I love learning about modes. Looking forward to the Lydian bit. (Is there any chance a video could feature tips on modulating from one mode to another?)
I definitely want to hear Lydian examples in gaming. It was enlightening to hear Locrian examples, especially after being painted out on tracks I've heard before and not realising it was in this mode. Now I definitely want to hear Lydian. And then maybe some Ionian scale🌚
@@MoonDisast Off the top of my head I believe both Lost woods and Song of Healing from Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask are both in Lydian. Classic stuff right there
While I think it'spossible to analyse the Zelda example within a locrian framework I think it might be slightly more accurate to label it as using the iwato scale from traditional Japanese music. Pentatonic scale similar in makeup to the locrian but without the third or sixh degrees;which is an exact match for that example. Love the videos; always stop by to enjoy the latest one.
Well this is pretty cool, if anything it's an example of analyzing music from completely different cultures with western theory, which is possible but utimately kinda wrong. If this Iwato scale as you said has no third degree, then it is fundamentally "unusable" in western theory as the third is always present in any western scale and indicates wether a scale/chord is major or minor.
@@dalluc theory can be borrowed from all cultures true but analyzing it from a western framework as you are saying would be hard but not impossible. Wouldn’t go with traditional theory models no
As a metal composer, I love Locrian. I call it the "question mark" mode. I love to use it to alter a riff, make it weird for a bridge or something, or to play weird licks during solos.
The most well known example of Locrian being used in metal is the main riff of Metallica's "Seek and Destroy", which has an almost badass supervillain kinda vibe to it, or at least it does to me
Locrian in “Destroyed Skyworld” in Kid Icarus Uprising might technically have an evil feel to it, but it sounds *beautiful* and that Pit is there on a *mission* to save someone who would seem too far gone to anyone else. The Locrian isn’t just signifying the problem but also the drive.
Really happy to see the Oracle games talked about here; I've always thought their soundtrack is criminally underrated. And yes, the food made from fugu blowfish (specifically their pickled ovaries) is real.
As it happens, I recently listened to every Zelda soundtrack in chronological order just for fun - to see what I thought the best song was and the best soundtrack is ...The Oracle games definitely stood out as the worst in the series to me :/. Though yes It's pretty good still and does it's job Zelda music is usually much better than just that. Some of the BEST video game music ever :)
While I love the uniqueness of the Samasa desert music, I think it really does sound spooky. Which is why it is so unexpected in a (non-spooky) desert environment.
As a person who doesn't understand a lot of these concepts, I'd love to see videos on the other scales. This video served well to show what modes stereotypically sound like, as well as to show how their sound can be played around with to effect a different feel in these pieces, and while I don't understand everything in these videos, they are still possible to follow along with.
@@Pascal-eu2oe chords are basically just playing 2+ notes at the same time, technically any combination is allowed but music theory helps you use ones that don't sound like a kid pressing every key on a piano at once. 8bit has a bunch of older video to cover the basics, which are less able use videogame music to showcase things as a cord is pretty fundamental to playing an instrument. (They are real fun as a saxophone player where you need a friend to play the other note for you) But the less fundamental theory is excellently showcase by his basic premise of using videogame music, which is much more familiar than classical music, and generally is simpler and in context really shows how the music choice complements the vibe the game devs are going for. (His chromatic notes video was pretty intuitive without needing a bunch of other knowledge)
@@Pascal-eu2oe Chords can feel more tense or less tense. When you go from a chord that feels more tense to a chord that feels less tense, it feels like a resolution (of the tension). Basically 85% of music theory is just that one sentence, and classifying chords to see how it works. The notation and organizational structure can get complicated, but the idea is simple. Think of Beethoven's 5th with *da da da DUMMMM* as a very extreme example. Locrian mode is unpopular because it's defined by a set of chord movements which are high in tension. There's nothing in the mode that resolves that tension nicely, and if you allow the tension to resolve, it's because you've accidentally gotten out of Locrian mode and (usually) into some functional major or minor key with a different root note than what you intended. Staying in Locrian means never doing a traditional resolution and just letting the tension hover there in the music. Most people really like the resolution, it's extremely satisfying, so a mode that eschews it entirely doesn't fit well in a lot of situations. It's only useful if your goal is to inspire a sense of dissatisfaction, of tension that never goes away, of stress.
They're good videos. Just keep in mind that every mode is just a different position in your major key, whatever that key may be. The general whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half will be found somewhere in each mode, Locrian being the seventh position, starting the mode at a B note will keep ya in the key of C. But w/ that said, you can use the mode both for the key you are in, but when getting more advanced these things can also be used for key changes/alterations, though Locrian would be a rather intense alteration as is demonstrated in the vid w/ this well chosen song from Doom. Though we write out of major, that's just how music is designed, there are keys outside of the major key, of course, the minor key with its flat 3rd note being the primary example of this. Note that 7 and m7 key will always knock ya back a step to 2 steps in circles respectively, ex. Dm7 is C, G7 is C, likewise Fm7 would be Eb as well as Bb7 would be Eb - the keys not the chords, just to make that clear. Almost botched and reversed the flats, sorry, it's correct now, lol, always good to reread. Music's such a trip. Some keys will make use of more than the standard seven, such as a simple chromatic adding an F# and C# into the C key to help as emphasis notes or any other version of the chromatic, in other words any notes added in to the standdard key for emphasis (Hendrix and many other blues aficionados did a lot of this), and some keys will make use of less notes, like our five note pentatonic scales which sacrifice two notes from the major - less notes of course making for more harmony and less dissonance between the notes. All of them will have different positions/modes, as well - though with chromatics a lot of what is added in are emphasis notes, not to be used as starting points. I tell ya, I don't think I've ever written a song to where I've set out knowing more than the rudimentary basics of what I was doing while creating it. Always do what sounds good to start. Knowing how to apply the theory will help to know where to go during creation and then will help to put everything together and make sense of everything once created, tying up any loose ends and adding in any other pieces that could help the main progression. Again, always do what sounds good to start. As time goes by and more is learned the progressions will get better, and old songs can always be added to.
Now I'm curious about the music in the original Luigi's Mansion. Granted the primary instrument was Luigi humming in terror. (Which is probably a choice worth making a video about; selecting an instrument for a piece)
@@em_the_bee yes, although it /is/ conforming to a scale (the chromatic scale) -- the typical 8 tone scales (major, minor, and the other 5 diatonic modes) are just the most common in western music, but a scale is any sequence of notes ordered by pitch (ie always ascending/descending, not a mix like A-C-B-D.). The major (ionian) scale is defined by the intervals "tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone", so the tonic (first note) is whatever you pick, the second is first note + one tone, third is second note + one tone, fourth is the third note + semitone, and so on up to the octave (5 tones + 2 semitones = 12 semitones = an octave in 12 tone systems). The natural minor scale (aeolian) and the other 5 modes (dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, locrian) are all the same pattern, but starting at a different point in the sequence -- eg natural minor starts on the 6th note of the major, so instead of "tone, tone, semitone, ...", it's "tone, semitone [last two intervals of major scale], tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone [first 5 intervals of major scale, since it loops back around]". Chromatic scale is just "semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone". There are theoretically 2^11 = 2048 different scales in 12 tone systems that repeat at the octave, as there are 11 notes between the tonic and the octave, for each of those 11 notes there are two choices -- it can either be included or not -- but in practice, scales tend to have at most 3 semitones between notes that are more or less equally distributed throughout the octave, which limits possibilities. Scales don't even /have/ to repeat at the octave, although it's obviously very useful if they do.
It also doesnt actually taste that good. Most people describe it as being an incredibly mild flavor, so much so that they typically use a type of spicy sauce to go with it.
The toxin actually comes from shellfish being digested in the fugu's digestive tract, so farmed fugu aren't fed shellfish which means no toxin, perfectly safe fish meat
When I first learned about the modes, I went through a phase where I made a bunch of pieces in Locrian. It's definitely underrated. Although since then I've grown a taste for Phrygian and especially Phrygian dominant (Phrygian but with a major third), and started experimenting with a bunch of different scales outside the modes of major.
Phrygian, Phrygian dominant and double harmonic major are great. Personally, I think Neapolitan minor and the "mirage scale" are even cooler, at least for improvisation. The latter is just perfect! I stumbled upon it by going "what if I combine Phrygian, Phrygian dominant and double harmonic minor?" haha, looked it up and learned about its strange recent history (it was apparently the only scale not listed on Ian Ring's site, and thus someone named it "mirage scale"). Still, at least I almost always end up going with just Phrygian, Phrygian dominant or double harmonic major (or Phrygian dominant with added major 7th) even if the idea began from something "even cooler". Anyway, Locrian is fun, and imho its usual vibe is "liminal" kinda like liminal spaces; at the same time relaxing but also somehow unsettling. It's like it embodies a feeling of nostalgia for something that never happened/existed, or that was unnervingly different from the memories... or a deja vu type of feeling. Also kinda bittersweet in a way. Locrian dominant, though... uhhh... I'm interested in it, but haven't found any use for it yet. (Sorry for rambling.)
I was just listening to final fantasy VI's soundtrack this morning while on my run, and was wondering to myself what kinda chords that song used. Fortuitous.
