Here are the chords for those who want to try playing for themselves. Chords 1: E minor and C major Chords 2: F major and E major Chords 3: B♭ major and F♯ major Chord 4: B♭ major Star Wars Chords: F major and B major
I'm glad you had the exact same feeling and experience from the music. I am glad you went in to what it is, I have done something similar in the past trying to get the same feeling but I could never quite get it right.
Ah, I'd say that a chord is any TWO (or more) notes played simultaneously. But, yeah, chords only get real interesting when there's three notes. Like, I wouldn't say "chord" means three notes. It just means multiple notes played simultaneously. But, yes, our primary chords - where things start to get interesting - are three notes. Major, minor, diminished. Because, indeed, when you play two notes, there's just one harmony there between them. But when you play three notes, there's actually three intervals there - three harmonies - so that's when things start to get spicy and interesting. I prefer this definition of a chord, because it's more generic. Like, I do not need to change the definition to cover 4 note chords - like 7ths or 9ths - or 5 notes or any number of notes. A chord is when, by playing two or more notes together, you are creating harmonies. A chord is basically when you're creating harmony with an instrument. And I find that a much neater and more generic definition, yes?
Maybe because the farther our technology advances and our understanding of the universe, the more we realize we actually are living in some kind of Matrix 😬
Saw it opening night back in 99. Only marketing of the movie was billboards around town with the question: what is the matrix? Best movie experience ever.
Yes!!! I had no idea what the movie was about at all, was just told I'd love it. From the themed WB I was hooked. The thing I didn't understand is how people didn't realize the movie was about us!!
hopelessly inured... Yea, now I get it. Back then I was an idealist and I just didn't realize that most people don't think like we do about the system. We literally power our own enslavement, and we need to wake up to that reality. Then 9/11 happened shortly after this (relatively). I actually wasn't aware until 2007 or so how Neo's passport expired on 9/11/2001 in the movie. So, I knew we are the energy, but I didn't yet comprehend just how deeply corrupted everything was, including the Wachowski "Sisters".
I always thought the Matrix score was criminally under-appreciated. Everyone just talked about the electronica soundtrack as if it didn't have some of the most epic and unique orchestral music of the decade.
@@theartofstorytelling1 That moment has lived in my head for decades. That EXPLOSION of choir as he's looking down from the pod, absolutely incredible. And how the choral elements merge with the 2-chord horn swells during the whole climax sequence, it sells the idea of transcendence so powerfully.
4 місяці тому+11
Why can't we appricate both? I like both the orchestral soundtrack, as well as the OST compilation. Funnily enough, the second movie creates a crossovers, with Don Davis and Juno Reactor.
A great example of music influencing our perceptions in film comes from a movie which lacks any sort of musical score for almost 45 minutes of its run time - Castaway. From the moment Tom Hans arrives on the island until the moment he leaves, there is no musical score, something which is almost unheard of in film. The effect is almost completely subconscious - most viewers don't even register the lack of music, but it's very absence creates a sense of total isolation, of an island so remote that not even an orchestral score is allowed to remind the viewers of any life beyond its shores.
Interesting, I never knew that. I've actually been meaning to rewatch that movie. This might make an interesting subject for a video - the absence of music, or other things. Thanks for watching!
@@theartofstorytelling1 that’d be an intriguing video. ‘The Wire’ has virtually no musical score for six seasons, aside from some diegetic music. They used ambient sounds such as dogs barking or people laughing, mixed in more prominently to take the place of a traditional soundtrack.
@@theartofstorytelling1 The Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode The Body also intentionally lacks a score. It deals with the unexpected death of an important character and showcases how each of the main characters deal with the death, with the absent music creating a subconsciously uncomfortable feeling for the viewer. It's really well done with how it deals with the varying emotional reactions to an unexpected death, especially for a show that deals with death and dying in nearly every episode. =)
I was scrolling down to see if anyone had noticed that (although, to be fair, the original 1999 version of Matrix was not as green as the later versions released in DVD and Blu-ray).
One note....its not just a Emin to Cmaj. If you listen to it at 0:18, the Emin chord is held in the lower register (double bass, piano, etc.) while the French horns and trumpets switch from Emin to Cmaj. So its really Emin to Emin/Cmaj (that's the poly chord) and its give you a nasty clash of the B and C which is why it gives you that tension.
I wanted to write a comment about this, i don't even hear any C (maybe i'm wrong) but it sound really like a Emin then a the Low E keep playing with a E & G on Top ! if the C was In the feeling could be pretty different, here the C is just supposed, u can even hear a little arp that emphasis E G B (B G E) but still no C !
That's exactly what I was missing from the video explanation. It's so obvious especially with the visuals at 1:15 that the brass are adding dissonant tones. The devil is here literally in the detail.
E minor and C major triads have 2 notes in common. They sound very good because of that. We call them diatonic substitute chords, because you can switch one from another while keeping the same harmonic function.
@@EddSjo Exactly... 🤣👍 I thought it was funny he "didn't want to get too deep into music theory", right, let alone even say the notes/chords when that's what the title is...
Thanks for adding this. I debated whether I should label the chords or not. My thinking was to make the video accessible to people who aren't musically trained, but looking back that was an error. The thumbnail creates the expectation of learning what the actual chords are.
@@Twittchyy it's hard to be objective about art but we can at least say the IMDb ratings match up. I've visited matrix 10th and 20th anniversary showings and will be visiting Interstellar 10th on 70mm this month. They will forever have their legacy in cinema history.
I've watched The Matrix at least 9 trillion times now, I read a book on its philosophy and even spoke with someone who took a course in it, and I even married a music teacher with classical training, yet I never stopped to think about this. Thank you for this video.
So you're telling me a movie 20 years ago managed to be better than a good chunk of modern movies today with only 2 chords?? Legendary. Honestly a lot of early 2000's movies still hold up very nicely. I wish that movie quality was still there.
I've alsways loved those first few notes when The Matrix started. They always give me chills and get me in the mood for the rest of the movie. And now that I think of it, it's been 25 years already! it would be cool if cinemas did a marathon. Or even just the first one. I'd definitely go.
