattes]

Just discovered your channel and having a blast with these Meshuggah breakdowns! Very well put together videos and explanations. Thank you, much love.

[@YogevGabay]

Ohhh thanks !! I'm happy you like them !

[@goatofdeparture]

I stumbled here and I’m staying

[@comb_band]

Absolutely brain melting!

[@shynepo6]

This video is so incredibly creative and informative. Thank you much for making this. It would be amazing if you could do a similar breakdown of “The self” by Richard Spaven… I know it’s not metal but it’s a rhytmic head-scratcher. Thanks for what you do and please keep sharing your giftnn

[@YogevGabay]

Yo ! I'm super happy you like the video! And I'm even more happy you like Richard Spaven. Because I do to: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omXHZYx-itWgedk

[@wintermute9000]

My First Meshuggah song and still a favourite

[@adryxele9080]

Going to see Meshuggah at a festival later this week, thank you for providing the ability to headbang on beat sir.

[@joelverdon1248]

Pfff... Konnakol is so powerful! I'm speechless!

[@YogevGabay]

Konakkol is simply the best. HIGHLY recommended !

[@scosstard3542]

Awesome! I watched the video with a big smile on my face, amazed by how we can use forms of music theorization others than the western music theory to explain songs. I got confused for the last riff though, but i will re-watch to understand. It was really amazing! And it made me realize that the scat part in the Drip video made by Rohit is actually Konnakol and that he (might) sing one of the riff of the song in Konnakol. You both have nothing but my full respect and admiration!

[@YogevGabay]

Oh thanks man !! And yeah, Rohith totally killed it.

[@rawysmawy]

I love this breakdown. This is incredibly fascinating. Thank you for the work you do. Subscribed!

[@YogevGabay]

Awesome, thank you!

[@nickmasters8474]

Your channel is brilliant - a real gift to everyone who comes across it. Thanks a ton!

[@YogevGabay]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@jggrskate94]

Could you explain what's the logic behind the original version and remastered version of Stengah starting differently? which one starts on ''beat 1''? Also I saw a live show from 2008 at Russia and Fredrik started playing Stengah like the old version and i was like huh? (as a side note, on that show they play bleed only until before the solo like in the video version, and they have some mistakes going off tempo which gives me hopes that they are still human lol)

[@deepseaape]

Love this channel. So cool to see complex music broken down for idiots like me who have no idea how the theory side of music works but always liked it anyway. Would love to see you break down a Car Bomb song in future! Anything off Meta or Mordial pretty pls :) xxxxxxxxxx