Same, back when I first started watching 8-Bit here a few years ago I had trouble getting past the first ten seconds-and while I’m not particularly good at it I do comprehend generally what he’s talking about now! Keep at it, you can do it!
I can't remember the exact name of it, but there's some table for mapping the scale numbering visually into a circle. I think vox used it on their breakdown of giant steps. might help with some of this stuff
A fellow music UA-camr and I actually challenged ourselves to make a Locrian-scale-only composition to prove just that : Locrian ≠ spooky ! Remixer Darken's one is "Mode 7" on his channel, while mine is nammed ''Lacrima'' on my channel
A couple other video game songs that use locrian mode: Gazing at Sirius from Fire Emblem Three Houses Nocturne of Shadow from Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Multitudes of Colors from Murasama: The Demon Blade House of Tricky Ninjas from Paper Mario The Origami King Flooded Basement theme from Sweet Home Also I agree, Locrian is not ugly or unusable, it's just not culturally as pervasive as the other modes so people's ears aren't trained to understand how it moves and functions. The more you experiment around with it the more it reveals its unique color to you. I would encourage all musicians to try writing something in Locrian.
Old video and I doubt you'll see this but an amazing example of the Locrian mode that is 100% locrian and not a form of a japanese iwato scale (like your Zelda last example here) is The Pursuer's theme from Dark Souls 2! Worth checking out, whole track riffs on the C locrian scale AND constantly uses the diminished I chord as its root (Cm7b5, which is the diminished 7th of the mode) without any fear.
@@TraxtasyMedia Nope. It's not, neither as far as rhythm or selection of tones goes. DRI's Hooked's opening riff is way closer. The only thing Master of Puppets and E1M1 have in common are a pedal tone and a descending progression of tones (E1M1) or chords (MoP).
PLEASE DO ALL THE MODES THIS VIDEO WAS SO COOL AND USEFUL FRUCJING SERIOUSLY!!!! We love a king who can challenge our perceptions and get us to think of locrian as a viable resource and not just ‘useless and evil’ THANK YOU
I'd love to see a video on the Dorian mode and how its tonal vagueness can allow it to be used to express all kinds of emotions (heroism/triumph, curiosity, sadness, etc).
The fish dish from the Simpons is definitely real. It's a pufferfish, called fugu in Japanese, and it has to be prepared by an especially licensed chef, so they don't include the toxic parts in the dish. Many people have died in the past due to the pufferfish's potent toxin.
I just recently finished watching a music theory video on how almost no 'non videogame' song uses true Locrian except for Bjork's Army of Me and oh boy is that Locrian bassline awesome. In the same way as doom has that awesome Locrian guitar line
It's definitely rare for sure, I happen to have found it in a movie soundtrack that I'll be posting a video analyzing soon. It was a pleasant surprise coming across it
I guess the only "non videogame" genre where locrian is common is metal. In fact the E1M1 theme from Doom (1993) is actually based on the main riff from Metallica's Master of Puppets (1986).
7:00 snaps on 2 and 4 is so engrained in me, I heard the bass as starting on 2 ( (1) 2 +3 __, etc ), and was confused when you said the snaps were on 1 and 3 until I went back and relistened. It took me about four times to hear it the way I did originally after being primed that the snaps were on 1 and 3
Great examples, thanks! I always think that the problem with the Locrian mode isn’t that it’s necessarily so “dark” or “evil”, so much that it’s root chord is unstable, so it’s hard to sound like you’re staying IN Locrian. The way that I’ve found to get around it is by playing a shell voicing for the root chord, so that there’s no flat 5th in the chord, while keeping a repetitive bassline that does use the flat 5th. If you add some dissonant extensions to any other chords, you can still feel like the root chord is home, while maintaining a Locrian feel with the bassline and melodic elements.
it just depends how you play it and what you play it on. MODES are just INTERVALS IDENTIFICATION KEEP IT SIMPLE.....DONT MAKE it COMPLICATED BASIC TRIADS are just every other note ( you dont have to always do that..it's just a GUIDE) Example...Im on my guitar...It the KEY of D MAJOR/B min C# locrian Im simply going finger the C# note as my ROOT. Open D note...Open G note.. D note..open high E note. Then play Open A B then C# ( on the A string) Im FINGER PICKING it... I guess you call it C# dim add b2/b9. it's just the b3 ( E note) is stacked in the second octave Then Im simply going to finger the G F# E...descending ( in the lower octave)..in a nutshell NOTE on the LOW E string.. While I'm just finger the D note ( on B string) against open D G E Then the E note on the on the D string.. In a nut shell C# dim triad add 9 Then Im simply going hammer the the LOW G note on the ( low E string) the tritone or b5 of C# with my MIDDLE finger It sounds PRETTY. The C# is my ROOT NOTE C# LOCRIAN...those are the INTERVALS. There's OTHER SCALES with MODES in them too. Lydian = IONIAN #4 There's also Lyd #2 Lyd b3 Lyd #6 Lyd b7 Lyd #5 Lyd #2 , b7 or ( mix #2, #4) Lyd #5 #6 Lyd #2, #5 Lyd #2, #6 or Mix = IONIAN b7 Mix #2 Mix #4 Mix b2 Mix b6 Mix #2, #4 Mix b2, b6.......some people term this INTERVAL as PHRYGIAN DOMINANT Mix b2, #4 Those are just some EXAMPLES There's MORE different scales with MODES within them too. if you play those NOTES in a LINER manner...they'll all create different SOUNDS. Alot of people WILL use that as a GUIDE to distinguished those SOUNDS. If you learn them via INTERVALS identifications mix #2, #4.. aka HUNGARIAN MAJOR scale You could stack different CHORDS using this mode 1, 3, 5...... MAJOR 1, #2, 5 Min ( #2 is enharmonic/SAME as b3) 1, 3, 5 b7 dominant 1, #2, 5, b7 min 7 1, #2, #4 dim 1 #2, #4 b7 half dim 1, #2, #4 6 full dim 1 3, b7 #9....is how the HENDRIX is play on the GUITAR in theory ..it's just 1, 3, 5, b7, #9...The #2 is stack in the second octave ...that is all.
@@markusmiekk-oja3717 You could simply stack a sus4 chord, Example In the Key of A MAJOR/F#min ( on the guitar) G# sus4 ...Barr at the 4th fret ( Locrian) A sus9 at the NUT..............( IONIAN) Then...Hammer the F note on the D string with my PINKY Then Hammer the F note on the LOW E string. Without making it too complicated... Lets just say I borrowed from the A MAJOR BeBop scale. It's A MAJOR with #5/b6....OPTION/PASSING note. to play the F Maj7 add#11 chord. ( the 5th is suspened) I have to WRITE it like that ...to justify playing that maj7 of F.. NOT so much for me...( I'll play whatever I damn please) It just so OTHER MUSICIANs can COMPREHEND it. It's a scale with 8 notes so I could say it's loc 4, bb7....ADD Maj7 ( MODE) to give a point of REFERENCE. Aanways....I CREATED the mix #2 or ION #6 scale...or LOCRIAN maj7 It's MY INVENTION I also created melodic min b5 ( mix b2, #4) Then C# min triad against open B/E ( C# min add b13) Phrygian E7 at the NUT Mixolyian ( hammer the G# note low E pinky if I want) A MAJOR ....barr 5th FRET repeat.....starting from the G# sus4 chord ( Locrian)
With the doom I kind of feel like especially with the bluesy chord progression, the flat 5 feels more like a blues note, I also don't really hear a flat 9 fitting with the song, so I'm more inclined to say it's in minor with an added blues note
It's kind of blowing my mind right now that the Locrian feels so spooky and dissonant, but it's the major scale of that ii note is the same set of notes and sounds bright and happy. The fact that shifting your tonal center down half a step COMPLETELY alters the feeling of the music is absolutely wild. Can you think of any examples of a song that changes from like a C major to a B Locrian or the other way?
I'm moving towards writing electronic music from a background in heavy metal and the like. To me modes/keys/chords etc are as much about portraying an emotion as anything else. When you look at the minor modes, I think of it as "Something has gone wrong. How do you feel about it?" Aolian/minor is the "standard" default: Something has gone wrong. You're sad about it, and a little angry, but you recognize it and you have hope. Dorian: Something has gone wrong, but you're ignoring it, trying to be a "tough guy" and act like nothing is wrong. Phrygian: Something has gone wrong. You're angry about it, you're ready to fight, but against the wrong itself, not just to prove that it's not a big deal and you can take it like Dorian. You're a little bit sad and you accept it like standard minor, but you are raging against it rather than trying to understand it (minor) or ignore it (Dorian.) Locrian: Something has gone wrong. Badly. You're destroyed by it. You can't fight it. (Phrygian) You can't ignore it. (Dorian) You can't understand it. (minor). That diminished chord is still home, just instead of going back to it to rest before you begin the cycle again, you are thrown back into it, to try to get elsewhere until you just end up right back where you started. In Locrian, home is where the heart is broken. It is the repudiation of Dorian. You can't tough-guy Dad rock your way out of this one . . . you have to make someone else feel that pain, because it is all you have left to say. Long "live" Locrian.