Lol it's true. It's an awesome instrument. I take it to the park with me sometimes. It has a killer reverb especially. Sounds legit as good as any full-sized keyboard I've played.
This is what amazes me the most about movie scores: a consistent musical system of repetitive but not identical elements created to tell the same story we see, but for our ears. It's really a very complex work of storytelling through the music.
it's just a 4 over 6min. While the (let's say Amin) minor chord sustains, the sharp horn sound comes over top with an F major chord. The high note still being a C (min 3 of the Amin chord) and the 5 of the Amin is briefly suspended from the E note to the F note. Just using a higher octave and keeping the low orig A min going. THIS creates a 5 and min 6 AT THE SAME TIME. So there is a teeter totter, see saw effect in the brain as we are hearing BOTH the Amin and F maj at the same time, the only difference between the two is the 5th and 6th notes. Raising the E to an F. If in the key of Emin, it's just Emin to Cmaj. B to C is the change and both sustain which is what gives the brief dissonance. Just listen to each note you hear. You can figure this out on your own.
Excellent nerding. Much appreciated. I too saw the Matrix opening weekend, with a bunch of game designers very shortly after we'd all gone to see The Phantom Menace, which felt far more like an attempt to recapture the past in comparison to this movie, which felt like the future. Me and my ultra-goth boss already knew the movie was going to be something special because of the style, which we'd both grown up with, but had never seen in big media before, or indeed anywhere outside our nightclub scene (except for The Crow, obviously.) The 90s was the decade when alternative became the mainstream. In 1990, the alt band music festival Lalapalooza became the biggest event of the summer. Bookscan technology swept record scores, ending to the dominance of bands like Bon Jovi when the industry discovered, to their endless befuddlement, that everyone was actually buying Nirvana. The Matrix felt like a sort of final mythification of this, the unveiling of the social illusion to reveal what's really going on beneath. Of course, little did we know how deed the rabbit hole went. The notion that this opening motif acting as a musical suggestion of above/beneath, illusion/reality, blue pill/red pill, is absolutely delightful. I'll have to remember this for my next viewing of the film. So thanks for bringing it to our attention.
The score of Don Davis is still one of the best of the past 30 years. His work is brilliant, complex, just on the verge of being atonal, which brings a touch of strangeness and discomfort. Everything was already there in his Bound score, but not as epic as what he did with The Matrix.
The second chord of the pair is always voiced in an upper register, ascending. With the Em and C, the roots are an ascending minor 6th interval. With the F and E, the roots are an ascending major 7th interval. With the B♭ and F♯, the roots are an ascending minor 6th interval. The interval between the chords as well as the register (ascending from lower to higher register) are critical to the effect.
Great demonstration on why the voicing of chords is more important to the expression than the chords themselves. Jacob Collier understands this better than anyone else I saw recently, but Davis was certainly phenomenal too. I've been studying music for the past 2 decades and never realized this about the Matrix score. Subbed
I wouldn't say it's always more important. Sometimes a musical theme stays strong no matter the voice and that's how you know it's effective. Matrix is one of the exception I think.
lots of good and correct things in this video. thanks! but i am commenting because its produced so nicely. calm, front face, bright colors, soothing voice, not too much bla bla but simple and concise. to the point "examples" with that cute yamaha. just the right amount of scenes of the movie. nicely shown scenes "without music". everything here seems just right. and then, oh, 7 minutes. under 10, no advertisement, no crap in the middle, etc. thanks a lot for this great work!
Don Davis' musical tribute to this Trilogy is criminally underrated! A true masterpiece! And the development of his work in Reloaded and Revolutions is even more stunning in my opinion.
Don't forget about the amazing use of a Waterphone, which amplifies that unsettling feeling (mainly used in horror films). And this is so true - it was obvious right from the start of the intro that this movie is going to be something entirely different... Thank you for this! I know this video should be accessible for people without music knowledge, but I would've really liked to know *why* these chords and the polychord have such an effect...
Thanks for watching! And yeah, missed opportunity on not going deeper into the music theory. I thought about talking about "bitonality", which is a very similar idea, and goes back to Igor Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring". Future videos about music will lean more into theory I think.
@@theartofstorytelling1 personally I would love that :) thank you for this video, you pass the information in an interesting and inspiring way. Looking forward (and back hehe) for more
I really loved this analysis. It articulates all those subconscious moments you "feel" when you're watching, and getting pulled along. And the simplicity is genius! As John Williams once said, "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music."
I was there on opening night too!! And I also remember going 😮 with that green WB logo and the rippling screen. Those chords are forever burned into my mind. Great video!
The movie's soundtrack is so captivating that I missed how fundamental the score is to the film. I'll definitely be watching it again with a fresh perspective. Thanks for the thoughtful analysis!
I'll never not be impressed by how groundbreaking the Matrix was. I also saw it in theaters in 1999, and it felt like I stepped into a new era, not just in cinema, but in life.
This was very interesting and easy to follow even for those ones who are not skilled in music so much. Thanks for it. Your video inspired me to watch the Matrix again (now it was the 10-12th time or so :D )
Yeah they did because we were still using that type of tech then. Smart phones did not exist. I think I still had a dial up modem at home when the movie came out.
Banger video! ♥ I love the simplicity of the elements having such precise, basically guaranteed emotional effects and story transition function, and the way you explain them is just amazing. Thank you!
Don Davis is a genius. His adaptation of John WIlliams music for Jurassic Park 3 was excellent, and his work on the TV movie Voyage to the Planets is particularly stirring.
I’m might be wrong here, but it’s just a major triad that raises the 5th to an augmented sound, and while this is what we here from Howard shore, it’s not really something he “owns”…
This movie still impresses even more than two decades later. I watched it too when it came out and was also excited for the two sequels. This movie was definitely a masterpiece!
So many great music scores weave and swirl themselves around the visual moments in a subtle synchronicity with the story line. It's a real art because you seem to come to understand that no other music would have worked so well. It's genius really.
