I think music in Locrian would sound nice in game soundtracks or something when you are trying to сomplete a difficult level with the main battle and this music create so much tension and does not let you relax for a second
But the twist is: They're not here to attack us. They were just happy to finally hear someone else playing music that sounds normal to them, and they're here to boogie down! :)
I don't know why but in general i don't agree with the popular opinion that half diminished chords sound tense and uncomfortable. I find their sound strangely captivating and beautiful. When that F resolved back to the B half diminished i was mesmerized. I love this sound!
can relate to that, that's in part why I stopped using names for chords and only use numbers now. if jake thinks a diminished chord sounds bad he clearly hasn't heard justin bieber
they don't sound uncomfortable necessarily as we can hear in this piece he created. it sounds emotionless. which is very unusual for all modes and music in general since music is a language of human emotions and moods. exactly THIS is what music is. but Locrian sounds like the rejection of all emotions. nevertheless, it sounds great if done right. it sounds technical, objective. like watching a robot at work. no emotions.
@keep_walking_on_grass It's not "emotionless", not at all, it does in fact sound sinister, and, if used well, you can create anxiety inducing melodies with it..
Most of music theory assumes that non-octave tonalities are the “no man’s land” and they are largely absent from music UA-cam whereas Locrian looks like it is everywhere in comparison. Here is not only a way to tackle them, but to make the best possible music with them: en.xen.wiki/w/Modal_systematization_of_soid-family_scales
That turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable piece of music. Love how the G-F change feels like a ray of sunlight briefly breaking through the gloom.
Moral of the video: "You can't write catchy stuff in locrian." The video ends and that Pascal melody keeps playing in my head. Jake, what have you done? :D
listen it's stuck in my head too and I love it by try playing it at the club/restaurant/airport and you'll quickly see that we are all part of a special group of weirdos
@@keep_walking_on_grass I was reacting to him saying that 'most of the world wouldn't describe the Locrian scale as beautiful'. I would typically agree with the rest of the world, but not in this case.
Impressive. I play Doom metal and it's common enough to dip into Locrian for 4-8 bars for some disturbing effect, but sustaining it for a whole composition takes some real savvy. Kudos.
But you can play a 6th-string Maj chord over Locrian!? I’m only 18 seconds in, let me watch the rest. I’m sure I missed some thing. Your videos are always on point! 🎸👍🏻
Dude, I legitimately love this song. It's like a quasi-accessible prog lol. It definitely speaks more to your skills as a composer than the quality of locrian
@@Somaiscariot That's what I was thinking as well. Locrian, and the song Jake built on it, make me think of a place where you don't belong. It really captures an oppressive tone without being unlistenable.
What jumps out to me is that once you've adjusted, the whole composition feels "tense" but the tonic doesn't feel unresolved anymore. Then those major G/F chords suddenly feel simultaneously very familiar but also unresolved... It's like acclimatizing to an alien place to a point where you feel estranged from daily life -- like finding yourself inebriated and dancing madly at a nightclub at 4AM, and then suddenly you notice that your sober parents are present and waving you to come over. It has a little bit of a trippy vibe, with some implicit thrill, darkness, shamefulness or guilt lurking inside of it.
This sounds amazing. The whole time it feels like I just want to come up for air to see some sunshine. That G and F almost put it in reach, only to take it away. Also, +1 to your friend for writing the code in C++.
Love that description! It does feel like the hope keeps getting taken away, much like the creation process of this lesson lol. As for the code- if I had done this myself, it would have taken much longer and I would have probably done it in Excel VBA and it would probably still not work :P
I don't know man, I find locrian extremely calming. When I was trying to write music I only used dissonant intervals, because it sounded kind of like Dom and Roland's "Industry" album.
That was pretty awesome. When people say they don’t want to learn music theory because they don’t want to lose their creativity I think of them just playing blissfully in major forever thinking they’re being creative. Sometimes you need some knowledge to get you into uncharted terrain like this to make something really unique!
Hahaha both are sharing 3, both has Tritone, and Locrian is sharpened tonic compared to Lydian but Locrian has -3 while Lydian has +3 in terms of brightness.
IDK, I think it's really useful in a lot of non-mainstream music, like metal for example. It's often the goal of metal to make you feel uncomfortable and disturbed. It's really useful if you make a soundtrack to something uneasy, like The Binding of Isaac or something.
In metal I find it only useful in small doses though. In a way metal relies a lot on chugging on the root power chord to create heaviness, and that usually involves the fifth to establish the "home". Most of the time, when I've seen a Locrian main riff of a song in traditional metal, it was only technically Locrian, as in avoiding the 5th and making it ambiguously either Locrian or Phrygian and then placing the flat 5 at the end of the riff for effect. These riffs didn't really "feel" like Locrian if you know what I mean. That being said, I'm sure there are some metal songs out there in the Locrian mode that utilize it well. I just don't think it is that common to use this mode outside of a few bars in metal, because it is kinda awkward and restricting. In death metal for example, most bands just go into straight-up chromatic riffing for the disturbing/uncomfortable effect. Things might get a bit different perhaps if you look at specific prog genres or mathcore or stuff like that, where the emphasis lies more on other qualities than heaviness, but even here I'm not sure if it's really a common thing.
