what the hell happens musically at 7:55

[MarcDrums]

is it a poly rhythm?
or guitar playing in different signature from the bass and drums? i think its this one.. because you can hear the snare at different points of the measure, but after a certain few it matches up again
or the bass and drums just doing a different beat in the same signature??

its ridiculous either way... sounds amazing

[hereandthere]

OK...got out the calculator and my bass and listened to it a bunch of times...what's happening is the bass riff and drums are in 5...count 5 against it and you will hear it cycle...Maynard and Adam stay in 4 though...the part is actually in 4, but Justin and Danny imply a 5/4 feel...here is the bass riff tabbed out:

G||-----------0--2----------------0--2----------|----||
D||---------------------------------------------|----||
A||--3--0--0--------0----0--3--0--------0----0--|----||
D||---------------------------------------------|----||

It's in triplets against the 4...

Danny hits the snare on beat 2 and on four-and

Maynard and Adam who are in unison are hitting their notes every 4 beats.

Had to really listen to this part a bunch of times just now, its been really bugging me too (in that I couldn't immediately figure out what was going on), but I was just slamming it out on the bass, sounds awesome, really fun to play.

[Blackbird]

I found the bit just before it cool as well, where the bass is playing in 6/4 underneath everything else that's playing in a straight 4/4. Not easy to do.

[undeniable dilemma]

How you guys know the time signature is beyond me. I have been playing guitar for 6 years and I still cannot do that.

[hereandthere]

This whole song is one of my favourites in terms of mixing times that Tool has done. The whole thing seems to be in a pretty straight 4, there are just times when other times are implied, like the part where the bass goes into 6. Even off the top it sounds like the song is in 6 but slowly Danny and then Justin change the feel to 4. Then when they go into 5, Maynard and Adam are still in 4, and Danny and Justin stop before the end of the last bar of 5. You could count 4 to the entire song if you wanted to, but there are parts where they all shift in and out of a 4/4 feel...pretty subtle, pretty awesome, pretty well done, amazingly arranged...this is probably my favourite song they have done.

[beligerentfokker]

This also happens to be one of Adam's favorites as well, as he implied in the June issue of Guitar World magazine. Yes it is polyrhythms. Lyrically, this song is emotionally powerful, and seems to be a sort of follow-up to APCs "Judith".

"You were my witness, my eyes, my evidence,
Judith Marie, her condition won.

Daylight dims leaving cool flourescence.
Difficult to see you in this light.
Please forgive this bold suggestion:
Should you see your maker's face tonight
Look him in the eye
Look him in the eye and tell him
I never lived a lie, never took a life,
But surely saved one"

[undeniable dilemma]

LMAO. "her condition won?" More like "unconditional one."

[praefector]

this is my favorite part on the album

[MarcDrums]

OK...got out the calculator and my bass and listened to it a bunch of times...what's happening is the bass riff and drums are in 5...count 5 against it and you will hear it cycle...Maynard and Adam stay in 4 though...the part is actually in 4, but Justin and Danny imply a 5/4 feel...here is the bass riff tabbed out:

G||-----------0--2----------------0--2----------|----||
D||---------------------------------------------|----||
A||--3--0--0--------0----0--3--0--------0----0--|----||
D||---------------------------------------------|----||

It's in triplets against the 4...

Danny hits the snare on beat 2 and on four-and

Maynard and Adam who are in unison are hitting their notes every 4 beats.

Had to really listen to this part a bunch of times just now, its been really bugging me too (in that I couldn't immediately figure out what was going on), but I was just slamming it out on the bass, sounds awesome, really fun to play.yes exactly.. amazing work i wish i had enough time to figure it out :thumbsup:

[foreverendeavor]

anyone notice how the song changes exactly halfway through?