The AEOLIAN Mode Feels Devastating
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- Опубліковано 21 тра 2024
- You might've thought I wasn't gonna touch on the more vanilla modes, but I am! Come check out what makes the Aeolian mode, or Natural Minor Scale, sound so depressing.
0:00 - What's the Aeolian Mode?
2:57 - NOT AEOLIAN: Desert Ruins - Wario Land 3
3:38 - Auriel's Ascension - Elder Scrolls IV
4:30 - Aquatic Ambience - Donkey Kong Country
6:16 - Our Children Taken - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
8:02 - Guile's Theme - Street Fighter 2
9:33 - Billy & Jimmy Lee's Theme - Double Dragon
10:22 - Metal Man - Mega Man 2
10:52 - Objection! - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
11:35 - Aeolian's Melancholy
12:27 - Outro
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#aeolian #gamemusic #8bitMusicTheory - Ігри
Guile kicking the car while contemplaring divorce was perfect.
I snorted at that transition. :)
I was crackin up lol
There needs to be a feature on UA-cam which hides spoiler comments like these from being displayed before you've even hit the play button.
OH MY CAR!
Noooo I don’t even street fighter but I know the tune and even that emo version got me feeling all the feels lmfao.
Guile's theme truly does go with everything
I totally agree, it is shocking how it sounds in a depressive style and now I want to hear a cover in that style
Upbeat funky aeolian is basically that anime feel of "Hero facing unfair odds but battling on"
Nah, you(d need a bit more optimism
@@enzolescure5833 Yeah but this is in the beginning when all seems hopeless. When they're closer to getting revenge, that's when you bring in the raised leading tones.
8 bit music actually provides a great example of this in his video "Good and Evil in the Persona 5 Soundtrack." It explains mode mixture and shows a song that borrows a Locrian sound and then moves up to an Aeolian sound, which creates a dramatic and heroic effect even though it's still in a minor key.
@@spindash64 LEEEET ME SHOOOW YOU JUST WHAT. IIIM. MAYYDE OOOOF
Mega Man 3 - Wily Stage 2? It definitely gives that feeling and sounds like it's aeolian to me.
"...a truly devastating vibe."
7:13 *Link repeatedly doing rolls in the background*
It's funny how 8bit picked Phoenix Wright and then melancholic Guile immediately afterwards because *that's exactly what every Reminiscing song in Phoenix Wright does* , all of those backstory / flashback scenes that are titled "reminiscing" are depressing Aeolian songs, often enough taking the characters original upbeat melodies and vibes and then turning them sad to uncover a hidden depressing moment.
It actually reminded me of the Steel Samurai Ballad track... Truly a Ace Attorney reminiscence music.
That Guile Theme cover at the end was pretty fantastic! Now I need a full version of it
seconded!
Thirded!!
4th'd
@@TacticalNukeMusique fifthed (not fisted even though for Guile it wouldn't be a stretch (unlike Dhalsim))
MusicMike512 did it 4 years ago.
ua-cam.com/video/0DvCSF0lkGE/v-deo.html
I have always adored Guile's theme because of its perfect framing of the melody that envokes the feeling of soldiering on through sadness with a fighting spirit and never giving up despite how angry it makes you feel after empty victories in your life. As you can guess, this state of being is constant in my life.
I really appreciated you making the distinction between modal and tonal music, so that the "Aeolian mode" ends up being functionally different than the "minor scale."
This is what I needed
how so? I'm not in that deep with theory but you have me curious now
@@uncroppedsoop The modal and tonal systems of music are two different approaches to composing that come from different eras of history.
Most music today is tonal, with a strong emphasis on harmony and the relationship between chords. Modal music is much more focused on melody and the relationship between scale degrees. Even if they use the exact same notes, the approach is different and the final product sounds very different, as demonstrated in the examples in the video.
So if you set out to write a piece in the Aeolian mode, even though you would be using the same set of notes as the minor scale, you would expect to use them differently and aim for a different feel than a piece written tonally with the minor scale.
@@giggityguy wow thanks
Modes and scales sure aren't easy to wrap one's mind around when self-learning
I end up just using modes like scales.
