How King Gizzard use Odd Time Signatures, Polyrhythm & Polymeter

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King Gizzard are well known for their use of odd time signatures, polyrhythms and polymeters so today we are going to take a closer look at how these techniques are put to work in their 2017 album "Polygondwanaland".
I've used Moises app to help analyze this album. Their stem separation tool is great for removing or isolating instruments from songs. With this app, you can also find chords, and change the key or the tempo of a song, amongst other features which make it a great tool for learning or analysing songs.
Interview with Stu MacKenzie: • Songwriters on Process...
The music in this video was used under CC BY-ND license: creativecommons.org/licenses/... kinggizzardandthelizardwizard...
The outro music to this video is my track "Clap" which you can hear in full on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/0wKKJ... 🎶
And, an extra special thanks goes to Peter Keller, Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / davidbennettpiano 🎹
0:00 King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
0:27 Crumbling Castle
1:00 Polygondwanaland
1:51 The Castle In The Air
4:03 Deserted Dunes Welcome Weary Feet
4:30 Polymeter vs. Polyrhythm
6:33 Inner Cell
7:24 How to analyze songs with Moises
8:18 Loyalty
9:27 Horology
9:54 Tetrachromacy
10:57 ...Searching
12:13 The Fourth Colour
14:30 5/4 car alarm
15:54 Patreon

[@conjonpo1896]

How incredible is it that King Gizz released this album into the public domain and also made 4 other albums in 2017.

[@Syncop8rNZ]

It was an interesting time...

[@hman2912]

A lot of music had to come out

[@ster2600]

The album is NOT public domain. It's not even commons. Its licence is something along the lines of "you can make copies freely as long as you don't modify them at all".

[@sharpvidtube]

25 albums in 12 years, some musicians struggle to make 3 in that time. So experimental too, they aren't just repeating themselves.

[@lowly.8776]

Burnout gonna be a hell of a time

[@charleighh.990]

I'm a 70's Rocker and this is YES On STERIODS. LOVE IT!

[@boomshankah1123]

More like Daevid Allen and Gong than Yes.

[@bernhardkrickl3567]

I got some Caravan vibes on some songs, although Caravan don't go as crazy with the rhythms.

[@onurb59]

Gentle Giant also..

[@scifiordie]

Yes doesnt suck, dor the most part

[@IHateNumbersOnNames]

fuck, your typo gave me the idea for a band name... Stereoids.

[@thedudepersonguy9725]

I can tell these guys are slowly becoming one of your favorite bands

[@christopherrice6804]

resistance is futile

[@phil0x2e]

I can tell these guys are ̶s̶l̶o̶w̶l̶y̶ rapidly becoming one of ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ our favorite bands

[@boomerbear7596]

The personal observation I've made with these time signatures is that 7/4 and 7/8 somehow sound more normal and more natural than 5/4 and 5/8; it feels to me as if 7/4 is to 5/4 as 4/4 is to 3/4. What I've noticed in the examples here though is that King Gizzard has a talent for actually making 4/4 sound like an odd meter whenever it appears!

[@zarzaparrilla67]

They also have the talent to make odd time signatures sound like usual time signatures. Every song in Polygondwnanaland is a bad example because they're meant to sound complex, but other songs like the river in 5/4 or the wheel in 7/8 sound really natural.

[@ramunayy]

getting super into king gizzard made me really interested in odd time signatures, and songs like wah wah or the river make 5/4 sound super natural. you count it in your head and it's disjointed but the melodies in those songs make it so natural

[@prince4rslan]

@@zarzaparrilla67 Different time signatures make no difference in what you hear, they exist to organize the written music

[@fossiltortoise]

LETS GO DAVID MADE ANOTHER GIZZ VID WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@GreatJinjonator]

lmao thats a sick pfp

[@fossiltortoise]

@@GreatJinjonator 12-dragonic bruise

[@leonardoroscelli4385]

Incredibly based

[@brunaodavila]

It won't be long until the world recognizes these dudes as the greatest band of this generation

[@srpalme449]

Based

[@herschoolcolors]

The bar is so low it’s basically lying on the ground.