So bizarre, I really felt like this was one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard in my entire life it should go on for 20 minutes. I could actually hear it modulating to another cord I’m going to steal it. Thank you for making me feel special
I actually loved it, I saw it more as a failed attempt to escape from Pascal's prison :D But it really fitted in the track to go back to that uncomfortable vibe instead of resolving to something more "normal" :)
The funny thing is, this “resolution” is absolutely uncomfortable in every musical way possible. The fact that the F chord’s root is a tri-tone away from the B diminished isn’t even scratching the surface.
to me, G-F-Bdim or bVI, bV, i-dim progression worked absolutely great. I tried to compose the same progression using garageband and I really loved it. I really learned from this vid.
It makes most sense to me thinking of locrian in terms of brightness as the darkest of the modes. Just like you go for phrygian when you want to be darker and edgier than minor, you go for locrian when you want to be even darker than phrygian. Minor feels more personal to me, like being in solitude or experiencing a sad moment. Where as Phrygian feels like an exotic adventure or an intense sadness or anger. And Locrian seems dark in the way of like what happens in a secret cave or the workings of fungus under the soil, a seething idea in the unconscious of society or something alien, from another planet/dimension/reality. I think it's cool I think I hear it in bands like rush and a perfect circle and deftones and always wondered what makes that ultimately dark mystical kind of sound... turns out it's locrian and it's a bummer to hear people don't use it that often. Seems like it would be cool as part of a story telling element in the music rather than trying to make the whole song in locrian but that sounds cool for dark mystical heavy riffs so it's nice too. Think people just say what they have heard before. Locrian isn't useless, just gone under the radar like mushrooms and aliens and Bigfoot haha
I just love this. I’ve been obsessed with conquering locrian since my first music book with a chapter on modes just skipped with a sentence that basically said “don’t bother”. Plus the algorithm approach is so similar to how broke writers block when I was starting out. It’s still my favorite song I ever wrote to this day.
B-but you told us locrian was a useless leftover mode! This might be my favorite composition of the series, it reminds me of post-metal bands like Isis.
I think the raw locrian melody in the early video could serve as "sneaky" theme music, like in cheesy movies where the protag is tiptoeing around rooms and behind pillars.
Honestly, you are musical genius. I have never seen anyone resolve successfully to a diminished chord like that. You actually made it musical. Dark and deep but musical. It did not sound like just an exercise. Well done you.
It is really valuable to see not just the final result, but the things you tried and abandoned as well. I sometimes quite enjoy darkness or "impending disaster," or bittersweet bits in music, and I think you managed to capture those feelings with this one. I mean come on, dark chocolate is clearly better than milk chocolate. :) This is truly a remarkable composition, you managed to make it very enjoyable! (In that "this is the soundtrack for the part in a game where the odds are against you and you have no idea what's around the corner" way.) Thanks for sticking with it and putting this together. It takes time to make great stuff!
To make use of the same chocolate metaphor, have you ever had 99% cocoa chocolate? I have. It's... pretty damn awful, and this is coming from someone who very much does enjoy dark chocolate. Locrian feels to me much the same - can be really good if used sparingly, but too much of it and it just becomes unbearable.
In reality, there is no ugly mode or key, etc. it is just human description of the nature/characteristic of the sounds or intervals. Imagine painters not using say, the color blue, green, etc. because it is an ugly color. As you mentioned and compared it to food, it is a taste or a palette thing/distinction. In classical music, they do not discriminate as much as modern mainstream songwriters. A lot of modern composers would even push the envelope further. If anyone is not aware of Atonal Music and not into dissonance and irregular rhythmic patterns, you will definitely find Locrian as sited in this video Beautiful.
At the beginning of the video, I really thought this would be totally off, but in the end, after listening to the entire song, that B half diminished chord truly becomes interesting as a root chord, evoking an emotion I haven't heard before 🙂. Really excellent video, hats off, and thank you very much.
When this video came out, I skipped it just reading the title, as I knew this wasn't something I would ever use or even think about it. But today, I've had a boring day, so I clicked on your channel and checked this out. Man, I love what you've pulled off out of this. You're a true master. Much love, Jake!
I guess I’m officially weird because I really liked this piece of music you’ve written! Granted, I’ve never written a single piece of music in Locrian, but I honestly enjoyed listening to your final piece of Music! 🤷🏻♂️
I love this style of music. Well done Jake. This is why I have never played professionally and I don't care what other people like. I make music because I HAVE to. I also have never played other people's music and I improvise 100% of my music. I wrote 150 songs that no one has ever heard. I have definitely had the "fever" for making music for 50 years now! BTW - you gotta love the tech!
I actually really love locrian, there’s definitely some interesting and weird stuff going one with the harmony and there’s some really crazy melodies you can make with it. I think it should be explored more. Your video is a big and *AWESOME* first step into this strange musical world
I find the locrian mode really useful for expressing inherently unsettling emotions, and it's lack of a strong ending, instead having an ending that sounds more like a question than an answer, is amazing at its role in that. This whole composition to me gave me the same emotions one would feel in a really disturbing, unsettling, and chaotic dream, and that ending felt like a slap in the face that questioned/contradicted everything that just happened prior, as if just waking up from said dream.
Music is really just math that our ears and brain decode. Also, this sounds like the key that koji kondo uses in the early parts of majoras mask is in.
Love watching you arrive at the culmination of this track through mathematics and structure. While Locrian might not "resolve" in the traditional sense, I believe you demonstrate that it is musically viable if tackled with purpose. I'd listen to a whole EP of this just to hear your variations on the theme. Bravo Jake!
