The Music Theory of CBAT (the reddit guy song) 

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"CBAT is a microtonal reharmonization of All I Want for Christmas is You" is the wildest sentence spoken so far this year.

“She recognized the rhythm and asked me to stop.” I have never been so devastated at laughing at a sentence in my life.

Not gonna lie, when Adam said "putting CBAT to the test", I expected a different story than a band concert.

This sounds like a song you’d hear in a horror movie while the characters are going through a psychedelic clown maze

when you said "putting cbat to the test" i thought the video would take a WAYY different turn.

seeing if a sungazer audience can pick up a rhythm and then declaring it "entrainable" has got to be the most egregious case of sample bias i have ever seen

I’d say it’s a little more like an auditory loss.jpg than a rickroll. It’s simple enough to sneak into compositions without sounding out of place, yet distinct enough that you recognize it almost immediately. I honestly hope this meme sticks around the way rickrolls and loss memes have; it has a lot of creative potential.

imagine the feelings of that girlfriend dumping the guy and trying to escape this 2 year nightmare just to encounter later her weekly (or daily) torture have became a popular meme

I don't know if Adam realizes that when he says CBAT will be a rhythmic rickroll, it automatically means that now CBAT's fate is to become a rhythmic rickroll

“She recognized this and asked me to stop.” I had to pause and take off my glasses I laughed so hard.

Can confirm the usage of CBAT as a rhythmic rickroll - my choir director used it as a rhythm exercise during rehearsals at one point and no one realized until it was too late.

7:59 Two months later, audiences going HAM over an overly intense cover of cbat is still as glorious as it is hilarious.

One thing that i think gets overlooked in the whole CBat phenomenon is that I'm almost sure the "annoying synth line" is actually an audio sample, in this case, the sound of a very squeaky door. The reason why that's important is that there's been a history of using a sample of the sound of "squeaking bed springs" in hip hop and trap music, for obvious suggestive intentions. It was first used in Trillville's "Some Cut" and spread throughout the late 2000s hip hop scene, making it all the way to Columbia and even Boyband Kpop. I think whoever was using this song for coitus was probably taking a cue from those tracks that used the rhythmic squeak of bedsprings to drive their beats and their sex appeal, but didn't consider that CBat's sample is less like an old bed getting a raunchy workout, and more like a clown falling down an up escalator.

oh my god adam actually did it

I am 100% convinced that the "synth" sound is actually a sample of a door creaking.

Hearing CBAT get mangled into the lick sent me into a state of shock, like I got my soul forcibly yanked out of my body

That mixture of CBAT and The Lick caught me off-guard, I laughed way harder than normal

"Nothing to get you more in the mood than the screams of an infant" - Those are some metal lyrics

I saw Hudson Mohawk back in 2011 at a local fest in Detroit. Can confirm before this song was a meme it functioned very well on the dancefloor. I was a huge hudmo fan in late junior high and highschool and I never expected the rest of the world to discover his music via a meme shitting on the rhythm or microtonality of the wonky synth...

As a longtime fan of Hudson Mowhawke, I'm super glad this song is getting the meme recognition it absolutely deserves

Adam Neely Drinking Game: take a shot every time Balkan rhythms are mentioned

Note: The Sungazer audience wasn't headbanging to the rhythm of the melody... They moved to the beat.

Didn't expect this to be the video that taught me that the disorder affecting my vestibular system might also be the reason I'm so incredibly bad at recognizing rhythms.

Funny thing about this tune. Back when this first came out I was touring in Europe with an artist named Jose James. There were some incredible players in the band Brad Allen Williams, Kris Bowers and Richard Spaven, Spaven is from London and deep in the electronic music scene there as well as being an amazing drummer so he introduced this song to us. We thought it was the craziest shit ever, cause it was. The lead synth line is such an odd juxtaposition over a beat that is minimal and quiet but yet it goes SO HARD! Being the jazz musicians we are it instantly became a meme/lick amongst the band, we’d throw it into solos, intros, wherever and have a good time with our injoke. This was probably back in 2013 or 2014. I think you’re right about people playing it in performances and I wonder how it will feel when it happens because it’s not a tiny niche thing anymore. P.S. I have definitely had this song on while being…intimate and it totally works for a certain vibe. I don’t think anyone that’s having sex to music is using the melody to sync up to (at least they probably shouldn’t be) it’s all about the beat! That beat is dope and can definitely inspire some good times. I’ve seen it!

