Schism - A Musical Analysis
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- An in-depth musical analysis of the song Schism by Tool.
If you would like sheet music for this song you can, either, buy it with a ko-fi donation or become a patron over at Patreon - / music_man_mike
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Check out my analysis of Pneuma here - czcams.com/video/zzWcE_sBGec/video.html
I can only imagine the effort that would have to go into these videos but I would be eternally grateful if you did more, basically everything Tool does is a master class on music *cough* 46 and 2 *cough*
I've been planning more but I'm doing my masters in music ATM so I don't have a lot of time. I'll be finished in August tho 😄
@@AslanJazzLan I found your pneuma video ages ago but didn't think to subscribe, I have fixed that issue now and am going through your catalogue now. Best of luck with the studies although it genuinely sounds like you know your stuff thoroughly!
@@NoMusiciansInMusicAnymore thanks for the sub! I'm glad you've found some value in my ramblings 🤩
@@AslanJazzLan I get to learn, laugh and with your heart will go on cover, cry haha... It's a rare combination!
I think it's about him being mad at a puzzle
Eddie Hagmaier underrated comment
I believed it was IKEA furniture.
HAHA! All those snobs trying to explain how difficult TOOL is and then it's as simple as a freakin puzzle. Genious!
But what about Hooker with a penis?
@@trumjalle3035 It's about the time Maynard went on holiday to Thailand.
No, not like that, get your mind out of the gutter. He saw a fan there and...well, you've heard the song.
I know the pieces fit
Because they’re on the box that way
If overthinking, overanalyzing separates the body from the mind, this dude must've had an out of body experience
😂
Every tool fan ever haha
😂
Meanwhile at Tool Laboratory:
(Random person rolling a d10 and d8 for time signature and scribbling notes down)
pi/phi will show up soon, no doubt. Irrational though it may be.
This is what I was explaining on a date just yesterday!
Let me guess how the date went...
@@gosborg bahahahaha
Well ...Did it work ? Inquiring minds want to know
Paws For Mercy Well...she was more like an Ed Sheeran person. So take a guess
@@aconcernedchristianmother6182 She does not deserve you
Hey dude. If you're still around, please do one for Pneuma which is probably the spiritual successor to Schism! This was a pleasure to watch.
I'll take a look! :)
@@AslanJazzLan I second that. It's a stunning work. And thanks for this post.
SuperSJ completely agree!! Pneuma is my favourite song on the album at the moment
Pneuma, I think, would be more a spiritual successor to Parabola or Lateralus. Lyrically speaking.
@@flood3464 I see that. But considering Schism is about the breakdown and divide, Pneuma serves as the reunion. Becoming "one". Plus musically there seems to be an overlap. Within the context of the Lateralus album, Parabola and Lateralus serve a similar function in bridging the broken gap, so you can definitely compare them to Pneuma as well.
I'm not even a music guy, but I'm amazed just how much sense all of it made. It really enhances the song
This gave me goosebumps. I don't really have anyone in my life I can talk to about tool and the genius they present. But, videos like these help me with that craving. Thank you so much for your work.
Progress report.
I am still alive. Continuing to edit the video analysing Pneuma but it's slow going while working on a ship.
Also suffering from a heavy case of "sequel syndrome"... But we'll see.
Thank you all for your patience.
Much love x
hang in there!
This was one of, if not THE BEST assessment of Schism ever. Phenomenal. Absolutely magnificent. You have earned a subscriber.
Masterful analysis. Tool has been my favorite band since I was 12.
It's been mine since I was in a car seat!
Hey Everyone. Thanks for checking out this video. Glad y'all enjoyed it.
Some people have asked me to do this with Pneuma so I'm working on that atm but, as you can imagine, it's a difficult song to get your head around so it might take a while.
Just to prove I'm actually working on it, here's a video of my playing the first little riff instagram.com/p/B3TZuthlzls/
Progress report - I have finished about half of the video on Pneuma but production has slowed down since I started my job on a cruise ship.
