Steve Hillage The glorious om riff time signatures explained

Episode #21 of the "Johan Explains" sereies. I discuss one of the most mesmirizing and spellbinding prog riffs of all time: The glorious om riff by Steve Hillage
I talk about how to understand it. I also show you how to count the time signatures.
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[@timflatus]

I just sing "Iao zai zao mai mao tai tao nao" when I'm playing it. No shade on Joe Blocker whose interpretation of the song is legendary, but it's kind of senseless not to analyse the playing of Pierre Moerlen, who actually co-wrote the tune. You have barely begun to explain the song itself. I'd advise everyone to listen to the original Gong version off "You" (the recent remaster is best). It relates to the lightning struck tower of the tarot - zero the hero hires a master builder to build the invisible temple he has seen in his vision of the planet Gong then his whole world comes crashing down when he realises the illusory nature of his quest. It's the climax of the whole Radio Gnome story. Moerlen's playing was quite extraordinary.

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Thanks, Tim, for contributing with so much interesting context!

[@prettybluefox]

❤

[@isomeme]

Oh WOW!!! Thank you! I have been obsessed with trying to figure out the time signatures of this song for 45 years. I've experimented on my keyboard, asked musician friends, and endlessly listened to the song, all without success. And in one video, you just explained everything. Now i need to find a new quest. 🙂

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Thank you, Catherne, and welcome to the channel!

[@frankzzappa]

i've waited 30 years for this!

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Happy to be of service! Welcome to the channel!

[@livelearnlaugh1674]

I have studied this song too. the drums are in a poly meter shifting from compound to simple metre ? After green steve hillage made an album called for to next, the title is named after zx spectrum code. i have put the om riff into computer basic. the beep command in zx spectrum works with time not measures and you can look at the om riff in this way. there are beat cycles that last for one unit. ( this is the length of the first 6 beats. which I believe fall on the start of the measure but because of the rhythmical displacement feel like a turnaround on an anacrusis. the longer beats are twice the length and occur on every other beat from beat 8 onwards. I I think this part of the riff occurs 9 times. But basically when you put into together it allows the drums to shift between compound and simple metre. say 6/16 and 27/16 which would be 33/16 which could work as 4 bars of 2/4 and one bar of 1/16 or 3 bars of 12/16 and 1/16 beat.

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

That sounds a bit complicated :-) But thank you so much for your input! I'm nerdy enough to get excited over stuff like that. Welcome to the channel!

[@moontan91]

nice playing and tutorial! that "Green" album is something i haven't heard in a long time.

[@Jack-D-Ripper]

I never smoked or took drugs, whilst all of my friends did. This Psychedelic/Prog' rock scene music was so amazing that I didn't need drugs. I saw Steve Hillage and the amazing Joe Blocker live, in the Bradford Civic Hall, back in 1977.

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Must have been great to see Hillage with Blocker live, Jack!

[@octaviussludberry9016]

All of those musicians took drugs. That's why their music is good.

[@Jack-D-Ripper]

@@johansteenslandmusic3699 I have to admit that it was great to see Steve, but Joe Blocker was a sight to behold. He was such a lively and for the time, very different drummer; pretty amazing, all-in-all!

[@seethroughhead505]

A great analysis. Steve himself has said he loves the riff because it's in 4/4 but doesn't feel like it. I doubt Blocker was thinking in terms of time signature - more so that he knew where the riff was and was playing about with it. However, the real time signature fun begins in the middle section of the track (3.12) , where it goes to 7/4, 3/8, 3/8, 3/8 and then gets more complicated! My bass cover is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIXJm6GFrpmnmMU

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Thank you, See-through, for your comment! And nice bass cover!

[@MarkRoss-v4y]

Superb!

[@Arisen_Rhez]

Great cover!

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Glad you liked it!

[@ianedmonds9191]

LSD is not a bad thing. It really opens your perception to other ways to look at stuff. The other drugs are questionable in terms of self improvement but acid really is different. Luv and Peace.

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

I am a strict "Say no to drugs!" guy. But, that's just me.

[@ianedmonds9191]

@@johansteenslandmusic3699 That's fair Each to our own. Luv and peace.

[@octaviussludberry9016]

That's why bands like New Kids on the Block were shit and bands who took drugs were better.

