Yah, that's why I wrote, "Hardly the most obscure time signature out there, but ..."; it'll be unfamiliar (but not quite "wacky") to a lot of people I play with, but it's not really rare in a larger context. (I've seen a strathspey transcribed in 12/8 instead of 4/4, but I don't know how common that is.) This new version of that bass line has notes that cross triplet boundaries -- I need to play it more to figure out whether it's really "12 beat as 4" with something hemiola-like, or a distinct form of 12. GIven that it didn't feel strange while I was playing it, it may well turn out to be basically "four triplets" underneath.
Your description of that verison of "Deck the Halls" (which I want to hear) reminds me of a set we've been doing in The Homespun Ceilidh Band -- the first tune is a jig, the second is a slip jig, and the third is sortakinda 27/8 (two measures of 6/8, a measure of 3/8, two more measures of 6/8, repeat). It's like a jig for someone with a strange number of legs.
I love Deck 7/8 - the bass part is SO much fun to sing - and the last verse (the way my quartet does it anyway) where from the from "Fast Away..." you sing it at a blazingly fast tempo - too much fun!
(no subject)
*my* favorite time signature thingie is "Deck the Halls" in 7/8. It sounds like a waltz for someone with one leg longer than the other.
(no subject)
Your description of that verison of "Deck the Halls" (which I want to hear) reminds me of a set we've been doing in The Homespun Ceilidh Band -- the first tune is a jig, the second is a slip jig, and the third is sortakinda 27/8 (two measures of 6/8, a measure of 3/8, two more measures of 6/8, repeat). It's like a jig for someone with a strange number of legs.
Deck 7/8!!!
~j