As a creepy heavy metal composer I can tell you that musical gold pours out of your mouth, man. You put into words many things we do subconsciously in an attempt to achieve eery sounds. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work, this channel has a bright future ahead of it.
Thanks so much, I'm really glad you're digging it! Plenty more to come -I've been recording more so I'm having less time to make videos, but I'll get one out at least once a week!
@@Michael-cm5kb Most songs on Hellbilly Deluxe and even White Zombie are C or C-sharp. Superbeast being C#. If you tune your guitar drop-C and play around from there, only the solos in rob zombie songs are ever difficult.
It’s the forgotten chord! So effective!! They always seem to use the other five (M7, m7, Dom7, Dim7, HalfDim7) seventh chord variations... the dissonant harmony you speak of is my absolute favorite though!! 😈
this was a fire recommendation. I've been trying to get sort of Dune-like brassy sting last couple days... this let me get right where I needed the sound to be. Very nice.
While writing a video game score for an indie game I’m working on, I used a lot of these. I really like the bends. Especially on violin. In one song that’s ambient for hell has a part where everything sustains, but the violin bends up during the melody, and it sounds awesome. I also had a part in the same song where the chords go down all minors chromatically.
1:39 when a really loud car drives past your house at night and you cant sleep 2:02 when a racecar starts accelerating in a race 2:20 when you're in a choir class and you really wanna use the bathroom so you have to pitch up your voice 3:50 another one when you really wanna pee 4:55 when you've stayed in a ghost house for too long and you really wanna leave 5:03 when you don't know what's happening and you wanna turn around to look at the back 5:08 something else appeared but you still don't know what it is
Thank you for these videos! It's hard to find videos where people explain HOW to use theory to achieve the sounds you want. But that is exactly what your whole channel is about. Love it. Keep it up!
sir, I discovered your channel only a few days ago and i've been watching your content ever since. i've been messing around with synthesizers, samplers and electric bass since the late 80s, - just a personal interest sparked off by clubbing and certain substances, - and just felt obliged to say, Thank You, one can only learn so much from books and your videos contain really refreshing, and exciting ideas... the affable presentation is also greatly appreciated. ~easily the best music theory channel on youtube, imo~
The always go dark and creepy when I compose in Hungarian minor, also called Double Harmonic minor or Gypsy minor, has a lot of these tricks inbuilt - it is ironically a perfectly balanced scale, but feels kind of off to our western ears. To me it feels like it is at the cusp of being harmonic - if tracks get too busy with this scale they start to fall apart, so you need to be careful.
Hi, your video lessons are funny, witty and entertaining. You come directly to the point without leaving out to inform the watcher about why and how these techniques are functioning. That´s great for me as a hobbyist sound designer / field recordist, piano player and synth patcher :) I subscribed your channel. Thank you.
binging your channel right now, it's amazing how you translate theory into actual music and feeling, making it so much more relatable. i was looking for something like this for years. keep it up and you should set up a patreon or something similar.
Joseph Schillinger was one of the first to cover harmonization of different scales and in different ways. The idea of building the same type of chord on each scale degree shows up in Schillinger's System of Musical Composition, as diatonic-symmetric (Chapter 4 of Book 5).
I love your videos. There is not many videos on UA-cam explaining chords and their emotions and connecting them with theory as intuitively and passionately as yourself. I usually never care about subscribing, but you sir I’m following straight away. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tis the season to be SPOOKY Ah, yes. The absolute best way to start a video: Start off with Christmas carols then transition to Halloween horror. You're a legend man, A LEGEND!!
Just discovered your channel a few days ago, been making beats for years but have been avoiding the music stuff. Been learning a lot from you, thanks - I appreciate it. Your breakdown of Big Bang Theory is perfect.
2:21 there's a way to have the volume of one track fade in and the other track fade out to create a loop that seems like it ascends or descends infinitely.
