Half Time / Double Time

I previously explained the concept of “duality in tempo”.

Duality in trap beats

Duality in country beats

Duality in reggae beats

This is a result of the fact that the core principle in rhythm theory, “beats”, depend on our bodily cognitive perception. The count of a drumming can be interpreted in multiple ways. Taking the opposite view, it means that several drumming tempi can be applied to a single count. That’s the topic for this session.

1. Play Half-Time

So here is the simple count in BPM=120.

However, when asked to play the drums to this count, how one plays beats can vary from person to person. Some may play the standard 8th note beat.

The most fundamental beat in pop music is to hit the snare on the 2nd and 4th beats. However, there may be people who play differently.
People with a more relaxed feeling may intentionally play a gentler rhythm like this.

The snare drum is hit on the 3rd beat. Because of that, it feels as if the tempo has been halved. In fact, in a world where hitting the snare on the 2nd and 4th beats is overwhelmingly standard, this is essentially a halved tempo. This, in turn, changes how the beat should be counted.

If you were to analyze the rhythm according to the benchmark that “hitting the snare on the 2nd/4th beats is the basis”, then the beat should be perceived like this. The sample, which was “4 bars at BPM=120” until just now, has changed to “2 bars at BPM=60”.

In this way, playing at half the tempo compared to the rhythm usually expected for a given count is called “playing Half-Time“. And the criteria for determining whether the tempo is considered halved are generally based on the frequency of kick and snare hits.

If you play half-time in the middle of a song, it can bring a drastic change in the flow of time, as a matter of course. As the tempo count itself remains unchanged (though effectively halved), listeners accept the rhythm change without any confusion.

Examples

A representative song of the Japanese power pop band ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION. It’s a high-speed track, but around 1:58 in the interlude, the rhythm pattern becomes irregular, and at 2:19, along with the small shout of “Ha!” it transitions into a complete half-time. After that, from 2:41 it naturally returns to the original tempo with four-on-the-floor, and leads into an uplifting chorus. This is a common technique in intense songs to use half-time to construct a part with a greast contrast and keep the excitement going until the end.

EDM and Half Time

Especially in recent EDM, half-time is commonly used as an essential development technique.

Starting from 0:15, the main “drop” part begins. Here the tempo is moderate (around BPM=128). After various twists and turns, it returns to the second drop at 1:45, but then, an unexpected event happens—The tempo is halved! Such a technique is highly effective in progressing a song, keeping the listeners engaged. In EDM, there’s a charm in both fast and slow moments, so showcasing both patterns in a single track increases the contents volume a song can have.

The breakthrough work of the prince of the brostep world, Skrillex. Initially, it maintains an normal tempo, again approx. BPM=128, It inevitably starts to feel monotonous as the song goes on, so around 2:11, it transitions into half-time, to revitalize the song. Especially in dance music, where you don’t want to make the music too quiet, it’s so helpful that half-time can maintain the loudness of the sound while reducing the overall energy.

2. Play Double-Time

Conversely, if there’s someone in a big hurry, they might play like this.

This time, it’s the opposite of what we discussed earlier. Now it’s played virtually at double the tempo. This state, playing at double the tempo compared to the original tempo is called “Playing Double Time.

Examples

Let’s take a look at a video of a man covering this song on the drums, to visually watch the change of the speed.

This is “Misoka” by the Japanese rock band Spitz. The verse starts out steadily at a slower tempo. But when it reaches the chorus (1:17~), it suddenly goes into double time! It instantly intensifies the sense of racing forward. The moment it enters the chorus is enjoyable, and returning to the original tempo after the chorus also gives a sense of relief.

Furthermore, in this song, it even shifts to half-time during the interlude (2:51~)! The song is constructed with the basic time, double-time, and half-time, creating a highly dramatic composition.

EDM and Double Time

In EDM, there are many songs that make use of half-time, but there are also quite a few songs that transition into double-time similarly.

In this track, it starts out with a slower, heavy drop. Then, pay attention to the development around 2:38. Just when you might be getting tired of the slower tempo, it speeds up and goes with the classic rhythm of dance music.

I believe you have gained a sufficient understanding throughout this chapter. In today’s popular music, rhythm is an extremely crucial element, and even though the number of chapters is small, it by no means implies that rhythm is not important. As we saw in the chapter on Clave, It is quite challenging to systematically summarize the world of rhythm, where the groove can change dramatically with just a slight shift in accents, and it remains unachieved.

You need to learn from actual songs to become capable of constructing a good rhythmic ensemble. When doing so, the theory you’ve learned here can serve as a valuable “musical language” for organizing information.

Summary

• Playing a rhythm by interpreting the tempo twice as fast as the original is called “Playing double-time”.
• Playing a song by interpreting the tempo half as fast as the original is called “Playing half-time”.
• By altering the interpretation of time, you can introduce significant changes to a song.

We have completed Rhythm Chapter I! Congratulations. Please proceed while considering which chapter to move on to next, or whether to allocate time for songwriting or analysis.

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