Author Topic: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)  (Read 2378 times)

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Offline IDontNotDoThings

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Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« on: December 09, 2018, 03:21:59 AM »
I brought this up as a joke a while ago, but then curiosity & having way too much free time got the best of me, so I made this.

Enjoy

As a surprise to absolutely no-one, Constant Motion is the fastest of them all (177bpm). Slightly more surprising is the slowest song, which is Far From Heaven at only 46 bpm.

Disclimers:
Also I should probably mention that at least some (probably) most) because 1) I'm not a perfect timekeeper and 2) I probably double-timed or half-timed things when I shouldn't have. If you see something that you think is wrong, I'd be happy to look further into it.

Also my computer is dead so I had to do all this on my phone, so apologies if it doesn't look as visually pleasing as my other statistics.

Uh... ok I'm done rambling now. Hope this fascinates at least someone out there. ;)
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Offline WilliamMunny

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2018, 06:48:32 AM »
While this is interesting, I fear that it is terribly inaccurate.

I'm not sure what method you chose for assessing the tempos (perhaps a mathematical formula?), but no band records at 160.49 bpm. Also, tempo and 'speed' are not necessarily tethered to one another in a linear way. A 'double time' feel at a slower tempo will sound faster than a 'half time' feel at a faster tempo.

I suspect that the band has multiple tempo changes in some of their songs. I can also tell you that, as someone who has learned, performed and played a fair portion of their catalog, much of their material is in the standard 110-140 bpm range that you will find most hard rock/metal residing in.

Anyways, it's an interesting list nonetheless.

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2018, 07:22:43 AM »




I suspect that the band has multiple tempo changes in some of their songs. I can also tell you that, as someone who has learned, performed and played a fair portion of their catalog, much of their material is in the standard 110-140 bpm range that you will find most hard rock/metal residing in.


Dang, learning that much of their catalog would be quite a task!  You must be quite accomplished to pull that off. I've been playing guitar for years and I just don't have the chops to really attempt Dream Theater songs. I know bits and pieces of some of their songs, but I'm just not hardwired to play that good. Props to those that can!  :tup
You can do a lot in a lifetime if you don't burn out too fast, you can make the most of the distance, first you need endurance first you've got to last....... NP

Offline WilliamMunny

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2018, 10:36:01 AM »




I suspect that the band has multiple tempo changes in some of their songs. I can also tell you that, as someone who has learned, performed and played a fair portion of their catalog, much of their material is in the standard 110-140 bpm range that you will find most hard rock/metal residing in.


Dang, learning that much of their catalog would be quite a task!  You must be quite accomplished to pull that off. I've been playing guitar for years and I just don't have the chops to really attempt Dream Theater songs. I know bits and pieces of some of their songs, but I'm just not hardwired to play that good. Props to those that can!  :tup

...'most of their catalog' = I&W, Awake, FII, and Scenes. So, basically, by 'most', I meant a quarter :P

That being said, those early songs don't feel nearly as schizophrenic as some of the later material. That's not to say that Learning to Live isn't complicated, but I feel like it's way easier to cover a song when it's so damn memorable, which for me, is how much of that early material feels.

I think the only 'later' era songs I've ever learned were As I Am (what a great jam!) and parts of 6 Degrees.

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2018, 11:20:12 AM »
That's awesome, I wish I could jam with you and learn some of the easier stuff.  I do know the intro to OTBOA which is fun to play,  also the beginning sections to ytsejam, PMU, and actually learned the solo to UAGM but have never been able to play it up to speed. Maybe 50% speed on a good day, lol!
« Last Edit: December 09, 2018, 11:26:25 AM by Architeuthis »
You can do a lot in a lifetime if you don't burn out too fast, you can make the most of the distance, first you need endurance first you've got to last....... NP

Offline Dream Team

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2018, 12:20:27 PM »
There’s definitely parts of some songs that are faster than 177 - PA, TDOE, TDS for example. And lol at Status Seeker being one of the fastest DT songs  :rollin

Offline Darkstarshades

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2018, 01:01:40 PM »
I also play some of their catalog and can confirm that the tempos are indeed not as fast as they seem, it's just that the insane notefuckery that they drop makes you think it is.
Jatruccyundessgini

Offline IDontNotDoThings

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2018, 02:35:40 PM »
While this is interesting, I fear that it is terribly inaccurate.