Great great video. You literally just taught me the basics of how to structure a song. Every song has its challenges. In attempting to make a song work in locrian, you just worked through many solutions that could work for any song. As a seasoned teacher, i have to say, you have a real gift for explaining and engaging learners.
I love it! It has a Metroid tension-like feel to it. Listening through very high quality headphones or sound system is an absolute-must to savor and enjoy all the layers of this song!
Thx for the outro cause locrian does sound good. There is resolution it's just that the resolution is suspenseful which kinda means we harmonize the opposite way around instead of creating suspense in order to resolve we create calmness in order to bring us back to suspense which is pretty damn cool if you ask me. It is like watching a horror movie as a lullaby
Dangit, I was just about to comment that the song sounded very beautiful when you got to your closing thoughts, haha. I honestly think that B half diminished is one of the prettier sounding diminished chords (I remember reading somewhere it has to do with the relation of the position of the individual notes that makes a diminished sound more or less dissonant but I don’t recall exactly) and maybe part of the reason this song worked so well is the root chord was one of the less discordant types. Then again, I’ve always had a bit strange taste in music... I also think timbre ends up playing a big role here as well, the moment you added the marimba I went from thinking it sounded okay to really liking it, and then the 3/4 drum beat got me completely hooked on it. It sounds like something that would play in a gritty cyberpunk show, like Serial Experiments Lain if you know about that. Thank you for making all this great educational content!
@@DiamondSane in my defense, I said King Crimson because the lead sounds like Red era Fripp and the little mini chorus part is definitely reminiscent of the orchestral chorus in Court of the Crimson King. And I could definitely hear the main riff being played on the Chapman Stick.
All notes combinations are beautiful. There are some “tastes” that take longer time spent with to become comfortable to the ears, but if you study music eventually you’ll get there.
This was really beautiful, in a trippy way. Kinda reminds me of the “Half-Whole” Diminished Scale; the difference being that it has less of a pull to any tonic as the challenge. That would also be a fun video from which to learn and watch.
Locrian feels like algorithms and sounds like microchips. It's like if we were able to connect our brains into the digital world. It's so disconnected from our instincts that you get disoriented when you hear it, like when you have a messed up sleep schedule, wake up after a disturbing dream and see darkness around you. *Man, it's creepy*
@@philipweber404 it woulds make it atleasts more interesktings. PS: You noticed my meme account. But, did you notice the Metalocalypse reference in the former text?
Absolutely Beautiful piece of music. The tension that it creates really sets up for a big tonal shift after the G-F part and could flow into a very emotional climax.
I'm very impressed. What made this song sound so cool to me, was the repeating clean guitar picking the chords with the delay along with it was icing on the cake. I, myself tried to write a song in Locrian. I came up with a few parts but never finished it. I enjoyed your song man, thank you for sharing.
I am so glad you attempted Locrian! I once tired to find songs written in it and all I found was the Björk video you mentioned. Once again a great video!
Wow!! Very cool! You are the 1st composer I see that makes a composition with the Locrian mode! At one point in the video I was thinking maybe it would have been cool that you mix the 2nd Idea with the 1st one! It would have make a very cool Progressive Metal/Djent song ahah! But still, very creative ideas, very cool! :)
Your musical vocabulary and your ability to articulate the creative process is really interesting and helps us understand how music is made. The fact you don’t like chord changes in Locrian indicates a long history and deep dive into the scale.
No words left...it's said that 's so difficult to compose on Locrian....You not only nailed it and showed us how to, but created a nice Proggy song... Thanks Jake for so many teachings!
16:40 Totally agree The Locrian is just us wannabes trying to make music in Locrian. Simply because it is diffcult. Not because we want to make music good and choose it organically.
I find that genre and timbre 'play' a huge role in making locrian sound good, or at least like it's meant to be. Is there a download link for this song that you wrote here?
Great lesson. I admire your knack for presenting ideas in a way that eliminates unnecessary jargon and sticks to the relevant and correct terms, ie making theory useful rather than exclusively specialized. The composition reminded me of Ron Jarzombek. His work with Spastic Ink and Blotted Science definitely grew from similar explorations into rhythm and tonality. Highly recommend checking out See, And It's Sharp! as a primer for that level of atonality. Post-tonality?
At the time of writing this comment, this is how i discover your channel : yt algorithm telling me to watch this video. Seems like I'll start with you to learn musical theory adapted to bass. Thank you for your work btw
Jake Im one of your online students for about 3 years now and I wanted to say thank you for sharing all your hard work, you deserve credits on my next CD 😀🎶 By the way that locrian lead is sick bro !!! 🎸🎶🎶🎶
Hi! It me! One of those special people who absolutely loves the Locrian mode. It reminds me of cooking with bitter herbs and vegetables to make delicious things like larb and bamboo soup.
3:15 locrian triforce now I've seen it all. one of these days Jake is going to open up some alternate dimension that swallows the earth fooling around with all this stuff
4:05 little hickup there: you shifted the notes in your triangle after the C. You show the 5 represented with an F, for example, even though it should be a G. you did the same error with the D in the third row from the bottom.
I started watching your videos a few weeks ago mostly because I’m learning to play jazz and blues rhythm and solos. I appreciate these theory/composition videos too. Please keep up the great work!
With both army of me and this, you get this sweet spot where there's a fairly consonant melody or chorus that's paired with this quickly moving dissonant baseline that provides some never-resolving background tension. You're giving up the idea of resolving because expressing anxiety/tension is the point of the song, with that song probably being in a genre like industrial or grime that adds some other tricks to express those feelings.
