Re: Notation convention: dotted notes, duplet or else?

[Kieren MacMillan]

Hi David,

> The whole point of hemiolas is to fit with the timing.

Yes.

> Changing the meter ruins the pun.

Only if a "hemiola feel" is what you want.  ;)

> it seems like a crutch for people uncapable of dealing with the duality
> of inner and outer rhythmic structure of a syncopated phrase.

As with most blanket generalizations, I disagree with that statement. [It 
reminds me of the extremity of one of my composition professors, who claimed 
that all music can be effectively written in 4/8 using accents and other 
indications to replicate "downbeats" and the other natural gestural aspects of 
music with time signatures — he made me compose all my pieces for him that 
way!] I often write (e.g.) a 3/4 measure desiring it to be performed with 
syncopation, followed by exactly the same notes/durations in a 6/8 measure 
desiring it to be performed "in the beat"; that is, I use the conventions of 
notation to get the performers to execute subtleties that would be impossible 
through other notational choices.

The issue is analogous to the one with swing notation: does one write triplets, 
or dotted-eighth-and-sixteenths, or straight eighths with a text instruction? 
It depends on the music, and the precise effect the composer is hoping to 
elicit from the performer(s).

So count me as another vote for "there is no single correct answer".

Cheers,
Kieren.