Let's see how many of these songs I actually can't remember, off the top of my head, basically the entire song's worth of parts such as to know what key(s) any particular part is in.
Song: ALL IN ALL Composer: Ritsuko Okazaki Performer: Melocure Album/Context: Melodic Hard Cure Intro: C major Verse1: C minor Refrain1: C major Verse2: C minor Refrain2: {} Bridge: C minor/Eb major, D minor/F major, E minor/G major, C minor Verse3: {} Refrain3: C major Outtro: C major Overall: C major
Okay so I'm running into the problem of things very transiently tonicizing some other keys and I'm not sure how untransient something is for it to count in a given key now I remember why i stopped doing this the last time i tried doing this
Is there a name for the splashy, sorta-jazzy music that's frequently in a lot of anime soundtracks? Like, prominent use of brass, strings as backing instruments, use of pop percussion, frequent (though not ubiquitous) use of swing rhythms, frequently "showy"/evocative (as opposed to subdued), possibly influenced by both rock-and-roll and jazz but not actually either of them?
Convenient examples include many Pretty Cure soundtracks.
I'm tempted to call it "modern anime big band" or something like that, though it's certainly not restricted to anime. For example the PS1 Mega Man X3 soundtrack has this style of music in many tracks.
fast pieces without lyrics: * The Mysterious Ghost Egg (a.k.a. Mysterious Phantom Egg) (from Gurumin) * Cyber-Rainforce - Solitary (alternate mix here)
slow songs with lyrics: * Little Viking - Future (short version here because Victor Entertainment has blocked uploads in the US, even fandubs) * Haruka Shimotsuki - Fuyu Midori
dynamic songs: * Melocure - Agape * Melocure - ALL IN ALL * Melocure - so far, so near (MIDI karaoke version)
(links not available because takedowns. various arrangements/remixes/covers may be found.)
Y'know, it really, really sucks that there is no way to convey the emotions of music, in words.
I can refer to those emotions by describing them. But I cannot convey them. It becomes an account, a log, of the feelings -- and not the feelings themselves.
I really wish I could post -- not post about, but directly post, and post without having to rely on YouTube embeds or Vocaroo recordings -- the intensely dramatic feelings, of music like this:
Umi Monogatari's soundtrack is...distinctively thin-textured. They all seem to be live-recorded (i.e. non-synth) jazz, contemplative easy listening, folk, etc. pieces. It gives the series a curiously comforting, "zen" feel.
Like, here's the first track. Piano solo. And it sums up the series pretty well in my opinion.
An interesting thing is that you can hear things that seemed to come out "imperfectly", like chords that aren't sounded exactly together or notes that sound like they might be wrong notes, but the music isn't ruined by them -- if anything, it just becomes part of the fabric.
It's just there, and you accept it as it is. It is not an "imperfection", it is simply the nature of the music. You could try to judge it but there is no meaning to your judgement. The true meaning only arises when you don't judge it.
Flowers, blooming in the snow, Bright, through the fall, oh tell me do you know, why we fight everyday, when a world so full of hate, is a world where none can live?
Blossoms, drifting through the trees, There, through the spring, oh tell what you see, with hope far away, will I live to see a day, when we learn how to forgive?
Through the glass of every window pane, May turned into summer rain, painting all the land so blue.
You said nothing as the air grew warm, trembled for the coming storm, silent as though you knew...
Palm trees, wilting to the ground, Quiet through the end, what do you think about? As the rivers freeze, can your fronds stand for peace, if you're all but falling leaves?
Ohhh...
With the seasons changing over, children growing older, long as the sun watches on,
I will sing for all forgotten sons, vigil for the nameless ones, pray for the dead, can you hear...my song?
If you can't listen to this English fandub of a Japanese song just because you live in the United States, then do the following: 1. Add Sony Music Entertainment Japan Inc. to your shitlist. 2. Ask me for the MP3.
A selection of songs that evoke a sense of "brightly-lit nostalgia":
* Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star Oddly enough I know the cover "Internet Killed the Video Star" better. I guess you could say that this one's lyrics make it bittersweet, but... I suspect it's the very "positive-sounding" I6 ii6 V(4-3) (Db/F Eb/Gb Ab(4->3)) progression.
* EGOIST - Planetes (especially the version by Hina Tsukino, which I think uses Sperion's piano arrangement for the accompaniment) I don't know Japanese at all, and I only figured out the lyrics a while after I heard this song for the first time. But from the first time I heard it I was swept away. Well, not by the verse. The verse just sorta does circles around the same chords over and over again and never goes anywhere. But this is a huge contrast to the end of the verse when it goes to a ii7 V (F#m7 B) cadence and launches into a totally different refrain, with a very strong direction to its harmonies (vi V I to start, or C#m B E) and bass motion twice as fast.
* [Final Fantasy VII] Aeris's Theme I've actually seen the big famous FF7 spoiler scenes for this and they have kinda rather little impact on me. And besides, I was spoiled on said big famous spoiler before I got to this scene, because I actually never got to this scene in the game, since my game crashed much earlier. On the other hand, the music (which is wordless, by the way) by itself can bring me to tears. Why? I suspect it's the tonic-to-leadingtone-to-submediant downward motion on the IV chord (the G major chord).
