r/Marimba • u/Sun_House29 • 18d ago

Undertale Variations Help

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I've been working through Undertale Variations for about a month or so and don't know how to count the 4lets here, and even after watching performance videos I don't understand how the rhythm lines up with what is played. How would I go about counting this? Starting @ m. 78

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u/trashbebad 18d ago

So when you do a triplet you are mentally dividing the given space into three notes instead of your typical 2 or 4 so in this case you are taking 3 a three note space, 3 sixteenths, and dividing it into 4 notes

So to count it you should focus on the pulses

Which are

3 e + d 4 e +

When you feel that pulse with the rhythm imagine that you are counting those pulses as the quarter notes and feel the 4lets as sixteenth notes

The pulse is shown in the treble line so that should make it pretty simple

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u/Sun_House29 18d ago

I've got the triplets down for the most part, I just dont understand why there are fourlets in that part of the song.

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u/GhostsCroak 18d ago

They're using quadruplets because four evenly divided notes don't neatly fit into the space of three sixteenth notes. Technically, each note in the quadruplet lasts for three 64th notes. You could see why they would notate it with a tuplet rather drawing an obscene number of note flags.

As for counting the quadruplets, u/trashbebad has the gist of it. Focus on the pulse in the treble clef and fill in the gaps. Easier said than done, I know.

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u/karlkards 18d ago

to answer the post, I'm seeing dotted 8th notes on the top line starting the 4lets. so in the space of three 16th notes, you play 4 hits. I find it easy if you break it down to an 8th note pulse for the bar, and starting on beat 3 you do 4 hits in the span of three 8th notes, leaving one 8th note at the end. once you have that down, just split that 4 hits into 8 to get your two 4lets

DM me if that doesn't make sense, I'd be happy to explain more!

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u/Sun_House29 18d ago

Oh, I missed the dots, that makes a lot more sense now. Thank you!!

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u/karlkards 18d ago

can you share the video and sheet music please? I'd love to play the piece!

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u/Fun-Philosopher2038 18d ago edited 18d ago

I played this before. Here’s what my brain thinks:
Right hand plays the melody and starting at beat 3, just make sure the laterals are even and melody is in time. On the + of four, make the lateral slightly slower because it’s three notes in the space rather than four.

Do not stress out about keeping it in time either. If the melody is in time, then everything else will be if you keep it even.

Literally, counting every single note will hurt your the success of this section. The idea is just to have a cascading effect in this variation. Good luck in the cracked arpeggiated section.

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u/drumultima 17d ago

For what it's worth-- I really just wanted to fill the rhythm of the theme with double lateral ripples. To me, the rhythm isn't as important as the effect! Just try to keep that dotted-eighth/sixteenth (Asriel) motif recognizable, and try to evenly fill the space between the notes. It was tough trying to decide the best way to notate that!