Wow man! You have one of the best channels on UA-cam. Thanks for explaining so much with fun examples. Your videos are fun. Thanks for what you are doing 🙏🏽
I composer a horror game soundtrack for some friends. I think what helped me develop an understanding for spooky music was sitting at a synth for hours at a time and just "finding" notes.
Locrian mode is a creepy mode, as well as (interestingly) the Arabian major (double harmonic major) scale due to it's augmented triads and the additional lowered second degree upon the resolve. Playing the scale without the triads makes for a creepy scale. Phrygian mode is also good for it, though I tend to think it has more of a sad sound as opposed to a creepy sound. In addition to the rising tones, there's also a technique called the Shepherd tone, which is where there are three notes playing an ascending scale, the one on top gradually fades out, while the lower note gradually increases in volume, but the middle stays the same volume, and then repeating that process, creating this sensation of the scale rising without getting anywhere, like a barber's pole of sound. Doing it in reverse is also creepy, too!
That EF is what always scares musicians when they check their account to see if they can afford a new pedal, Exhausted Funds...EF, EF, EFEFEFEFEFEFE Listen to the pitch bends in the old Unsolved Mysteries theme (before they modified it), really spooky
This is the second video I'm watching on ths channel. Thought it was a pretty coolchannel. Then I saw you use Reason... Subscribed!! (Oh yeah spook is an important element in my music so obviously I love this vid)
What a mindblowing and masterfully prepared summary! Super useful. Thanks very much! Your voice and talk is very nice to listen to. Very solid. I like this style of videos very much. Subbed af! Looking forward to watch and learn more. The "Not resolve" technique blew my mind, I see this is also effective in other aspects of the art form, writing, character design...
At 2:20 - I was also thinking of how strings will simultaneously glissando in opposite directions, and how this seems to go so well with the visual effect of the track-and-zoom, probably going back to Hitchcock.
We can add use of monotonic synth layer, use of detuned instruments/note changing effects as vibrato, use of unoptimal mastering/mixing technics. Could be good tu use special effects, as vinyl cracks, wind ... too ! Edit ; and don't forget about spacialization when mixing !
My most violent track is made using only 3notes, a minor second and a tritone XD then later I introduced the minor third ; I used pitch automation also :p awesome tricks thank you :)
As usual an excellent video. For me the scariest thing I have ever heard is the violin section in the 1979 film "Salem's Lot" when the vampires appear at the window. I'm no musical expert but I think the composer uses some chromatic scales there - really really creepy !
Testament guitarist’s (Eric Peterson & Alex Skolnick) do an amazing job of creating that eerie sound..songs like “Musical death a’dirge”-live at the Fillmore or the intro to “eerie inhabitants”
Try playing the 4th string D mino chord, then with your ring finger move it up a string. Then pedal between the ring and second finger. Its a variant of the dim chord but you're kind using the suspended chord concept. You dont get a creepy vibe, but a demonic evil one.
Listen to the 2018 Halloween and it's sequel Halloween kills soundtrack, prime example, not just the theme, but how the same motif can sound different.
Wait, are you wearing vampire teeth? OR ARE YOU A VAMPIRE?! Or I guess the great production value and the spookiness of the music are affecting my subconscious. I guess... or is it?
I love to mix minor, minor major 7th, augmented and dimnished when doing a "macabre" jam.....but I think it sounds more "sinister and villany" than spooky....but great vid! Kudos
I work the other way, play love song music to the capture of someone being hacked up or play cartoon wacky clown sounds and slow it down when it gets to the scary bit, resolve it and speed it up; like you say the feeling of unease. Good examples - Stuck in the Middle (Steeler's Wheel) on the soundtrack for Reservoir Dogs when a guy is about to get tortured.