* Hikaru Utada - Goodbye Happiness I think that this is literally meant to be a nostalgia song, but I'm not sure. Still, it has some elements in common with these other songs, in its music. Also has IV to V (F to G in this case), with leadingtone-to-submediant in the melody on that IV chord.
* [Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2] GO->Love & Peace This song has pretty much jack-all to do with nostalgia, I think? Except for being harmonically similar to and in the same key as Goodbye Happiness. That melodic motif I mentioned with the scale degrees comes on and before the IV chord, too. I heard it after listening to Goodbye Happiness so maybe you could say I became biased, but I think it was earlier than even Goodbye Happiness that I associated this sound with this feeling, because...
* Satou Hiromi - Kowarekake no Orgel I heard this song before I heard Goodbye Happiness, but it does have similar harmonies and the same key. And instrumentation, too I guess. Well some of these songs all have a similar "bright" instrumentation to them. And it has a IV to V to something (vi, as well as I) in the harmonies.
Related: * [Absolute Duo] Believe x Believe This song sounds similarly bright and happy and I like it for that. But it also has downward tonic-to-leadingtone motion in a key bit of its verse. And yeah, that "bright" instrumentation is here too. * Mozart - Sonata in C major, K. 309 A section of this piece has tonic-leadingtone-submediant on a IV chord and it gives me that same feeling.
(Oddly, Bitter Sweet Symphony doesn't feel bittersweet to me.)
Oh, you want a piece that's basically like throwing this particular construction in your face? Check out "Snow" from Noir.
TL;DR sing "^do ti la so" and harmonies it with a IV chord and resolve it to a V chord for strongly bright, iii chord for a tinge of sadness.
I wonder if anyone on the internet has yet pointed out that "Armory Arabesque" from Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is a fugue. A three-part fugue, I think. Not sure how that is at all an "arabesque", but hey, whatever.
If anyone has pointed this out, it's not something that's shown up on Google.
It looks like a YouTube video URL but I thought YouTube videos have 11-character URLs, and this one has 12 characters. Trying to use it anyway produces "This video is unavailable."
Mega Man X4's and X5's soundtracks are a lot more spectacle-oriented instrumentally and such than their predecessors (X1 through X3), which were more just metal/rock.
* GMH is listening to ○ from the Rinne no Lagrange soundtrack [21:48:11] <GMH> this soundtrack is quite awe-bringing. [21:48:20] <GMH> the dramatic progression of the tracks is excellent. [21:49:35] <GMH> beginning of this soundtrack: a bunch of happy themes with clear melodic motifs [21:49:49] <GMH> middle of this soundtrack: mysterious tracks, often lacking strong melodies or tonal centers [21:50:47] <GMH> end of this soundtrack: high-intensity action tracks, the last few of which bring back a sense of melody and brightness, including the motifs established early on [21:51:18] <GMH> very end of the soundtrack: a closer theme, very slow, using one of those motifs. [21:53:32] <GMH> i usually put the second ending theme, which (unlike the first ending theme) is slow and contemplative and is a remix of the opening theme, between the last action track and the closer [21:54:40] * Nitya has quit (Ping timeout: 384 seconds) [21:54:51] <GMH> I could give these parts names. Part I: "Life in Kamogawa". Part II: "Doubt in Kamogawa". Part III: "Redemption in Kamogawa". [21:58:19] <GMH> honestly a cool thing is that you can listen to the soundtrack with or without the OP and ED(2) [21:58:25] <GMH> and it works well both ways [21:58:39] <GMH> oh also there's a silly intermission track which is the anthem of the jersey club [21:59:00] <GMH> so if you want to not look sound weebish, you can take out those three tracks and the soundtrack still basically works
So I've heard Shuumatsu no Love Song some number of times, though not enough to memorize it completely.
So, what do I do?
Well, the verse apparently has the following form: A A' B. (Note that the B section is half as long as either the complete A section or the refrain.) I wasn't very satisfied with this, so instead I "patched in" another version of the B phrase, so I remembered it as this: A A' B' B. (Or, from my perspective, A A' B B'.)
...I like my version better.
(I've done something similar, albeit consciously, to the OP of Mai-HiME, Shining Days.)
Does anyone recognize this song? http://vocaroo.com/i/s1I6eHJ4iuyZ ; All I know is that it's J-pop of some sort, and it may be associated with The iDOLM@STER and/or Steins;Gate.
Never mind, I got it. It's LOST, an iDOLM@STER song.
It seems to me that I have a preference for music that expresses a sense of motion/direction.
This sense can be and often is expressed through harmonic motion, which naturally organizes the music into phrases, sentences, and sections.
However, sometimes, ostinato patterns can also express this sense. For example: I V vi IV has the problem of feel stagnant. vi IV V I does not have this problem.
Key changes can change the entire coloration of a song and thus offer a sense of motion. The so-called sonata-allegro or first-movement form is basically the tale of the prodigal son, in this way.