Adam will stop at nothing to explain the music theory of everything - long may it continue.

Has a youtube notification ever made you audibly shout "NO"?

10:22 i played that line in my head and instantly broke out in laughter and also uncontrollable crying and possibly a manic episode

9:04 i actually want full cover like this, sounds so good

Adam: Music that we find pleasant is generally easier to entrain to Adam's band: *performs music in weird time signatures and complex tuplet structures*

The saxophone is such a good choice for the cbat melody

watching my friend lose his shit at the Detroit show at 8:16 is easily as entertaining from the stage perspective as it was from next to him. thank you for putting this up, lol

I want a full version of that orchestral rendition of cbat at 7:26

The fact that it actually sounded good in the jazz form ,makes this even better in all ways possible

What's to add to saying it's "just a trap song" is that for the time being, Hudson Mohawkes work for electronic trap was laying a foundation for the popularity of a trap sound in popular culture. In 2011, that was totally unheard of and a kind of underground sound. His breakthrough as a producer was next years "TNGHT" project together with Lunice, which in turn wrecked dancefloors and festivals for the coming years

It's actually kind of a catchy track. The "lead" is kinda harsh but it's a novelty. You're not really going to understand why it's popular listening on headphones though, you kind of have to hear it coming out of a club soundsystem or at least a frathouse's old beat-up PA. This sounds eyeroll-worthy but it's one of those tracks where if you don't have good bass drivers you literally lose an entire instrument. At a party the bass is dominating so much that the lead is almost an afterthought. It's wild that the whole internet thinks this song is objectively terrible because when I was in college shortly after it came out, it was SO overplayed at parties it annoyed the fuck out of me, but other people ate it up.

you gotta respect the cbat guy for being cultured enough to know who hudson mohawke is

My god, cbat pitch manipulated into the melody of the lick killed me

honestly the griminess of the microtonal melody and the "annoying" synth texture, paired against that simple rhythm just makes it go harder imo. also brian gave me a fistbump from the stage before the cbat part which was awesome >:D

9:56 that's the most genuine apology ive ever heard in my life, and the lick killed me

the piano wedding version of cbat sounds like a wedding song they’d play in the sims

Hudson Mohawke is an absolute legend, especially here in Glasgow. He's a huge reason why hyperpop became a thing in my opinion. He was playing with taste in electronic music a good few years before a lot of others were. On babies babbling ( 1.40 ) he and Lunice even used samples like that in their TNGHT project.

Adam always fails to disappoint.

6:42 thanks for the representativeness 💙 not just this in this scene, but in all other videos you've used

This is wonderful. I remember hearing CBAT ~10 years ago and its the type of song that really sticks with you even if you don't particularly like it. Great meme.

As someone who is completely out of the loop, I read the title and wondered why Adam chose to analyze an entire Steely Dan album.

I just noticed how the clapping hand syncs with the 5/8 background music, when Adam is talking about non-isochronal pulses, and i just love that detail so much

9:27 Can’t wait to hear megalovania and cbat in the same song…

10:29 hit me in the face so hard I almost had a panic attack

The other day when Adam tweeted about this, one of my kids saw over my shoulder and asked if I knew about it. I did not. Adam is now partly responsible for the most awkward conversation I've had with any of my children in quite some time, and in this family that's saying something. EDIT: okay, also? I have no formal music theory training, but I dance West Coast Swing and occasionally DJ for said dance and therefore spend considerable brain power thinking about beat and rhythm. So I appreciate the brief discussion of that- I haven't been able to find a lot of good content about music theory for dancing, especially as it relates to specific dances and popular music.

I’m around 6:28 and I’m curious if music therapists ever have people with dyspraxia practice rhythm and music, I am autistic and I have noticed that over the past few years my coordination has been getting significantly better, this has also lined up with when i really started delving into playing music.

Absolutely cannot get enough of the Sungazer CBAT rework. You're so so right - arrangement is everything. I just can't stop listening to it.

The video I didn't ask for, didn't expect, and yet can't stop watching. Lol. Well done.

As someone who likes Hudson Mohawke but has literally never heard of this meme, this was fascinating.