10:28 I'm guessing you're talking about Fugu. Yeah, the chefs who prepare it have to train for years to be able to prepare it for safe consumption. Funny thing is, (at for some people) it barely tastes like anything. On the Trash Taste podcast, Joey talked about eating fugu, and said it was pretty meh. Interesting to know, right?
It's not about the tools themselves, it's how you use them. Locrian is inherently dark, yes, but that doesn't mean it has to sound any worse than a typical ionian/aeolian diatonic piece. Fantastic examples and analysis!
@@benjaminshields9421 I would say it's inherently and objectively dissonant in several ways. Subjectively, most people percive that level of dissonance as as "dark".
This is a great video! I've always wanted an analysis on this mode where the video just says, "This mode sucks." Even David Bennet Piano, who I watched videos of all the other modes from, glossed over the locrian mode. Thank you for making this video. P.S. After lydian, can you do phrigian, because that's my favorite of the modes.
I remember Adam Neely had a video with several guests talking about Locrian and one of them, SamuraiGuitarist, basically said "If you wanna write something in Locrian, I recommend you raise the 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 degrees, you'll end up with something you probably end up enjoying both writing and listening to more."
_"Even David Bennet Piano, who I watched videos of all the other modes from, glossed over the locrian mode"_ That's because there are basically no popular songs in Locrian. It's not because Locrian sucks, though. It simply isn't sound people are that used to, especially when most music people listen to is so centered around major and minor chords (diminished chords on their own are quite rare). I guess the best use of Locrian would be in riff-based music, where you don't really think in chords. This is actually why some metal riffs are essentially Locrian, or at least quite close to it (I think pure Locrian stuff is difficult to find, but riffs that use a mixture of Phrygian/Aeolian and Locrian aren't rare). I guess you could call the verse riff of Painkiller by Judas Priest Locrian. Then again, the vocals are pretty much centered around the perfect 5th over that riff, and the b5 is only used in the end as a power chord... So I guess I would still just call it Phrygian, and the b5 is simply common "metal chromaticism". If you want to stay in one Locrian scale and only use notes in it exclusively, then it kind of sucks, because there aren't many harmonic options. And this is also the reason why people tend to avoid it - people usually don't write songs as music theory exercises. They usually don't start from the idea that "I'm only allowed to use this specific collection of notes", which is why purely Locrian music is almost never written (outside of music theory exercises), and if there are Locrian parts in songs, those are only temporary, and often there's some harmonic movement that kind of "ruins" the Locrian sound, or the part also uses notes outside of the Locrian scale. The 5th is such an important note in the key (it's the most stable note after the tonic) that you kind of have to consciously avoid it to write anything truly Locrian. And this "conscious avoidance" kind of necessarily leads to "music theory exercise" approach to writing songs.
@@MaggaraMarine Well, David Bennet Piano has used a few video game examples in his video about the "royal road" chord progression, but I do agree with everything you said.
I will NEVER get tired of hearing you talk about modes. I love hearing about the seldom spoken tips and tricks composers use to make incredible music, and combining that with video games, my favourite form of entertainment ever?? Count me IN.
To me Locrian is a rhythmic melodic mode. It's extremely difficult to sit still on a half-diminished chord, since it always want to go somewhere else. It's still a very difficult mode, imo.
I do want a video about each mode :) It would help a lot to understand why they exist and how to make good use of them. Looking forward for the next video!
The Zelda's example is probably more like a miyako-bushi scale (都節音階 in Japanese), a common pentatonic scale in Japanese folk songs. It uses the A miyako-bushi : A-Bb-D-E-F-A.
I think at Doom’s gate is a more adrenaline pumping action song than a chaotic evil song, it’s the decent into the chaotic evil, not the chaotic evil itself.
I'm not sure At Doom's Gate really works that well as an example of locrian. The natural fifth shows up enough that the music sounds more like just E minor/E phrygian with some blues-based modifications characteristic of rock/metal, I think. It does in fact use a modified blues progression, and includes the requisite chromaticism for that. A more pure example of locrian mode that also shares that dark horror flavor is the Torture Chambers theme from Super Castlevania IV. ua-cam.com/video/EFtpZS_t0sQ/v-deo.html
Koppen As Fuck from Risk of Rain 2 is a metal tune that uses Locrian exclusively. No cheating with the fifth degree and no accidentals, just pure unadulterated Locrian mode and it works great.
Can you look att the ps2 ratchet and clank series soundtracks (R&C1, R&C2, R&C3 and R&C deadlocked) i think you will find it interesting and fun too pick it apart.
Though interesting to hear it analyzed as Locrian, the Zelda theme suggests a Japanese pentatonic mode a lot more than the Locrian one. I'm also not certain about the Doom example. The diminished fifth doesn't sound, to my ear, like a stable scale interval. Rather, it sounds like a diminished fifth in a minor key, which is intentionally unresolved.
When I saw you tease Omori, I almost had a heart attack. Please do a video on Omori. Although... if you haven't played the game, you better do that before you analyze its music. It's an unspoken crime to do something that horrible and get away with it.
I was thinking what people consider more demonic is actually Phrygian (although that one is not actually that dark in nature when used the right way, like in Arabic music)
Looking at Horror movies, there are a few elements, primarily there is always the 1/2 step tension like the repeated 1/2 step in Jaws, Psycho, Alien, Child's Play, Halloween, Friday the 13th and many others (kinda why the Ghostbusters theme starts with it too) or just plain chromaticism. There's also techniques like string slides like the Shelob scene from LotR (1/2 step is featured there too), and the channel Sideways also points to a very low sound and a high sound with no middle as well. Those are just a few basic examples and they can be found in games like Until Dawn and Dead Space as well. I do agree it would be cool to see an 8-bit music theory video exploring more creepy or horror aspects from game soundtracks
rhythmic not strictly musical sounds are imo the strongest way, im obsessed with the noise elements in the silent hill 2 ost but if you really wanna have your traditional instruments neatly do the job then the examples above are all solid
@@AndrewMerideth Yeah those techniques work very well, I am obsessing quite a while now over this topic. It's a bit counter intuitive but often times it's more the tempo than other elements which makes music unsettling. Very slow melodies in minor can be very creepy for example. Also there are scales like hungarian minor, which is even better at evoking fear than locrian imo. Locrian is weird but more in an outlandish than typically creepy way.
There are a ton of videos about modes on UA-cam but not really much and not enough videos about modes in video game OSTs. Thank you for this locrian examples. Please do other modes and scales if you can.
To me the Doom theme doesn't really sound locrian, it's more in "metal" minor :D You can see once it's harmonised it doesn't follow the mode at all but more different flavours of minor. Also the chord progression, and the way the riff is transposed for every chord is very... bluesy, which makes the b5 feel more like a #4. It's clearly inspired by the main riff from Judas Priest's Painkiller which is also in "locrian", but really it's metal evolving out of blues harmony. I think of it a bit like Master of Puppets, it's not really in any mode, it's E metal minor x)
Also the desert theme sounds more like a D minor harmonic mode to me (so E Locrian ♮6 ? :D) The problem with Locrian is that you pretty much need all of the notes to get its "true" color, here there's never the 3rd or 6th, so you could also hear it as D hungarian minor (E... oriental ? or whatever that's called 8D)
Do you think back when music had to be hard coded or put into tracking software that the composers thought of them similarly to how transcribing music normally worked for classical artists? I see a lot of similarities when you compare modern composers like Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo to classical composers like Bach, Chopin, etc. and I often wonder if they think about music in the same vein or write it with symmetry or mathematics in mind like Mozart.
@@LinkEX Dancing Dragon is definitely one of them, but I'm actually extremely fond of Snake's Remains. The haunting melody in that piece really fits the dungeon, even if it is only the second one.
Where would you put the snap then Mr. "Jasss musician" You type of people annoy the shit out of me. That song is PERFECT. You would have made it worse.
I have to protest against the SoundFont you used to represent At Doom's Gate. The piece was composed with the Roland SC-55 in mind. There are plenty of recordings made using the original hardware, as well as digital SoundFonts mimicking it very well. Much better than that buzzing sound you have used in your video.
Super Metroid's Hot Lava Area also uses Locrian mode. In that track, it sounds dark, but also does very good at capturing what most might a consider warm feeling.
Any chance you'd take a look at the evolution of the Route 209 theme? You have a track that has been formally recomposed by Nintendo multiple times, including twice in less than a year in the BD/SP as well as the end credits in Legends. Additionally, the track has seen hundreds of fan remixes over the years ranging from full orchestra to lofi to metal covers and everything else. I'd love to see your take on why a fairly low-energy route managed to take off while most other background music in Pokemon doesn't see as much attention.