Come all, and rejoice! He has returned, our savior, our light in the darkness. The TRUTH PLOW has returned to guide us into the light of 4/4. . . . . Aaa and he's gone.
That little choir part at 13:58 is so genius. You think it has finally resolved, but after the 2nd chord... nothing. No resolution, no happy moments, only tension. Despite everyone else's opinion on Locrian being terrible, I've come to love it's quirkiness after experimenting with it for a while now. However, if I were to use Locrian in a composition, I would at least use it a bit for a jazz improv or for a max 4 bars.
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I've always been told I was useless... Even then, why must you hurt me in such ways, Jake??
GET A FIFTH, WEIRDO!
Don't worry babe, I still love you
@@SignalsMusicStudio LOL 🤣🤣
Get a job and you'll be useful
Idk why Jake hates Locrian so much. I’ve used it before. For me, it’s a great way of creating unease, to an extreme level that Phrygian can’t achieve.
I think music in Locrian would sound nice in game soundtracks or something when you are trying to сomplete a difficult level with the main battle and this music create so much tension and does not let you relax for a second
It is used a lot in video game music already! 8-Bit music theory has a nice video on it, including many good examples
@@Alexander-mw1ek"a lot" is quite exaggerated dude
@@trambus1144Comparatively a lot
Are you trying to conjure interdimensional aliens my guitar brother? Cause this is how you do that! haha
Mike what's up! Also I think he might.
Best comment goes to you.😂🤘
Wait... was Jake on DMT when he wrote this song???
"I decided to consult the mathematical structure known as the interdimensional pentagram"
But the twist is: They're not here to attack us. They were just happy to finally hear someone else playing music that sounds normal to them, and they're here to boogie down! :)
I don't know why but in general i don't agree with the popular opinion that half diminished chords sound tense and uncomfortable. I find their sound strangely captivating and beautiful. When that F resolved back to the B half diminished i was mesmerized. I love this sound!
can relate to that, that's in part why I stopped using names for chords and only use numbers now. if jake thinks a diminished chord sounds bad he clearly hasn't heard justin bieber
@@prometheus6474 he never said they sound bad, he said they're difficult to resolve on.
@@brendanm6921 kool
they don't sound uncomfortable necessarily as we can hear in this piece he created. it sounds emotionless. which is very unusual for all modes and music in general since music is a language of human emotions and moods. exactly THIS is what music is. but Locrian sounds like the rejection of all emotions. nevertheless, it sounds great if done right. it sounds technical, objective. like watching a robot at work. no emotions.
@keep_walking_on_grass It's not "emotionless", not at all, it does in fact sound sinister, and, if used well, you can create anxiety inducing melodies with it..
Most music youtubers call Locrian the "odd man out" and ditch it. You not only tackle it, but make good music with it. Congratulations, Jake.
in their defense I've been calling locrian the oddman out and ditching it until literally today lol
Tmi jake
@@SignalsMusicStudio Guilty. Although a really heavy emotional response can be done with a Locrian phrase for sure.
Most of music theory assumes that non-octave tonalities are the “no man’s land” and they are largely absent from music UA-cam whereas Locrian looks like it is everywhere in comparison. Here is not only a way to tackle them, but to make the best possible music with them: en.xen.wiki/w/Modal_systematization_of_soid-family_scales
@@SignalsMusicStudio ikr lol everytime you’re like “forget about locrian”
That turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable piece of music. Love how the G-F change feels like a ray of sunlight briefly breaking through the gloom.
Moral of the video: "You can't write catchy stuff in locrian." The video ends and that Pascal melody keeps playing in my head. Jake, what have you done? :D
listen it's stuck in my head too and I love it by try playing it at the club/restaurant/airport and you'll quickly see that we are all part of a special group of weirdos
It's not too catchy but i guess the next time I try - it'll be this exact thing I'll come up with while trying to play locrian
@@SignalsMusicStudio A.k.a. prog fans.
Milk Lizard by Dillinger Escape Plan's got a pretty catchy Locrian riff, but that's the only one I can think of.
@@SignalsMusicStudio Club resto, I don't think so, But it's mellow yet weird to be on the sound track for a game like Stellaris or Va-11 Hall-A
"Pascal's Prison" is definitely a beautiful song
the description "beautiful" says almost nothing about a piece of music at all - sorry.
@@keep_walking_on_grass I was reacting to him saying that 'most of the world wouldn't describe the Locrian scale as beautiful'. I would typically agree with the rest of the world, but not in this case.
Impressive. I play Doom metal and it's common enough to dip into Locrian for 4-8 bars for some disturbing effect, but sustaining it for a whole composition takes some real savvy. Kudos.
thank you :)
Yep, I hear you. This is the realm where Neurosis dwells.
i was just playing 10,000 Years by High on Fire and I'm pretty sure the main riff is locrian.
But you can play a 6th-string Maj chord over Locrian!?
I’m only 18 seconds in, let me watch the rest. I’m sure I missed some thing. Your videos are always on point! 🎸👍🏻
4-8 bars in doom metal is already as long as a normal composition
Pascal's prison is an indie developer's demonic puzzle box level theme. That's badass Jake.
Dude, I legitimately love this song. It's like a quasi-accessible prog lol. It definitely speaks more to your skills as a composer than the quality of locrian
I just want it a little heavier and it'll be phenomenal!
