fun with music theory
Aug. 25th, 2020 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kayreI had one of the weirdest musical experiences I can remember today.
A very musical friend sent me a recording he and a friend had made. The title was ambiguous so I didn't know exactly what song it was. When it started playing, I recognized the words, but it sounded *awful*, like the singer was extremely pitchy or just plain singing some notes wrong. It was hard to listen to; I almost felt seasick. Then at the end of the first section it started to sound better, and then completely fine.
On second listen I realized that there had been only one chord for introduction, and very light on the bass; I suggested strengthening that chord, especially the bass. And it didn't sound nearly as bad, somehow.
Thinking it through, I realized that the melody starts on the third note of the scale, and the singer never sings the tonic (home note, DO in do-re-mi) until the last note of the verse. Since I didn't hear enough of that one introductory chord to provide an anchor, my ear/brain assumed that the first note was the tonic-- which made me hear the entire verse as if it was in Locrian mode, which our Western brains really are not trained to process. In do-re-mi terms, the 're' note sounded really incredibly flat.
I'll never be able to hear it that way again, now that I know what to expect; though I can play it on piano in a way that approximates what I experienced. And the recording will be entirely fixed by strengthening that introductory chord, or better yet adding a full measure of introduction for anchor.
(For curious musicians, the song is Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.)
A very musical friend sent me a recording he and a friend had made. The title was ambiguous so I didn't know exactly what song it was. When it started playing, I recognized the words, but it sounded *awful*, like the singer was extremely pitchy or just plain singing some notes wrong. It was hard to listen to; I almost felt seasick. Then at the end of the first section it started to sound better, and then completely fine.
On second listen I realized that there had been only one chord for introduction, and very light on the bass; I suggested strengthening that chord, especially the bass. And it didn't sound nearly as bad, somehow.
Thinking it through, I realized that the melody starts on the third note of the scale, and the singer never sings the tonic (home note, DO in do-re-mi) until the last note of the verse. Since I didn't hear enough of that one introductory chord to provide an anchor, my ear/brain assumed that the first note was the tonic-- which made me hear the entire verse as if it was in Locrian mode, which our Western brains really are not trained to process. In do-re-mi terms, the 're' note sounded really incredibly flat.
I'll never be able to hear it that way again, now that I know what to expect; though I can play it on piano in a way that approximates what I experienced. And the recording will be entirely fixed by strengthening that introductory chord, or better yet adding a full measure of introduction for anchor.
(For curious musicians, the song is Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.)
no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 01:40 am (UTC)And fascinating re theory!
no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 11:54 am (UTC)And then I went to YouTube and said, "OH! I DO know that!"
Will have to figure out the theory part of it at some point.
(For what it's worth when I was young and composing I did it ALL modally without having a clue that was what I was doing... I wish my clavichord teacher had explained more than just saying "Oh, that's Lydian mode...")
no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 05:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-28 03:15 am (UTC)Ooh, Locrian. I can see why that would throw you off!
Years ago Dani and I edited a compilation of renaissance dance music. One of the bands contributing tracks recorded their whole session and sent us the raw footage, so we got to hear something that went roughly like this:
Musicians: start to play, clash, stop. Sounds of general confusion (muffled).
Director: it sounds like that because it's Locrian! Yes it really sounds like that. Just go with it.
:-)