There's actually an in-sequence resolution of this progression. It may be when Morph and Trinity realize he is the one -- on the roof after he rescues Trinity from the helicopter explosion.
actually a really cool video. i hadnt thought about the storytelling they do through the soundtrack, especially on the subconscious level like this. Thanks for making this a quick and fun video to watch
@@MMwhyteflower I thought reloaded was a great movie. Just in a different class to the first of course. The highway scene culminating in the 2 trucks crashing head on is one of the greatest action scenes in movie history, imo.
XDDD honestly I always liked the TWO SEQUELS that they made. Thank GOD they haven't made a fourth though. I've never really understood the criticism Reloaded and Revolutions got. I only heard things like "they were dumb", "they didn't make sense" or smth, from people who didn't even seem to understand what was going on. I think they made sense and are decent movies. Please explain to me.
This is awesome, thanks for putting this together. I also saw this film on opening week in theaters, and I think I went back to see it 3 or 4 times in theaters. I have a musical background and have thought about this score my entire adult life and could never really express these same thoughts as clearly as you do here. Thanks again!
Great video. Very well presented. I'm always blown away by the amount of unsung work that goes in to scored fot films that we love but don't always understand why we love them. Hans Zimmer is another.
2:47 - Why do so many people understand all of this so deeply yet everything is increasingly just copy-paste software template junk, even in major Hollywood movies and huge budget shows now?
I thought the first two chords were going to be more unusual but they seem to be just a minor E and a major C. I didn't think such an unsettling sound could come from a major chord.
I think what makes it jarring is that the voicing of them is quite distant. Because they're also both very "normal" chords it doesn't give a sense of one resolving into another but it being quite ambiguous which would be the I chord.
@@kujumz I don't think so, because even on the dinky piano you get the same feeling. It's more grandiose in the film, but the sense of uneasiness is the same.
@@nonyobisniss7928 as someone who somehow hasn't actually seen the films I don't get the same feeling from it on the electric piano. I think the pitchiness in the film score created the uneasy feeling initially & that unease is only present on the EP for some by association.
Really cool break down! I've never analyzed this music before, but right when I saw the title of this video I heard that opening harmony in my head and had to know haha. The comparison to John Williams' use of the modulating chords really nailed it. The major triad with a #5/b6 is super common in space movies too, which I hear in the last example with the Bbmaj that has that string part alternating the half step between F and F#/Gb. Even the first example has that b6 relationship with the movement between E and C, which is a b6 movement in the roote note, if you ascend from E to C. Great video! P.s. Also gotta love the Royal typewriter in the beginning. I have a QDL myself.
So much symbolism weaved into a simple sound theme. A lot of sound work really goes underappreciated for movies and games, but stuff like this makes it more than worth the deep dive.
I like the polychord thesis as symbolism! For the intro, though, it's honestly more about the orchestration than the harmony. The harmony is simply augmenting the fifth of a minor triad. It's basically the same trick as the James Bond theme without the line cliche. It's effective at conveying tension because it's inherently unstable, which is why you can't count on 50 hands how many times film composers have used it, and will always use it.
Yeah I debated how to frame this in musical terms. You're right that the tension I mention is really just an augmented chord, etc. I guess at some point it's musical semantics - there are so many ways of interpreting harmony. I guess in this case it's more that you CAN think of this music as "two chords", and that its composer seems to have conceptualized it that way, even if in the end that particular harmony is extremely common in film scores, as you point out, and the main thing is production choice of the swelling horns. Thanks for watching friend!
It's not really the same, though, is it now? If you go to a piano and play a root position E minor triad followed by a first inversion C major triad, keeping the two lowest notes the same, that's definetely one musical thing you can do, and one that's used pretty commonly as you said. But if you instead play a root position E minor triad, and then follow it with a root position C major triad a minor 6th higher, like what is done in the Matrix soundtrack... that's a whole 'nother vibe, is it not? Especially if you let the E minor triad ring out underneath. Try it on a piano for yourself. Voicing the two chords as separate root position triads quite a distance apart is, in my opinion, essential to the sound, and is what gives it that dark, mysterious, otherwordly sound. It's not just about orchestration.
I was lucky enough to see The Matrix on opening night in 1999 as well, but I had not seen a single trailer or even heard of the movie before going. (I don't watch TV or keep up with that sort of thing, even still. I have no clue what movies are out right now.) While on a road trip, I stopped to visit a friend in Memphis. He said there was a movie he wanted to see and ask if I wanted to go. I went. There is something to be said for not seeing trailers, for not knowing what to expect, before going to a movie. It really intensifies the experience. I had no idea what to expect or even what the movie was about before watching it. I experienced something of my own break from reality when Neo took the red pill and 'woke up' in the real world. It was something that was so completely unexpected that my mind was stunned. I didn't know what to think or what was going on. I turned to my friend and asked him "what just happened?" He said, "just watch. It was a very cool moment that I remember well, even to this day. A once in a lifetime experience for me.
As a composer and avid student of film music, I appreciate the excellent treatment you gave this wonderful score. Thank you! I, too, was lucky enough to see The Matrix on the big screen, going in without any idea of what it was. One of those mindblowing and epoch-defining moments, for sure. I also happen to be a writer, so your channel looks very interesting - subscribed :)
Incredible video, thank you. I'm not a musician but I love certain movie scores and it's enriching to know why The Matrix soundtrack was so captivating.
I love the connection you made at the end, the polychord comes to an end, and then there's only the one. I should really think of this in my own composition...
Lovely perspective. As someone who loves the visual, you shed light on how audio is such a major factor in the immersion of film. Its one reason why I think people judge CG so harshly these days, its maybe because, had they watched on a larger screen with adequate sound, deep in the soup of film, they would feel more immersed than streaming it on their tv or tablet at home. Obviously price of tickets are expensive af nowadays and competition for viewership is attained through a small black screen in your pocket.
Just when you think you know everything about The Matrix, you find out there is more! Great stuff, keep going down the Rabbit hole and show more and how it relates to the color scheme and religious themes of the movies.