It absolutely feels like a satisfying resolution to me. This proves you don't need a perfect fifth.
That 3/4 version sounds perfect for a Zelda temple soundtrack.
I was just thinking that. The locrian mode sounds perfect for (and, I want to say, is probably used in) a lot of video game "dungeon" music.
@@Somaiscariot That's what I was thinking as well. Locrian, and the song Jake built on it, make me think of a place where you don't belong. It really captures an oppressive tone without being unlistenable.
i actually dig it. it sounds like the soundtrack to a challenging secret level in a video game. good job!
my new favorite chord progression: G, F, B HALF DIMINISHED
What jumps out to me is that once you've adjusted, the whole composition feels "tense" but the tonic doesn't feel unresolved anymore. Then those major G/F chords suddenly feel simultaneously very familiar but also unresolved... It's like acclimatizing to an alien place to a point where you feel estranged from daily life -- like finding yourself inebriated and dancing madly at a nightclub at 4AM, and then suddenly you notice that your sober parents are present and waving you to come over. It has a little bit of a trippy vibe, with some implicit thrill, darkness, shamefulness or guilt lurking inside of it.
Like a prison?
This sounds amazing. The whole time it feels like I just want to come up for air to see some sunshine. That G and F almost put it in reach, only to take it away. Also, +1 to your friend for writing the code in C++.
Love that description! It does feel like the hope keeps getting taken away, much like the creation process of this lesson lol. As for the code- if I had done this myself, it would have taken much longer and I would have probably done it in Excel VBA and it would probably still not work :P
I don't know man, I find locrian extremely calming. When I was trying to write music I only used dissonant intervals, because it sounded kind of like Dom and Roland's "Industry" album.
Yeah, that G and F are like a glimpse of heaven, a little bit of bliss, then it's back to the grind. Too real, man, too real!
Yeah I absolutely loved it!!!
"Music To Drown In Swamp Water To" by The Locrian Underground, (RCA, 1998)
That was pretty awesome. When people say they don’t want to learn music theory because they don’t want to lose their creativity I think of them just playing blissfully in major forever thinking they’re being creative. Sometimes you need some knowledge to get you into uncharted terrain like this to make something really unique!
Am I wrong to think that, after hearing this, Locrian is just Lydian’s evil twin? The song sounds intense. Love the videos Jake!
Well, both of them have the tritone. But one is pure ethereal magic and the other one is uncomfortable ugliness. So you're right.
Great analogy.
Locrian is just Lydian with a sharpened tonic if you know what I mean.
@@andrewqi6695 I mean if Lydian is spacey and dreamy then Locrian is cosmic horror?
Hahaha both are sharing 3, both has Tritone, and Locrian is sharpened tonic compared to Lydian but Locrian has -3 while Lydian has +3 in terms of brightness.
IDK, I think it's really useful in a lot of non-mainstream music, like metal for example. It's often the goal of metal to make you feel uncomfortable and disturbed. It's really useful if you make a soundtrack to something uneasy, like The Binding of Isaac or something.
This would be perfect in Binding of Isaac
In metal I find it only useful in small doses though. In a way metal relies a lot on chugging on the root power chord to create heaviness, and that usually involves the fifth to establish the "home".
Most of the time, when I've seen a Locrian main riff of a song in traditional metal, it was only technically Locrian, as in avoiding the 5th and making it ambiguously either Locrian or Phrygian and then placing the flat 5 at the end of the riff for effect. These riffs didn't really "feel" like Locrian if you know what I mean.
That being said, I'm sure there are some metal songs out there in the Locrian mode that utilize it well. I just don't think it is that common to use this mode outside of a few bars in metal, because it is kinda awkward and restricting. In death metal for example, most bands just go into straight-up chromatic riffing for the disturbing/uncomfortable effect. Things might get a bit different perhaps if you look at specific prog genres or mathcore or stuff like that, where the emphasis lies more on other qualities than heaviness, but even here I'm not sure if it's really a common thing.
I really really would like you as a guest in Next Adam Neely's "composing with scales challenge"
Came here to say that exact same thing! That would be awesome
Get me in there, I’m not a celebrity, just someone starting out. I’d love to give it a shot, it would make me very very happy, this stuff is my life
Totally!
@@chrismusic1837 nope gotta be UA-cam famous for opportunities like that
@@lt_johnmcclane I think he's got the chops and subs tbh
So bizarre,
I really felt like this was one of the greatest songs I’ve ever heard in my entire life it should go on for 20 minutes.
I could actually hear it modulating to another cord I’m going to steal it.
Thank you for making me feel special
This is too funny to read
the G-F-B° gets me every time. every time. it just wants to get to C!
Agreed, my mind immediately went to G mixolydian
if I stayed on any other chord for too long, it felt like the tonal center wanted to reset to either Am or C
I actually loved it, I saw it more as a failed attempt to escape from Pascal's prison :D But it really fitted in the track to go back to that uncomfortable vibe instead of resolving to something more "normal" :)
The funny thing is, this “resolution” is absolutely uncomfortable in every musical way possible. The fact that the F chord’s root is a tri-tone away from the B diminished isn’t even scratching the surface.
to me, G-F-Bdim or bVI, bV, i-dim progression worked absolutely great. I tried to compose the same progression using garageband and I really loved it. I really learned from this vid.