Minor scale: ✋
Aeolian scale: 👉
I thought maybe you'd mention Phendrana Drifts from Metroid Prime - a more upbeat example, but still desolate and isolating, and dripping with melancholy
While we’re on the subject of Metroid Prime, the artifact temple seems to hit the Aeolian mode pretty well. Same with Bryyo Jungle in Corruption. Could be wrong tho
I'd also love some analysis on that. I've got no idea about music theory and Phendrana Drifts is one of my favourite pieces in all of videogame music. Literally nothing calms me down like that track.
And what about the _Riven_ soundtrack?
Guile’s theme really DOES go with anything, huh?
lmao... confirmed by @8bitmusictheory
I love the way you end this, because it highlights something that I’ve always thought: a minor key isn’t inherently sad; it’s *serious*. As you demonstrate, it’s as much the arrangement and tempo that can make the difference, but it’s also about which notes are highlighted in the melody. There are plenty of tunes that use the flat 6th note as part of a iv or flat VI chord in a minor key without feeling sad, but as soon as you emphasise the flat 6th in the melody…that’s when the melancholy kicks in. I always think that the flat 7 is where the groove is (which is why Dorian and Mixolydian can feel funkier or rockier than major without feeling sad), but the flat 6 is where the longing is. As someone who’s been struggling to break out of an Aeolian rut, I’ve been learning more about modes to try to broaden my harmonic vocabulary, and while I’ve started to appreciate the more uplifting feel of Dorian I just can’t stop missing the bittersweet tang of the flat 6.
I love this comment
Spot on conclusion, and OMG lightbulb moment of a video!! I think the accessible flexibility of Aeolian is a lot of the secret sauce behind many “iconic” 8 and 16 bit songs - almost anyone could take the core elements of those tunes and create *almost any feeling they want* without it sounding bad.
Like … how many people wanted to hear “Guile’s theme (bachelor mix)” just now?
hahaha! Bachelor mix = priceless.
The Dirtmouth theme from hollow knight is a perfect example with the 2nd included in the opening arpeggio. Very heartbreaking and ambient sound.
oh my god the memories unlocked from hearing wario land 3 again. My absolute favorite gameboy game of all time
You recognised this too huh!? Haha reminded me of the good old days. 😢
Man, you put 6 seconds of Amadeus in the background and now I have to spend 3 hours of my day rewatching it.
Guile's theme is certainly a good example with the energy vs one that I think inspired it, the Hill Street Blues theme itself.
I think The Nomai from the Outer Wilds soundtrack is another great example of the devastating feeling of Aeolian
the version that plays inside Dark Bramble with the signal as a ‘beat’ is just brutal
one of the best VG tracks ever
Oh no... I like all these songs because they sound depressing and I didn't even realize it till this video... I really am addicted to sadness and melancholy.
not video game related, but my to-go tune for melancholy is Albinoni's Adagio in G minor.
(which is apparently not by Albinoni as I just found out)
Oh man it's not that bad actually, but you should really watch yourself!
I used to think that Aeolian and Ionian were tired scales and wasn't really intrigued at all by playing or writing with them, but here over the past year or so in my musical development, I've come to appreciate both immensely. Ionian especially, you can write so many different harmonically beautiful and satisfying things in the plain old major scale, whereas I feel like other modes kind of exist in smaller boxes of expectation so to speak. Looking forward to your video on it!
I would love to hear that sad Guile's theme at the end in full.
Our Children Taken is still one of the most beautiful and devastating pieces I've ever heard, to this day.
The progression you bring up at 6:20 sounds a lot like one of the vamps that get used under the hirajoushi scale in Japanese folk music, it's fascinating!
Ori and the Blind Forest and its sequel make excellent use of the Aeolian in both tragic (e.g. the first game's heartbreaking prologue, the aptly named Forlorn Ruins, "Separated By The Storm", and "Baur's Reach") and triumphant (e.g. "Ku's First Flight", escape sequences, and boss battles) situations. "Strength of the Forest", heard when Kwolok passes away after Ori fights off the Foul Presence possessing him, is a textbook combination of the triumphant/epic and tragic/funereal contexts.