The Yamaha Reface series is a thing of beauty with one of the nicest key beds known to science, it may be dinky but it is not “a dinky little keyboard” :-) The CS often gets dismissed as a “toy” but that’s usually by people who haven’t used one enough to realise there is no sound you can’t get to come out of that thing once you learn it inside out (and use a bit of midi magic to add features it doesn’t have of course). Fantastic video!
Was trippin balls the other night and threw this movie on. It still holds up as quite an amazing film. As soon as it was finished, I put on Everything Everywhere All At Once and my mind was demolished into bits. As great as The Matrix was for its time, Everything is even further out there. Truly a movie where anything seemed possible.
All these years and still, I learn something new about the film xD I must have seen the trilogy a thousand times and every time there's something I didn't think about.
I really love anything that can make people understand that The Matrix is a lot deeper and artistic than just an action movie with special effects and an overly convoluted story. I'll always love that movie and remember the way it made me feel on edge and with a knot in my stomach when first seeing it.
I was 15 when The Matrix was released and so far in my lifetime there has been no other movie that changed cinema and had such an impact on the entire business the way it did.
i was 7 years old when this movie came out. i remember watching it at home on my grandmas small TV with my brother who was 10. i think this movie unlocked something in my brothers mind that night. he started to question everything. at age 10 he was already wondering if we were in the matrix. haha.
Woooooow excellent explanation. I looove the Matrix soundtrack and I never really understood what was going on. This made things a lot easier to understand! Thanks
Here are the chords for those who want to try playing for themselves.
Chords 1: E minor and C major
Chords 2: F major and E major
Chords 3: B♭ major and F♯ major
Chord 4: B♭ major
Star Wars Chords: F major and B major
Thanks - that was it i was missing in the video. Thank you for the nice video anyways.
I'm glad you had the exact same feeling and experience from the music. I am glad you went in to what it is, I have done something similar in the past trying to get the same feeling but I could never quite get it right.
I heard one technique is they softly blend between various instruments/chords
Em to C - Thats the two chords in David Bowie's 'Space Oddity'. Prince used Bb a lot - its got an unexpected sound.
Ah, I'd say that a chord is any TWO (or more) notes played simultaneously. But, yeah, chords only get real interesting when there's three notes.
Like, I wouldn't say "chord" means three notes. It just means multiple notes played simultaneously.
But, yes, our primary chords - where things start to get interesting - are three notes. Major, minor, diminished.
Because, indeed, when you play two notes, there's just one harmony there between them. But when you play three notes, there's actually three intervals there - three harmonies - so that's when things start to get spicy and interesting.
I prefer this definition of a chord, because it's more generic. Like, I do not need to change the definition to cover 4 note chords - like 7ths or 9ths - or 5 notes or any number of notes. A chord is when, by playing two or more notes together, you are creating harmonies.
A chord is basically when you're creating harmony with an instrument. And I find that a much neater and more generic definition, yes?
25yrs later and The Matrix is still a FANTASTIC movie too.
I finished watching it two days ago. My favorite movie.
That's what milestones and masterpieces are about....
Probably the Best movie of all time? So many hidden easter eggs. Rooms 303, 101, etc.
25yrs? Omg i'm OLD 😭
Maybe because the farther our technology advances and our understanding of the universe, the more we realize we actually are living in some kind of Matrix 😬
Nothing will beat seeing this in the theater without spoilers. Mind blowing.
Saw it opening night back in 99. Only marketing of the movie was billboards around town with the question: what is the matrix?
Best movie experience ever.
Yes!!! I had no idea what the movie was about at all, was just told I'd love it. From the themed WB I was hooked. The thing I didn't understand is how people didn't realize the movie was about us!!
@@GregJoshuaW That's because "those people are still a part of that system."
hopelessly inured... Yea, now I get it. Back then I was an idealist and I just didn't realize that most people don't think like we do about the system. We literally power our own enslavement, and we need to wake up to that reality.
Then 9/11 happened shortly after this (relatively). I actually wasn't aware until 2007 or so how Neo's passport expired on 9/11/2001 in the movie. So, I knew we are the energy, but I didn't yet comprehend just how deeply corrupted everything was, including the Wachowski "Sisters".
I, too, went in cold.
An absolutely epic cinematic experience.
Jurassic park brachiosaurus reveal with no music and just chomping sounds was wild
That's just so funny!
Yeah it's amazing when you take out the music that the effects sound _that_ wild. I almost don't believe it!
I laughed so hard :'D
That killed me! 🤣
I want to see a longer version of just the dinosaurs crunching and chomping on stuff . 😂🤣
I always thought the Matrix score was criminally under-appreciated. Everyone just talked about the electronica soundtrack as if it didn't have some of the most epic and unique orchestral music of the decade.
I agree one thousand percent
Yeah, I didn't even mention all the choral elements in the soundtrack. Those are a big part of why Neo waking up in the pod is so disturbing.
Thank you. Yes!
@@theartofstorytelling1 That moment has lived in my head for decades. That EXPLOSION of choir as he's looking down from the pod, absolutely incredible. And how the choral elements merge with the 2-chord horn swells during the whole climax sequence, it sells the idea of transcendence so powerfully.
Why can't we appricate both? I like both the orchestral soundtrack, as well as the OST compilation. Funnily enough, the second movie creates a crossovers, with Don Davis and Juno Reactor.
I saw the Matrix in the theater and will never forget coming out feeling like my mind had been blown
Whoa.
same. it was so great, the marketing was pure mystery, and i saw it early enough that nobody spoiled it. "what is the matrix" indeed.
Me too. I don't think I had even seen a trailer, but the poster looked interesting and there was already buzz about the movie on opening night.
25 years ago, no other movie blew my mind the same way except maybe Interstellar.
Me too! I saw it SIX times in theaters and still have the tickets somewhere! It definitely blew my mind, too!
luke staring into the sunset without music just feels like an obscure art movie
And looks good!
honestly, I'd watch it
It actually works very well!