It makes most sense to me thinking of locrian in terms of brightness as the darkest of the modes. Just like you go for phrygian when you want to be darker and edgier than minor, you go for locrian when you want to be even darker than phrygian. Minor feels more personal to me, like being in solitude or experiencing a sad moment. Where as Phrygian feels like an exotic adventure or an intense sadness or anger. And Locrian seems dark in the way of like what happens in a secret cave or the workings of fungus under the soil, a seething idea in the unconscious of society or something alien, from another planet/dimension/reality. I think it's cool I think I hear it in bands like rush and a perfect circle and deftones and always wondered what makes that ultimately dark mystical kind of sound... turns out it's locrian and it's a bummer to hear people don't use it that often. Seems like it would be cool as part of a story telling element in the music rather than trying to make the whole song in locrian but that sounds cool for dark mystical heavy riffs so it's nice too. Think people just say what they have heard before. Locrian isn't useless, just gone under the radar like mushrooms and aliens and Bigfoot haha
As a mathematician I strongly approve of this content. Way to go man.
I just love this. I’ve been obsessed with conquering locrian since my first music book with a chapter on modes just skipped with a sentence that basically said “don’t bother”. Plus the algorithm approach is so similar to how broke writers block when I was starting out. It’s still my favorite song I ever wrote to this day.
This sounds surprisingly chill, at least to the extent that it's even possible. The turnaround chords were an interesting contrast too.
This is literally trying to make Locrian sound as other-wordly as possible. There are far more mundane ways to use Locrian lol
This Locrian tune you just made is definitely perfect for a sound track in a movie…that is the vibe I got from the beginning.
This kind of feels like a great composing for some weird show with lots of mystery and action. 10/10
Dude… your musical nerdiness is impressive. I totally dig this track . So good dude
B-but you told us locrian was a useless leftover mode! This might be my favorite composition of the series, it reminds me of post-metal bands like Isis.
So that's what they're up to!
I think the raw locrian melody in the early video could serve as "sneaky" theme music, like in cheesy movies where the protag is tiptoeing around rooms and behind pillars.
Definitely "sneaky" 😄
This is the uncanny valley of music.
Honestly, you are musical genius. I have never seen anyone resolve successfully to a diminished chord like that. You actually made it musical. Dark and deep but musical. It did not sound like just an exercise. Well done you.
It is really valuable to see not just the final result, but the things you tried and abandoned as well. I sometimes quite enjoy darkness or "impending disaster," or bittersweet bits in music, and I think you managed to capture those feelings with this one. I mean come on, dark chocolate is clearly better than milk chocolate. :) This is truly a remarkable composition, you managed to make it very enjoyable! (In that "this is the soundtrack for the part in a game where the odds are against you and you have no idea what's around the corner" way.) Thanks for sticking with it and putting this together. It takes time to make great stuff!
Milk chocolate is supreme
To make use of the same chocolate metaphor, have you ever had 99% cocoa chocolate? I have. It's... pretty damn awful, and this is coming from someone who very much does enjoy dark chocolate. Locrian feels to me much the same - can be really good if used sparingly, but too much of it and it just becomes unbearable.
Milk chocolate is much better than dark chocolate.
In reality, there is no ugly mode or key, etc. it is just human description of the nature/characteristic of the sounds or intervals. Imagine painters not using say, the color blue, green, etc. because it is an ugly color. As you mentioned and compared it to food, it is a taste or a palette thing/distinction. In classical music, they do not discriminate as much as modern mainstream songwriters. A lot of modern composers would even push the envelope further. If anyone is not aware of Atonal Music and not into dissonance and irregular rhythmic patterns, you will definitely find Locrian as sited in this video Beautiful.
It's amazing how locrian can sound so dissonant and uncertain, and almost comically lighthearted depending on how you use it
At the beginning of the video, I really thought this would be totally off, but in the end, after listening to the entire song, that B half diminished chord truly becomes interesting as a root chord, evoking an emotion I haven't heard before 🙂. Really excellent video, hats off, and thank you very much.
I love it! When it goes from G to F and back to B diminished, it's euphoric.
When this video came out, I skipped it just reading the title, as I knew this wasn't something I would ever use or even think about it. But today, I've had a boring day, so I clicked on your channel and checked this out. Man, I love what you've pulled off out of this. You're a true master. Much love, Jake!
Surprisingly “Progressive”. You really did a great job with it.
Right.. The only thing missing is LaBrie's vocal..
I guess I’m officially weird because I really liked this piece of music you’ve written! Granted, I’ve never written a single piece of music in Locrian, but I honestly enjoyed listening to your final piece of
Music! 🤷🏻♂️
There is definitely something otherworldy in diminished chord as home. Something that regular major and minor can't capture. Awesome stuff, Jake.
I love this style of music. Well done Jake. This is why I have never played professionally and I don't care what other people like. I make music because I HAVE to. I also have never played other people's music and I improvise 100% of my music. I wrote 150 songs that no one has ever heard. I have definitely had the "fever" for making music for 50 years now! BTW - you gotta love the tech!
I actually really love locrian, there’s definitely some interesting and weird stuff going one with the harmony and there’s some really crazy melodies you can make with it. I think it should be explored more. Your video is a big and *AWESOME* first step into this strange musical world
That sounds like my life: brief moments of glorious respite sprinkled around a stream of ugly, unbridled chaos.
Poet
I tried writing in Locrian on several occasions and couldn't come up with anything that sounded good. You certainly broke that barrier!