I'm not sure what method you chose for assessing the tempos (perhaps a mathematical formula?), but no band records at 160.49 bpm. Also, tempo and 'speed' are not necessarily tethered to one another in a linear way. A 'double time' feel at a slower tempo will sound faster than a 'half time' feel at a faster tempo.

I suspect that the band has multiple tempo changes in some of their songs. I can also tell you that, as someone who has learned, performed and played a fair portion of their catalog, much of their material is in the standard 110-140 bpm range that you will find most hard rock/metal residing in.

Anyways, it's an interesting list nonetheless.

Oh right, I forgot to mention that these are the average tempos. What I did was count out how many bears were in the song, then divided by the song's length (minus any sections where it sounded like free time).

I'm aware most bands will record to a whole number of BPM, I just imagine there's some slight innacuracy about rounding a song's length to the nearest second.
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Offline IDontNotDoThings

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2018, 08:36:40 PM »
Document updated:

-Added album statistics
-Added a sheet sorted by album
-Rounded all tempos to the nearest whole (to reduce clutter)
-Moved the tempo column to the right (because I think that makes a bit more sense)
-Deleted the "Track" column in the song rank sheet


If anyone's curious about album statistics, I'll post the ranking here too:
1. WD&DU (fastest)
2. I&W
3. DT12
4. 6DOIT
5. BC&SL
6. FII
7. TOT
8. AWAKE
9. SC
10. ADTOE
11. SFAM
12. OCT
13. TA (slowest)
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Offline pg1067

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #9 on: December 10, 2018, 11:26:17 AM »
What I did was count out how many bears were in the song, then divided by the song's length (minus any sections where it sounded like free time).

Just one -- although he'll multi-track on many songs.

"There's a bass solo in a song called Metropolis where I do a bass solo."  John Myung

Offline adamack

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #10 on: December 10, 2018, 11:56:15 AM »
While this is interesting, I fear that it is terribly inaccurate.

I'm not sure what method you chose for assessing the tempos (perhaps a mathematical formula?), but no band records at 160.49 bpm. Also, tempo and 'speed' are not necessarily tethered to one another in a linear way. A 'double time' feel at a slower tempo will sound faster than a 'half time' feel at a faster tempo.

I suspect that the band has multiple tempo changes in some of their songs. I can also tell you that, as someone who has learned, performed and played a fair portion of their catalog, much of their material is in the standard 110-140 bpm range that you will find most hard rock/metal residing in.

Anyways, it's an interesting list nonetheless.

Do you think a lot of the tempos he has recorded just need to be divided in half? When I was first learning music production, myself as well as a ton of other producers always had a habit of doubling the tempo of a new project. It didn't affect the song of course - I think it was just preferred to work to faster click when programming the drums. But seeing as how it was a common mistake, I wonder if this was what happened here.

Offline IDontNotDoThings

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2018, 02:17:36 PM »
Do you think a lot of the tempos he has recorded just need to be divided in half?

Sorry to be that person but

*she  :\
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Offline adamack

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #12 on: December 11, 2018, 03:37:06 PM »
Do you think a lot of the tempos he has recorded just need to be divided in half?

Sorry to be that person but

*she  :\

Ah, my apologies about that :facepalm:

Offline gzarruk

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #13 on: December 11, 2018, 03:59:33 PM »
Wether this is 100% accurate or not, this is so amazingly well done and a lot of work :hefdaddy
It sounds like, "ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk, ruk." Instead of the more pleasing kick drum sound of, "gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk, gzarruk."

Offline IDontNotDoThings

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Re: Tempo Of Every DT Song (Spreadsheet)
« Reply #14 on: December 11, 2018, 07:35:28 PM »
Wether this is 100% accurate or not, this is so amazingly well done and a lot of work :hefdaddy

Thank you  :D
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