I think it worked well in this case 😇
It feels like the ending to The Comedy (2012)
A great example of music influencing our perceptions in film comes from a movie which lacks any sort of musical score for almost 45 minutes of its run time - Castaway. From the moment Tom Hans arrives on the island until the moment he leaves, there is no musical score, something which is almost unheard of in film. The effect is almost completely subconscious - most viewers don't even register the lack of music, but it's very absence creates a sense of total isolation, of an island so remote that not even an orchestral score is allowed to remind the viewers of any life beyond its shores.
Interesting, I never knew that. I've actually been meaning to rewatch that movie. This might make an interesting subject for a video - the absence of music, or other things. Thanks for watching!
@@theartofstorytelling1 that’d be an intriguing video. ‘The Wire’ has virtually no musical score for six seasons, aside from some diegetic music. They used ambient sounds such as dogs barking or people laughing, mixed in more prominently to take the place of a traditional soundtrack.
@@theartofstorytelling1 The Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode The Body also intentionally lacks a score. It deals with the unexpected death of an important character and showcases how each of the main characters deal with the death, with the absent music creating a subconsciously uncomfortable feeling for the viewer. It's really well done with how it deals with the varying emotional reactions to an unexpected death, especially for a show that deals with death and dying in nearly every episode. =)
so THAT is how a volleyball is able to make me cry consistently...
Great touch with the green light!
Lol thanks, I wanted the full trenchcoat too, but alas it wasn't in the budget
I was scrolling down to see if anyone had noticed that (although, to be fair, the original 1999 version of Matrix was not as green as the later versions released in DVD and Blu-ray).
One note....its not just a Emin to Cmaj. If you listen to it at 0:18, the Emin chord is held in the lower register (double bass, piano, etc.) while the French horns and trumpets switch from Emin to Cmaj. So its really Emin to Emin/Cmaj (that's the poly chord) and its give you a nasty clash of the B and C which is why it gives you that tension.
I wanted to write a comment about this, i don't even hear any C (maybe i'm wrong) but it sound really like a Emin then a the Low E keep playing with a E & G on Top ! if the C was In the feeling could be pretty different, here the C is just supposed, u can even hear a little arp that emphasis E G B (B G E) but still no C !
That's exactly what I was missing from the video explanation. It's so obvious especially with the visuals at 1:15 that the brass are adding dissonant tones. The devil is here literally in the detail.
E minor and C major triads have 2 notes in common. They sound very good because of that. We call them diatonic substitute chords, because you can switch one from another while keeping the same harmonic function.
@@diosivor 100% Compellingly presented and visually appealing video, that's also superficial and, well, wrong lol. many such cases...
Oh man, as a musician, this mistake hurts my soul. It so utterly misses the point...
Chords 1, 0:56 : E G B & C E G
Chords 2, 5:30 : F A C & E G# B
Chords 3, 5:49 : Bb D F & F# A# C#
Chord 4, 6:20 : Bb D F
"What are the chords"
Doesn't say what the cords are... :(
Thank god you fixed that
@@EddSjo Exactly... 🤣👍 I thought it was funny he "didn't want to get too deep into music theory", right, let alone even say the notes/chords when that's what the title is...
Or better yet:
Chords 1: E minor and C major
Chords 2: F major and E major
Chords 3: B♭ major and F♯ major
Chord 4: B♭ major
Thanks for adding this. I debated whether I should label the chords or not. My thinking was to make the video accessible to people who aren't musically trained, but looking back that was an error. The thumbnail creates the expectation of learning what the actual chords are.
Yeah... Couldn't even tell which keys you were playing on that little keyboard. At first I thought you were playing AB, CEG.
The original matrix is still my all time favorite movie. Nothing compares.
only interstellar is on par, the rest is miles off
Same
@@Romess1 I prefer inception to interstellar but Nolan generally doesn’t miss. The matrix is still better thi
@@Twittchyy it's hard to be objective about art but we can at least say the IMDb ratings match up. I've visited matrix 10th and 20th anniversary showings and will be visiting Interstellar 10th on 70mm this month. They will forever have their legacy in cinema history.
IMO Robocop compares. Both about a guy discovering his humanity.
I've watched The Matrix at least 9 trillion times now, I read a book on its philosophy and even spoke with someone who took a course in it, and I even married a music teacher with classical training, yet I never stopped to think about this. Thank you for this video.
Not the only UA-cam video about this.
@@TotalDec Thanks for the heads up that this is not the only video about the Matrix music.
I call cap on the 9 trillion part. I say you didn't watch it more than 8 trillion times!
One could say your entire life was a mere preparation for your watching this video 😅
So you're telling me a movie 20 years ago managed to be better than a good chunk of modern movies today with only 2 chords?? Legendary. Honestly a lot of early 2000's movies still hold up very nicely. I wish that movie quality was still there.
Watch Dark City
25 years ago!
Great video. Davis' score for the Matrix continues to delight, surprise, and seemingly stand alone after all these years.
I've alsways loved those first few notes when The Matrix started. They always give me chills and get me in the mood for the rest of the movie.
And now that I think of it, it's been 25 years already! it would be cool if cinemas did a marathon. Or even just the first one. I'd definitely go.
there is only one matrix movie.
@@Ytrearneindre Resurrections
So true! When I hear these notes it's like the whole movie unfolds instantly in my head
This is when UA-cam is great! Random suggestion, instant new subscriber. Excellent content, dude!
Great. Now I have to rewatch The Matrix for the millionth time.
Oh man... the munching dino killed me 🤣
Great video - those opening chords were always so iconic and intriguing; it's great to hear more about them!
Dinky little piano?
Sir, that thing is over 400$, that’s a whole luxury item and YOU KNOW IT 😂
Lol it's true. It's an awesome instrument. I take it to the park with me sometimes. It has a killer reverb especially. Sounds legit as good as any full-sized keyboard I've played.
Recognizing the Yamaha Reface series. Ah, I see you're a man of culture as well.
just brands
all the way down
I've seen so many Reface series keyboards in professional band scenarios you wouldn't believe me
Absolutely worth checking out the Munstre Studio Furniture video making a beautiful "Rhodes" out of the CP.
This is what amazes me the most about movie scores: a consistent musical system of repetitive but not identical elements created to tell the same story we see, but for our ears. It's really a very complex work of storytelling through the music.