I saw you and Sungazer in Atlanta where I live 2 Sundays ago and it was exactly how I pictured it. Following you for a while now, I have seen videos of Sungazer shows you post here so I knew what to expect and everything went off without a hitch. The same songs are in a similar order. It was great. Now as far as the CBAT solo in the set, I agree with you 100%. To each his own. Until you released this video I thought it was just the Saxophonist and you guys having fun as you should on stage for yourself and your audience. But now that I see this video, as a fellow Musician, Bass Player (not a professional like you, but still), who is always learning new techniques and new instruments as I can, and who knows Music Theory from Studying it with my teachers (I don't have a Bachelor or Masters like you do), I love how you take something and break it down. How you choose what to break down is another story, but maybe between my day job and everything else, I don't make the time to be up on the latest Musical stuff like you are LOL. Conclusion: The Brain works in mysterious ways. Just like a Painting realistic or abstract, the artist may have had something in mind when writing a song, hell, in this case, CBAT could be one day fooling around and saying to himself "Yo this sounds dope". Henceforth this song was born. Now I wasn't there so I have no idea, but what I like to call "The Dope Effect" is a non-technical musical term I use to describe something that makes your body move; as far as this song, not that I listen to it, but if played in a context like you guys did when I saw you or on the Radio, will I change the channel or cover my ears LOL. Nope. I'll move to it just like everybody else probably somehow. But that doesn't mean if this song comes on while I am intimate with someone else, I'll stop the motion I am doing to match this beat, LOL. You can match a beat to anything. Some sound better than others, or you can change a song to match a specific rhythm, and it may sound good, it may sound goofy, or it may just make sense. In the end, it's all about perception. What we perceive. The person who did the video that inspired everything here could have been just being silly, having fun, or could have been very serious. What do we know? Until we can interview and ask that person, it's what we perceive that counts. Great video and experiment as all of yours are. Keep them coming. This coming (as clenches as it sounds), someone you influence. LOL

I'm so proud to have been part of such an important work of scientific research in Atlanta. Great show then, and great video now!

This wasn’t how I expected HudMo to get popular, but I’m glad it happened

I can’t quite describe how bizarre it was to see the guy selling merch in the front appear up on stage, apropos of nothing, to play this in the middle of another song. Totally hilarious (the whole show was a riot), but utterly surreal. I’ve never been more on-my-toes at a show in my life!

As someone who doesn't know jack about music, the first minute of his theory segment explained shit so coherently that i had to hit sub

I like this kind of format, it’s just so different since it’s more of a joke turned viral, but still very interesting how you broke it down. Plus I very appreciate the background info on it !

I hate that i looked up the song, and just so happened to find this video after also trying to find this channel again for a couple years. Thank you CBAT

As some others have said, I think a lot of why it feels awkward is because it's a syncopated rhythm without a super steady beat to keep it grounded. The rhythm in itself doesn't seem that bad but when it almost feels right but isn't it's weird.

i really hope that cbat will have it's place among the greatest musical memes of all time and in 10 years, i will just randomly be referenced in something i'm listening to, and all my memories of the 2020's will come flooding back

are we brushing over 1:43????

having jared yee come out on stage just to play cbat for 20 seconds in the middle of "drunk" and then leave was one of the most hype and yet most disorienting event to have happen in my life also thanks for coming to the exit/in in nashville it was a blast :)

Why does nobody talk about how the synth is a sample of a squeaky door hinge

By releasing this video you've perhaps kept it more alive by inspiring more musician's to throw this lick in as many stupid places as they can, I say fantastic.

This video is already on the national registry of culturally and historically significant films.

Adam pls, release a full version of your live CBAT cover, it actually slaps

I've always been interested in music theory, and low and behold, this is the first video I've ever seen from you. Subscribed

this video is goddamn incredible. I have a feeling I'm going to be bingewatching this channel. I am so glad I found this

YOOOOO IM THE GUY AT 8:57 WITH HIS HAHDS UP AND THE GOOFIEST SMILE EVER HAHAHA I can die happy

Adam breaking down the music theory of love making. I didn't have this in my bingo card.

Thank you so much, you finally got the freaking song out of my freaking head.

dude. so smart. talk about how rhythms interact with body mechanics. but focus on sexy time music as a way of doing that. gold. funny approach. kudos. love you show.

