Unpopular Meters: Irregular Grooves and Drumbeats in the Songs of Tori Amos, Radiohead, and Tool

This dissertation investigates the drumbeat’s role in articulating irregular metric structures in rock music from the past three decades. Having analyzed a corpus of 240 songs, I theorize several distinct categories of metric irregularity; establish drumbeat conventions in the most common irregular grooves; explore connections between drumbeat, meter, hypermeter, and form; and present numerous examples of unique or idiosyncratic drumming practices. While explaining metric trends broadly within a historically situated genre, my research also highlights the metric idiolects of Tori Amos, Radiohead, and Tool. The dissertation comprises three parts. Part I establishes my theoretical position and methodological framework. In Chapter 1, I stress the importance of the snare drum in the mapping of unfamiliar metric terrain: through constant exposure to the backbeat as the standard drumbeat of 4/4 meter, popular music listeners have come to equate snare-drum articulations with a specific metric implication, which informs our interpretation of metrically irregular structures. Chapter 2 establishes a historical and generic context for discussing metric irregularity in recent rock and delineates the boundaries of the corpus. Part II consists of an annotated catalogue of every repeating metrically irregular drumbeat in the corpus. Cyclic patterns are the essence of metric hierarchy; thus, these grooves are essential to understanding the relationship between irregular meter and drumbeat. Chapter 3 reviews metrically regular drumbeat patterns other than the backbeat, including the tresillo and various triple and compound meters. Chapter 4 focuses on the two most common irregular meters—quintuple and septuple—each of which bears a distinct relationship to regular metric archetypes and, therefore, reveals a characteristic approach to irregularity. Chapter 5 concerns more complex patterns that arise in larger repeating cycles. Part III looks at non-repeating irregularities. I theorize three distinct types and discuss idiomatic uses in the music of my core artists in Chapter 6. The simplest isolated irregularities concern a single measure, but some structures affect a whole formal section. Chapter 7 shifts to the analysis of full songs, demonstrating the utility of my theoretical innovations.

Department dc:contributor.department

Music

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Hanenberg, Scott

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• McClelland, Ryan

• Drum
• Irregular meter
• Popular music
• Rhythm and meter
• Rock music

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1807/91968

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/91968