Was 17 when it came out, saw it in the theater and it blew my teenage mind. Favorite movie of all time!
It's been more than 25 years and this movie is still incredible... I am sure, even after 100 years, people will still talk about The Matrix...
it's just a 4 over 6min. While the (let's say Amin) minor chord sustains, the sharp horn sound comes over top with an F major chord. The high note still being a C (min 3 of the Amin chord) and the 5 of the Amin is briefly suspended from the E note to the F note. Just using a higher octave and keeping the low orig A min going. THIS creates a 5 and min 6 AT THE SAME TIME. So there is a teeter totter, see saw effect in the brain as we are hearing BOTH the Amin and F maj at the same time, the only difference between the two is the 5th and 6th notes. Raising the E to an F. If in the key of Emin, it's just Emin to Cmaj. B to C is the change and both sustain which is what gives the brief dissonance. Just listen to each note you hear. You can figure this out on your own.
Excellent nerding. Much appreciated. I too saw the Matrix opening weekend, with a bunch of game designers very shortly after we'd all gone to see The Phantom Menace, which felt far more like an attempt to recapture the past in comparison to this movie, which felt like the future. Me and my ultra-goth boss already knew the movie was going to be something special because of the style, which we'd both grown up with, but had never seen in big media before, or indeed anywhere outside our nightclub scene (except for The Crow, obviously.) The 90s was the decade when alternative became the mainstream. In 1990, the alt band music festival Lalapalooza became the biggest event of the summer. Bookscan technology swept record scores, ending to the dominance of bands like Bon Jovi when the industry discovered, to their endless befuddlement, that everyone was actually buying Nirvana. The Matrix felt like a sort of final mythification of this, the unveiling of the social illusion to reveal what's really going on beneath. Of course, little did we know how deed the rabbit hole went.
The notion that this opening motif acting as a musical suggestion of above/beneath, illusion/reality, blue pill/red pill, is absolutely delightful. I'll have to remember this for my next viewing of the film. So thanks for bringing it to our attention.
The brontosaurus chewing sound had me ROLLING
The score of Don Davis is still one of the best of the past 30 years. His work is brilliant, complex, just on the verge of being atonal, which brings a touch of strangeness and discomfort. Everything was already there in his Bound score, but not as epic as what he did with The Matrix.
fantastic articulation of a music concept for a general audience. i wish music people could elaborate this kind of analysis more often...
You made me go watch The Matrix again, I saw it in the theatre when it came out too, it was a moment!
The second chord of the pair is always voiced in an upper register, ascending.
With the Em and C, the roots are an ascending minor 6th interval.
With the F and E, the roots are an ascending major 7th interval.
With the B♭ and F♯, the roots are an ascending minor 6th interval.
The interval between the chords as well as the register (ascending from lower to higher register) are critical to the effect.
Great demonstration on why the voicing of chords is more important to the expression than the chords themselves. Jacob Collier understands this better than anyone else I saw recently, but Davis was certainly phenomenal too.
I've been studying music for the past 2 decades and never realized this about the Matrix score.
Subbed
I wouldn't say it's always more important. Sometimes a musical theme stays strong no matter the voice and that's how you know it's effective.
Matrix is one of the exception I think.
Been waiting 20 years for this
lots of good and correct things in this video. thanks! but i am commenting because its produced so nicely. calm, front face, bright colors, soothing voice, not too much bla bla but simple and concise. to the point "examples" with that cute yamaha. just the right amount of scenes of the movie. nicely shown scenes "without music". everything here seems just right. and then, oh, 7 minutes. under 10, no advertisement, no crap in the middle, etc. thanks a lot for this great work!
Wow thanks for saying so! I'm still a fairly new channel, so it's nice to get some positive feedback. Thanks for stopping by the channel.
This film is a masterpiece of masterpieces, all the people involved in making this film put their best into making it
Don Davis' musical tribute to this Trilogy is criminally underrated! A true masterpiece! And the development of his work in Reloaded and Revolutions is even more stunning in my opinion.
Don't forget about the amazing use of a Waterphone, which amplifies that unsettling feeling (mainly used in horror films). And this is so true - it was obvious right from the start of the intro that this movie is going to be something entirely different... Thank you for this! I know this video should be accessible for people without music knowledge, but I would've really liked to know *why* these chords and the polychord have such an effect...
Thanks for watching! And yeah, missed opportunity on not going deeper into the music theory. I thought about talking about "bitonality", which is a very similar idea, and goes back to Igor Stravinsky's "Rite Of Spring". Future videos about music will lean more into theory I think.
@@theartofstorytelling1 personally I would love that :) thank you for this video, you pass the information in an interesting and inspiring way. Looking forward (and back hehe) for more
I really loved this analysis. It articulates all those subconscious moments you "feel" when you're watching, and getting pulled along. And the simplicity is genius! As John Williams once said, "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music."
I was there on opening night too!! And I also remember going 😮 with that green WB logo and the rippling screen. Those chords are forever burned into my mind. Great video!
The movie's soundtrack is so captivating that I missed how fundamental the score is to the film. I'll definitely be watching it again with a fresh perspective. Thanks for the thoughtful analysis!
"Now without getting too deep into music theory...". but that's exactly what i want
But I like that the video was 7 minutes and not 2.5 hours for part one. 😂
When you hope there's a lot of ado
This video from 4 years ago should do you a bit: ua-cam.com/video/HhRjn_jpQxk/v-deo.htmlsi=DGW8cP6YY_PmL-To
@@SuperKamiokandeTHIS GUY GETS IT, I was right here about to link to that.
I'll never not be impressed by how groundbreaking the Matrix was. I also saw it in theaters in 1999, and it felt like I stepped into a new era, not just in cinema, but in life.
You just changed my view at music!
I was 17 when Matrix came out, watched day one big screen. Still one of my favourite movies of all time, totally wiped me away
All of your videos are great, and this is no exception. Really fun and interesting insight. And dinosaurs chomping on trees 😂
I'm glad you enjoyed! Yeah I lol'd at that chomping sound. Possibly my finest editing work.