That Cbat lick will haunt me forever

it takes a master to explain a masterpiece

YES IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS VIDEO TO EVENTUALLY ARRIVE ❤

thanks for this, I watched this video and now my recommendations are filled with CBAT!

The more I hear Cbat the more I start thinking it actually goes hard lowkey

Oh shit I made it into an Adam Neely vid! I arranged the bit at 7:16 and having watched this now...my brain really struggled to hear this melody where it technically falls. It's autocorrecting that F to an E. I played back what I wrote so many times and was like...."yeah I think that's an E. Or an F. Or somewhere in between." The melody is just weird and quirky as fuck and my brain can't handle it.

This video is so good i will keep rewatching it for the rest of my life and it lives in my head rent free and i give it a little kiss on the forehead

When I here people use a snare drum build up for songs, I immediately think that Cbat is about to play. It’s not that every song has the same build up, but there is a certain snare sound that Cbat uses that many other pieces use as well. I honestly agree that it will probably become a rick-roll/megolovania/all-I-want-for-Christmas-is-you-kind of meme, and honestly I am all here for it cause it is hilarious.

Some friends were talking about this song earlier today and I had no clue what they were talking about so they started to explain it. When the musical one of the two started to explain the specifics of the song, I immediately thought of your videos and how they probably got that from one of your videos since they’re a fan. And wouldn’t you know it, this pops up in my recommended. Thank you Adam for influencing my friend’s conversations, it makes for some weird conversations for sure

Being someone completely out-of-the-loop when it comes to modern internet culture (TikTok), I thought you were going to talk about Steely Dan's 1st album Can't Buy A Thrill. But this... This is a powerful tool.

That clip of two guys dancing together at 6:42 was so sweet and intimate!

Thank you for making the illustrations to this video inclusive.

gotta respect the guy for putting his playlist on a cd

Never heard of it before but I can attest that Cbat is brutally catchy.

The fact that you were able to turn this insanity into legit learning proves just how special your talents are, sir. 🤘

I was just waiting for you to make this

How convenient, I heard of CBAT for the first time only a few hours ago Just when I thought Adam would never dare get more innuendal... innuendic? Innuendous? Innuendoal? Anyway, I never thought he'd touch on more suggestive content than his 6/9 chords vid. Man... Adam's headbanging game is strooong

PART III: Putting it to the test idk Adam did you really put it to the test tho🤔

Absolutely fantastic and hilarious to watch you talk about this in all seriousness, just adds to the surreality of the whole thing in the best way 😂

An excellent apologetic explanation before launching into the "This is the music theory of CBAT"

At 5:22 and forward, you are making a very strong case for drummers!

8:00 I'm sorry, but is that a Nu Metal rendition of cbat with a saxophone lead????

This was one of your funniest videos to date. Thanks Mr. Neely

the perfect thrust pattern might actually exist in a perfect mix of both the beats and the synth. I feel like perhaps the rhythm that is being thrusted to is almost a quarter note triplet / dotted quarter note groove. When you are having sex you have to account for the variables that might make it hard to land the thrust right on every quarter note like an overly soft bed or thrust fatigue. The off kilter synth sequence has key notes that the rest of it kind of leads into with a lazy falling tone and rhythm. Also, Depending on where you start from there are multiple rhythms to choose from that feel natural for simple back and forth thrusting that might include speeding up (some dotted 8th note groves) and the aforementioned slow feel of quarter or dotted quarter note. Besides those two slightly more abstract ways of thrusting, the song is in 4/4 with an easy to find downbeat. Not only is the down beat clear it has bass drum hits and some 808 tom hits(?) that can account for the forward thrust and the backward thrust at different points following a bit of a dotted 8th note rhythm. It honestly makes sense. I don't know why people think that the person in question is thrusting to every note of the synth line.. People have always grooved in steady time to the beat driven rhythm of music with a wide array of voices and melodies on top. I don't know all the technical terms very well but I know that my body knows how to feel this track in a rhythm that lends itself alright to tappin dat ass.

hey so just for context, "Cbat" has been a punchline in jokes in the DJ/dance music circles since it was released. the Reddit troll post (it is a troll post) was the first time our little meme went viral outside of our tiny niche. i'm happy to see more people interacting with it :)