Personally, my favourite 'shock chord' is from P.D.Q. Bach's Cantata 'Iphigenia in Brooklyn'. Hear it here.....ua-cam.com/video/nLvCVRuZZgY/v-deo.html and scroll to around 8’20”. Alternatively, listen to the whole Cantata if you're a big fan of P.D.Q. Considering it was probably written in the late 17th cent., it is truly a remarkable piece of writing; particularly the shock chord I mentioned previously.....Enjoy. Fibally, don't forget, the whole of 'An Evening with P.D.Q. Bach is also available on here and well worth a listen! Replies welcome!!
Very nice and accurate video but the diminished chords going up or down yeah they sound creepy but they are used in jazz all the time too and there because of the context of course they dont sound the same. Or the plucked violins, creepy yeah but you hear those stuff in a comedy movie too. So to make a suggestion, the context you are playing these over is equally important and should be mentioned too! Great video whatsoever!
The diminished 7ths are designed to sound restless, and the lack of restlessness is what makes things spooky ... It's all a matter of context. Years back, I discovered the trick of raising them by minor 3rds, and would like to add that at some point you can switch over to shifting by minor 2nds (i.e., Adim7, Cdim7, Ebdim7, Gbdim7, Adim7, then Bbdim7, Bdim7, etc). A "resolution that does not really resolve" is a dominant 7th chord. Eerie feeling, easy to do on the top 4 strings of a guitar in standard tuning.
Fanis H, yes, that's a good point and very true. However, the context of this tutorial is of composers who use this, we must assume, for movies that have are set up to scare you, as in Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm st. Point being, nobody who sees Jason with an axe ready to chop you up is going to interpret diminished chords as jazz, or plucked violins as comedy, as the context is clearly that of being scary, not comedy or jazz concert. Look at his background, the dark gloomy trees makes it rather unambiguous, don't you think? And yes, it's a great, even fantastic video, very professional!
Many people just mistake more advanced and complex music for being "spooky". The tritone is only a simple example. There lays some divine beauty in it when composing considerately (Johann Sebastian Bach, for instance, uses it everywhere).
i know this is late, but if you see this, use the following: minor scales (e minor for example) minor chords. top note should NOT be in the lowest note's key. for example, a chord with the lowest note being C and the top note being literally anything with an accidental, or the lowest note being d and the top note being g sharp slow tempo to faster tempo throughout the song, or just use faster notes, like going from a quarter note pattern to an eighth note pattern for darker music, use minor chords and a lot of lower register instruments for halloween and holiday-ish music, use quick, jumpy beats but in a minor chord to make it spooky use a low note that goes up and down in minor seconds that plays throughout the song that harmonizes well on the starting beat/count of each measure
I'm writing a concept album about gothic tales. I want to give it a bitter sweet,spooky but with a happy edge. I tried using mixolydian but it sounded more like green day than a metal-fied Beethoven with a slight emotional lift.
Ah I was hoping you'd mention the Augmented major chord (especially considering you use it at 0:03). I'm not sure if thats the correct name for it but I've always found it to sound even more unsettling than diminished chords.
![Musical Drones and Pedal Tones [Theory and Songwriting]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/5E4Nsa6RL9I/mqdefault.jpg)
As a creepy heavy metal composer I can tell you that musical gold pours out of your mouth, man. You put into words many things we do subconsciously in an attempt to achieve eery sounds. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work, this channel has a bright future ahead of it.
Thanks so much, I'm really glad you're digging it! Plenty more to come -I've been recording more so I'm having less time to make videos, but I'll get one out at least once a week!
ricardo fusco. Do you know what scales the guy in white zombie uses? their music is the best.
Hey man follow your dreams!!! I hope you get fucking HUGE, just rock on my brotha!!!!!
@@Michael-cm5kb Most songs on Hellbilly Deluxe and even White Zombie are C or C-sharp. Superbeast being C#. If you tune your guitar drop-C and play around from there, only the solos in rob zombie songs are ever difficult.
I need to hear some of your music, I bet it sounds sick
TRITONES!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Metalhorse Whole tone Scale also
m6
It seems the closer two keys are on a keyboard, the less they sound like they actually fit together.
