Do you know what madness is? I’m not entirely sure myself, of course, but I can tell you a little about sick rhythms. My name is Den. I make music and a bit of sounds, and I’m dying to share the amazing world we hear with you.

If you think about music in general - dances, rhythms - one of the first things that comes to mind is counting. One-two-three-four, one-two-three-four. That’s 4/4; you know it very well, it’s your friend. You might also count one-two-three, one-two-three. That’s 3/4, also kind of famous, it’s your bro. And, of course, 2/4: just one-two, one-two when you’re trying to get somewhere - step by step. Why am I telling you this? Because it’s important to know your heroes by sight and understand what makes them kin - and what unites all these ways of counting is the downbeat.

The downbeat is the main beat, the first one you count, the one that announces the start of the count. It kicks everything off, and that’s why it’s usually the loudest. It gets the accent. It feels good and right. So when you try counting three times 4/4 or four times 3/4, you can clearly feel the differences, because that first-beat accent lands completely differently. Cool, right? And now that you know a bit more, allow me to introduce you to… 5/4. Trust me, you are not ready for this beast.

If you look at the length of all the spells in the game, you’d think - as I did in the moment - that writing the soundtrack in this time signature makes total sense. Every beat of your drum matching the crazy rhythm you set. But… try counting it. One-two-three-four-five. Feel that? Something… extra, something off, something pulling you back toward 4/4, and that feeling is completely justified. A peculiar meter like 5/4 inherently carries a sense of unease, a shifted balance, a desire to trip you up. It’s a wrong feeling. So how can I soften that sense of chaos with something more familiar, something you know like your friends?

A safe bet is to try counting it as 3/4 + 2/4 or even 2/4 + 3/4. Sounds insane? I think it sounds great. I believe you also think The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959, with their Take Five, sounded very good. You’ve probably heard it. And yes, that’s 5/4. Cool, right? It feels like that music can’t be counted in any other rhythm - you can hear those accents on every fifth beat. This fun little count isn’t used as often as your other friends, but it’s used more often than you think. Try counting your favorite songs; you might be very surprised.

Take Five

But if for some reason you decided to count the music in the game… no, you’re not going crazy, no - 5/4 really isn’t used there. During the game-jam process, this rhythm turned out to be too wild, so between turns we decided to give you a bigger pause to rest and prepare… we gave you 6/4. So why did I tell you all about 5/4? Because I spent a lot of effort and my time writing music in that rhythm, which you will never hear. I wasted time on 5/4 during the jam just like you’re now wasting time reading about it. Not cool, huh?

Also not cool is that 6/4 is an even rarer guest than 5/4. At the very least, because 6/4 and 4/4 can sound awfully similar - a good way to count 6/4 is as 4/4 + 2/4, if you recall that handy trick from 5/4. But what does 6/4 want to tell you with this? After every one-two-three-four, it abruptly and unexpectedly pushes you to take the next step, a quick one-two. Constant motion, constant leaps forward - that’s what sets melodies written in 6/4 apart from 4/4, even though three bars of 4/4 add up to a similar result with 6/4.

And, of course, I’m not The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959 who made Pick Up Sticks and masterfully utilized 6/4 to its fullest. So maybe my 6/4 turned into 4/4 after all - but I’ll blame it on the fact that the menu and shop tracks are actually in 4/4. Still, if you want honest advice should you ever try using 6/4… try counting it differently. Or pull a trick where the melody is in 6/4 while your drums pound away in 4/4. Yes, now you’ll have to re-check whether your favorite songs secretly feature 6/4. Sneaky, isn’t it?

Pick Up Sticks

As a finale, I'll play you an encore at this link - the soundtrack made for the game: your friend 4/4 for the menu and shop, and that very quiet weird classmate 6/4 for climbing to the peak and fighting for it.

P.S. Drop links to your game in comments! I would be glad to play them and listen to your songs!