Will keep y'all up to date x
bro when i play this song i just know what it sounds like and play it lol. didn't realise how much theory competent musicians actually use
Cpl Autumn i do that too, i honestly don’t know any time, they’ll say that these tool songs are in this certain time, and idk what that means so i just listen to it a couple times
Doucher
Yeah, that's the way I do it too most of the time. I only count things out if I absolutely cannot pull it off otherwise. I think some people get WAY too fixated on mind-made concepts and forget that music is something that happens acoustically. It's obviously something you listen to. The notation is just a representation of the music, NOT the music itself. In the end, it doesn't really matter if you write it down in 12/8, 6/8, 3/4, 5/8+7/8 or whatever, because it doesn't change the music. It only changes the visual reprensation of the music, and some people may prefer one way over the other. What matters is that you can PLAY it.
I prefer to feel my music. But videos like this do bring a new perspective on the creation of the piece.
It does not matter, it's good to play music by ear in my opinion. But understanding how its made and what is happening makes you feel the song much better. This is what I feel obviously.
No, it's definitely (5/8+7/8) because the note groupings imply metric pulse.
1 2 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 3.
12/8 is like
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
This isn't "needlessly complicated" it's basic music theory. "The Practice of Harmony" -- Chapter 6, pg 80. Thats two months into Theory I, now.
It's easier to transition to (6/8+7/8) for the "chorus" if you're following that pulse, too.
As a percussionist, I can tell you that's exactly why that triplet is there, to reset the meter of the accented eighth notes that follow the irregular pulse... Yes, they're true triplets, but they're being played as a pick-up grace note. (Which is why Justin didn't start on the downbeat).
Great video for sure, though!!
If you'd like to check my work, I have an older video of myself playing it on a Yamaha DTXplorer on my channel, over an isolated bass, guitar, and vocal track.
as a guitarist i completely agree
As a music teacher, I completely agree. However, there's always exceptions to the "rules". I understand where the OP is coming from. It is easier to grasp as a whole concept in 12/8. It also repeats in twelves not fives or sevens. I don't think one way of thinking is more or less "right" but they coexist and you could do it either way. There's no manifesto that was written that says 12/8 MUST be grouped 123, 123, 123, 123. It could easily be grouped 12, 12, 123, 12, 12. For instance, since you threw 7/8 out there... SOMETIMES 7/8 is grouped 123, 12, 12. Sometimes it is grouped 12, 12, 123. Seldom it is grouped 12, 123, 12. However, it COULD be grouped 12345,12 or even simply 1234567.
I also agree. Is not that subjective as people think since musical notation is there to help the musician more than establishing an artistic message. Yes, there are exceptions where the composer also brings notation into the aesthetic field but being tool a rock band and not a classical composer it would very strange to see that happening. As a conductor, I find much easier to follow the implied metric pulse and the subdivisions than an off-beat 3/4. See for example "Sensemaya" by Revueltas and try to conduct it in simple meters. It would be impossible for you and for the musicians to understand let alone to follow. The musical unevenness should be implied in the music and is already there with the 5/8+7/8. What Tool does a lot is polymeters, usually with Danny.
Well I’m not a music teacher, but I also think that 5/8+7/8 is more correct because there is a part of verse which is clearly in 12/8. The part is when he sings “I’ve done the math enough to know | the dangers of our second guessing”. The drums seems to follow. Though, I find interesting the explanation for 3/4 that is given in the video.
Even if breaking it down into 5/8+7/8 is technically more accurate, it’s much easier to read if it’s just in 12/8 (duple, not triple) or 6/4
Idk how the fuck they managed it, but i swear i get euphoric goosebumps every time i listen to it.
that was the best analysis I've seen on youtube... please keep it up. Criminally underwatched, keep swinging!