@@theartofstorytelling1 made me laugh out loud, reminds me of those "without the music" meme vids from a few years back.
This was very interesting and easy to follow even for those ones who are not skilled in music so much. Thanks for it. Your video inspired me to watch the Matrix again (now it was the 10-12th time or so :D )
Since the sound of modems and dial tones played a big part in 90s internet culture, I wonder if those sounds had some influence on the dual tones?
Interesting thought! I've always wondered if people watching the Matrix in the future will even know what those sounds are lol
You nailed it, I searched all the comments for this. Modem sounds and dial tones pop up over and over through the entire trilogy score.
That'd be so cool
Yeah they did because we were still using that type of tech then. Smart phones did not exist. I think I still had a dial up modem at home when the movie came out.
Dial tones are major 3rds, so they're all over all music :)
All these years later even this random UA-cam video gives me the chills. It's probably the music.
That lighting. Chef's kiss.
Please retire "chef's kiss." Thanks for your cooperation. 🙏🏾
Banger video! ♥
I love the simplicity of the elements having such precise, basically guaranteed emotional effects and story transition function, and the way you explain them is just amazing. Thank you!
Love these chords as well. Damn it, I'm up for a re-watch tonight. And, subbed. Thanks for a fun one. :)
Don Davis is a genius. His adaptation of John WIlliams music for Jurassic Park 3 was excellent, and his work on the TV movie Voyage to the Planets is particularly stirring.
5:58 that's actually the Rivendell theme by Howard Shore. Thanks for the great video!
Right you are!
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
The b6 works wonders here
I’m might be wrong here, but it’s just a major triad that raises the 5th to an augmented sound, and while this is what we here from Howard shore, it’s not really something he “owns”…
This movie still impresses even more than two decades later. I watched it too when it came out and was also excited for the two sequels. This movie was definitely a masterpiece!
It always reminded me of the 90s batman cartoons.
So many great music scores weave and swirl themselves around the visual moments in a subtle synchronicity with the story line. It's a real art because you seem to come to understand that no other music would have worked so well. It's genius really.
There's actually an in-sequence resolution of this progression. It may be when Morph and Trinity realize he is the one -- on the roof after he rescues Trinity from the helicopter explosion.
actually a really cool video. i hadnt thought about the storytelling they do through the soundtrack, especially on the subconscious level like this. Thanks for making this a quick and fun video to watch
25 years later, The Matrix still holds up. It's just a shame they never made any sequels.
Surf Wisely.
Ah-ha, I see what you are saying here.
Pro tip - the sequels are perfect films if you're gay
Reloaded was ok. I liked the architect and Merovingian although most didn't
@@MMwhyteflower I thought reloaded was a great movie. Just in a different class to the first of course. The highway scene culminating in the 2 trucks crashing head on is one of the greatest action scenes in movie history, imo.
XDDD honestly I always liked the TWO SEQUELS that they made. Thank GOD they haven't made a fourth though.
I've never really understood the criticism Reloaded and Revolutions got. I only heard things like "they were dumb", "they didn't make sense" or smth, from people who didn't even seem to understand what was going on.
I think they made sense and are decent movies.
Please explain to me.
The amount of care placed into everything about this movie is exactly why it's a timeless masterpiece.
5:58 ... that is the Rivendell intro 😮
Aha!! I knew I recognized that from somewhere! Good catch
It's the val'sharah theme from World of Warcraft!
This is awesome, thanks for putting this together. I also saw this film on opening week in theaters, and I think I went back to see it 3 or 4 times in theaters. I have a musical background and have thought about this score my entire adult life and could never really express these same thoughts as clearly as you do here. Thanks again!
1:50 Zelda’s Lullaby
It's a major seventh. Ocarina of Time used a lot of jazz chords like that.
Great video. Very well presented. I'm always blown away by the amount of unsung work that goes in to scored fot films that we love but don't always understand why we love them. Hans Zimmer is another.
2:47 - Why do so many people understand all of this so deeply yet everything is increasingly just copy-paste software template junk, even in major Hollywood movies and huge budget shows now?
great video, love the concepts of polychords (and tetrachords) - well produced too, top job!
I thought the first two chords were going to be more unusual but they seem to be just a minor E and a major C. I didn't think such an unsettling sound could come from a major chord.
Complexity lies within layered strips of simplicity. Consider the themes from LotR, and you'll find thematic similarities there as well.
I think what makes it jarring is that the voicing of them is quite distant.
Because they're also both very "normal" chords it doesn't give a sense of one resolving into another but it being quite ambiguous which would be the I chord.
it’s because the brass section is so detuned
@@kujumz I don't think so, because even on the dinky piano you get the same feeling. It's more grandiose in the film, but the sense of uneasiness is the same.
@@nonyobisniss7928 as someone who somehow hasn't actually seen the films I don't get the same feeling from it on the electric piano. I think the pitchiness in the film score created the uneasy feeling initially & that unease is only present on the EP for some by association.
Really cool break down! I've never analyzed this music before, but right when I saw the title of this video I heard that opening harmony in my head and had to know haha. The comparison to John Williams' use of the modulating chords really nailed it.
The major triad with a #5/b6 is super common in space movies too, which I hear in the last example with the Bbmaj that has that string part alternating the half step between F and F#/Gb.
Even the first example has that b6 relationship with the movement between E and C, which is a b6 movement in the roote note, if you ascend from E to C.
Great video!
P.s. Also gotta love the Royal typewriter in the beginning. I have a QDL myself.
I’m in the “dyads are chords” camp so u know I’m triggered
So much symbolism weaved into a simple sound theme. A lot of sound work really goes underappreciated for movies and games, but stuff like this makes it more than worth the deep dive.
I like the polychord thesis as symbolism! For the intro, though, it's honestly more about the orchestration than the harmony. The harmony is simply augmenting the fifth of a minor triad. It's basically the same trick as the James Bond theme without the line cliche. It's effective at conveying tension because it's inherently unstable, which is why you can't count on 50 hands how many times film composers have used it, and will always use it.
