Count music in beats, bars or seconds?

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I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars". Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

I'm just wondering what's the convention.

composition production

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edited 3 hours ago

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foreyez

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up vote
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I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars". Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

I'm just wondering what's the convention.

composition production

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

asked 3 hours ago

foreyez

3,71022063

add a comment | 

up vote
2
down vote

favorite

up vote
2
down vote

favorite

I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars". Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

I'm just wondering what's the convention.

composition production

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

asked 3 hours ago

foreyez

3,71022063

I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars". Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

I'm just wondering what's the convention.

composition production

composition production

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

asked 3 hours ago

foreyez

3,71022063

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

asked 3 hours ago

foreyez

3,71022063

share|improve this question

share|improve this question

edited 3 hours ago

edited 3 hours ago

edited 3 hours ago

asked 3 hours ago

foreyez

3,71022063

asked 3 hours ago

foreyez

3,71022063

asked 3 hours ago

foreyez

3,71022063

3,71022063

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

up vote
1
down vote

I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars"

Either could be correct - or more helpful - in different situations.

If you are mixing down an existing recording and programming in some mix automation, it may be more helpful to think in terms of seconds.

If you are giving some musicians instructions before a performance of a conventional piece with a traditional time signature, it's highly likely that thinking in terms of bars will be more helpful both because it's easier for the performers to count, and also because the duration in seconds may not be known at that point.

If you have composed an avant-garde ambient piece with no obvious beat and no conductor or other band-member providing a count of bars, it might be reasonable to make each performer watch a stopwatch and work in seconds - it would be unusual, of course.

Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

Again, it totally depends. If you are working with reference to a machine or a piece of software that only counts beats, 'beats' might be better. If it counts both, 'bars' might be fine. If you are lining the beat up with an existing piece that's notated in bars and beats, 'bars' might be slightly better as it gives a sense of lining your beat up with the bar boundaries.

I'm just wondering what's the convention

None of the terms you've mentioned are unconventional, but each of them is more helpful and relevant in certain contexts.

As it happens, in the musical activity I'm doing at the moment, it makes sense most of the time to think in terms of sample numbers @a sampling rate of 44100Hz. That would be crazy for most purposes, but it's the right thing for this particular context.

share|improve this answer

edited 13 mins ago

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

The term "Beats" is usually referring to the individual beats in a measure, in Jazz you would usually use "Bars" which is in classical terms, a "Measure". So using the term "Bars" is really the most used term when referring to whatever grouping of the notes indicated by the time signature, However, "Bars" is interchangeable with "Measures" so it just depends on your preferences (in musical composition, I prefer the term "Measure").

share|improve this answer

edited 2 hours ago

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

The correct way to TIME anything is in hours, minutes and seconds.

But if you're talking about describing the length of a piece of music, it depends on context. For a TV advert you're mostly worried about the time. For scoring to film or tv you might need to consider 'frames'. If you're scoring a routine for 'Strictly' you may want to consider 'dancers' counts' which can be beats, bars, half-bars... according to style and tempo. If you're making EDM it will doubtless be bars or beats. (Bars aren't always 4 beats of course, even in EDM.)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

How often do you think you might use a stopwatch? That's a ridiculous way to approach it. It will depend crucially on how fast the piece is.

Bars or measures are the the usual units used in music, and if you want to be precise, you use bpm to measure the tempo, which would produce the speed of what was hoping to be played.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

add a comment | 

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4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

4 Answers
4

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

up vote
1
down vote

I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars"

Either could be correct - or more helpful - in different situations.

If you are mixing down an existing recording and programming in some mix automation, it may be more helpful to think in terms of seconds.

If you are giving some musicians instructions before a performance of a conventional piece with a traditional time signature, it's highly likely that thinking in terms of bars will be more helpful both because it's easier for the performers to count, and also because the duration in seconds may not be known at that point.

If you have composed an avant-garde ambient piece with no obvious beat and no conductor or other band-member providing a count of bars, it might be reasonable to make each performer watch a stopwatch and work in seconds - it would be unusual, of course.

Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

Again, it totally depends. If you are working with reference to a machine or a piece of software that only counts beats, 'beats' might be better. If it counts both, 'bars' might be fine. If you are lining the beat up with an existing piece that's notated in bars and beats, 'bars' might be slightly better as it gives a sense of lining your beat up with the bar boundaries.

I'm just wondering what's the convention

None of the terms you've mentioned are unconventional, but each of them is more helpful and relevant in certain contexts.