I still to this day can't believe how utterly perfect the album LATERALUS is. My favorite album of all time and I listen to it start to finish any time I trip and I always discover something about myself or have some divine revelation. Thanks TOOL.
Same man. Awe inspiring. Not many albums are that coherant.
I really love songs that set up a strong melody right at the start, then let it disappear for a while, to only bring it right back for the climax at the very end.
Especially when it feels unexpected, like that early melody and the new melody by the time the climax begins were peanut butter and chocolate, established and developed separately and feeling like distinct pieces, and then joined together for the finale.
Two of my favorite songs ever do this really well: Son of Mr. Green Genes by Frank Zappa (on "Hot Rats", 1969) and Starless by King Crimson (on "Red", 1974 )
That might be one of my favorite lil things that longer songs do!
This is golden, thank you.
will def support.
This is a fantastic analysis. Our band has been figuring through this in our own ways for a lot of months now and we go off and find bits of understanding and come together and discuss. This is the deepest understanding of Schism that I've come across. I don't fully understand scales, but you present this in a way that any regular joe could understand, and any musical savant can appreciate at the same time. Keep up the great work
Thank you, Travis. I'm really glad it was helpful to you.
Anyone remember that episode where Homer Simpson is making a BBQ?
"Yeeah, That's one fine looking BBQ pit, WHY DOESN'T MINE LOOK LIKE THAT!"
That's pretty much me comparing the music I write to Tool 😂
Watched for Tool. Surprised by the Porcupine Tree reference. Thumbs up for you, dude.
Porcupine Tree is one of my fave bands ^.^
@@AslanJazzLan same
This is an amazing video. Thank you for making this. Well done.
Just saw Tool last week and Schism was on the set list. Hearing it live is an experience that cannot be cohesively explained in mere words.
Once in a while the youtube algorithm is kind enough to show me gems such as this! Thank you for taking a deeper look at this wonderful song :)
I appreciate that ^.^
So great man. Loved this so much. Thank you
"Over thinking, over analyzing, separates the body from the mind"
Is that supposed to be a bad thing?
Holy shit dude you're an absolute genius. That should be in a song err something...
Very clever. Respect.
SPIRAL OUUUT🌀
stfu
Truly awesome music. Thank you for the break down.
This is professional presentation at its best. Good job dude!
Thanks, friend ^.^
That’s a great analysis of an extremely complex song. Well done for opening up some of the pages of this masterpiece.
This is explained as well as the song is wrote! Great work!
Beautiful breakdown
This is incredible.
Wow this was very well done
Your vocabulary is superb. Subscribed.
Absolutely amazing analysis. I would love to see more tool analysis' all of their music is genius.
Thank you ^.^ I'm glad you liked.
I'm working on some queen analysis atm :)
your have created a masterful video explaining odd timing + basic composition logic. Well done,be proud. I thank you!
Great video! I’ve always enjoyed trying to figure the time signatures to it for this one.
idk why but those bass chords at the start of schism give me goosebumps whenever i hear them
Fantastic! Thanks so much
For someone who knows nothing about music theory, I understood a good chunk. This video made every attempt to explain the very complex in a very simple manner. Keep up the great work! Love the style and quality of it. Sub'd!
Hey, nice video man. Its not easy to find this kind of content, keep going!
Loved the analysis - do more
Oooh,chills 😬
YYYEEESSSS!! My screen name appears as a Patreon credit in another awesome video. I always love this song and Tool and this video makes me love Tool and this song more.
Amazing breakdown. Subscribed.
This blew my mind. Never thought a song could be musically so complex.
You’d be shocked to witness classical music.
This was an amazing analysis please do more tool song analysis it would be awesome
Fantastic video!
WHAT THE FUCK this is one of the best music analyses I've ever heard thank you for making this
Mind Blown
Excellent bro
Rick Beato has taught me a fair bit about music theory, but you've outdone his episode 15.
Have loved this track since 2001.
Amazing shit!
