Favorite Songs with Non-Standard Time Sig.

I know a few pretty good VGM tracks with non-standard time signatures (or multiple time signature changes) and was wondering if anyone else had some they really liked. When I say non-standard, I mean something other than 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, or 6/8, although I don’t really hear a whole lot in 6/8 to be honest.

These were the first few I thought of:

1.Boss Battle from Shining the Holy Ark (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg09OBsgs7U) (Sega Saturn, Motoi Sakuraba)Get the whole set HERE (http://forums.ffshrine.org/showpost.php?p=1101460&postcount=1) from Jessie’s Thread, from the Saturn Music section…

-(beginning goes 3 bars 7/8, 1 bar 9/8, 3 bars 7/8, 1 bar 8/8(or 4/4), 5 bars 10/8, 1 bar 12/8, then 20 in 10/8 where it loops back–7/8s grouped 3+2, 9/8s grouped 3+2+2, 10/8s grouped 3+3+2+2)

2. Rodi Reveals the Evil Spirits (same game) 10/8 (3+3+2+2)mostly

3.East Shrine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ08RZmNkqg) (same game) 5/8 (3+2)mostly

4.Tower of Zot (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT3LOtT5OZw) from Final Fantasy IV (beginning is 2 bars 3/4, 1 bar 4/4, one bar 3/4, then a section in 4/4, then like before) (Uematsu)

5.Don’t be Afraid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyxDEK9sjKg)from Final Fantasy VIII -10/8 (3+3+2+2 with some 5/4 thrown in)

6. Hurry, Faster! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdBW02jDpqk) from Final Fantasy VII-6/8 grouped 3+3 then 2+2+2, although I suppose you could mark it in 3/4 but then with an alternating 3/4-4/4 section going back to the 33222 then to 7/8 grouped 2+2+3, then it loops.

7. Track 30 from Gungriffon Eurasian Conflict (Saturn, Motoaki Takenouchi) 4/4, with a 7/8 section. Actually, this seems to have maybe some 5 1/2 / 8 (11/16) and maybe some 17/16 going on…my brain hurts, and it’s going too fast for me to hear really well. You can get the whole soundtrack here (http://ssf.hcs64.com/g/Gungriffon%20-%20The%20Eurasian%20Conflict%20(1996)(Game%20Arts) %5bStreams%5d.zip) and listen ( couldn’t find a YouTube link for this), maybe i’m wrong on this one.

I’m hoping to dig out some really interesting music here!!

Here are some I’ve found or have seen mentioned before.

Lunarians (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=362ylBllhNQ) from Final Fantasy IV is in 5/4

Another World of Beasts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVFq1mjcdP0) from Final Fantasy VI is in 7/4

Mother Brain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7J6-44Kd4GM) from Super Metroid is in 7/4

Desert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QIvJYqn4EQ) from Diablo 2 is in 7/4

Gale (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRkqWdE_Nd0) from Chrono Cross is in 9/8

Subterranean Hell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6zit_JLm0A) from Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow is in 7/4 at the beginning and then switches to 6/4, then later 5/4

Also, Cruise Elroy has an article with some examples and sheet music, too. Found here (http://cruiseelroy.net/2008/05/irregular-meter/).

Hey, that’s a really cool article!! Thanks for your input.

A couple more:

It’s Time for Revenge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhiwTSpTZRQ) from Contra III is in 7/4

Mercatlians (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKFdKCayeaU) from Landstalker is a measure of 4/4 and then a measure of 7/8

I just noticed that the main theme of shining force two has a 4/4 7/8 section too when I was listening to it today, so that’s funny that you should find landstalker bacuase they are by the same guy! Motoaki takenouchi is way into goofy meter, but I like his stuff alot and his use of it never seems gimmicky.

I agree. I wondered what happened to him, though. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motoaki_Takenouchi) says he hasn’t done anything since 1996.

I was wondering the SAME THING the other day when I got the gungriffon soundtrack, which was what wikipedia said was the last thing he did… I thought it was good, and thought it was weird that he completely went off the radar. Anyone have a story there?

*edit* Actually, I looked again and saw: More recently in 2000, he composed and arranged the song "Shower" by Rina Chinen. I’ve never heard of Rita chinen, but I guess that at least means he wasn’t abducted by VGM-lovin’ aliens never to be seen again…

Ha. That’s always a possibility. On a similar note, I was disappointed to find out recently that the Follin Bros. have simply stopped doing VGM after 20+ years in the business because it’s not lucrative enough. Noriko Matsueda retired fairly early in her career, too. Hopefully, that hasn’t happened to Takenouchi.