[@wheresmycar9559]

​@@herschoolcolors cope, cry, seethe

[@herschoolcolors]

@@wheresmycar9559 Next time you’re copy/pasting stuff you’ve seen other ppl say on Reddit and Twitter, maybe try using it where it makes even a little bit of sense.

[@TurkeyTumbleton]

@@herschoolcolorsyou’re such a badass bro

[@thomp9054]

I think king gizz is everybodys favorite band, they might just not know it yet

[@meadish]

So many people trapped in algorhithms never get to experience real music.

[@PotatoesAreUs]

Highly highly recommend seeing these guys live, the energy they bring is unmatched.

[@Stanspliff69]

wish i could but i has no legs

[@stewhv94]

I got tickets to see them in August, can’t wait!!

[@--..-...-..-.--....]

For second I thought the song in the credits of this video was a song by King Gizzard that I had never heard before, but it turned out to be by David! Great song and great video!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you 😊

[@ezg5221]

This is immediately the best resource for anyone asking for clarification on Polygondwanaland's concept. I couldn't have asked for this, what an undertaking. I personally thought about Tetrachromacy as mostly a 3 thing with the odd 4th beat hiccup; kinda like Golden Brown, now I think about it. That's mostly an interpretation from the lyrics though. Trying to see the fourth colour. But again, this was ultra illuminating. Well done and thank you!

[@Heathaze813]

KG is one of the best new groups of the last 10 years. They explore many different styles, all their stuff sounds interesting.

[@MoisesAI]

Amazing! Huge thanks for featuring our app in your video.

[@thefareplayer2254]

Crumbling Castle: the greatest song of the 21st Century!

[@freeman10000]

Fair call 👍

[@GreatJinjonator]

Your video on Gizzard's use of the modes on IDPLMAL launched me from an enjoyer to a super fan. Great video and great album

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@Esraug9012]

Literally just started listening to them again the other day and the album that hooked me all over again was this album right here. So intricate and complex and yet so groovy at the same time, Poly and Petro are their undisputed time signature mind melter masterpieces. Awesome video man I love it when I can elevate my appreciation for this band in any way and understand their music just a little more.

[@artonion420]

And BF3K!

[@Esraug9012]

@@artonion420 can’t forget about BF3K with its synth lines carefully placed and goin all over the place. You right!

[@tangerinecarrots4282]

we're gonna get there!

[@prismix0870]

we don't need no whereabouts

[@virtualdream_]

I'd like to see you look into Butterfly 3000's time signatures. Almost all songs are have polymeter. For example, synthesizer in 'Yours' is in 15/8, bass is in 14/8, drums are in 8/8. I've also been transcribing the whole BF3K (it's about 85-90% done). If you need, I can help with some information.

[@TC-lk2ev]

B3K is my favourite gizz album. The polymeters and rhythms in it are nuts. I'm not surprised they can't play 90% of it live haha. It would be a bit of a mindfuck.

[@Stoneador]

I feel like Butterfly 3000 is an album that sounds pretty straightforward on the surface, but has some pretty crazy rhythms working in the background

[@GoogleUser-ms6hr]

I love the origin of Float Along's time signature, it's such a funny and modest story for a band that goes crazy with this kinda stuff now😂 it's also one of my favourite chill gizz songs, it's absolutely beautiful and honestly still very underrated

[@giddycadet]

i think float along is their best song period, with crumbling castle falling close behind. but i consider float along more euphoric than chill

[@spacewolf9585]

One of my all time favorite bands! Their versatility is limitless and I eagerly await the next time I get to see them again live!

[@joelbruning921]

I just love how King Gizzard explore so many aspects of music making. From different genres, to scales, rhythms, sounds, tunings. And still somehow are recognisable. Really refreshing and good to see that a band can be more than a standardised products, but can be what ever it wants to be. I think so many artists are afraid of changing their style to not frighten or irritating their fans. King gizzard is the exact opposite of that. That just gives me hope and confidence that everything is allowed and that there is no right or wrong when it comes to creating something new. Very much appreciate your analysis videos on the band, David. As a not classical trained musician this makes so much observations of mine easier to understand and again sparking new thoughts about music making. Thanks a lot!

[@reversefulfillment9189]

Never really checked these guys out, but I'm down with what they're throwing.

