3 ms·

> An interactive tool with audio examples demonstrating downbeats, offbeats, and different swing ratios can be found on our website (https://www.ds.mpg.de/swing

> An interactive tool with audio examples demonstrating downbeats, offbeats, and different swing ratios can be found on our website (https://www.ds.mpg.de/swing/swingratio https://www.ds.mpg.de/swing/swingratio). This is great!

danrochman 4y ago
Great resource - thanks!!
Geee 4y ago
This demonstrates the basic component of swing - off-beat delays. As the article explains, this is not enough, but there should also be additional down-beat delays for the soloist. Thus, the soloist and the rhythm section play with slightly different swing ratios.
wrycoder 4y ago
About 1.3 sounds optimal to me.
- jefftk 4y ago
  Closer to 2 sounds better to me; I wonder if it's that so much of the "swung" stuff I've been playing in the last few years is really jigs (and so naturally close to 1:2)
- jollyllama 4y ago
  2.5 is the most danceable IMO
  - tzs 4y ago
    I wonder if this depends on the tempo? I can't really dance, but if I try to twitch or spasm in my seat in time with the music I find that I'm most conformable doing one movement per quarter note. The tempo is fast enough that I can't really keep up if I try to do a movement per eighth note. With the swing ratio set to 1 I find it easy to get out of phase in those sections where it has a bunch of consecutive eighth notes. The tempo is fast enough that I can't dance and count reliably at the same time, so if I get out of phase I'm stuck that way until it hits a section with longer notes. There's no way to tell if a given eighth note is the downbeat or not just from its relation to the preceding or following notes so I can't reorient myself. With higher swing ratios the downbeat note and the preceding note are grouped, and the gap between these groups is larger than the gap in the group. I can't get lost in that. If the tempo was slower, I could either count while dancing or dance to eight notes and would be fine with a swing ratio of 1.
adrianmonk 4y ago
I decided to open pandora's box and experience a ratio less than 1. I set it to 0.7 and listened, and now my brain hurts a lot.

danrochman 4y ago

Great resource - thanks!!

Geee 4y ago

This demonstrates the basic component of swing - off-beat delays. As the article explains, this is not enough, but there should also be additional down-beat delays for the soloist. Thus, the soloist and the rhythm section play with slightly different swing ratios.

wrycoder 4y ago

About 1.3 sounds optimal to me.

jefftk 4y ago
Closer to 2 sounds better to me; I wonder if it's that so much of the "swung" stuff I've been playing in the last few years is really jigs (and so naturally close to 1:2)
jollyllama 4y ago
2.5 is the most danceable IMO
- tzs 4y ago
  I wonder if this depends on the tempo? I can't really dance, but if I try to twitch or spasm in my seat in time with the music I find that I'm most conformable doing one movement per quarter note. The tempo is fast enough that I can't really keep up if I try to do a movement per eighth note. With the swing ratio set to 1 I find it easy to get out of phase in those sections where it has a bunch of consecutive eighth notes. The tempo is fast enough that I can't dance and count reliably at the same time, so if I get out of phase I'm stuck that way until it hits a section with longer notes. There's no way to tell if a given eighth note is the downbeat or not just from its relation to the preceding or following notes so I can't reorient myself. With higher swing ratios the downbeat note and the preceding note are grouped, and the gap between these groups is larger than the gap in the group. I can't get lost in that. If the tempo was slower, I could either count while dancing or dance to eight notes and would be fine with a swing ratio of 1.

adrianmonk 4y ago

I decided to open pandora's box and experience a ratio less than 1. I set it to 0.7 and listened, and now my brain hurts a lot.