Devils work
Burn in the stake
Other creepy instruments are the organ and the double bass. Possibly the bass clarinet
Contrabass clarinet can be terrifying 😳
Octobass
I don't know if it's used in horror movies but MinMaj7 is a spooky unease chord.
Fantastic!
It’s the forgotten chord! So effective!! They always seem to use the other five
(M7, m7, Dom7, Dim7, HalfDim7) seventh chord variations... the dissonant harmony you speak of is my absolute favorite though!! 😈
this was a fire recommendation. I've been trying to get sort of Dune-like brassy sting last couple days... this let me get right where I needed the sound to be. Very nice.
While writing a video game score for an indie game I’m working on, I used a lot of these. I really like the bends. Especially on violin. In one song that’s ambient for hell has a part where everything sustains, but the violin bends up during the melody, and it sounds awesome. I also had a part in the same song where the chords go down all minors chromatically.
did you finish it?
His voice is so calming.
I also find it a pleasure to listen to for some reason.
1:39 when a really loud car drives past your house at night and you cant sleep
2:02 when a racecar starts accelerating in a race
2:20 when you're in a choir class and you really wanna use the bathroom so you have to pitch up your voice
3:50 another one when you really wanna pee
4:55 when you've stayed in a ghost house for too long and you really wanna leave
5:03 when you don't know what's happening and you wanna turn around to look at the back
5:08 something else appeared but you still don't know what it is
I’ve got another creepy instrument: violin bow on the edge of a suspended cymbal.
Have you heard of the Waterphone?
we out here playing the fork on the chalkboard
Whole tone scale is another good one
I actually wanted to write a Halloween song and this is so interesting! Great job
I have just discovered your channel. I am 3 videos in and I am immediately hooked. Very interesting compositional ideas!
The waterphone is a great example of a creepy instrument. Or the sound of dropping a rock or wrench down a very long metal shaft
or the mauhler hammer
I have a long metal shaft
Thank you for these videos! It's hard to find videos where people explain HOW to use theory to achieve the sounds you want. But that is exactly what your whole channel is about. Love it. Keep it up!
Low pitch notes (sounds), minor 2nd's, tritones (b4), chromatic ascends/descends, note clusters, chords like mM7's, Maj7+5,
sus chords, min6's, diminished chords, augmented chords, polychords one semitone apart (examples: C/Db, Ebm/D)
sir, I discovered your channel only a few days ago and i've been watching your content ever since. i've been messing around with synthesizers, samplers and electric bass since the late 80s, - just a personal interest sparked off by clubbing and certain substances, - and just felt obliged to say, Thank You, one can only learn so much from books and your videos contain really refreshing, and exciting ideas... the affable presentation is also greatly appreciated.
~easily the best music theory channel on youtube, imo~
This is great; packed with information and not a wasted word. Excellent teacher.
The always go dark and creepy when I compose in Hungarian minor, also called Double Harmonic minor or Gypsy minor, has a lot of these tricks inbuilt - it is ironically a perfectly balanced scale, but feels kind of off to our western ears. To me it feels like it is at the cusp of being harmonic - if tracks get too busy with this scale they start to fall apart, so you need to be careful.
Hi,
your video lessons are funny, witty and entertaining. You come directly to the point without leaving out to inform the watcher about why and how these techniques are functioning. That´s great for me as a hobbyist sound designer / field recordist, piano player and synth patcher :)
I subscribed your channel. Thank you.
alternatively, this video could be called death metal music theory
I can agree as a death metal fan Dax but you could use spooky aspects
There is a Band called "Dance Club Massacre" which utilizes the method of unrelated minor Chords quite often to get a Halloween-ish sound
No it couldn't because deathmetal is fucking stupid music and you can like scary music and still hate metal
@@michaeldejong2700 The fact that you don't like it doesn't make it stupid music lmao. Go and play deathmetal drums, I challenge you
binging your channel right now, it's amazing how you translate theory into actual music and feeling, making it so much more relatable. i was looking for something like this for years. keep it up and you should set up a patreon or something similar.