I find the locrian mode really useful for expressing inherently unsettling emotions, and it's lack of a strong ending, instead having an ending that sounds more like a question than an answer, is amazing at its role in that. This whole composition to me gave me the same emotions one would feel in a really disturbing, unsettling, and chaotic dream, and that ending felt like a slap in the face that questioned/contradicted everything that just happened prior, as if just waking up from said dream.
Music is really just math that our ears and brain decode.
Also, this sounds like the key that koji kondo uses in the early parts of majoras mask is in.
I wish he would tackle that soundtrack.
that sounds very Majora Mask-like
"Music is math" - BOC
Love watching you arrive at the culmination of this track through mathematics and structure. While Locrian might not "resolve" in the traditional sense, I believe you demonstrate that it is musically viable if tackled with purpose. I'd listen to a whole EP of this just to hear your variations on the theme. Bravo Jake!
Imagine if Jake ruins everything by putting a G7 chord at the very end.
Well, that's the end of the series. Congratulations.
would be legendary
Haha great music theory joke. Cheers
Great great video. You literally just taught me the basics of how to structure a song. Every song has its challenges. In attempting to make a song work in locrian, you just worked through many solutions that could work for any song. As a seasoned teacher, i have to say, you have a real gift for explaining and engaging learners.
I love it!
It has a Metroid tension-like feel to it. Listening through very high quality headphones or sound system is an absolute-must to savor and enjoy all the layers of this song!
My first thought was Metroid. The song gives me goosebumps. It’s so good!
Once again showing us why he is one of the best teachers of anything on UA-cam. This is awesome!
in a song I wrote in locrian, I found shell voicings and simply not using full chords was very helpful.
You mean playing the i chord as only the root, b3 & b7? Or rootless? Is this for piano?
@@Meshuggapeth Kind of a creepy organ song as a villain's fortress type theme. But essentially, yes.
Thx for the outro cause locrian does sound good. There is resolution it's just that the resolution is suspenseful which kinda means we harmonize the opposite way around instead of creating suspense in order to resolve we create calmness in order to bring us back to suspense which is pretty damn cool if you ask me. It is like watching a horror movie as a lullaby
Dangit, I was just about to comment that the song sounded very beautiful when you got to your closing thoughts, haha. I honestly think that B half diminished is one of the prettier sounding diminished chords (I remember reading somewhere it has to do with the relation of the position of the individual notes that makes a diminished sound more or less dissonant but I don’t recall exactly) and maybe part of the reason this song worked so well is the root chord was one of the less discordant types. Then again, I’ve always had a bit strange taste in music...
I also think timbre ends up playing a big role here as well, the moment you added the marimba I went from thinking it sounded okay to really liking it, and then the 3/4 drum beat got me completely hooked on it. It sounds like something that would play in a gritty cyberpunk show, like Serial Experiments Lain if you know about that.
Thank you for making all this great educational content!
every one these videos is immensely inspiring. you're an amazing musician jake
Incredible pfp
Loved it, sounds amazing, I enjoyed learning this mode as much if not more than the other six
It's a place only video games can make you feel through visuals. I love this mode, it's so suspenseful.
This could have been a Porcupine Tree song.
Awesome vid, as always. Thanks, Jake 🤘🏻🇨🇦🤘🏻
I would have said king crimson
@@jadedandbitter and I would have said it's definitely from Blackjazz of Shining
@@DiamondSane in my defense, I said King Crimson because the lead sounds like Red era Fripp and the little mini chorus part is definitely reminiscent of the orchestral chorus in Court of the Crimson King. And I could definitely hear the main riff being played on the Chapman Stick.
@@jadedandbitter no offence, man. KC are suitable as well
All notes combinations are beautiful. There are some “tastes” that take longer time spent with to become comfortable to the ears, but if you study music eventually you’ll get there.
sounds like something that could be on the Zelda Skyward Sword soundtrack! reminiscent of Lanayru Desert/Lanayru Mining Facility
At times this sounds phrygian and at other times it almost sounds lydian. Love it.
It's funny you say it, because Lydian and Phrygian are, in fact, the most closely related modes to Locrian.
@gaopinghu7332 no they're not
This was really beautiful, in a trippy way.
Kinda reminds me of the “Half-Whole” Diminished Scale; the difference being that it has less of a pull to any tonic as the challenge. That would also be a fun video from which to learn and watch.
I'm one of those people that just loved your composition, add a bad ass guitar solo on top and you have a unique masterpiece. Thank you sir 👏👏👍
Locrian feels like algorithms and sounds like microchips. It's like if we were able to connect our brains into the digital world. It's so disconnected from our instincts that you get disoriented when you hear it, like when you have a messed up sleep schedule, wake up after a disturbing dream and see darkness around you.
*Man, it's creepy*
Dat ams not something you would play on a grandpa’s guitars.
@@philipweber404 it woulds make it atleasts more interesktings.
PS: You noticed my meme account. But, did you notice the Metalocalypse reference in the former text?
But Immolation makes it very organic and hot down there in the locrian underworld.
Absolutely Beautiful piece of music. The tension that it creates really sets up for a big tonal shift after the G-F part and could flow into a very emotional climax.
fantastic...I'm inspired, I'm gonna write me a love song in Locrian 👍
I'm very impressed. What made this song sound so cool to me, was the repeating clean guitar picking the chords with the delay along with it was icing on the cake. I, myself tried to write a song in Locrian. I came up with a few parts but never finished it. I enjoyed your song man, thank you for sharing.