The Ys series mostly uses the mode in a heroic context, but one exception is the Abandoned Mine theme "Beat of the Terror", which evokes both desolation and trepidation by alternating with Phrygian mode(especially the TurboGrafx CD arrangement with its droning background synth pad). "Caverns of Rasteenie" from Ys II starts out gloomy but shifts to an epic mood towards the end of its loop. Ys: Memories of Celceta also has "Theme of Adol 2012", a slow piano arrangement of Adol's previously upbeat leitmotif similar to the sad version of Guile's Theme heard here that would be fitting for a downer series finale.
I want more oblivion music! Skyblivion's composers are actually capturing the vibe really really well, looking forward to that
This whole series has been great! Thank you so much for all your effort!!
Thank you so much for using Auriel's Ascension as an example, I haven't heard that song in so long. It invokes a melancholy in me and no other song I listen to really does that to me. Must be the nostalgia speaking.
Oblivion and Jeremy Soule's other music is great, not just nostalgia
@@frederickzukowski530 That it is, Oblivion wouldn’t be the same without him.
This was super interesting. I had no clue how closely stuff like the heavy gears of Metal Man's stage and the quiet waters of DK Island were connected musically! Explains why Guile's theme goes with everything, too...
Awesome dive into why those songs make me feel things. Keep this up!
actually the aiolian mode is when you emulsify egg yolks and garlic into the scale
lmao
Aeolian is my favorite mode. I like how it can sound cold, melancholic and even uplifting. I believe Schala's Theme from Chrono Trigger (This one sounds melancholic) and Temple of Droplets from Zelda Minish Cap (This one sounds cold) use Aeolian.
Thank you so much for using some Wario Land music in this!
Wario music is criminally underused in music theory discussion.
I especially love that you opened the video with the daytime map theme, and ended it with the night version.
Thematically perfect! 👌
No one asked.
@@StoneTheCr0w do you know the definition of the word "comment"?
@@uncroppedsoop Didn't ask, stay silent and humble son. Children are meant to be seen, not heard
@@StoneTheCr0w you sound like a scifi B-movie villain about to monologue about power or some shit
@@uncroppedsoop Really acting your wage here son. Stay silent and humble
I enjoy your videos, you are awesome in how you show the score and chord analysis!
This video was really fun to watch. Simultaneously inspiring and informative.
Nice, I love Wario Land 3! Nice intro and outro choices :)
One of your best videos to date! So concise and effective, the Guile reinterpretation with the montage too LOL
Very cool to see Warioland getting some love. Warioland 2 and 3 alone could fuel several videos - lots of great mixolydian in those OSTs in particular
Well when you're finished with the modes, maybe you can move on to whacky scales like the double harmonic scale. (I love the double harmonic scale.)
I knew you had to have a video featuring Guile's Theme. Very glad I subscribed and found you.
I see Mega Man, I click.
Yah, me too.
I wish he did more Megaman X
😮
I've been subscribed for ever. Seriously, You have such big fans out there. :)
I think adding the energy to sad songs like you said really evokes a feeling of determination. I feel like musically it is both acknowledging the hardship, but also carrying foward despite it, head held high.
Love me some harmonic minor on the last bar of musical section in a composition. Bang on video buddy!
The b6 - b7 - 1 cadence has its own unique sound when used in music that's in a major scale, like the classic Super Mario Bros theme.
I cant wait for you to do Ionian and explain how even it can be melancholic sometimes
More music from Oblivion please! Such an amazing score
Seconded. Skyrim's soundtrack is great atmosphere, but Oblivion's is so much more melodic. I much more often found myself whistling along, or have a song stuck in my head later.
Wait a minute, the "less exciting"? But it's "devastating" and "it's perfect for adrenaline pumping action or the most depressive stuff you ever heard"? Also, Guile theme? The audacity...
Amazing video though!
Every time i hear guiles theme I think it has to be one of the greatest video game songs ever. Such a perfect tune but I have always felt that there’s some sad/melancholy vibe to it. Now I know why! Thanks for the vid!
The Stage 1 Theme in Journey To Silius is Aeolian - another example of Aeolian being absolutely badass rather than depressing!
(It's one of the best soundtracks on the NES!)