I'd say the concepts of music theory that I've delved into the least, is probably modes, so I do like this content. (Could you take a look at the Super Mario 3d Land soundtrack, specifically the final boss? It's really slept on)
The modes are probably my favorite music theory subject! Like you said at the beginning, learning about the modes was an important gateway for me to learn a lot of music theory. To me the modes are like gateways to other worlds, whole realms of musical possibility hidden from our major/minor tonality paradigm. Then, when I learned later on that "the modes" are really just "the modes of the major scale," and that every other scale also has its own system of modes, I truly did feel like I'd found the keys to the musical multiverse.
i'd love to see a video about the dorian mode, i feel like it sees a lot more use in game soundtracks than just popularly, and i wonder why! also, one of my favorite songs, "forgotten" from fez, is in dorian
i just took a quick listen, and the clockwork tower theme has a pretty clear perfect fifth, major second, and minor sixth, so that's aeolian or natural minor! it does use the minor second a fair amount ornamentally though, which brings in some of that shared phrygian/locrian sound - that's probably what you were hearing!
@@cellularautomaton. Thanks so much! I thought it wasn't quite right but I didn't know how to identify the intervals and figure it out. It's my favorite SK theme.
I dont necessarily disagree, but I want to point out a few things. The Doom example, I think it's possible for the Bbs to actually be A#s since we never get an A anywhere in the "E Locrian" sections. This would make the scale a "Phrygian sharp 4" as one possibility. The other thought is the only time we see an F in these sections, it's sharp, so it's possible to analyze that as a natural 2 as well. For the Samasa Desert, we are missing notes of the scale, it's the 3 and the 6, although as far as I know, if either of those are natural, it's an altered locrian scale, but if both are natural, that's the Oriental Scale 1-b2-3-4-b5-6-b7. Again, I don't necessarily disagree, but it does seem there is some wiggle room for the analysis
Back in 2019-2020, I made a few compositions in Locrian, which surprised a lot of people since the common convention was always that it's not really a usable scale. To me it doesn't sound spooky but more dreary, like a rainy day, or mysterious, like a lost civilization or the more esoteric aspects of ancient Greece. When approaching it that way, it was surprisingly easy to work with. I noticed though within the past year or so the Locrian mode has become much more used than it was even just three years ago.
This is excellent! especially your harmony analysis. I teach a course on modes, but I don't cover the Locrian mode (other than what the notes are), so this video is an excellent supplement to my course. I know my participants will enjoy your other mode videos to (as will I)! Thank you.
Big chunk of video is about how you can't make true tension and release in this mode, but isn't modal harmony about abandoning this concept? I'm not experienced musician myself, but it sounds like perfect opportunity to do that in mode wich opposes this idea naturally, by design :)
My favorite example of the locrian mode is The Great Sea Is Cursed from Zelda: The Wind Waker, which is the transformation of The Great Sea theme from major to locrian.
I'm so happy you remember and respect the Oracle soundtracks. Darm Ruins/ Lost Woods and Zelda's Awakening live rent-free in my earworm brain. The Skull Dungeon goes pretty hard too.
I dunno, all of these have this sort of "dark grin" feel. It's definitely not ooh spooky dark, but like... It's more Anakin than Obi-Wan, yknow? Which is still pretty far from the stereotype of it being full blown Darth Vader.
As somebody who has absolutely no idea what you're talking about most of the time on this channel, I pretty much just clicked instantly on this when I saw Din in the thumbnail. Oracle of Ages and Seasons are among the best Zelda games and they're way too underrated.
definitely not sick of learning about the application of modes, and i honestly really like that there has been an uphill trend in teaching about them. i didn't know they existed until i got into music theory youtube in about 2019, and it would seem that too many people are either in the sae boat, or don't understand how they can be applied. there's way too much "here's what the modes are and how to learn them" and not enough "here's how to actually apply modes in your own compositions*. Jake from Signals Music Studio covers modes a lot, and even expresses something I've thought for a long time, that - while wrong in traditional theory to call them this - "modes can and should be given the chance to be treated as your "key".", and this approach opened a lot of doors to me for composition.
I'm down for more videos about modes! I believe you that they're not the most useful thing, but I'm enjoying getting to grips with them and learning different ways of using them
Your Doom footage is far too zoomed in. You need to download one of the fan-made versions which support higher end computers, then change the resolution to 1920x1080.
Very interesting! I ended up here from looking at a piece of Gregorian Chant, the Offertory chant for Pentecost Sunday, "Confirma hoc Deus". It's in mode 4 (hypophrygian, I think?) but with a consistent B flat in there. I was wondering what exactly it matched up to, and turns out it's E Locrian! It's a very enigmatic piece, but the unresolved character fits the text well, since it's asking God to complete in us what He's already begun - our sanctification isn't complete, and there's a big question mark there - will we cooperate and allow Him to complete His work in us, or will we oppose it? Thanks for the insight into the mode, I really appreciate it!
Great examples! Uematsu nailed it. However, the first Doom example is a stretch in my opinion. I hear the syncopated Bb as an A#, the A# serving as a contrapuntal voice completing a double leading tone to scale degree 5. This reveals the limitations of this mode. When you begin to add the sugar and spice of other chord tones from related key areas, whether it's intended or not, you begin to stabilize the mode and undo the ear's perception of the tonic's relationship to scale degrees 2 and 5. In other words, Locrian mode stops sounding like Locrian mode as soon as you add accidentals from related key areas as a natural (tee hee!) consequence of its signature harmonic instability. This is why the pedal tones in the third example and the alternating bass in the fourth example are so helpful to our ears. It's like the steady or mostly unchanging bass is holding our hands as we walk through a dark cave or treacherous desert.
I love learning about modes. Looking forward to the Lydian bit. (Is there any chance a video could feature tips on modulating from one mode to another?)
the persona video covers modulations between modes pretty well
@@maluse227 thanks for the tip :)
I definitely want to hear Lydian examples in gaming.
It was enlightening to hear Locrian examples, especially after being painted out on tracks I've heard before and not realising it was in this mode.
Now I definitely want to hear Lydian.
And then maybe some Ionian scale🌚
@@MoonDisast Off the top of my head I believe both Lost woods and Song of Healing from Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask are both in Lydian. Classic stuff right there
@@maluse227 Oh dang, I'll re-watch! Thanks!
While I think it'spossible to analyse the Zelda example within a locrian framework I think it might be slightly more accurate to label it as using the iwato scale from traditional Japanese music. Pentatonic scale similar in makeup to the locrian but without the third or sixh degrees;which is an exact match for that example.
Love the videos; always stop by to enjoy the latest one.
Well this is pretty cool, if anything it's an example of analyzing music from completely different cultures with western theory, which is possible but utimately kinda wrong. If this Iwato scale as you said has no third degree, then it is fundamentally "unusable" in western theory as the third is always present in any western scale and indicates wether a scale/chord is major or minor.
@@dalluc theory can be borrowed from all cultures true but analyzing it from a western framework as you are saying would be hard but not impossible. Wouldn’t go with traditional theory models no
your pfp, isnt that the flag of anarcho-syndicalism?
@@DonHaka what the fuck are you talking about
@@DonHaka seems like it 2 me
As a metal composer, I love Locrian. I call it the "question mark" mode. I love to use it to alter a riff, make it weird for a bridge or something, or to play weird licks during solos.
That one Locrean riff/sequence in Lamb of God's "Vigil," oh my gosh!!! 😍😍😍
Sylosis's song Stained Humanity is pretty much written in locrian. It's a great metal song and really shows how metal of a mode it is.
The most well known example of Locrian being used in metal is the main riff of Metallica's "Seek and Destroy", which has an almost badass supervillain kinda vibe to it, or at least it does to me
I think it's like the Valley Girl of modes?
Amen my nugget. I like me some phryg dom
Locrian in “Destroyed Skyworld” in Kid Icarus Uprising might technically have an evil feel to it, but it sounds *beautiful* and that Pit is there on a *mission* to save someone who would seem too far gone to anyone else. The Locrian isn’t just signifying the problem but also the drive.
Kid Icarus Uprising is a great game!
Goddamnit! My 3ds doesn't have enought memory for this BS right now!
Really happy to see the Oracle games talked about here; I've always thought their soundtrack is criminally underrated. And yes, the food made from fugu blowfish (specifically their pickled ovaries) is real.
There's a cool Hitman 2016 mission where you can sushi-assassinate a target. Very epic.
As it happens, I recently listened to every Zelda soundtrack in chronological order just for fun - to see what I thought the best song was and the best soundtrack is
...The Oracle games definitely stood out as the worst in the series to me :/. Though yes It's pretty good still and does it's job
Zelda music is usually much better than just that. Some of the BEST video game music ever :)
While I love the uniqueness of the Samasa desert music, I think it really does sound spooky. Which is why it is so unexpected in a (non-spooky) desert environment.
@@richardgurney1844 for me it's Skull Dungeon. That's a jam.
i agree, tarm ruins is the most underrated zelda track ever, its gorgeous. and dancing dragon dungeon is a bop.
As a person who doesn't understand a lot of these concepts, I'd love to see videos on the other scales. This video served well to show what modes stereotypically sound like, as well as to show how their sound can be played around with to effect a different feel in these pieces, and while I don't understand everything in these videos, they are still possible to follow along with.
Could you give some examples of what you don't understand? I'm curious.
@@FL4SHK Chords, resolution, pretty much most of the higher music theory stuff.
@@Pascal-eu2oe chords are basically just playing 2+ notes at the same time, technically any combination is allowed but music theory helps you use ones that don't sound like a kid pressing every key on a piano at once.