Your videos keep getting better
this channel is pure goold.
So the U.M.C. idea is basically the God chord idea, but minor instead of major. Interesting.
Precisely!
Joseph Schillinger was one of the first to cover harmonization of different scales and in different ways. The idea of building the same type of chord on each scale degree shows up in Schillinger's System of Musical Composition, as diatonic-symmetric (Chapter 4 of Book 5).
2:02 makes me think of the Joker's theme in The Dark Knight.
I love your videos. There is not many videos on UA-cam explaining chords and their emotions and connecting them with theory as intuitively and passionately as yourself. I usually never care about subscribing, but you sir I’m following straight away. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Great video!!! Very entertaining!
You really take the mystery out of things.....
Thanks, you rock!
Tis the season to be SPOOKY
Ah, yes. The absolute best way to start a video: Start off with Christmas carols then transition to Halloween horror.
You're a legend man, A LEGEND!!
1:22 that's B - C, not E -F
That pitch bending reminds me of the joker's theme from The Dark Knight.
From D to C, it's an Easter egg
This is a very comprehensive and concise video on the subject! Amazing to see how much ground you covered in such a short duration
Subscribed. That was incredibly helpful. Thank you!
Those rising (and then falling) diminished chords are so effective in Moonlight Sonata.
This is an awesome video, very educational and fun to watch! Thanks!
Just discovered your channel a few days ago, been making beats for years but have been avoiding the music stuff. Been learning a lot from you, thanks - I appreciate it. Your breakdown of Big Bang Theory is perfect.
"Watching the Big Bang Theory with no laugh track reveals the fact that it's completely soulless and has no humor at all."
4:13 piano man and the analogy of love making
2:21 there's a way to have the volume of one track fade in and the other track fade out to create a loop that seems like it ascends or descends infinitely.
Wow man! You have one of the best channels on UA-cam. Thanks for explaining so much with fun examples. Your videos are fun. Thanks for what you are doing 🙏🏽
Pure gold.
I composer a horror game soundtrack for some friends. I think what helped me develop an understanding for spooky music was sitting at a synth for hours at a time and just "finding" notes.
Best channel so far with music theory,everything explained well and easy to understand,mant thanks , keep working!!!
Pitch bends are terrifying
Studying for a music comp project for school and this was perfect! This will definitely help me make the spooky song they want me to
This is why I became a music composer for movies, and television. I love composing different sounds, and cinematic music.
That pitch bend is something I recon was used for the Goa'uld theme in Stargate SG-1, you know that "muee-uh, mueee-uh" type sound.
Locrian mode is a creepy mode, as well as (interestingly) the Arabian major (double harmonic major) scale due to it's augmented triads and the additional lowered second degree upon the resolve. Playing the scale without the triads makes for a creepy scale. Phrygian mode is also good for it, though I tend to think it has more of a sad sound as opposed to a creepy sound. In addition to the rising tones, there's also a technique called the Shepherd tone, which is where there are three notes playing an ascending scale, the one on top gradually fades out, while the lower note gradually increases in volume, but the middle stays the same volume, and then repeating that process, creating this sensation of the scale rising without getting anywhere, like a barber's pole of sound. Doing it in reverse is also creepy, too!
That EF is what always scares musicians when they check their account to see if they can afford a new pedal, Exhausted Funds...EF, EF, EFEFEFEFEFEFE
Listen to the pitch bends in the old Unsolved Mysteries theme (before they modified it), really spooky
Thanks for sharing this with us! AMAZING VIDEO. Exactly what I was looking for!
That was awesome I really like the part with the guitar and music sounded really nice and really creepy
Great channel. Thank you.
