Page 39 - Summer 2007

Fig. 2b. Ten frequency band note events.
Fig. 2c. DIFFDOT plot showing time variations of drum/bass pulse and rhythm guitar.
subdivision representation of tablature.
Since this song must be regarded as one of the most fundamental Swing tunes of all time, we conclude that the triplet subdivision which is clearly shown in Figs. 1d and 1f is an impor- tant feature of Swing style. What is new is the evidence of intentional time vari- ation played in the basic pulse of the rhythm. This feature is examined more closely in subsequent examples. While a triplet subdivision can be reasonably written in MB notation, we are unaware of any similar notational device for indicating the variation of pulse timing.
Graceland (Paul Simon 1986)
Graceland by Paul Simon is a pop
tune that mimics the feeling of riding
on a railroad. A prominent rhythmic
feature is the song’s strong backbeat,
but without any great sense of the clas-
sical Jazz Swing feel. Nonetheless
Graceland elicits a very bouncy bodily
response. Figure 2 shows a spectro-
gram of the full audio sample, while Fig. 2a shows a close-up of the bass and drum parts. To the experienced eye, the back- beat rhythm in the low frequencies is clearer in this sample than it is in the selection It Don’t Mean a Thing.
Figure 2b shows the time series plots of note events for ten frequency bands. The bass drum part marks the pulse in the bottom time series, including both downbeat and back- beat. The secondary note events are
extracted from the high frequencies of
the attack envelope of the electric guitar
strumming. A triplet subdivision in the
CHKDOT plots was used to look for
Swing. Surprisingly, all note events were
represented better by a divide by two
subdivision scheme—hence half of the
electric guitar notes fall between the
triplet subdivision lines. The DIFFDOT
plot, Fig. 2c, revealed the Swing feel for
this song. Both the pulse and the
rhythm guitar show a repetitive pattern
of pushing and pulling the time loca-
tions of their note events. There is a
substantial amount of variance to the
time variations, especially in the begin-
ning of the pulse, which indicates a
short term tempo fluctuation. The
rhythm guitar is much more consistent
in the short/long variations of note tim-
ing, similar to the pulse of It Don’t Mean
a Thing. There is no evidence of any
triplet subdivision in note timing varia-
tions. The variance of time deltas gives
this song a fairly loose feel, but no sense of rhythmic sloppi- ness, due to the consistent repetitive pattern of time varia- tions.
Fever (Ray Charles 2004)
Fever is a classic Rhythm and Blues (R&B) song with a strong backbeat. Ray Charles’ 2004 version is played in a very tight, straight rhythmic style. Despite almost clock-
Fig. 3. Spectrogram for “Fever.”
Fig. 3a. Time series event plot for “Fever.”
Technical Anaylsis of Swing Music 37