As it happens, in the musical activity I'm doing at the moment, it makes sense most of the time to think in terms of sample numbers @a sampling rate of 44100Hz. That would be crazy for most purposes, but it's the right thing for this particular context.

share|improve this answer

edited 13 mins ago

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars"

Either could be correct - or more helpful - in different situations.

If you are mixing down an existing recording and programming in some mix automation, it may be more helpful to think in terms of seconds.

If you are giving some musicians instructions before a performance of a conventional piece with a traditional time signature, it's highly likely that thinking in terms of bars will be more helpful both because it's easier for the performers to count, and also because the duration in seconds may not be known at that point.

If you have composed an avant-garde ambient piece with no obvious beat and no conductor or other band-member providing a count of bars, it might be reasonable to make each performer watch a stopwatch and work in seconds - it would be unusual, of course.

Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

Again, it totally depends. If you are working with reference to a machine or a piece of software that only counts beats, 'beats' might be better. If it counts both, 'bars' might be fine. If you are lining the beat up with an existing piece that's notated in bars and beats, 'bars' might be slightly better as it gives a sense of lining your beat up with the bar boundaries.

I'm just wondering what's the convention

None of the terms you've mentioned are unconventional, but each of them is more helpful and relevant in certain contexts.

As it happens, in the musical activity I'm doing at the moment, it makes sense most of the time to think in terms of sample numbers @a sampling rate of 44100Hz. That would be crazy for most purposes, but it's the right thing for this particular context.

share|improve this answer

edited 13 mins ago

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

up vote
1
down vote

I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars"

Either could be correct - or more helpful - in different situations.

If you are mixing down an existing recording and programming in some mix automation, it may be more helpful to think in terms of seconds.

If you are giving some musicians instructions before a performance of a conventional piece with a traditional time signature, it's highly likely that thinking in terms of bars will be more helpful both because it's easier for the performers to count, and also because the duration in seconds may not be known at that point.

If you have composed an avant-garde ambient piece with no obvious beat and no conductor or other band-member providing a count of bars, it might be reasonable to make each performer watch a stopwatch and work in seconds - it would be unusual, of course.

Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

Again, it totally depends. If you are working with reference to a machine or a piece of software that only counts beats, 'beats' might be better. If it counts both, 'bars' might be fine. If you are lining the beat up with an existing piece that's notated in bars and beats, 'bars' might be slightly better as it gives a sense of lining your beat up with the bar boundaries.

I'm just wondering what's the convention

None of the terms you've mentioned are unconventional, but each of them is more helpful and relevant in certain contexts.

As it happens, in the musical activity I'm doing at the moment, it makes sense most of the time to think in terms of sample numbers @a sampling rate of 44100Hz. That would be crazy for most purposes, but it's the right thing for this particular context.

share|improve this answer

edited 13 mins ago

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

I'm just wondering if when creating a song what's the correct way to time things. For example, I say the "chorus lasts 30 seconds" or the "chorus lasts 8 bars"

Either could be correct - or more helpful - in different situations.

If you are mixing down an existing recording and programming in some mix automation, it may be more helpful to think in terms of seconds.

If you are giving some musicians instructions before a performance of a conventional piece with a traditional time signature, it's highly likely that thinking in terms of bars will be more helpful both because it's easier for the performers to count, and also because the duration in seconds may not be known at that point.

If you have composed an avant-garde ambient piece with no obvious beat and no conductor or other band-member providing a count of bars, it might be reasonable to make each performer watch a stopwatch and work in seconds - it would be unusual, of course.

Would I say this beat that I made a loop on "4 bars" or a loop of "16 beats".

Again, it totally depends. If you are working with reference to a machine or a piece of software that only counts beats, 'beats' might be better. If it counts both, 'bars' might be fine. If you are lining the beat up with an existing piece that's notated in bars and beats, 'bars' might be slightly better as it gives a sense of lining your beat up with the bar boundaries.

I'm just wondering what's the convention

None of the terms you've mentioned are unconventional, but each of them is more helpful and relevant in certain contexts.

As it happens, in the musical activity I'm doing at the moment, it makes sense most of the time to think in terms of sample numbers @a sampling rate of 44100Hz. That would be crazy for most purposes, but it's the right thing for this particular context.

share|improve this answer

edited 13 mins ago

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

edited 13 mins ago

edited 13 mins ago

edited 13 mins ago

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

answered 1 hour ago

topo morto

21.6k23691

21.6k23691

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

The term "Beats" is usually referring to the individual beats in a measure, in Jazz you would usually use "Bars" which is in classical terms, a "Measure". So using the term "Bars" is really the most used term when referring to whatever grouping of the notes indicated by the time signature, However, "Bars" is interchangeable with "Measures" so it just depends on your preferences (in musical composition, I prefer the term "Measure").