8bit has a bunch of older video to cover the basics, which are less able use videogame music to showcase things as a cord is pretty fundamental to playing an instrument. (They are real fun as a saxophone player where you need a friend to play the other note for you)
But the less fundamental theory is excellently showcase by his basic premise of using videogame music, which is much more familiar than classical music, and generally is simpler and in context really shows how the music choice complements the vibe the game devs are going for. (His chromatic notes video was pretty intuitive without needing a bunch of other knowledge)
@@Pascal-eu2oe Chords can feel more tense or less tense. When you go from a chord that feels more tense to a chord that feels less tense, it feels like a resolution (of the tension). Basically 85% of music theory is just that one sentence, and classifying chords to see how it works. The notation and organizational structure can get complicated, but the idea is simple. Think of Beethoven's 5th with *da da da DUMMMM* as a very extreme example.
Locrian mode is unpopular because it's defined by a set of chord movements which are high in tension. There's nothing in the mode that resolves that tension nicely, and if you allow the tension to resolve, it's because you've accidentally gotten out of Locrian mode and (usually) into some functional major or minor key with a different root note than what you intended. Staying in Locrian means never doing a traditional resolution and just letting the tension hover there in the music. Most people really like the resolution, it's extremely satisfying, so a mode that eschews it entirely doesn't fit well in a lot of situations. It's only useful if your goal is to inspire a sense of dissatisfaction, of tension that never goes away, of stress.
They're good videos. Just keep in mind that every mode is just a different position in your major key, whatever that key may be. The general whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half will be found somewhere in each mode, Locrian being the seventh position, starting the mode at a B note will keep ya in the key of C.
But w/ that said, you can use the mode both for the key you are in, but when getting more advanced these things can also be used for key changes/alterations, though Locrian would be a rather intense alteration as is demonstrated in the vid w/ this well chosen song from Doom. Though we write out of major, that's just how music is designed, there are keys outside of the major key, of course, the minor key with its flat 3rd note being the primary example of this. Note that 7 and m7 key will always knock ya back a step to 2 steps in circles respectively, ex. Dm7 is C, G7 is C, likewise Fm7 would be Eb as well as Bb7 would be Eb - the keys not the chords, just to make that clear. Almost botched and reversed the flats, sorry, it's correct now, lol, always good to reread. Music's such a trip.
Some keys will make use of more than the standard seven, such as a simple chromatic adding an F# and C# into the C key to help as emphasis notes or any other version of the chromatic, in other words any notes added in to the standdard key for emphasis (Hendrix and many other blues aficionados did a lot of this), and some keys will make use of less notes, like our five note pentatonic scales which sacrifice two notes from the major - less notes of course making for more harmony and less dissonance between the notes. All of them will have different positions/modes, as well - though with chromatics a lot of what is added in are emphasis notes, not to be used as starting points.
I tell ya, I don't think I've ever written a song to where I've set out knowing more than the rudimentary basics of what I was doing while creating it. Always do what sounds good to start. Knowing how to apply the theory will help to know where to go during creation and then will help to put everything together and make sense of everything once created, tying up any loose ends and adding in any other pieces that could help the main progression. Again, always do what sounds good to start. As time goes by and more is learned the progressions will get better, and old songs can always be added to.
I get the feeling Locrian can do the "safe but tense" stuff that thrives in horror game safe rooms. Isn't the cathedral theme from ALTTP in Locrian?
Now I'm curious about the music in the original Luigi's Mansion. Granted the primary instrument was Luigi humming in terror. (Which is probably a choice worth making a video about; selecting an instrument for a piece)
I think it's just in harmonic minor - it's just the bassline descending chromatically
@@AxleCarp by "chromatically" you mean it goes down one semitone at a time, not necessarily conforming to a scale? Music noob here sorry xD
@@em_the_bee yes, although it /is/ conforming to a scale (the chromatic scale) -- the typical 8 tone scales (major, minor, and the other 5 diatonic modes) are just the most common in western music, but a scale is any sequence of notes ordered by pitch (ie always ascending/descending, not a mix like A-C-B-D.). The major (ionian) scale is defined by the intervals "tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone", so the tonic (first note) is whatever you pick, the second is first note + one tone, third is second note + one tone, fourth is the third note + semitone, and so on up to the octave (5 tones + 2 semitones = 12 semitones = an octave in 12 tone systems). The natural minor scale (aeolian) and the other 5 modes (dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, locrian) are all the same pattern, but starting at a different point in the sequence -- eg natural minor starts on the 6th note of the major, so instead of "tone, tone, semitone, ...", it's "tone, semitone [last two intervals of major scale], tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone [first 5 intervals of major scale, since it loops back around]". Chromatic scale is just "semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone, semitone". There are theoretically 2^11 = 2048 different scales in 12 tone systems that repeat at the octave, as there are 11 notes between the tonic and the octave, for each of those 11 notes there are two choices -- it can either be included or not -- but in practice, scales tend to have at most 3 semitones between notes that are more or less equally distributed throughout the octave, which limits possibilities. Scales don't even /have/ to repeat at the octave, although it's obviously very useful if they do.
@@voskresenie- oh yeah, I learned all that already in these 8 months, but thanks anyways
10:23 It is real, it's called the Fugu fish. My question is, how many times did they have to try until they figured out the correct way to prepare it?
It also doesnt actually taste that good. Most people describe it as being an incredibly mild flavor, so much so that they typically use a type of spicy sauce to go with it.
Pufferfish
The toxin actually comes from shellfish being digested in the fugu's digestive tract, so farmed fugu aren't fed shellfish which means no toxin, perfectly safe fish meat
secret origin of the kamikaze
Death Doom's music has kind of like a blues structure. A diminished blues sounds pretty amazing
When I first learned about the modes, I went through a phase where I made a bunch of pieces in Locrian. It's definitely underrated. Although since then I've grown a taste for Phrygian and especially Phrygian dominant (Phrygian but with a major third), and started experimenting with a bunch of different scales outside the modes of major.
I'm a big mixolydian fan myself
Ah, a fellow Phrygian appreciator. God I love the Phrygians. My best song is in Phrygian Dominant (though it sure doesn't sound like it!)
Phrygian Dominant is just one alteration away from Double Harmonic and Mixolydian flat 6. Those three are probably my favorite scales!
I used to be a Phrygian fan, but now I am a combining Phrygian dominant and mixolydian enjoyer, try it, it's so cool
Phrygian, Phrygian dominant and double harmonic major are great. Personally, I think Neapolitan minor and the "mirage scale" are even cooler, at least for improvisation. The latter is just perfect! I stumbled upon it by going "what if I combine Phrygian, Phrygian dominant and double harmonic minor?" haha, looked it up and learned about its strange recent history (it was apparently the only scale not listed on Ian Ring's site, and thus someone named it "mirage scale").
Still, at least I almost always end up going with just Phrygian, Phrygian dominant or double harmonic major (or Phrygian dominant with added major 7th) even if the idea began from something "even cooler".
Anyway, Locrian is fun, and imho its usual vibe is "liminal" kinda like liminal spaces; at the same time relaxing but also somehow unsettling. It's like it embodies a feeling of nostalgia for something that never happened/existed, or that was unnervingly different from the memories... or a deja vu type of feeling. Also kinda bittersweet in a way.
Locrian dominant, though... uhhh... I'm interested in it, but haven't found any use for it yet.
(Sorry for rambling.)
I was just listening to final fantasy VI's soundtrack this morning while on my run, and was wondering to myself what kinda chords that song used. Fortuitous.
...one of these days, I *swear* I will comprehend at least **one thing** from music theory!!
Same, back when I first started watching 8-Bit here a few years ago I had trouble getting past the first ten seconds-and while I’m not particularly good at it I do comprehend generally what he’s talking about now! Keep at it, you can do it!
I can't remember the exact name of it, but there's some table for mapping the scale numbering visually into a circle. I think vox used it on their breakdown of giant steps. might help with some of this stuff
You probably just need the right teacher. I thought the same as you did, but let me tell you, it's actually far easier than you think.
@@j377yb33n circle of fifths I think it is
@@redpepper74 that was the one in the vox video about giant steps, yeah.
A fellow music UA-camr and I actually challenged ourselves to make a Locrian-scale-only composition to prove just that : Locrian ≠ spooky !
Remixer Darken's one is "Mode 7" on his channel, while mine is nammed ''Lacrima'' on my channel
It’s a mode, not a scale
@@HieronymousLex A mode is a type of scale. Why the semantics
A couple other video game songs that use locrian mode:
Gazing at Sirius from Fire Emblem Three Houses
Nocturne of Shadow from Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Multitudes of Colors from Murasama: The Demon Blade
House of Tricky Ninjas from Paper Mario The Origami King
Flooded Basement theme from Sweet Home
Also I agree, Locrian is not ugly or unusable, it's just not culturally as pervasive as the other modes so people's ears aren't trained to understand how it moves and functions. The more you experiment around with it the more it reveals its unique color to you. I would encourage all musicians to try writing something in Locrian.
I’d love it if you could talk about the Dorian scale, it’s my favorite mode!