Yeah I debated how to frame this in musical terms. You're right that the tension I mention is really just an augmented chord, etc. I guess at some point it's musical semantics - there are so many ways of interpreting harmony. I guess in this case it's more that you CAN think of this music as "two chords", and that its composer seems to have conceptualized it that way, even if in the end that particular harmony is extremely common in film scores, as you point out, and the main thing is production choice of the swelling horns. Thanks for watching friend!
It's not really the same, though, is it now? If you go to a piano and play a root position E minor triad followed by a first inversion C major triad, keeping the two lowest notes the same, that's definetely one musical thing you can do, and one that's used pretty commonly as you said. But if you instead play a root position E minor triad, and then follow it with a root position C major triad a minor 6th higher, like what is done in the Matrix soundtrack... that's a whole 'nother vibe, is it not? Especially if you let the E minor triad ring out underneath. Try it on a piano for yourself. Voicing the two chords as separate root position triads quite a distance apart is, in my opinion, essential to the sound, and is what gives it that dark, mysterious, otherwordly sound. It's not just about orchestration.
I was lucky enough to see The Matrix on opening night in 1999 as well, but I had not seen a single trailer or even heard of the movie before going. (I don't watch TV or keep up with that sort of thing, even still. I have no clue what movies are out right now.) While on a road trip, I stopped to visit a friend in Memphis. He said there was a movie he wanted to see and ask if I wanted to go. I went.
There is something to be said for not seeing trailers, for not knowing what to expect, before going to a movie. It really intensifies the experience. I had no idea what to expect or even what the movie was about before watching it. I experienced something of my own break from reality when Neo took the red pill and 'woke up' in the real world. It was something that was so completely unexpected that my mind was stunned. I didn't know what to think or what was going on. I turned to my friend and asked him "what just happened?" He said, "just watch. It was a very cool moment that I remember well, even to this day. A once in a lifetime experience for me.
3:09 that's enough youtube for me for today
As a composer and avid student of film music, I appreciate the excellent treatment you gave this wonderful score. Thank you! I, too, was lucky enough to see The Matrix on the big screen, going in without any idea of what it was. One of those mindblowing and epoch-defining moments, for sure. I also happen to be a writer, so your channel looks very interesting - subscribed :)
2:46 im hooked
i like how you did that while using light to show some dissonance while you're explaining how they used sound. well played.
we forgot how to combine movies with music in the past 20 years.
Absolute nonsense
Incredible video, thank you. I'm not a musician but I love certain movie scores and it's enriching to know why The Matrix soundtrack was so captivating.
I’m glad someone still makes new content about the matrix 25 years later. It’s the only movie I’ve watched more than 10 times
I love the connection you made at the end, the polychord comes to an end, and then there's only the one. I should really think of this in my own composition...
Just when I thought I put all the Matrix content behind me, it pulls me back in. Nice analysis, was quite entertaining.
Lovely perspective. As someone who loves the visual, you shed light on how audio is such a major factor in the immersion of film. Its one reason why I think people judge CG so harshly these days, its maybe because, had they watched on a larger screen with adequate sound, deep in the soup of film, they would feel more immersed than streaming it on their tv or tablet at home.
Obviously price of tickets are expensive af nowadays and competition for viewership is attained through a small black screen in your pocket.
Just when you think you know everything about The Matrix, you find out there is more! Great stuff, keep going down the Rabbit hole and show more and how it relates to the color scheme and religious themes of the movies.
That intro music gives me the same chills it did in 1999!
Nice touch with the green key light.
The Yamaha Reface series is a thing of beauty with one of the nicest key beds known to science, it may be dinky but it is not “a dinky little keyboard” :-) The CS often gets dismissed as a “toy” but that’s usually by people who haven’t used one enough to realise there is no sound you can’t get to come out of that thing once you learn it inside out (and use a bit of midi magic to add features it doesn’t have of course). Fantastic video!
Was trippin balls the other night and threw this movie on. It still holds up as quite an amazing film. As soon as it was finished, I put on Everything Everywhere All At Once and my mind was demolished into bits. As great as The Matrix was for its time, Everything is even further out there. Truly a movie where anything seemed possible.
Sadly, EEAAO wishes it could be The Matrix. It lacks the substance.
Just hearing those two chords in the WB intro just now made every hair on my arms stand up :D so powerful, so understated
the fanfare still gives me chills and the sequels have different chords, it's genius really. Thanks for explaining!
I have waited 25 years for this video. Thank you❤.... And one more comment: Gosh, the waterphone effect at the end intro is killer
Same thing for Bernard Hermann’s score for the Day The Earth Stood Still.
All these years and still, I learn something new about the film xD
I must have seen the trilogy a thousand times and every time there's something I didn't think about.
I watched The Matrix with my kids. I felt like I watched it all over again, we all had a blast and interesting conversations ensued. Win.
The score indeed is brilliant and so is your breakdown. Thank you.
I really love anything that can make people understand that The Matrix is a lot deeper and artistic than just an action movie with special effects and an overly convoluted story. I'll always love that movie and remember the way it made me feel on edge and with a knot in my stomach when first seeing it.
Oh damn! Me too! I know nothing about music, but when I heard it on the big screen in 1999, I knew I was experiencing something special.
I was 15 when The Matrix was released and so far in my lifetime there has been no other movie that changed cinema and had such an impact on the entire business the way it did.
I seen 3 movies in the cinema that just were leagues above anything else. Jurrasic Park, The Matrix and LOTR FoTR.
i was 7 years old when this movie came out. i remember watching it at home on my grandmas small TV with my brother who was 10. i think this movie unlocked something in my brothers mind that night. he started to question everything. at age 10 he was already wondering if we were in the matrix. haha.
Woooooow excellent explanation. I looove the Matrix soundtrack and I never really understood what was going on. This made things a lot easier to understand! Thanks
Merging music and sci-fi, huge interests of mine, in yet another super fascinating video. Thanks!
Your video blew my mind.
Astonishingly! Thank you very much 👍
In school we have analyzed The Matrix in every possible way, except for the music. Very interessting thoughts! Thanks!