we can count eighths....1 + 2 + ..etc

we can count triplets 1 tri plet 2 tri plet

but what happens when you combine the above

for example

1 + plet 2 + plet

how can that be counted? if at all because the rhythm is not equal for those

or you just go with feeling when combining eights and triplets?

 

Not quite understanding the example. The whole point of a triplet is not to count it; it fits in the space of an eighth, or quarter note, or whatever. It's literally designed that way so that you can count it. unless I'm missing something.

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 3:51 PM

If I'm understanding you correctly (that you want the eighth beats going with the triplets on top), it's essentially 1 - tri - puh - let, 2 - tri - pul -let

That's also assuming that the triplets are also eighth notes.

On 1 they both play (typically more emphasis on this note)
Tri the 2nd trip plays
puh is 2nd eighth
let is 3rd trip..

Rinse repeat.

Just enter it in your DAW with the eights as kicks and the triplets snares or hats and slow it down to like 60bpm and you'll hear it.

(BTW, I'm no drummer, but I've stumbled on some videos in the past and that was what they did to help get that rhythm down.. i.e. say "one tri-pul-let")


Edit: just as an aside, while i said to say "one tri-pul-let" (or pu-let or pull-et), that quick 3 note run technically isn't the triplet, per se. I just kinda simplified for the sake of not thinking of other sounds to imply the pacing (that part is a combo of 2 triplet notes and one of the eights between them).

 

Last edited: Dec 20, 2024 at 12:50 AM

It sounds like you're trying to count out something that would sound like the opening measures of Bolero-
BUH... buh buh buh BUH... buh buh buh
... which you just count in 4.

 

Not only can you count it, but also it makes a cool rhythm:

https://jumpshare.com/s/CrnrsFGvfpzMJTEWZVNa

The link dies in 24 hours.

 

That actually begs the question..... (what beat does the op mean)

What you seem to have here is 2 eighths followed by eighth triplets (which maybe is what he wanted) whereas me and cosmic seem to have taken it as eights playing over and over with triplets on top. I'm not sure which one the op was interested in though!

@stav , if you want it the way mercurysoto suggests, using the onomatopoeia/counting way of doing things (from your first post) it would just simply sound like "1 - 2 - tri-pul-let".

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 7:26 PM

Here's an example of how 8th triplets over straight 8ths might sound like in a lame drum beat I threw together (with some emphasis in there to exaggerate it):

https://jumpshare.com/s/wsQFLV5pAHZggGZ0OJKA

As that's playing, imagine 1 tri-puh-let, 2 tri-puh-let. The tri-puh-let part is a little rushed and slightly off pace of straight 16ths... this rhythm isn't just straight 4/4 sixteenth notes. As you can hear, it's a pretty cool (and somewhat common) rhythm though.

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 8:52 PM

Polyrhythms 3:2, 4:3, 5:2, 5:3, 5:4, 7:2, 7:3, 7:4, ....7:5.....7:6.

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 9:58 PM

Combinations of 'unswung' notes with ones that are swung is not uncommon. There are some great backbeat funk tunes that use it since the late 70s where the drummer is playing a straight funk kick and snare and implied triplets on the Hi-Hat. Naitguy has a more modern and different example above.

Some people use other words to count faster triplets in a single word too e.g... 'bucketa' and 'tri-pull-et'.

Any division of a bar is basically maths like the polyrhythm examples by bluerover above. As an example - A while back someone suggested that 7 on a 3/4 bar didn't make sense. 3x7=21. In a 3/4 bar that's 7 notes evenly for each beat which is obviously again 21. Divide 21 by 3 and you have 7 notes over 3 beats.

With any rhythm if you hear it and it works it's probably right. While it is good and many consider it important to know what it is, it is more important to know how to use something in your own tune. Doing something clever is only great if it sounds good and/or feels good.

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 10:48 PM

I'm still having a little trouble grasping what the question actually is... are we just talking about how to say the rhythm out loud?

 

I believe the OP wants to know how to count it. If a person doesn't want to go deep into it and simply FEEL how to count it across the time signature they are using, it is common practice to verbalise/vocalise the rhythm. Sometimes single words are much easier than 1e+a 2e+a 3e+a 4e+a
and as the OP has a broken rhythm, understanding Hemiolas and more advanced polyrhythms may or may not help. Honestly, making it feel good is the singularly most important thing. The only reason I can see to know exactly what it is would be if you intend to quantize it because it's not right in time, and if you do not know what it is, the groove will get messed up very quickly.

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 10:57 PM

(drummer speaking) You're not gonna switch from quarter (or 16th) notes to triplets on the fly. You might play quarters on an instrument and triplets on another at the same time. It sounds highly conspicuous, and the feel is very abstract. To each his own, i'm trying to give good info.

Triplets are counted

one and ah, two and ah ..

Quarters are

one and, two and ..

Sixteenth are

one ee an ah, two ee an ah..

 

Here is a Steve Gadd pattern demonstrating a backbeat shuffle with occasional triplets similar to what you are asking OP

https://jumpshare.com/s/a2cyod6XyDzJxe7C59Hm

 

If I'm understanding what you're trying to describe.

The answers yes but no you wouldn't count it like that.

So in a bar
with standard beats its 1, 2, 3, 4
so 4 beats in the time frame.

with tripplets its 1/3, 2/3, 1,1+1/3, 1+2/3, 2, 2+1/3, 2+2/3, 3, 3+1/3, 3+2/3, 4
and thats 12 beats in the time frame.

attaching a third after a whole beat would be the equivelent of 3 thirds plus a third.
So that makes 4 of them.
Therefore the total that be in a bar time frame would be 16.

At this point their not thirds any more but quarters!

So you have a beat that's 3/4 long followed by a 1/4 beat.

It's been a long time since I wrote in standard noteation so someone help out with at that is as a timing
signiture.

 

The whole point of a "triplet" (as I understand it) is fitting three beats in a single count. I just don't get the confusion. You count a pulse and just do it.

Buh | buh | buh | (buh-duh-duh) |
buh | (buh-duh-duh) | buh | buh |
Just put them where you want and keep counting 4 or 8 or whatever it is. Again, how would you count Bolero??
This feels like reinventing the wheel.

 

AHA! It is equal. The space for your eight note and triplet is equal. Or it's equal to 2 eighth notes, that is, a quarter note, or whatever division... but either way it is equal to the space left by your straight time. Otherwise we're talking about a whole different thing...

 

"1/3, 2/3, 1,1+1/3, 1+2/3, 2, 2+1/3, 2+2/3, 3, 3+1/3, 3+2/3, 4"
Nobody is gonna understand what you meant there..


The most natural way to count this is just imitating the rhythm as Naitguy proposed:
"1 - tri - puh - let, 2 - tri - puh -let"

(the "puh" is actually the second 8th, not part of the triplet)

For the rest, if you want to write or communicate complex rhythms,
better to use standard solfeggio notation.. that's what it's for!