😏😏
Old video and I doubt you'll see this but an amazing example of the Locrian mode that is 100% locrian and not a form of a japanese iwato scale (like your Zelda last example here) is The Pursuer's theme from Dark Souls 2! Worth checking out, whole track riffs on the C locrian scale AND constantly uses the diminished I chord as its root (Cm7b5, which is the diminished 7th of the mode) without any fear.
As a huge DOOM fan, I’m thrilled to see coverage of E1M1 on the channel! I’d love to see what you could do with more songs from those games!
12 bar blues renditions of metal riffs 🥴
it's a Master of Puppets cover from Metallica :D
I wonder if the use of footage from E1M2 is an intentional attempt to trigger long-time doom fans :)
@@TraxtasyMedia Nope. It's not, neither as far as rhythm or selection of tones goes. DRI's Hooked's opening riff is way closer. The only thing Master of Puppets and E1M1 have in common are a pedal tone and a descending progression of tones (E1M1) or chords (MoP).
@@markusmiekk-oja3717 who knows? :D
Thank you ! I always thought Locrian was unusable. Thanks for showing us some brillant examples of this scale.
PLEASE DO ALL THE MODES THIS VIDEO WAS SO COOL AND USEFUL FRUCJING SERIOUSLY!!!! We love a king who can challenge our perceptions and get us to think of locrian as a viable resource and not just ‘useless and evil’ THANK YOU
I'd love to see a video on the Dorian mode and how its tonal vagueness can allow it to be used to express all kinds of emotions (heroism/triumph, curiosity, sadness, etc).
The fish dish from the Simpons is definitely real. It's a pufferfish, called fugu in Japanese, and it has to be prepared by an especially licensed chef, so they don't include the toxic parts in the dish. Many people have died in the past due to the pufferfish's potent toxin.
Stuff like that is why I'm perfectly happy just having pizza
The fish you mentioned is real. It's popular in Japan where it's called Fugu.
Another locrian example I really enjoy is the track "Elven Mist" from RuneScape. It really embraces that mode and the half-diminished tonic chord.
I just recently finished watching a music theory video on how almost no 'non videogame' song uses true Locrian except for Bjork's Army of Me and oh boy is that Locrian bassline awesome. In the same way as doom has that awesome Locrian guitar line
It's definitely rare for sure, I happen to have found it in a movie soundtrack that I'll be posting a video analyzing soon. It was a pleasant surprise coming across it
John Kirkpatrick's song "Dust to Dust" is the best example of a song in Locrian imo.
@@Booskop. I agree, and if only it included the 6th to have the complete scale
I guess the only "non videogame" genre where locrian is common is metal. In fact the E1M1 theme from Doom (1993) is actually based on the main riff from Metallica's Master of Puppets (1986).
E1M1 always sounded more like "No Remorse" to me.
Modes really escaped me in music theory but gosh they’re so juicy. I’m glad they exist 😂
7:00
snaps on 2 and 4 is so engrained in me, I heard the bass as starting on 2 ( (1) 2 +3 __, etc ), and was confused when you said the snaps were on 1 and 3 until I went back and relistened. It took me about four times to hear it the way I did originally after being primed that the snaps were on 1 and 3
Great examples, thanks! I always think that the problem with the Locrian mode isn’t that it’s necessarily so “dark” or “evil”, so much that it’s root chord is unstable, so it’s hard to sound like you’re staying IN Locrian. The way that I’ve found to get around it is by playing a shell voicing for the root chord, so that there’s no flat 5th in the chord, while keeping a repetitive bassline that does use the flat 5th. If you add some dissonant extensions to any other chords, you can still feel like the root chord is home, while maintaining a Locrian feel with the bassline and melodic elements.
yeah the root-m3-m7 is a good root chord in locrian
it just depends how you play it and what you play it on.
MODES are just INTERVALS IDENTIFICATION
KEEP IT SIMPLE.....DONT MAKE it COMPLICATED
BASIC TRIADS are just every other note
( you dont have to always do that..it's just a GUIDE)
Example...Im on my guitar...It the KEY of D MAJOR/B min
C# locrian
Im simply going finger the C# note as my ROOT.
Open D note...Open G note.. D note..open high E note.
Then play Open A B then C# ( on the A string)
Im FINGER PICKING it...
I guess you call it C# dim add b2/b9.
it's just the b3 ( E note) is stacked in the second octave
Then Im simply going to finger the
G F# E...descending ( in the lower octave)..in a nutshell NOTE on the LOW E string..
While I'm just finger the D note ( on B string) against open D G E
Then the E note on the on the D string..
In a nut shell C# dim triad add 9
Then Im simply going hammer the the LOW G note on the ( low E string) the tritone or b5 of C# with my MIDDLE finger
It sounds PRETTY. The C# is my ROOT NOTE
C# LOCRIAN...those are the INTERVALS.
There's OTHER SCALES with MODES in them too.
Lydian = IONIAN #4
There's also
Lyd #2
Lyd b3
Lyd #6
Lyd b7
Lyd #5
Lyd #2 , b7 or ( mix #2, #4)
Lyd #5 #6
Lyd #2, #5
Lyd #2, #6
or
Mix = IONIAN b7
Mix #2
Mix #4
Mix b2
Mix b6
Mix #2, #4
Mix b2, b6.......some people term this INTERVAL as PHRYGIAN DOMINANT
Mix b2, #4
Those are just some EXAMPLES
There's MORE different scales with MODES within them too.
if you play those NOTES in a LINER manner...they'll all create different SOUNDS.
Alot of people WILL use that as a GUIDE to distinguished those SOUNDS.
If you learn them via INTERVALS identifications
mix #2, #4.. aka HUNGARIAN MAJOR scale
You could stack different CHORDS using this mode
1, 3, 5...... MAJOR
1, #2, 5 Min ( #2 is enharmonic/SAME as b3)
1, 3, 5 b7 dominant
1, #2, 5, b7 min 7
1, #2, #4 dim
1 #2, #4 b7 half dim
1, #2, #4 6 full dim
1 3, b7 #9....is how the HENDRIX is play on the GUITAR
in theory ..it's just 1, 3, 5, b7, #9...The #2 is stack in the second octave ...that is all.
Using a 7sus4no5-chord is also a strategy that can work. Even then, tho', the b5 can be a bit jarring against the 4
@@markusmiekk-oja3717 You could simply stack a sus4 chord,
Example In the Key of A MAJOR/F#min ( on the guitar)
G# sus4 ...Barr at the 4th fret ( Locrian)
A sus9 at the NUT..............( IONIAN)
Then...Hammer the F note on the D string with my PINKY
Then Hammer the F note on the LOW E string.
Without making it too complicated...
Lets just say I borrowed from the A MAJOR BeBop scale.
It's A MAJOR with #5/b6....OPTION/PASSING note.
to play the F Maj7 add#11 chord. ( the 5th is suspened)
I have to WRITE it like that ...to justify playing that maj7 of F..
NOT so much for me...( I'll play whatever I damn please)
It just so OTHER MUSICIANs can COMPREHEND it.
It's a scale with 8 notes
so I could say it's loc 4, bb7....ADD Maj7 ( MODE)
to give a point of REFERENCE.
Aanways....I CREATED the mix #2 or ION #6 scale...or LOCRIAN maj7
It's MY INVENTION
I also created melodic min b5 ( mix b2, #4)
Then C# min triad against open B/E ( C# min add b13) Phrygian
E7 at the NUT Mixolyian ( hammer the G# note low E pinky if I want)
A MAJOR ....barr 5th FRET
repeat.....starting from the G# sus4 chord ( Locrian)
I would LOVE to learn more about modes!
Thank you for making this video. I've been saying Locrian can be both beautiful and usable for years despite its bad rep.
With the doom I kind of feel like especially with the bluesy chord progression, the flat 5 feels more like a blues note, I also don't really hear a flat 9 fitting with the song, so I'm more inclined to say it's in minor with an added blues note
That, and a lot of songs Bobby made follow a very strict 12-bar blues progression
It's kind of blowing my mind right now that the Locrian feels so spooky and dissonant, but it's the major scale of that ii note is the same set of notes and sounds bright and happy. The fact that shifting your tonal center down half a step COMPLETELY alters the feeling of the music is absolutely wild. Can you think of any examples of a song that changes from like a C major to a B Locrian or the other way?
I'm moving towards writing electronic music from a background in heavy metal and the like. To me modes/keys/chords etc are as much about portraying an emotion as anything else. When you look at the minor modes, I think of it as "Something has gone wrong. How do you feel about it?" Aolian/minor is the "standard" default: Something has gone wrong. You're sad about it, and a little angry, but you recognize it and you have hope. Dorian: Something has gone wrong, but you're ignoring it, trying to be a "tough guy" and act like nothing is wrong. Phrygian: Something has gone wrong. You're angry about it, you're ready to fight, but against the wrong itself, not just to prove that it's not a big deal and you can take it like Dorian. You're a little bit sad and you accept it like standard minor, but you are raging against it rather than trying to understand it (minor) or ignore it (Dorian.) Locrian: Something has gone wrong. Badly. You're destroyed by it. You can't fight it. (Phrygian) You can't ignore it. (Dorian) You can't understand it. (minor). That diminished chord is still home, just instead of going back to it to rest before you begin the cycle again, you are thrown back into it, to try to get elsewhere until you just end up right back where you started. In Locrian, home is where the heart is broken. It is the repudiation of Dorian. You can't tough-guy Dad rock your way out of this one . . . you have to make someone else feel that pain, because it is all you have left to say. Long "live" Locrian.