[@Rowanexen]

Genuinely really cool how you worked the sponsor into the video itself! And King Gizzard is a band I've been meaning to get into for a while, this is a great reminder!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks 😊

[@KazoooGod]

More king gizzard WOO

[@paulhicks3595]

After watching this I see that, obviously, music by The Gizz can be extremely complex but when I listen to it I don’t notice or get distracted by the complexity but just sort of drift along and get really lost in the exotic, vaguely middle eastern, mood. It’s a very satisfying listen!

[@jk6251]

want to watch David explain the Mars Volta 🤍

[@MarcoAnteroMusic]

That's a superb job! It's not that trivial to figure out these polyrhythms/polymeters so easily! It takes time (at least for me) Kudos!

[@DEAKY3GAVUEL]

tá aí uma ideia, fazer um vídeo sobre o King Gizzard (com um tema diferente, claro)

[@mariabrandao5559]

​@@DEAKY3GAVUEL com certeza!

[@mcwulf25]

I really need to get into this band. Very proggy.

[@ytgshlung]

polygondwanaland and nonagon infinity are good albums to start with, the silver cord is very good too!

[@MiguelCyc]

If you want some prog-metal go for PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation.

[@MegaFarinato]

@@MiguelCycrolf. you just wanted to put the whole name of the album, but yes, and also "infest the rats nest" but its just 4 words

[@joshandrew1]

Just one more thing with the fourth colour: the riff that is played which descends (12/8 and 2/8 as you described) is played 4 times then moved down and repeated 3 times, then 2 and then once before leading into the "chorus" (I believe, the hyperbole). Can say that it is the 10 bars for the 10th song but I thought it was awesome how they implemented that.

[@johnhennessey5]

Dudeee thank you for this idk if I would have noticed this tbh haha

[@dagonzalez1757]

Such a great album

[@wongjason2450]

I see King Gizz, I press like

[@lema1337]

we're simple fans, cannot resist the gizz

[@Testgeraeusch]

Unoddly enough, searching is still one of my favourite songs. Like, in general. I just love these semi-slow paced simple beats with monotonous voice and some polymetre bass and percussion in the background.

[@giddycadet]

i feel like it almost should have been composed microtonal, with the last note of "try to brighten up my day" (and every other time that note appears) being flattened by half a semitone. that's how i always sing it and it just feels so right

[@cheeseheadfiddle]

Steve Reich+ King Crimson+ King Sunny Ade. So cool. Great breakdown. A lot of work I’m sure.

[@awfulbasscovers6895]

So great to hear about KGLW on your channel! They have so much incredible music to be analyzed. Hope you will cover more albums soon, including their use of motifs, word painting, microtonality and crazy production and publishing ideas

[@agodlike_tazmaniandevil2305]

KING GIZZARD MENTIONED also Mr. Beat would be a really cool song to analyze, as its rhythm is really interesting consisting of a 29/4 groove

[@quilli1222]

Isn't it just 7/4 with every 4th bar being 4th bar being 8/4?

[@axospyeyes281]

ye​@@quilli1222

[@gregg8721]

its in 7+7+7+8/4 if you wanted to have it in one time signature

[@lallomes]

that pattern pops up in Road Train as well

[@MiguelCyc]

Once I'm Mr. Beat, only miss a beat

[@ExtravagantEngie]

YES! Thank you so much for doing this video! I just discovered this band through this album and was hoping to find a good analysis video on the rhythms

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@wozzywick]

Great video. The fact they can be so complicated whilst still sounding good is what really makes it impressive

[@PeterJnicol]

I find the Giz to be one of the most interesting yet most accessible rock bands. Even the microtonal stuff sounds like rock, and its catchy.

[@samuelking879]

Horology is mostly in 7 but there are times when it's alternating 7 and 6 making a 13/4 time signature.

[@atelicmusic]

Love that album so much - been such a big inspiration for my own first record and writing in odd time signatures in general ➗

[@senarodrigo]

Amazing music and amazing analysis. Thanks!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@saulgoodman1390]

Love the Gizz!!! Although, they're slacking off; been an entire six months since their last album!

[@dankboinkripper]

something you missed in loyalty, the 5/8 never truly fades away. the synths fade, but one of the guitars can be heard playing a similar melody in 5/8 underneath everything else in 11/8. it’s easier to hear it on live performances, such as chunky shrapnel

[@chinchilla2971]

Did a deep dive on Gizz a year ago and so glad I did. Listened to all their albums. So much diverse material. Need to see them live.