This is the second video I'm watching on ths channel. Thought it was a pretty coolchannel. Then I saw you use Reason... Subscribed!!
(Oh yeah spook is an important element in my music so obviously I love this vid)
dude your channel is amazing. Thanks for the content.
3:00 sounds just like something from final fantasy 7! I don't know if that was intentional or not but it brought it up in my mind
GREAT TUTORIAL!!!!
What a mindblowing and masterfully prepared summary! Super useful. Thanks very much! Your voice and talk is very nice to listen to. Very solid. I like this style of videos very much. Subbed af! Looking forward to watch and learn more. The "Not resolve" technique blew my mind, I see this is also effective in other aspects of the art form, writing, character design...
Chromatic Mediants is an interesting concept to use.
Thanks a lot for sharing these two magic words, chromatic mediants was exactly what I was missing in my life !
At 2:20 - I was also thinking of how strings will simultaneously glissando in opposite directions, and how this seems to go so well with the visual effect of the track-and-zoom, probably going back to Hitchcock.
THANK YOU!!!!
Perfect for a Halloween Role-Playing Games
We can add use of monotonic synth layer, use of detuned instruments/note changing effects as vibrato, use of unoptimal mastering/mixing technics.
Could be good tu use special effects, as vinyl cracks, wind ... too !
Edit ; and don't forget about spacialization when mixing !
My most violent track is made using only 3notes, a minor second and a tritone XD then later I introduced the minor third ; I used pitch automation also :p awesome tricks thank you :)
Hans Zimmer does this thing with Shepard tones that makes the music sound as if is ascending infinitely. He's fantastic at spooky and mood
0:05 your ambient music reminds me of the old computer game The 7th Guest. Great video, really fun to watch!
2:20 dude this gonna help me so much with my Deathstep
This has become my favorite guitar instruction channel
Haha, I really like the sly digs that Jake throws at things from time to time (this time the Big Bang theory)
As usual an excellent video. For me the scariest thing I have ever heard is the violin section in the 1979 film "Salem's Lot" when the vampires appear at the window. I'm no musical expert but I think the composer uses some chromatic scales there - really really creepy !
Love that zinger about big bang theory
This guy is on some next level teacher skills, very talented musician and very entertaining
Just a small correction on 3:16. The chords actually do have a relation to each other, by following a descending chromatic sequence (harmony theory).
This channel has been a godsend to me. Thank you so much. :)
Your an amazing teacher man
I gave a thumbs up for the Big Bang Theory line alone.
Testament guitarist’s (Eric Peterson & Alex Skolnick) do an amazing job of creating that eerie sound..songs like “Musical death a’dirge”-live at the Fillmore or the intro to “eerie inhabitants”
Nice break down
Try playing the 4th string D mino chord, then with your ring finger move it up a string. Then pedal between the ring and second finger. Its a variant of the dim chord but you're kind using the suspended chord concept. You dont get a creepy vibe, but a demonic evil one.
"You may begin the push-up test now. Up. Down. One. uuUUUP..."
Awesome channel man, just found and subbed. Love your style and your presentation.
Listen to the 2018 Halloween and it's sequel Halloween kills soundtrack, prime example, not just the theme, but how the same motif can sound different.
Thank you very much for this information!
Wait, are you wearing vampire teeth? OR ARE YOU A VAMPIRE?! Or I guess the great production value and the spookiness of the music are affecting my subconscious. I guess... or is it?
giulienk i got natural vampire fangs, saves me $4 every halloween
getting slightly scared because of this comment and loving it, :)
Nobody:
Jaws: *Plays B to C*
The picture: *_E TO F_*
Is the same interval
now this is useful information.... instant sub
I love to mix minor, minor major 7th, augmented and dimnished when doing a "macabre" jam.....but I think it sounds more "sinister and villany" than spooky....but great vid! Kudos
Wow This is Great I like Writing Ghosley Music Thanks
I work the other way, play love song music to the capture of someone being hacked up or play cartoon wacky clown sounds and slow it down when it gets to the scary bit, resolve it and speed it up; like you say the feeling of unease. Good examples - Stuck in the Middle (Steeler's Wheel) on the soundtrack for Reservoir Dogs when a guy is about to get tortured.
