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if its not a dark melody then effects and so on won't make it dark. darkness to me is a combination of a dark melody and a dark sound, but if the melody is sunshine and flowers then a dark sound wont help...

start simple play long slow notes, alternate them with the semitone below and above the root note, try and feel it and not overthink.

When all else fails listen to some dark music you like and think about how they are constructing their melodys

you might write a track in a certain key. But if it's to be used in a mix then it's probably going to be pitched up, at least slightly. So the whole idea of writing a track in specifically D is sort of pointless because it won't get listened to in D unless pitch is on 0

there is a G theory. People say its the lowest key you can go with a clear bass and pure deepness.

some people also write their tunes on 432 hz because you can go lower in freqs of the human ear/feeling. They say 432 is the hz of nature.

Ramadanman once said that it's good to stick to keys around F because F is a good frequency for a sub - so keys like F harmonic minor, phrygian etc are good keys for dark and low.

Anything that dude says is gold as far as I'm concerned

nowaysj wrote:Okay, found that. That was for summer bangers. I'm gonna set up some of lowpasses scales.

Big up the summer bangers thread!!

TeReKeTe wrote:i always thought d minor was the saddest key.

it's called lick my love pump.

G min to D min is the nicest chord progression ever, been rinsed though...

TeReKeTe wrote:i always thought d minor was the saddest key.

it's called lick my love pump.

G min to D min is the nicest chord progression ever, been rinsed though...

Apathesis wrote:Ramadanman once said that it's good to stick to keys around F because F is a good frequency for a sub - so keys like F harmonic minor, phrygian etc are good keys for dark and low.

Anything that dude says is gold as far as I'm concerned

I've got a feeling most didgeridoos are played in F#

All I can really recommend to anybody getting into music theory is get yourself a copy of the circle of fifths and stick it on your wall about your monitor...

R wrote:

haha that's my desktop background now.. need to get those key signatures down for college

R wrote:

And there it is

R wrote:

And there it is

Caeraphym wrote: listen to some Beethoven in a different scale and the feeling/mood/athmosphere of the piece changes COMPLETELY. There's a good reaon why he chose to write something in G and not B, or D etc.

This is true... but oddly, one of the few instances where comparing to classical music can be inappropriate. I agree that every key has its own characteristics & flavors, but classical composers had other considerations that electronic composers do not.

For instance- various keys have different implications for different acoustic instruments. Part of the reason D minor sounds so different on a cello than in C# minor, is the resonance of the instrument. In D minor, all of the open strings (A, D, G & C) are used in the D minor scale (D - E - F - G - A - Bb - C - D), so you get a lot more overtone resonance from the instrument. However, in C# minor, you don't have the same sympathetic resonances (C# - D# - E - F# - G# - A - B - C#).

That is why... if playing as a cellist, I prefer D minor, G minor & C minor... however, as an electronic composer, I have no such hang ups. There is no such thing (in electronic music) as "the darkest key", etc.

To take it a step further... something ya'll might be interested in is an mpfree release I will have out in June on Acroplane. Inspired by Bach's "Well Tempered Klavier", Paganini's "Twenty-Four Caprices" & Shostakovich's "Twenty-Four Preludes & Fugues".... I am writing "Twenty-Four Breakbeats". A breakbeat piece in every major & minor key. Check for it in a couple months.

mad ep wrote:To take it a step further... something ya'll might be interested in is an mpfree release I will have out in June on Acroplane. Inspired by Bach's "Well Tempered Klavier", Paganini's "Twenty-Four Caprices" & Shostakovich's "Twenty-Four Preludes & Fugues".... I am writing "Twenty-Four Breakbeats". A breakbeat piece in every major & minor key. Check for it in a couple months.

Sounds ominously interesting, look forward to hearing what you come up with. Good luck with your endeavours breadbin!