[@illusionFTW]

they dont disappoint!

[@davidtymon8258]

KGLW just reminded me of hawkwind when i first heard them. Proper space rock! I had no idea about all the odd timings... it just sounds normal to me. Great video. Thank you.

[@xaviermarini7602]

Probably one of my favorite records of all time, thank you so much for this great video

[@tymime]

I'm glad such a weird experimental band like this is getting all this attention.

[@feywild1758]

Yessss another King Gizz video! I saw these guys two years go in Las Vegas and am seeing them again in Detroit this August. Super excited!

[@enkita8234]

They go all in on butterfly 3000 Thats a mess of time signatures and i love it

[@hachiklau]

This is another perfect demonstration of this band's genius. Also, watching this after watching your video about pop music (which is either in 4/4, 12/8 or 6/8) is sooo refreshing. Thank you!

[@atharvachoudhary6974]

This is the best band making music right now. Madlads I tell you

[@BFG-hv2ml]

Alright, downloading the album to play it after.

[@xmillion1704]

I have a fairly vivid memory of attending a drum clinic at a Southern California music store I patronized long ago, featuring Carmen Appice, which was my first eye-opening introduction to odd time signatures in a rock format. I'm not a drummer, but I attended with my bandmate/housemate at the time.

[@lambda1863]

Gizz inspired me to make a 9/8 song it's now one of my most favourite time signatures to use when I want a strange feel

[@pudnik2410]

Is it wrong that I would like an analysis of Flying Microtonal Banana? Great video by the way!

[@squidsbizarreadventure]

I love your King Gizzard retrospective era... This is what got me to subscribe!

[@Jade-dk6th]

My favorite King Gizzard polyrhythm is in the song "Catching Smoke." The meter for the majority of the song is 3 bars of 4/4 followed by a bar of 9/8. The bass during the chorus, however, feels that rhythm in 11 bars of 3/8. The verses also break this rhythm up into bars of 3/8. So the 33 beat phrase is simultaneously broken up into 8-8-8-9 or 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3, while still being an extremely catchy song.

[@lucasdelfino4574]

This analisys Is awesome. Thank you!!

[@mcwulf25]

Good to see 5 bars of 5 beats in each line. I tend to think that most odd time sigs "cheat" by grouping bars into fours. 3/4 timing almost always does this too.

[@frtzkng]

_Fear of Fours_ by Lamb similarly features all kinds of time signatures except 4/4 and 2/4, as the name implies. One of its songs, _Five,_ seems like it's in 5/4 but throws in 11/8 at times. More precisely it mostly has sections of 8 bars, of which six are in 5/8 and two in 6/8; or occasionally seven in 5/8 and one in 7/8.

[@Nachtopus]

It wasn’t until I saw Loyalty live that I realized Joey has to play that 5/8 pattern and sing in 11/8 at the same time😵‍💫

[@Piktor201]

This was the first time I heard about King Gizzard but it will surely not the last time. This is a really great interesting band! Thank you David for presenting this to us. 😎👍

[@Thinginator]

YESSS!!! This is my favorite band and I'm so excited to see this video. I am a bit disappointed you didn't analyze their song Shanghai as it has some really weird polymeters going on, but they have so much interesting music that I really can't complain. This video would be many hours long if you analyzed every interesting thing they ever did. But hey, that means plenty of material for future videos at least.

[@JavierGonzalez-cl6pu]

sound awesome, a discover, thank you

[@doncorleole2356]

Love how rhythmic becomes wifmic for this lad

[@govs213]

Thanks for the heads up on the Reddit David.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊😊

[@Dagrond]

Really nice analysis

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks 😊

[@CodyDrew-rok]

thank you for helping me understand my favourite music better ❤

[@HolySmokesTheSquire]

Something that caught my ear after a few listens to this album, was the track Inner Cell, the snare/cross stick placement doesn't change throughout the song, yet the context of the kick and hats around it does, giving the feel of an entire new groove or tempo

[@madmat01]

Excellent job mate. Well done

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks 😊

[@sauril]

Great video David. The section on Polymeters made me realize what I was missing when trying to figure out what was happening on a lot of the songs on Butterfly 3000, which has a similar effect with a lot of the analog synth loops.