I loved the brief inclusion of the Oblivion soundtrack. I love that soundtrack so much; I'd love a whole video about it, although I'm not sure what you would make the video about other than just "this is awesome."
I really wish you covered Gwyn - Lord of Cinder from Dark Souls in this! It is the epitome of aeolian depression- to the point player base has meme'd the piano melody as "Plin plin plon"
I also think the bridge is unique as it avoids the bVI/bVII tropes and sticks to a v/iv vamp instead, never shying away from a minor sound at any given moment. I love this piece- and I know many others do too!
He covered Gwyn's theme a long time ago. It's called "How Dark Souls Turns Motifs Into Music"
bro that edit and rework of the guile theme, the sad guile theme, was amazing! We need it in long form please :)
Really well done. Great examples. “Melancholy” is the word I use for it too. The “bombastic” version is a great way to describe the overly emotional upbeat versions. Nice!
The bVI-bVII-i chord progression as used in Sonic 3's Lava Reef is one of my favorite uses.
Is this partly why Guile's Theme goes with everything? Because it has that "not-too-strong harmonic push-and-pull" of the Aeolian mode, which gives us that sort of static yet upbeat vibe? XD
I feel as though aeolian feels like standing on the edge of despair. At slower tempos you give in; all hope is lost and nothing can be regained. At higher tempos it feels like the heroes going "things have gone wrong, perhaps no hope remains, but I will stand and fight no matter what!"
The Zelda example reminds me of Gentle Rain from Mother 3. Which, while sad, is one of my favourite songs in the game.
Fantastic analysis, as always!
I love this series, I feel you should make a podcast or more in depth videos of these as I'm studying this and there is hardly any reference online about
fucking yess, I would gobble dat shit so hard
I think if we're going to assign any note to be the characteristic Aeolian note, I think it makes most sense to say it would be the flat 6. Flat 7, I feel, is a bit more ubiquitous to Mixolydian, giving it that "rock and roll" feel you described in the video.
I would say that since the flat VI and VII are actually major chords they can actually add a sense of optimism
It's crazy how much this mode can slowly suck the soul out of you as you listen. You can't quite determine the mood you're just suddenly depressed.
Great showcase of aeolian’s versatility! Probably my favorite mode tbh. Can go from sounding heroic to melancholic in a heartbeat.
I like how all of the upbeat examples except Double Dragon were Capcom.
You mean there's a sensible reason behind why I've always wanted to hear a sad version of Guile's theme? I, uh, have no idea how to feel about this, hahaha
Can't wait for all of the videos on the minor modes!
so happy to see anything wario land show up somewhere, such an overlooked series but probably one of the highest peaks of retro 2d platformers imo
such a great channel
Another famous example of an initially upbeat Aeolian piece that later has a tragic reprise is "Theme of Laura" from Silent Hill 2.
Great stuff! Thank you!
When will you do
- Harmonic Minor
- Melodic Minor
- Pentatonic Major
- Pentatonic Minor
- Blues Major
- Blues Minor
- Chromatic
Also throw in Mixolydian flat 6 because why not
@@Elec.Balloon oh and Mixolydian Pentatonic too
Yes, please!
And whole-tone and octatonic scales too...
@@alonkatz4633 I can't think of many uses of the whole-tone scales in video games besides Shadow of the Colossus
@@LimeHunter7 That was a suggestion, in case there are more songs like this
Honestly didn't know what Aeolian meant, so I just assumed it was something to do with garlic aioli sauce
This was a great video, I love analyzing songs (especially retro songs) and this series has helped me learn more about the modes, even if I wont ever use it lol
Though I have many musical tastes, my roots in music come mainly from metal. I lived and breathed this mode, and I was gonna be upset if you made it all about how sad it is, not enough people give credit for how much fun and energy natural minor can have when you give it some oomph! The Guile theme was a good choice :)
I think A Cruel Angel's Thesis is also written in C Aeolian Mode/Natural Minor because I accidentally played it while practicing Natural Minor.
