"Okay, so (it's a) run down place: it's dark, they got awesome glow lights, they've got glow sticks everywhere, there's food - by the way fantastic - and they have posters of all these bands that played there," Kahn recalls of her first impression. "It is a classic band venue, so I am taking it for what it is."

But as of March 31, 2013, Kahn will never again see another rock concert there.

According to local sources, Brian Recher sold the venue to a nightclub owner who plans to turn it into Torrent, a nightclub located in the middle of Towson. Some Towson students were outraged by the idea, while the rest of the community didn't appear to show any interest because they may not have attended the venue's shows.

"I don't know why they would stick that right in the middle of Towson," Kahn said. "It's a college town and kids want to see local bands there. I would rather take a train (back) to D.C. to go to a club."

One student had been to the Recher 15 times since high school, but he said he was fine with the change and there was nothing to be done about it anyway. "I feel like that club will be a positive impact on the town," animal behavior student Andre Nguyen said. "Still, it sucks, but I mean, I'll deal with it. There's nothing much we can do about it, I guess."

Some have shown concern regarding the issue, including Towson student Rachel Harman. Her petition to save the Recher has garnered more than 1,000 signatures, and she plans to send it to Brian Recher when it is time to close the venue.

"One of my friends works there, and he contacted me and said that as soon as the petition is done, he would take it to the owners because he's been battling the owners for months to get them to not change it," she said in an interview with the college campus newspaper, The Towerlight.

However, some people don't feel the need to do anything about it. Former Fools and Horses lead singer Matt Hutchison felt nostalgic about going to the Recher to perform with his band mates back in 2010, but he could see the time coming for the venue to close.

"With new clubs like Baltimore SoundStage and the attractive location of Rams Head Live!, the bands that may have once been drawn to the Recher are looking for the bigger rooms," singer-songwriter Hutchison said. "My guess is that the Recher brothers recognized this and did the most sensible thing by turning the Recher into a nightclub."

Still, Hutchison believes that - one day - the Towson music scene will come back even bigger than before and more people will return to see live bands.

"I'll certainly miss the Recher and the good times I had there, but I'm confident that an entrepreneur will recognize the need for a new music venue in town and make Towson a vibrant place for live music once again," he said. "That's the beauty of it all."

Still, even some non-University students don't appreciate the idea of having another nightclub in Maryland, especially in the middle of a suburban setting. Recher supporter Christina Knox used to go to the venue to see great shows, including one show featuring her younger brother's band, Faces Falling.

"I think it's unfortunate because a lot of kids who are coming of age need to be able to enjoy something like that opportunity that I had when I was younger," Knox said. "There are enough of those (nightclubs) in Baltimore. We need something with character like the Recher had, like it should still have. It's depressing to think about."

Yet, the music scene is slowly evolving from rock bands to DJ's and hip-hop groups, which include popular music stations. Then again, Kahn wants to experience the artistic side of Baltimore for the real scene.

"I see Baltimore as a really good music place," Kahn said. "I would go see theatre and museums, and pretty much go to music venues to see some bands play."

She still remembers the time she went to see Ballyhoo playing at the Recher with the Towson band Stacked Like Pancakes, which was one of the best times she had.

"My first experience was quite a fun experience," Kahn said. "I was looking forward to it because the first time I went there, I'm pretty sure will be the last time I'm going to be there."

Due to some formatting issues last month, the counting for the musical examples did not line up with the music, resulting in this month’s extension of mixed meters: Metallica’s “Blackened.”

The changing meters begin approximately 35 seconds into the song.  A measure of 5/4 begins the metric mayhem.

Ex. 1

The next section of music immediately following this measure is in 7/4.

Ex. 2

This two-measure pattern is repeated twice before it is interrupted by a measure of 15/8, followed by two measures of 4/4.

Ex. 3

This is a complex section of the song, juggling odd meters and switching from quarter note-based meters to eighth note-based meters. Counting this is a bit tricky to do, especially at the song’s blistering tempo. Multi-syllabic numbers like eleven, thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen are extremely difficult to say quickly. Since the eighth notes are grouped in five sets of threes, it’s easier to count the measure in threes.

Ex. 4

1 2     3       2 2      3         3 2       3        4    2       3        5 2      3

It’s a hard song to count along with. Writing out the parts and counting along with the music are surefire ways to build your musical skills. After all, by examining what your favorite music is made of, you begin to understand what all music is made of.

Following up on recent articles about counting and time signatures, this month we will tackle the subject of mixed meters.

Just as the name implies, a mixed meter song is a song that frequently uses two or more time signatures. Musical phrases don’t always fit neatly into a single time signature. The use of mixed meters often creates a sense of rhythmic excitement, breaking the regularity of an established beat.

A perfect example of mixed meter is found in the opening guitar riff to Led Zeppelin’s “The Ocean.” The music occurs over the course of two measures: one measure of 4/4 time and one measure of 7/8 time.

Ex. 1      1   &     2  e   & (3&4&)         1e     2     3   e   4     5    6     e (7) e

A measure of 4/4 can contain eight eighth notes. The use of a 7/8 measure subtracts an eighth note from what we expect to hear: another measure of 4/4! Even after a single measure, our expectation is that the music will continue with metric regularity. The jolting affect disrupts the listener’s metric expectations and is the trademark of mixed meter music.

Another good example of mixed meter music can be found in the verse of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.” In this example, two measures of 4/4 are disrupted by a measure of 5/8.

Ex. 2    1  &     2   &  3   &  4  &           1  &  2  &    3   &  4   &           1   2   3     4      5

Listen to these songs in order to better understand the disruptive quality of mixed meter.  Try to count along with the music. It’s trickier than you think!

Following up on last month’s insights into rhythmic patterns and counting, this month’s content will focus on beat structure and meter. We left off with an analysis of the opening riff to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train.” At the heart of this opening material is a two-measure pattern consisting of eight beats. These beats are grouped into separate four-beat measures.

Ex. 1    | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & | 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & |

Every beat contains two guitar notes. The rhythmic notation of music is based largely on this same 1:2 relationship.

Ex. 2

In theory, any note value can be assigned to the beat. Considering the tempo (the amount of beats that occur within a minute), most musicians would notate the beat as a quarter note. This is an important step in understanding rhythm. Knowing that each beat is a quarter note tells us that the guitar part, which subdivides each quarter note in half, is made up of eighth notes. Also, by choosing the quarter note as the beat, we can now see that each measure is made up of four quarter notes of metric space. In the example below, notice the calm succession of beats in the left panel, and the business of the guitar part in the right panel. This illustrates the rhythmic activity within the same amount of space: a single measure.

Ex. 3

Meter, also known as time signature, tells a musician how much metric space exists between bar-lines. The opening guitar riff to “Crazy Train” would most likely be notated as 4/4. In meter, the top number denotes how many beats are to be counted in a measure.  The bottom number denotes what beat is to be counted.

Ex. 4

Listen to “Crazy Train” from beginning to end while counting along. You will find that the music does not change meter! By understanding how to identify beats, how beats are subdivided, and how to notate musical rhythms, a musician is able to make fantastic insights into the organization and performance of a song or a composition.