Genius ♫
Mane is easy know this theory
My personal favorite thing to do to make spooky music is to use the Hungarian Minor scale.
Personally, my favourite 'shock chord' is from P.D.Q. Bach's Cantata 'Iphigenia in Brooklyn'. Hear it here.....ua-cam.com/video/nLvCVRuZZgY/v-deo.html and scroll to around 8’20”. Alternatively, listen to the whole Cantata if you're a big fan of P.D.Q. Considering it was probably written in the late 17th cent., it is truly a remarkable piece of writing; particularly the shock chord I mentioned previously.....Enjoy. Fibally, don't forget, the whole of 'An Evening with P.D.Q. Bach is also available on here and well worth a listen! Replies welcome!!
The Bassoon is used a lot as well.
Very nice and accurate video but the diminished chords going up or down yeah they sound creepy but they are used in jazz all the time too and there because of the context of course they dont sound the same. Or the plucked violins, creepy yeah but you hear those stuff in a comedy movie too. So to make a suggestion, the context you are playing these over is equally important and should be mentioned too! Great video whatsoever!
The diminished 7ths are designed to sound restless, and the lack of restlessness is what makes things spooky ... It's all a matter of context.
Years back, I discovered the trick of raising them by minor 3rds, and would like to add that at some point you can switch over to shifting by minor 2nds (i.e., Adim7, Cdim7, Ebdim7, Gbdim7, Adim7, then Bbdim7, Bdim7, etc). A "resolution that does not really resolve" is a dominant 7th chord. Eerie feeling, easy to do on the top 4 strings of a guitar in standard tuning.
Fanis H, yes, that's a good point and very true. However, the context of this tutorial is of composers who use this, we must assume, for movies that have are set up to scare you, as in Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm st. Point being, nobody who sees Jason with an axe ready to chop you up is going to interpret diminished chords as jazz, or plucked violins as comedy, as the context is clearly that of being scary, not comedy or jazz concert. Look at his background, the dark gloomy trees makes it rather unambiguous, don't you think? And yes, it's a great, even fantastic video, very professional!
Whole tone scale!
yes
Many people just mistake more advanced and complex music for being "spooky". The tritone is only a simple example. There lays some divine beauty in it when composing considerately (Johann Sebastian Bach, for instance, uses it everywhere).
do you have another lesson about the theory of spooky music?? i really want to learn about it. thanks
i know this is late, but if you see this, use the following:
minor scales (e minor for example)
minor chords. top note should NOT be in the lowest note's key. for example, a chord with the lowest note being C and the top note being literally anything with an accidental, or the lowest note being d and the top note being g sharp
slow tempo to faster tempo throughout the song, or just use faster notes, like going from a quarter note pattern to an eighth note pattern
for darker music, use minor chords and a lot of lower register instruments
for halloween and holiday-ish music, use quick, jumpy beats but in a minor chord to make it spooky
use a low note that goes up and down in minor seconds that plays throughout the song that harmonizes well on the starting beat/count of each measure
I'm writing a concept album about gothic tales. I want to give it a bitter sweet,spooky but with a happy edge. I tried using mixolydian but it sounded more like green day than a metal-fied Beethoven with a slight emotional lift.
1:40 I just got a chill and expected the BANG sound that usually comes after with the big title letters "LOST"
Even I'm not watching horror movies right now, I got scared of all the instruments that you've demonstrate :D
Wow I Love it Creepy and Spooky Nice !!!!!!!!!!
Ah I was hoping you'd mention the Augmented major chord (especially considering you use it at 0:03). I'm not sure if thats the correct name for it but I've always found it to sound even more unsettling than diminished chords.