No you don't understand compound time signatures. For one you do count all 9 numbers in a 9/8 T.S. They just don't get a beat, they are a division but you must count them or you don't get a 9/8 feel. I don't get where and who told you to leave those numbers out. If so there is no clear dinstinct between 9/8 and 3/4 (in both your only clapping 3 beats), which is where this confusion lies. And why I keep trying to explain to you the difference, because it is impossible to continue other wise. BTW 6/4 is a compound time signature, 2 dotted half note beats. So is 12/16 which is two dotted eighth note beats.

Like I said the quarter note divided into a triplet is a bad way to look at compound time signatures. And where does the tempo fit into this. It's 3/8 because the feel of the entire song is Da-da-da (better yet Da-ta-ta, maybe that's where the confusion lies) 3/8. Not DA-DA-DA which is characteristic to 3/4. That's how I see it, if you want to argue that two and three have a pulse. I don't hear it. Yes, there are some drums and sometimes chords fall on those (divided)beats, but ONE, to me, is the only clear beat.

Do you understand why I say it's 3/8. It's not because of which notes I chose to represent a beat or the tempo or pace of the song. It's the "PULSE-ta-ta PULSE-ta-ta" feel the song has.

Ceize to think of the tempo in determining whether a tune is in 3/4 or 9/8. Some composers do this but then you have to kick them around a bit before they stop asking well, "why do some people write 3/2 instead of 3/4, blah, blah, blah?" Just because there's 3 beats doesn't mean you get a nice choice of which T.S. to use, and they all mean the same thing. Some do think, if it's faster use 3/4, if it's slower use 9/8 or whatever. They don't get it.