share|improve this answer

edited 2 hours ago

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

The term "Beats" is usually referring to the individual beats in a measure, in Jazz you would usually use "Bars" which is in classical terms, a "Measure". So using the term "Bars" is really the most used term when referring to whatever grouping of the notes indicated by the time signature, However, "Bars" is interchangeable with "Measures" so it just depends on your preferences (in musical composition, I prefer the term "Measure").

share|improve this answer

edited 2 hours ago

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

up vote
0
down vote

The term "Beats" is usually referring to the individual beats in a measure, in Jazz you would usually use "Bars" which is in classical terms, a "Measure". So using the term "Bars" is really the most used term when referring to whatever grouping of the notes indicated by the time signature, However, "Bars" is interchangeable with "Measures" so it just depends on your preferences (in musical composition, I prefer the term "Measure").

share|improve this answer

edited 2 hours ago

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

The term "Beats" is usually referring to the individual beats in a measure, in Jazz you would usually use "Bars" which is in classical terms, a "Measure". So using the term "Bars" is really the most used term when referring to whatever grouping of the notes indicated by the time signature, However, "Bars" is interchangeable with "Measures" so it just depends on your preferences (in musical composition, I prefer the term "Measure").

share|improve this answer

edited 2 hours ago

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

edited 2 hours ago

edited 2 hours ago

edited 2 hours ago

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

answered 2 hours ago

VibrantWavE

228

228

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

The correct way to TIME anything is in hours, minutes and seconds.

But if you're talking about describing the length of a piece of music, it depends on context. For a TV advert you're mostly worried about the time. For scoring to film or tv you might need to consider 'frames'. If you're scoring a routine for 'Strictly' you may want to consider 'dancers' counts' which can be beats, bars, half-bars... according to style and tempo. If you're making EDM it will doubtless be bars or beats. (Bars aren't always 4 beats of course, even in EDM.)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

The correct way to TIME anything is in hours, minutes and seconds.

But if you're talking about describing the length of a piece of music, it depends on context. For a TV advert you're mostly worried about the time. For scoring to film or tv you might need to consider 'frames'. If you're scoring a routine for 'Strictly' you may want to consider 'dancers' counts' which can be beats, bars, half-bars... according to style and tempo. If you're making EDM it will doubtless be bars or beats. (Bars aren't always 4 beats of course, even in EDM.)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

up vote
0
down vote

The correct way to TIME anything is in hours, minutes and seconds.

But if you're talking about describing the length of a piece of music, it depends on context. For a TV advert you're mostly worried about the time. For scoring to film or tv you might need to consider 'frames'. If you're scoring a routine for 'Strictly' you may want to consider 'dancers' counts' which can be beats, bars, half-bars... according to style and tempo. If you're making EDM it will doubtless be bars or beats. (Bars aren't always 4 beats of course, even in EDM.)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

The correct way to TIME anything is in hours, minutes and seconds.

But if you're talking about describing the length of a piece of music, it depends on context. For a TV advert you're mostly worried about the time. For scoring to film or tv you might need to consider 'frames'. If you're scoring a routine for 'Strictly' you may want to consider 'dancers' counts' which can be beats, bars, half-bars... according to style and tempo. If you're making EDM it will doubtless be bars or beats. (Bars aren't always 4 beats of course, even in EDM.)

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

answered 2 hours ago

Laurence Payne

28.5k1451

28.5k1451

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

How often do you think you might use a stopwatch? That's a ridiculous way to approach it. It will depend crucially on how fast the piece is.

Bars or measures are the the usual units used in music, and if you want to be precise, you use bpm to measure the tempo, which would produce the speed of what was hoping to be played.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

How often do you think you might use a stopwatch? That's a ridiculous way to approach it. It will depend crucially on how fast the piece is.

Bars or measures are the the usual units used in music, and if you want to be precise, you use bpm to measure the tempo, which would produce the speed of what was hoping to be played.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

add a comment | 

up vote
0
down vote

up vote
0
down vote

How often do you think you might use a stopwatch? That's a ridiculous way to approach it. It will depend crucially on how fast the piece is.

Bars or measures are the the usual units used in music, and if you want to be precise, you use bpm to measure the tempo, which would produce the speed of what was hoping to be played.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

How often do you think you might use a stopwatch? That's a ridiculous way to approach it. It will depend crucially on how fast the piece is.

Bars or measures are the the usual units used in music, and if you want to be precise, you use bpm to measure the tempo, which would produce the speed of what was hoping to be played.

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

answered 2 hours ago

Tim

91k1093230

91k1093230

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

 

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