Oh dang I love that song from Oblivion, great to see it here :)
And also lol sad!Guile
I truly love your creativity and the qualilty of your videos and contents. I hope you will analyse the wonderful soundtrack and music of Bayonetta, that would make my dreams come true 🙏🙏
Absolutely need to get an I Am Setsuna analysis from you. I would be complete
That lone glockenspiel in "Our Children Taken" is deeply tragic. Just sorrowful little plinking.
I didnt played it, but it looks like it has darker vibe than most Zelda's, i need to try it
It does. There’s so much sorrow and sacrifice, and Zelda greets Ganondorf with a rapier when he calls for her surrender, and Link is a WOLF and everything is gloomy and gothic and glorious and and and 🤌🏻
Loved the musical examples.
Guile's theme is truly epic.
It goes with everything.
i always found auriels ascension very comforting. I first witnessed this theme as it was reused in skyrim. and while i was sitting in my comfy chair in my heated room sipping hot chocolate my character was wandering through a snowy night in the awesome landscape of skyrim. for me this theme is the warmth of winter
Thank you for showing older Elder Scrolls game some much-needed respect.
It's a little sad to see this series coming to an end, but it's been a wild ride! I can't imagine there would be many video game soundtracks that would use the modes of the harmonic minor scale?
I love these videos
I always associated the sort of sadness in Guile's theme as being reflective of his loss of his war buddy Charlie and his desire for revenge against Bison because of it.
Aquatic Ambience was an excellent composition.
Check out my synth remix of it
Awsome video so helpfull !
Loved this 🖤🙏
You know, I always thought those last four notes were what MADE Metal Man's theme, the entire song is wrapped around the setup those built up. It's neat to see it's got it's roots in the same scale as both Guile's Theme and the Double Dragon theme, both of which are classic faves of mine.
The b6 is the key to making Aeolian sound sad - reminds me of the TED talk with Benjamin Zander where he literally referred to a b6 melody note as "a sad." "The purpose of this note is to make the B sound sad. It's just a B with four sads."
What key are we talking about? I have one scale degree (b6) and one pitch (B), and that doesn't tell me a lot
@@17thstellation Hi! I was quoting Benjamin Zander's Ted Talk. You can google "Benjamin Zander and the Transformative Power of Classical Music," and the section I'm quoting is at around 8 minutes and 30 seconds. He's discussing a Chopin piece in E minor (op24, no4 - though I don't think he ever says that in the Ted Talk).
As 8 Bit Music Theory said in this video, the b6 is a big part of why Aeolian sounds "sad" as opposed to "mysterious" (how he described Dorian) or "threatening" (how he described Phrygian). Benjamin Zander is making much the same point - the b6 decorating the 5 has the effect of making the 5 "sad" - or perhaps 8 Bit Music Theory might say that a phrase leaning so heavily on the tonic minor triad including the b6 is characteristic of Aeolian, and thus "sad."
Junichi Masuda (of Pokémon fame) also really loves using Aeolian mode for his champion/battle theme quite often, almost evoking a sense of tensive triumph through simple minor-major modulation (alliterative streak pops up yet again). Geeta's battle theme almost sounds rather bittersweet, considering it's the last battle of the official Gym Challenge quest and all that (not counting Nemona, of course).
I attended a masterclass Sithu Aye was holding and he referred to the Aeolian mode as the Anime Mode, because anisong really LOVES holding the sixth before resolving
"All of A sudden"
*NOT*
"All of the sudden"
Another good example of bombastic rock and roll aeolian, though not video game music, is king gizzard and the lizard wizard's Iron Lung.
I’m going to need a full version of that slow piano rendition of Guile’s theme now.
'Sounds like you just found out your wife has cancer.' - What a sound to aim for!
sad guile theme is so vibey.. i felt the raindrops and streetlights staring down at a clenched fist, which slowly opens to reveal a tarnished ring..
This is the first video on modes that absolutely drove home most effectively the difference between Aeolian mode and the minor scales.
Also Guile smashing his car at 12:08 over his crumbling marriage LOL....
Fully agree with this analysis. For me, Aeolian mode always seems to evoke the feelings of a rainy/overcast day, even if the tempo is upbeat
Even with the visuals of, say, Riven?
I was just listening to Aquatic Ambience! also it's incidentals not accidentals. great video
Secret of Mana is a great source of Aeolian mode tunes.