I really thought that sounded awesome. Loved the rhythms and groove.
I am so glad you attempted Locrian! I once tired to find songs written in it and all I found was the Björk video you mentioned. Once again a great video!
Wow!! Very cool! You are the 1st composer I see that makes a composition with the Locrian mode! At one point in the video I was thinking maybe it would have been cool that you mix the 2nd Idea with the 1st one! It would have make a very cool Progressive Metal/Djent song ahah!
But still, very creative ideas, very cool! :)
Except that I did it before but I don't have visibility:
ua-cam.com/video/i_nQcBj95pk/v-deo.html
Jake, thanks so much (and to your Patreon supporters). Brilliant exploration and great ideas for composition.
Pascal's PRISON. LOCKrian. I see what you did there : ))))) Also, banging tune. The 1 diminished really feels like home. It's just an eerie home.
Your musical vocabulary and your ability to articulate the creative process is really interesting and helps us understand how music is made. The fact you don’t like chord changes in Locrian indicates a long history and deep dive into the scale.
that marimba with the bass/drum beat makes it age of empires-y
Lol I know the exact track and the exact part of said track I think you're talking about :D
Yessss! I was imagining playing Age Of Mythology to this song XD
No words left...it's said that 's so difficult to compose on Locrian....You not only nailed it and showed us how to, but created a nice Proggy song...
Thanks Jake for so many teachings!
John Petrucci...I bet he must have some stuff on Locrian...Steve Vai, too..anyone knows about?
16:40 Totally agree
The Locrian is just us wannabes trying to make music in Locrian. Simply because it is diffcult.
Not because we want to make music good and choose it organically.
This, so much this 😂
Sometimes i just use locrian because it sounds good
I find that genre and timbre 'play' a huge role in making locrian sound good, or at least like it's meant to be.
Is there a download link for this song that you wrote here?
7:13 sounds like every math rock song ever, and tbh I like the jolly innocent sound of it, without the heavy distortions and bass.
Like a baby alone on a space ship 45 billion light years away.
Great lesson. I admire your knack for presenting ideas in a way that eliminates unnecessary jargon and sticks to the relevant and correct terms, ie making theory useful rather than exclusively specialized.
The composition reminded me of Ron Jarzombek. His work with Spastic Ink and Blotted Science definitely grew from similar explorations into rhythm and tonality.
Highly recommend checking out See, And It's Sharp! as a primer for that level of atonality. Post-tonality?
Respect thrice: As a musician, computer scientist and someone with strong mathematical background...
At the time of writing this comment, this is how i discover your channel : yt algorithm telling me to watch this video.
Seems like I'll start with you to learn musical theory adapted to bass.
Thank you for your work btw
I can hear some strong Devin Townsend vibes here, especially during the G-F move
Beat me to it! Very Devy 👍
Jake
Im one of your online students for about 3 years now and I wanted to say thank you for sharing all your hard work, you deserve credits on my next CD 😀🎶
By the way that locrian lead is sick bro !!! 🎸🎶🎶🎶
Jake, your song reminds me of a Dream Theater interlude.
Old DT is a huge influence so no wonder lol
This is incredible. No additional commentary necessary.
I personally love Locrian mode. I find it inspiring, it helps me get out of musical ruts
Unsurprisingly, I’m an oddball once again. That was beautiful.
Anyone else hear Maynard James breathlessly whispering the verses before belting out the chorus?
Regardless I'd listen this to death.
@FJL HellaKwik ok
My mind went straight to Tool and A Perfect Circle, so I totally agree
Hi! It me! One of those special people who absolutely loves the Locrian mode. It reminds me of cooking with bitter herbs and vegetables to make delicious things like larb and bamboo soup.
3:15 locrian triforce now I've seen it all. one of these days Jake is going to open up some alternate dimension that swallows the earth fooling around with all this stuff
Showed this to my family, they loved it. Shows how good of a composer you are.
4:05 little hickup there: you shifted the notes in your triangle after the C. You show the 5 represented with an F, for example, even though it should be a G. you did the same error with the D in the third row from the bottom.
ya got me- I knew i was bound to screw something up in this video and had no idea what it would be, now I know!
@@SignalsMusicStudio As long as you take criticism on board, it's all right ^^
I started watching your videos a few weeks ago mostly because I’m learning to play jazz and blues rhythm and solos. I appreciate these theory/composition videos too. Please keep up the great work!
"very restricted in not being restricting". So true. Yet: hats off to you for the resulting Locrian piece! 👍👌
With both army of me and this, you get this sweet spot where there's a fairly consonant melody or chorus that's paired with this quickly moving dissonant baseline that provides some never-resolving background tension. You're giving up the idea of resolving because expressing anxiety/tension is the point of the song, with that song probably being in a genre like industrial or grime that adds some other tricks to express those feelings.
Come all, and rejoice! He has returned, our savior, our light in the darkness. The TRUTH PLOW has returned to guide us into the light of 4/4.
.
.
.
.
Aaa and he's gone.
LOL
That little choir part at 13:58 is so genius. You think it has finally resolved, but after the 2nd chord... nothing. No resolution, no happy moments, only tension. Despite everyone else's opinion on Locrian being terrible, I've come to love it's quirkiness after experimenting with it for a while now. However, if I were to use Locrian in a composition, I would at least use it a bit for a jazz improv or for a max 4 bars.