I'm enamored with this interpretation of minor modes
The Oracle games have a ton of fantastic tunes, at least to an untrained ear like mine. Happy to see them mentioned here!
10:28 I'm guessing you're talking about Fugu. Yeah, the chefs who prepare it have to train for years to be able to prepare it for safe consumption. Funny thing is, (at for some people) it barely tastes like anything. On the Trash Taste podcast, Joey talked about eating fugu, and said it was pretty meh. Interesting to know, right?
What's cool about fugu is that they can now farm it so it isn't even poisonous anymore, same flavor but no risk of death!
It's not about the tools themselves, it's how you use them. Locrian is inherently dark, yes, but that doesn't mean it has to sound any worse than a typical ionian/aeolian diatonic piece.
Fantastic examples and analysis!
oh hi emm bee sea
What makes it *inherently* dark?
@@benjaminshields9421 I would say it's inherently and objectively dissonant in several ways. Subjectively, most people percive that level of dissonance as as "dark".
I know nothing about music theory, but I think Locrian sounds more brooding and mysterious.
@@benjaminshields9421 I think it's because the low-set half-tone intervals bring the average pitch down.
This is a great video! I've always wanted an analysis on this mode where the video just says, "This mode sucks." Even David Bennet Piano, who I watched videos of all the other modes from, glossed over the locrian mode. Thank you for making this video.
P.S. After lydian, can you do phrigian, because that's my favorite of the modes.
I remember Adam Neely had a video with several guests talking about Locrian and one of them, SamuraiGuitarist, basically said "If you wanna write something in Locrian, I recommend you raise the 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 degrees, you'll end up with something you probably end up enjoying both writing and listening to more."
@@bmac4 Ah yes, turn it back into the major key.
_"Even David Bennet Piano, who I watched videos of all the other modes from, glossed over the locrian mode"_
That's because there are basically no popular songs in Locrian.
It's not because Locrian sucks, though. It simply isn't sound people are that used to, especially when most music people listen to is so centered around major and minor chords (diminished chords on their own are quite rare). I guess the best use of Locrian would be in riff-based music, where you don't really think in chords. This is actually why some metal riffs are essentially Locrian, or at least quite close to it (I think pure Locrian stuff is difficult to find, but riffs that use a mixture of Phrygian/Aeolian and Locrian aren't rare). I guess you could call the verse riff of Painkiller by Judas Priest Locrian. Then again, the vocals are pretty much centered around the perfect 5th over that riff, and the b5 is only used in the end as a power chord... So I guess I would still just call it Phrygian, and the b5 is simply common "metal chromaticism".
If you want to stay in one Locrian scale and only use notes in it exclusively, then it kind of sucks, because there aren't many harmonic options. And this is also the reason why people tend to avoid it - people usually don't write songs as music theory exercises. They usually don't start from the idea that "I'm only allowed to use this specific collection of notes", which is why purely Locrian music is almost never written (outside of music theory exercises), and if there are Locrian parts in songs, those are only temporary, and often there's some harmonic movement that kind of "ruins" the Locrian sound, or the part also uses notes outside of the Locrian scale. The 5th is such an important note in the key (it's the most stable note after the tonic) that you kind of have to consciously avoid it to write anything truly Locrian. And this "conscious avoidance" kind of necessarily leads to "music theory exercise" approach to writing songs.
@@MaggaraMarine Well, David Bennet Piano has used a few video game examples in his video about the "royal road" chord progression, but I do agree with everything you said.
I will NEVER get tired of hearing you talk about modes. I love hearing about the seldom spoken tips and tricks composers use to make incredible music, and combining that with video games, my favourite form of entertainment ever?? Count me IN.
To me Locrian is a rhythmic melodic mode. It's extremely difficult to sit still on a half-diminished chord, since it always want to go somewhere else. It's still a very difficult mode, imo.
Locrian is infamous for being obnoxious to work with in this way
Finally early to a 8 bit music theory masterpiece
Samasa Desert is one of my favorite tracks from the Oracle games, right up there with Tarm Ruins. Glad to know a bit more about it now!
I do want a video about each mode :) It would help a lot to understand why they exist and how to make good use of them.
Looking forward for the next video!
The Zelda's example is probably more like a miyako-bushi scale (都節音階 in Japanese), a common pentatonic scale in Japanese folk songs. It uses the A miyako-bushi : A-Bb-D-E-F-A.
Locrian:*exist*
Me, despite being a metalhead:Is this minor on steroids?
I think at Doom’s gate is a more adrenaline pumping action song than a chaotic evil song, it’s the decent into the chaotic evil, not the chaotic evil itself.
Yes, please discuss the Phrygian mode! It's my favorite and I would love to hear examples of it in games.
I'm not sure At Doom's Gate really works that well as an example of locrian. The natural fifth shows up enough that the music sounds more like just E minor/E phrygian with some blues-based modifications characteristic of rock/metal, I think. It does in fact use a modified blues progression, and includes the requisite chromaticism for that.
A more pure example of locrian mode that also shares that dark horror flavor is the Torture Chambers theme from Super Castlevania IV. ua-cam.com/video/EFtpZS_t0sQ/v-deo.html
Koppen As Fuck from Risk of Rain 2 is a metal tune that uses Locrian exclusively. No cheating with the fifth degree and no accidentals, just pure unadulterated Locrian mode and it works great.
My man Nosk’s theme sneaking in at the beginning there
Can you look att the ps2 ratchet and clank series soundtracks (R&C1, R&C2, R&C3 and R&C deadlocked) i think you will find it interesting and fun too pick it apart.
Though interesting to hear it analyzed as Locrian, the Zelda theme suggests a Japanese pentatonic mode a lot more than the Locrian one.
I'm also not certain about the Doom example. The diminished fifth doesn't sound, to my ear, like a stable scale interval. Rather, it sounds like a diminished fifth in a minor key, which is intentionally unresolved.
one video for each mode would be great
When I saw you tease Omori, I almost had a heart attack. Please do a video on Omori. Although... if you haven't played the game, you better do that before you analyze its music. It's an unspoken crime to do something that horrible and get away with it.
Honestly, I've already written some tunes in Locrian that I'd classify as "eerie" rather than "demonic".
I was thinking what people consider more demonic is actually Phrygian (although that one is not actually that dark in nature when used the right way, like in Arabic music)
1:36 Could you please elaborate on this, I would be very interested in your opinion about how to make music creepy besides using locrian
Looking at Horror movies, there are a few elements, primarily there is always the 1/2 step tension like the repeated 1/2 step in Jaws, Psycho, Alien, Child's Play, Halloween, Friday the 13th and many others (kinda why the Ghostbusters theme starts with it too) or just plain chromaticism. There's also techniques like string slides like the Shelob scene from LotR (1/2 step is featured there too), and the channel Sideways also points to a very low sound and a high sound with no middle as well. Those are just a few basic examples and they can be found in games like Until Dawn and Dead Space as well. I do agree it would be cool to see an 8-bit music theory video exploring more creepy or horror aspects from game soundtracks
rhythmic not strictly musical sounds are imo the strongest way, im obsessed with the noise elements in the silent hill 2 ost
but if you really wanna have your traditional instruments neatly do the job then the examples above are all solid
@@AndrewMerideth Yeah those techniques work very well, I am obsessing quite a while now over this topic.
It's a bit counter intuitive but often times it's more the tempo than other elements which makes music unsettling. Very slow melodies in minor can be very creepy for example.
Also there are scales like hungarian minor, which is even better at evoking fear than locrian imo. Locrian is weird but more in an outlandish than typically creepy way.
There are a ton of videos about modes on UA-cam but not really much and not enough videos about modes in video game OSTs. Thank you for this locrian examples. Please do other modes and scales if you can.
To me the Doom theme doesn't really sound locrian, it's more in "metal" minor :D You can see once it's harmonised it doesn't follow the mode at all but more different flavours of minor. Also the chord progression, and the way the riff is transposed for every chord is very... bluesy, which makes the b5 feel more like a #4. It's clearly inspired by the main riff from Judas Priest's Painkiller which is also in "locrian", but really it's metal evolving out of blues harmony. I think of it a bit like Master of Puppets, it's not really in any mode, it's E metal minor x)
Also the desert theme sounds more like a D minor harmonic mode to me (so E Locrian ♮6 ? :D) The problem with Locrian is that you pretty much need all of the notes to get its "true" color, here there's never the 3rd or 6th, so you could also hear it as D hungarian minor (E... oriental ? or whatever that's called 8D)
I am so so very pleased to see OMORI being shown here in the background! Would love to see something on its soundtrack some time ^^
Do you think back when music had to be hard coded or put into tracking software that the composers thought of them similarly to how transcribing music normally worked for classical artists? I see a lot of similarities when you compare modern composers like Nobuo Uematsu and Koji Kondo to classical composers like Bach, Chopin, etc. and I often wonder if they think about music in the same vein or write it with symmetry or mathematics in mind like Mozart.