Had not discovered this channel before now, searching on a whim for in-depth Tool analyses (after taking a break from FEAR INOCULUM of course!).
Dude. It is no exaggeration when I say that this is, without question, the best analysis of a Tool song I have ever seen on CZcams. I'm impressed on every level. Not only do you do THE best job I've seen at describing this song's structure, but you actually do a great job of relating ALL of the musical complexity and structure to the themes/lyrics....but you also do even more than that: You relate all of this to _how it makes the listener feel_ . I have seen good analyses on each of those elements separately, but you put them all together so beautifully. I have long had a love and appreciation for (sometimes) difficult/complex music, and a drive to know more. But that admiration and respect for musical complexity and meaning always felt somewhat... fraudulent for me, in a sense. That's because I don't have a musical bone in my body, and have always had more difficulty than most at really _feeling_ the structure of different musical/instrumental elements, rather than just abstractly "knowing" them. (Which, of course, isn't truly _understanding_ them.) I know depth of meaning when I hear it, but I'd be damned if I could really articulate _how_ that meaning is being conveyed through the components of its musical substrate.
And yet, you have explained all of this so well that even I have _finally_ managed to feel some of this complexity intuitively, in my bones. In a manner that I can generalize to all the other music I love. You *_visualize_* all these musical components in such a variety of ways that I've not seen on any other channel, and for me at least, those methods work better than any others I've seen. For that, I am deeply grateful, and I'm stoked that I have an entire channel's archive to make my way through.
Hey friend.
Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm really glad that this video spoke to you.
Much love.
Felt exactly the same. A very competent analysis. Not for everyone. But gold for those who seek it
You should look at Rosetta stoned or ticks and leeches. Both are wacky amazing songs
Thank you!
... incredible sophistication ı think... hat off ..........
Man your work is absolutely remarkable, please keep doing this!
Thank you!
Elite video
They know the where/how to put the Bridge between the mind blowing melodies.
I came across your name when I was watching a Sargon video. I decided to check your channel out and this was the first video I sat through. I gotta say, you did an incredible job breaking down this song. Keep pumping out great content like this, because you just got yourself a new subscriber. Keep up the great work, bud.
I appreciate that mate. I will do my best!
Came here for tool knowledge, pleasantly surprised by Bill wurtz.
Nice work man! I use to play it as a 6/4. Like a whole phrase (due to the vocals). It makes you not rushing, and you definitely don't want to in this song.
Cheers
Great video
Amazing video
Thank you ^.^
that's what i love about schism.. the guitar and bass always dance around this "schism" starting with the intro first played unisono (well the natural octave between bass and guitar aside) and the second time around drifting appart (guitar plays something slightly different) and this happens again and again throughout the song.. it's the musical expression.. like.. when a singer sings a high note on the word "high" in the lyrics or how for example in halleluja "the minor fall and major lift" or "it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth" falling exactly on those chords..
tool does the same with this song.. they are true geniouses in songwriting and no matter how often i listen this song there is still little details to discover..
it's always interesting to watch these analytical videos about it as really non i saw counts it the same way.. i myself for example prefer to count it as 1 2 3 4 5/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in the verse and 1 2 3 4 5 6/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 in the chorus when i play the guitar.. but i don't count it out loud what makes it okay as you'd otherwise die of asphyxiation xD
awesome! plz cover all Tool's song, maybe with a bit on the lyrics
This is excellent, the analysis is clear and well articulated - you deserve to be a way more popular CZcamsr
I appreciate that ^.^
What a video 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
I like your motif, it’s better than the other motifs. Motif.
All kidding aside, great video.
It's often described as 5/8 + 7/8 because the pattern starts over after 5 beats and the second bar is composed of the same notes as the first bar, with 2 notes tacked onto the end. Also, the entire beat has an 8th note feel so it makes more sense to count 8th notes.
Thank you so much for this vid. I've been always wondering, how they could play such simple riffs over all those odd time signatures and their changes and it still sounded like a solid song when you listen to it.