[@AndresinhoRM]

Yess! In every video of yours whenever an odd time signature comes to topic, I always think of an exemple of one of their songs, cause they're my favorite band. What a blessing now there's a full video dedicated to them.

[@AndresinhoRM]

Additionally, Polygondwanaland is (in my opinion) their absolute masterpiece. They are so prolific that I keep hopes they will someday maybe match its brilliance with another album. B3K comes close. Maybe I just enjoy odd time signatures and polyrhythms/polymeter too much, cause that album uses all of that heavily too.

[@campbell5431]

awesoem vid, more king gizz please!!

[@ytgshlung]

amazing video about one of my favourite bands!! it would be cool to see a video about swans or einstürzende neubauten at some point!

[@royalex21]

Really enjoyed this video, David! I've been a KGLW fan for about 5 years now (as my pfp would indicate) so I was excited to see this in my feed! BTW, for a future odd time signature analysis, I suggest checking out "Question!" by System of a Down, which uses 4 different time signatures throughout its 3-minute duration.

[@topherthe11th23]

This video is a veritable Blizzard of information.

[@wgb01001]

Best band on the planet.

[@GizzyDillespee]

Good topic, nice vid

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Glad you liked it 😀

[@RTeez79]

More Gizz please!!!!

[@joaovictor21229]

obrigado por colocar legendas em português, david

[@paulgibby6932]

Thanks! This was a riveting video. Love the complexity and creativity of their music and your presentation.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rabbishekelstein]

GETTING CLOSE TO 1 MILLION DAVID

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Yeah!! I’ve got some livestreams planned for when that comes around!

[@steveknight878]

This sounds very like some of the early Krautrock type of stuff - Magma, Neu!, early Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk.

[@BrunoWiebelt]

outstanding interesting

[@mrhotrhymez]

Please do a TOOL one!

[@ender403]

I have plenty of clues in my Spotify likes. However places like this is where I get insanely good recommendations. Keep up the amazing work

[@davidjohnson1654]

LOL - the car alarm inspiring the 5/4 song. Reminds me, the Bee Gees once said that a bridge they used to drive over made a noise that inspired the rhythm at the beginning of "Jive Talkin'."

[@musicshead]

Thanks for the portuguese subtitles 😍

[@eric6504]

Will (and have) subscribe, like, comment, and share for more king gizz videos, bravo

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊

[@jarrodkluk7514]

Okay gonna be coming back to this video a few times...

[@bellsprout7748]

David, King Gizz are coming to the UK again next month. Will you be going to see them?

[@lallomes]

i'm surprised you missed out the polymeter and hemiola in the start of inner cell! while the drums & bass are doing 5 bars of 5/4, the vocals & guitar are playing in 6/8 - with 8 repeats and an extra 2/8 to fill the gap at the end

[@ButzPunk]

shoutout to my sister for being the one to introduce me to king gizz. dudes are dope as

[@nyctonihilanth]

please do a video on Petro Dragonic!

[@MichelLamblin]

PetroDragonic Apocalypse! Motor Spirit's 5/8 is so cool.

[@elliottspangler7549]

pt 2 please

[@athenaclark2567]

I’ve actually had quite a similar experience to Stu and his car alarm. My washing machine beeps in 7/8, and I’ve tapped my foot and snapped my fingers to the beat many times

[@MusicalRadiation]

5:19 I noticed that cheeky reference to Virtual Riot's polyrythm techno song!

[@FromGroundToMud]

You should listen to Mild High Club, which King Gizz made an album with a few years ago. Very jazzy.

[@zzzaphod8507]

Wow, interesting analysis! At 12:15 could call this a 9 vs 8 polymeter as it looks like the 8th notes are going at the same rate in both meters.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Yeah you can consider the 4/4 as 8/8 so yeah 9 against 8 polymeter is a better way to describe it 😊

[@emmanuelmartinez5290]

Wow

[@felixcontreras4451]

Polygondwanaland es todo lo que amo del progresivo sin todo lo que odio del progresivo. 10/10 y mi disco favorito de King gizzard.