[@stew-i1g]

can you show me the keyboard part thansk been trying to find it for years, what chord/notes are you playing and i assume just modulating it? thank you

[@anthonybowers7571]

You did an amazing job on that ! One Man Gong :) PS. I come from an era where the drummer "accompanied " the music and probably didn't do any of the maths :) any Jazz influenced drummer would have that capability , in theory ..so if it's an odd riff to be followed , they do the necessary ..very creative drumming anyway ..you are a great musician too

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Thanks, Anthony, for the kind words!

[@ChrisRamsbottom]

Great thank you! I saw Steve Hillage not long ago and I was very disappointed that the drums were so low in the mix that I couldn't distinguish between the 4/4 and 6/8 sections on the drums. I've been trying to work these time sigs out for nearly 50 years I guess!

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

It's cool that they are still out on the road.

[@stew-i1g]

i wonder if you could show me the keyboard arpegiated part i have been trying to find it for years.

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

You know what? I have no idea, truthfully! :-) I'm just winging it, trying my best to mimic the original when it comes to feel and atmosphere. That might not help you, though. My point, really, is that I can't teach you the keybpoard part, because it will probably be all wrong. I'm sorry!

[@stew-i1g]

@@johansteenslandmusic3699 ok thank you, in the video what notes are you playing?

[@ramocon]

Joe blocker. Goddam legend and genius

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Yes, he was something else!

[@64blip]

Props for Joe Blocker. Outlandish drummer. Replaced by Clive Bunker for live. I mean how good can it get?

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

I agree! Blocker was just phenomenal!

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

The quintuplets are not perfect, but I wanted the intro fill to be un-edited. What track should I do next? Check out my own prog music here: kzbin.info/aero/PL_U3NccJSuComtLr-cf6lw6-tKvtBk7KC

[@RickTransit]

Hillage's Dervish riff, please! I can play it with no problem (there's something intuitive about it) but I can't figure out the time signature. All I know is that there's an odd number of beats in it, because Pierre Moerlen plays dead straight through two rounds in the last section on Fish Rising but the on and off beats are different each time!

[@isomeme]

Perhaps "Nevermore" by UK?

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Ha ha "quintoles" is Swenglish! It's "quintuplets".

[@maxcuthbert100]

Hurdy Gurdy glissando.

[@octaviussludberry9016]

You know Hillage took drugs don't you? You inow Gong tookndrugs don't you? You know lots of musicians take drugs don't you?

[@pietrohasenmajer2248]

The explanation seems more confusing than the music itself. 4/4 = 32/32. But the division in in triplets: (3 + 3 + 3 + 3) + (3 + 3 + 3 + 3) + (3 + 3 + 2) = 12 + 12 + 8 = 32

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Thanks for your comment! Your subdivision is mathematically correct. However, it does not reflect what they (or Blocker) is playing. There is that displacement of the One to take into account. And that makes it a bit more complicated.

[@mickstanger164]

nice...if you're looking for another Hillage track, can I make a request for the Dervish Riff - that's one tune I've never been able to suss out.

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Thanks, Mick! I am currently down with Covid, but I will definitely look into that one. Cheers!

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Oh, Mick, that WAS a bit of a challenge :-) But I could not help myself, so I have started working on it. Thanks for this suggestion!

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Here you go, Mick: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHfHZ2qJmZV-fJY Hope you like it!

[@livelearnlaugh1674]

dervish riff. 3/4 bars of 4/4 broken into 12/16 2/8 3/4 5/8 5/8 if we consider 8. to be a dotted quaver 8 to be an undotted quaver 16r to be a 16 beat rest we can write it like this Metre=12/16 | 8. 8. 8. 8 16 | metre= 2/8 | 8 8 | meter = 3/4 | r16 8 16 8 8 16 8.|| metre 5/8 | r16 8 16 16 16 8 | 8. 8 16 8 8 | Just say no, is propaganda on the war on drugs. It was also targeting steve hillage in free festival culture. and later in rave culture. Of course all drugs and good and bad sides to them. But just say no is very outdated and damaging to society as it encourages prohibition and makes harm reduction more difficult to integrate into society.

[@kjbunnyboiler]

What’s the intro music?

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Thanks for asking! My channel intro music is actually a rough mix of part of the intro to my concept album Crossfade. You can learn more about Crossfade here: johansteenslandmusic.com/prog-story-video-series and keep an eye out for the first music video release on October 1, 2023.

[@Davesax1965]

Sadly ? 🙂

[@petegaslondon]

Nice work dude - I just had to sign up And become Subscriber No 666 ! Gulp

[@johansteenslandmusic3699]

Welcome to the channel, Pete! Well, someone had to take that omnious number 666 :-)