Liked, subscribed. Hope to see some similar vids in a future.
+Никита Сказкоподателев thanks mate. I appreciate it ^.^
Dude, this video was fucking awesome. Respect.
+8 Bit Thoughts thaaaanks!
I think you will find that when the guitar first comes in in the main riff, the guitar also pedals d (instead of a) and plays the ‘melody’ down a 5th, so that it plays a Bb,A, then Bb,A,C. Later on when the guitar reenters it does what you have said. Just thought that might be of use.
Thanx
Nice vid. Always good to see a fellow kiwi breaking through the noise on CZcams
Right on, friendo!
Tool really and truly have mastered the art and technical skill emotion and spiritual essence of music.
Master MUSICIANS of all MUSICIANS
And yet all this technicality and maths seemingly counter productive to humility, creativity, spirit and melody somehow Merges seamlessly, none of the complexities comes at the cost of music
I've seen this video several times and I think I'm kind of getting it lol
I'm glad my ramblings were semi-coherant :p
That’s not how subdivisions work.
The verse rhythms are a complex double followed by a complex triple. 12/8 is typically played as a compound quadruple. While it does fit mathematically, the subdivisions don’t resolve in that way.
Little nitpick: In the bassline in the intro, the last interval the first time through isn't a fourth from A to D, but rather a thrid from Bb to D, implying a Bb Mahor chord again, wrapping around to the begining of the motif.
Just adding: the theme and lyrics matching so well is Maynard's work only, since Maynard just do his part once the music is complete.
Woohoo! I understood that enough to be able to clap along.
Feeling pretty smug right now :)
HOOLYYYY
SHIIIIITTT
This was a journey. Thank you, Michael.
Thanks so much. I'm glad you dug it ^.^
I didn't understand a shit
Bu it's so god damn cool to watch
great video, i love the reversible music man mike logo, is that new? i was taught harmonic theory and very little rhythmic theory... it’s so foreign to me, but so much more complex and more full of possibilities. great stuff
+Nix Alexander thank you! Yeah I decided to have a bit of a change. Glad you like it.
Would love to hear your analysis of Pneuma
Working on it ^.^
The only thing you didn’t talk about is how changes of vocals rhythm in verses alters the time feel of verses. In the “I’ve done the math enough to know...” part vocals are clearly in 12/8 and drums seems to follow. I was confused by this part for a long time until I figured it out.
Great video anyways.
This is a relationship song. When growth stops and communication ceases the two split. The muscle of unity built by two wastes away.
Holy shit i love Maynard I'm glad I found this video
Absolutely loved this. Definitely subbed! Would you mind doing a video for animals as leaders, arithmaphobia? Incredible band, and one of the most complicated pieces of music I've ever heard. I'm generally good at grasping polyrhythms, even from animals, since I've been a fan for a while, but this particular album, madness, is especially complex. Even if u can't do a video on it, I'd still be interested to hear your opinion after a private listen. Just let me know what you think! Hell, maybe you will become a new fan like I was on their album weightless! Much love, keep on keeping on
Thank you! I will take a look at the song and see what I can do ^.^
Thanks for the vid. Trying to explain how complex tool music is for 25 years to friends, but alas a video explaining it. But I think they still wouldn’t get it. I’ll go through another twelve explaining it
I'm glad you liked it :)
@@AslanJazzLan Pantera cemetery gates?
It seems like transmutation Into a new being learning how to communicate
MORE TOOL PLES
Please do lateralus as well
I know the pieces fit!
I know the video is old I just noticed today, if the analysis is different is because the song is too extreme different and unique, hence the unique work.
Really great analysis...my only issue was being overloaded with the song playing constantly. It was hard to focus on what you were saying.
Thanks any other vids like this?
Check out my video on Symmetrical Scales.
Working on a video about pneuma
Hey man fuck that, that bass line is hard as fuck to learn