I see this especially with certain Koji Kondo tracks following the golden ratio.
we always hear about the prevalence of dorian in movie soundtracks, but less so for video games! its only fitting for 8bitMT to tackle the subject (-:
i've never heard that, to me lydian is the one predominant in movies
I just wanna say, I love the modes. They're one of my favorite aspects of music theory.
I can't hear "sus" without giggling internally. Among Us memes have broken me
Yep, anytime I try to explain music theory to someone who doesn't know a lot about it they're always like "SUS??? SUS AMONG US?!? 😱😱😱"
The Samasa Desert theme from OOS has got to be one of my favorite themes from the Oracle games. It's just so good.
As for Oracle of Seasons, I'm guessing either Tarm Ruins or Dancing Dragon Dungeon are your favorites?
@@LinkEX Dancing Dragon is definitely one of them, but I'm actually extremely fond of Snake's Remains. The haunting melody in that piece really fits the dungeon, even if it is only the second one.
Where would you put the snap then Mr. "Jasss musician" You type of people annoy the shit out of me. That song is PERFECT. You would have made it worse.
Chill out, it was a joke lmao
Locrian scale is my favorite, so underrated, some of the coolest tunes of all time have been made with it and people still say it's useless u_u
I have to protest against the SoundFont you used to represent At Doom's Gate. The piece was composed with the Roland SC-55 in mind. There are plenty of recordings made using the original hardware, as well as digital SoundFonts mimicking it very well. Much better than that buzzing sound you have used in your video.
Super Metroid's Hot Lava Area also uses Locrian mode. In that track, it sounds dark, but also does very good at capturing what most might a consider warm feeling.
I'd be more than happy to hear more about modes.
Heck, I'd even take another video on the Locrian mode with more examples
Any chance you'd take a look at the evolution of the Route 209 theme? You have a track that has been formally recomposed by Nintendo multiple times, including twice in less than a year in the BD/SP as well as the end credits in Legends. Additionally, the track has seen hundreds of fan remixes over the years ranging from full orchestra to lofi to metal covers and everything else. I'd love to see your take on why a fairly low-energy route managed to take off while most other background music in Pokemon doesn't see as much attention.
I think the theme from monster condo in doom 2 was also locrian.
isn’t locrian a diminished scale?
I'd say the concepts of music theory that I've delved into the least, is probably modes, so I do like this content.
(Could you take a look at the Super Mario 3d Land soundtrack, specifically the final boss? It's really slept on)
I like E1M1 because the diminished fifth sounds more blues-y than evil
(that and the four-one)
I think Doom accidentally got me into metal as a kid
I'm trying to get familiar with locrian but it doesn't help that I'm always using different tunings
I would love to hear more videos of you talking about different modes if you’re interested.
The modes are probably my favorite music theory subject! Like you said at the beginning, learning about the modes was an important gateway for me to learn a lot of music theory. To me the modes are like gateways to other worlds, whole realms of musical possibility hidden from our major/minor tonality paradigm. Then, when I learned later on that "the modes" are really just "the modes of the major scale," and that every other scale also has its own system of modes, I truly did feel like I'd found the keys to the musical multiverse.
i'd love to see a video about the dorian mode, i feel like it sees a lot more use in game soundtracks than just popularly, and i wonder why! also, one of my favorite songs, "forgotten" from fez, is in dorian
Agreed, Dorian is definitely most commonly found in game OSTs imo!
In never heard locrian as spooky, I hear it as evil.
I last used it in a techno track that I wanted to sound like a Metallica riff.
That Desert theme is my favorite!
>LOCRIAN doesn't have to be S p O o K y
>analyzes a bunch of notoriously spookyass songs
watd he mean by dis?? 🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
As a synth player and composer, this is amazingly helpful for arpeggiators and progressions!
Saw Omori reference, day made
I'm trying to figure out if the Clockwork Tower theme in Shovel Knight is using Locrian or if it just sounds like Locrian... hmmm
i just took a quick listen, and the clockwork tower theme has a pretty clear perfect fifth, major second, and minor sixth, so that's aeolian or natural minor! it does use the minor second a fair amount ornamentally though, which brings in some of that shared phrygian/locrian sound - that's probably what you were hearing!
@@cellularautomaton. Thanks so much! I thought it wasn't quite right but I didn't know how to identify the intervals and figure it out. It's my favorite SK theme.
I dont necessarily disagree, but I want to point out a few things. The Doom example, I think it's possible for the Bbs to actually be A#s since we never get an A anywhere in the "E Locrian" sections. This would make the scale a "Phrygian sharp 4" as one possibility. The other thought is the only time we see an F in these sections, it's sharp, so it's possible to analyze that as a natural 2 as well.
For the Samasa Desert, we are missing notes of the scale, it's the 3 and the 6, although as far as I know, if either of those are natural, it's an altered locrian scale, but if both are natural, that's the Oriental Scale 1-b2-3-4-b5-6-b7. Again, I don't necessarily disagree, but it does seem there is some wiggle room for the analysis
It's interesting you say that the Samsara Desert theme isn't spooky. I find it incredibly creepy and even disturbing. Very unsettling atmosphere.
Back in 2019-2020, I made a few compositions in Locrian, which surprised a lot of people since the common convention was always that it's not really a usable scale. To me it doesn't sound spooky but more dreary, like a rainy day, or mysterious, like a lost civilization or the more esoteric aspects of ancient Greece. When approaching it that way, it was surprisingly easy to work with. I noticed though within the past year or so the Locrian mode has become much more used than it was even just three years ago.
This is excellent! especially your harmony analysis. I teach a course on modes, but I don't cover the Locrian mode (other than what the notes are), so this video is an excellent supplement to my course. I know my participants will enjoy your other mode videos to (as will I)! Thank you.
Big chunk of video is about how you can't make true tension and release in this mode, but isn't modal harmony about abandoning this concept?
I'm not experienced musician myself, but it sounds like perfect opportunity to do that in mode wich opposes this idea naturally, by design :)
My favorite example of the locrian mode is The Great Sea Is Cursed from Zelda: The Wind Waker, which is the transformation of The Great Sea theme from major to locrian.
I'm so happy you remember and respect the Oracle soundtracks. Darm Ruins/ Lost Woods and Zelda's Awakening live rent-free in my earworm brain. The Skull Dungeon goes pretty hard too.
More Dorian!!!
Great video
I dunno, all of these have this sort of "dark grin" feel. It's definitely not ooh spooky dark, but like... It's more Anakin than Obi-Wan, yknow? Which is still pretty far from the stereotype of it being full blown Darth Vader.
As somebody who has absolutely no idea what you're talking about most of the time on this channel, I pretty much just clicked instantly on this when I saw Din in the thumbnail. Oracle of Ages and Seasons are among the best Zelda games and they're way too underrated.
definitely not sick of learning about the application of modes, and i honestly really like that there has been an uphill trend in teaching about them. i didn't know they existed until i got into music theory youtube in about 2019, and it would seem that too many people are either in the sae boat, or don't understand how they can be applied. there's way too much "here's what the modes are and how to learn them" and not enough "here's how to actually apply modes in your own compositions*.
Jake from Signals Music Studio covers modes a lot, and even expresses something I've thought for a long time, that - while wrong in traditional theory to call them this - "modes can and should be given the chance to be treated as your "key".", and this approach opened a lot of doors to me for composition.
I'm down for more videos about modes! I believe you that they're not the most useful thing, but I'm enjoying getting to grips with them and learning different ways of using them
The zelda example sounds like the Hirajoshi scale. Learned these with different names but only know starting to understand where they fit in modes.
Locrian mode is the Charles Manson of the Beach Boys. Also yes, poisonous blowfish is a food, called fugu.
Your Doom footage is far too zoomed in. You need to download one of the fan-made versions which support higher end computers, then change the resolution to 1920x1080.
Very interesting! I ended up here from looking at a piece of Gregorian Chant, the Offertory chant for Pentecost Sunday, "Confirma hoc Deus". It's in mode 4 (hypophrygian, I think?) but with a consistent B flat in there. I was wondering what exactly it matched up to, and turns out it's E Locrian! It's a very enigmatic piece, but the unresolved character fits the text well, since it's asking God to complete in us what He's already begun - our sanctification isn't complete, and there's a big question mark there - will we cooperate and allow Him to complete His work in us, or will we oppose it?
Thanks for the insight into the mode, I really appreciate it!
Great examples! Uematsu nailed it. However, the first Doom example is a stretch in my opinion. I hear the syncopated Bb as an A#, the A# serving as a contrapuntal voice completing a double leading tone to scale degree 5.
This reveals the limitations of this mode. When you begin to add the sugar and spice of other chord tones from related key areas, whether it's intended or not, you begin to stabilize the mode and undo the ear's perception of the tonic's relationship to scale degrees 2 and 5. In other words, Locrian mode stops sounding like Locrian mode as soon as you add accidentals from related key areas as a natural (tee hee!) consequence of its signature harmonic instability. This is why the pedal tones in the third example and the alternating bass in the fourth example are so helpful to our ears. It's like the steady or mostly unchanging bass is holding our hands as we walk through a dark cave or treacherous desert.