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If your on about scales:

harmonic minor (use quite a bit)
phrygian (use that from my metal days)
chromatic
major

keys can only be major or minor, so I guess any key is good.

If your on about specific keys like A, C etc, I tend to stick around D to G minor

There was a thread not so long ago that touched quite significantly this iirc, hth

Found what I think I meant: http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=54823

Edit: maybe not, I'll keep looking. It's still packed with valuable information and tips though!

nowaysj wrote:Okay, found that. That was for summer bangers. I'm gonna set up some of lowpasses scales.

I have to ask, are you being sarcastic? I can't tell so if your not then accept my apologies.

but yeah those scales / modes seem to be pretty dark, try "diminished arpeggios" think thats the one used in midnight request line

Lowpass wrote:If your on about scales:

harmonic minor (use quite a bit)
phrygian (use that from my metal days)
chromatic
major

keys can only be major or minor, so I guess any key is good.

If your on about specific keys like A, C etc, I tend to stick around D to G minor

ever heard of major/minor chords ?

scales doesnt really matter. You need to think in sounds imo.

R wrote:ever heard of major/minor chords ?

scales doesnt really matter. You need to think in sounds imo.

Scales do matter i'm afraid, ie: listen to some Beethoven in a different scale and the feeling/mood/athmosphere of the piece changes COMPLETELY. There's a good reaon why he chose to write something in G and not B, or D etc.

Different notes bring on different emotions/feelings/thoughts in people, same with groups of notes (scales/chords) being like paintings with various colours altering the way you perceive an image (think Warhol's Monroe prints), to dismiss that is borderline retarded imho.

deny somebody's opinion is retarded imho... if somebody wants to dissmiss something, prefer asking why instead of saying its stupid.

R wrote:deny somebody's opinion is retarded imho... if somebody wants to dissmiss something, prefer asking why instead of saying its stupid.

LOL, ok...

Maybe borderline retard was a tad harsh, forgive me?

I know that if something sounds right, it generally is right regardless of what scales/keys and other musical rules tell you, but why in your humble opinion do you think that they don't matter so much? I'm genuinely interested, despite coming across as a bit of a dick (i've been in the pub all day watching the rugby, sorry. Hic!)

well ive been teached that its all about progressions and intervales... it doesn't really matter in what kinda key you in. it's about the distances and jumps you make with your keys.

some keys are just more familiar to the listener/ear, but i don't think thats something that counts with the mood of a certain tune. If you play Hey Jude of the beatles in C... it doesnt have a different mood in B or D. it's because its still the same chord progression.

i always thought d minor was the saddest key.

it's called lick my love pump.

TeReKeTe wrote:i always thought d minor was the saddest key.

it's called lick my love pump.

excellent quote.




and if you want to make it really fucked up atonal's the way to go. Or doin it modally - like, chords that don't relate to each other in a key per-se, but work sequentially. Either way, computers afford you the opportunity to work beyond notes and keys, with sounds and i've found that liberating myself from the concept of keys and scales and focussing on sounds gets much more sinister results.


I spent years having to learn music theory and frankly i think traditional concepts of harmony are the most useless part. especially for computer music. don't worry about keys, learn about sounds.

TeReKeTe wrote:i always thought d minor was the saddest key.

it's called lick my love pump.

nigel tufnel wrote:People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why.

i know shit all about music theory really, but to achieve darkness (which i do in the vast majority of my tracks anyway) i generally stick to phrygian. the root note followed by the one above it make for easy darkness, then if you want to get away from those two notes the root note followed by the 8th one up from that (i think? - c to g sharp) is good too. that's usually where i start anyway.

then theres chromatic, in other words using any notes together (right?), which seems to work well for dark bass, but then if i want to get a melody in i usually end up turning it phrygian...
i kinda get uneasy about using chromatic as i have a weird paranoia where even if i think it sounds good, the fact that there's no proper scale makes me question it.

im kinda asking for my probably wrong preconceptions to be corrected here.