Example of a circle-of-fifths (tonality) playlist:
F major - Blue Field Bb major- Believe x Believe Eb major- Spring Sky Ab major- April Db major- Tune the Rainbow F# major- Yasashia no Riyuu B major - Hajimari no Kaze E major - Planetes A major - Together Forever or Daisy D major - Yakusoku wo Shiyou G major - Fay C major - ALL IN ALL
Circle of fifths, but with minor keys, and karaoke versions only (except for one song):
[bonus!] F minor - Hoshi to Hana Bb minor - DAYS Eb minor - Absolute Soul Ab/G# minor - only my railgun C# minor - Another Grey Day in a Big Blue World F# minor - Chiisa na Hoshi ga Oriru Toki B minor - Future (from Kiddy Grade) E minor - Innocence (from Mega Man ZX) A minor - Beginner D minor - Secret Ambition G minor - Asu e no Brilliant Road C minor - Cruel Angel's Thesis F minor - TRY UNITE!
Does anyone get a strange feeling of unmatchingness when watching people enthusiastically enjoying/performing (with smiles and all) music that has a very tragic meaning?
This isn't the perfectest version of Exdeath's battle theme ever (there are some wrong notes) but it has really impressive drums in the compound rhythm sections. (i.e. the parts where you onetwothree onetwothree onetwothree onetwothree)
1. a classical piece, for piano, with a very distinctive and percussive melody. It's in G mixolydian. Early 20th century? Probably by Ravel? http://vocaroo.com/i/s04KJATOXLL6
1. a classical piece, for piano, with a very distinctive and percussive melody. It's in G mixolydian. Early 20th century? Probably by Ravel? http://vocaroo.com/i/s04KJATOXLL6
So I've heard Shuumatsu no Love Song some number of times, though not enough to memorize it completely.
So, what do I do?
Well, the verse apparently has the following form: A A' B. (Note that the B section is half as long as either the complete A section or the refrain.) I wasn't very satisfied with this, so instead I "patched in" another version of the B phrase, so I remembered it as this: A A' B' B. (Or, from my perspective, A A' B B'.)
...I like my version better.
(I've done something similar, albeit consciously, to the OP of Mai-HiME, Shining Days.)
don't you just love those tracks that unexpectedly reprise the theme motif of the show/game/etc. late in the narrative and feel like a welcome second wind?
opinion: why does Matchbox 20's "I'm Not Crazy" ("Unwell") have a nicely melodic verse and then a refrain that sounds like someone playing chopsticks badly
you have this repeating and jumping around triad notes repeatedly
same thing in James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" which is even worse about it that one's like "let me shove the tonic triad onto the subdominant because...because"
Comments
Composer: Ritsuko Okazaki
Performer: Melocure
Album/Context: Melodic Hard Cure
Intro: C major
Verse1: C minor
Refrain1: C major
Verse2: C minor
Refrain2: {}
Bridge: C minor/Eb major, D minor/F major, E minor/G major, C minor
Verse3: {}
Refrain3: C major
Outtro: C major
Overall: C major
now I remember why i stopped doing this the last time i tried doing this
Convenient examples include many Pretty Cure soundtracks.
I'm tempted to call it "modern anime big band" or something like that, though it's certainly not restricted to anime. For example the PS1 Mega Man X3 soundtrack has this style of music in many tracks.
Atelier\Ayesha\bonus\Atelier Totori ~The Adventurer of Arland~\a12_032.msf
Meruru version not yet found
fast songs with lyrics:
* Megumi Hayashibara and Masami Okoi - Nemurenai Yoru Wa (Sleepless Night)
* Mike Oldfield and Missing Heart - Moonlight Shadow
* fripSide - fortissimo -the ultimate crisis-
fast pieces without lyrics:
* The Mysterious Ghost Egg (a.k.a. Mysterious Phantom Egg) (from Gurumin)
* Cyber-Rainforce - Solitary (alternate mix here)
slow songs with lyrics:
* Little Viking - Future (short version here because Victor Entertainment has blocked uploads in the US, even fandubs)
* Haruka Shimotsuki - Fuyu Midori
dynamic songs:
* Melocure - Agape
* Melocure - ALL IN ALL
* Melocure - so far, so near (MIDI karaoke version)
(links not available because takedowns. various arrangements/remixes/covers may be found.)
I can refer to those emotions by describing them. But I cannot convey them. It becomes an account, a log, of the feelings -- and not the feelings themselves.
I really wish I could post -- not post about, but directly post, and post without having to rely on YouTube embeds or Vocaroo recordings -- the intensely dramatic feelings, of music like this:
A A B A, ^C, ^C, ^{C-D-ED} F
F G A G, A, A, ^{C-D-C} G
A A B A, ^C, ^C, ^{C-D-ED} F
F G A G, A, A, ^{C-D-C} G
2. play this video
This timeline is a dead fate. There is no hope.
You have now seen how the world ends.
Don't let it happen.
the single release of Absolute Soul includes an alternate version called "Absolute Soul -blade-", which is less dance and more metal, and in C minor.
is this the first time I've seen something come in two keys by default? it might be
Like, here's the first track. Piano solo. And it sums up the series pretty well in my opinion.
An interesting thing is that you can hear things that seemed to come out "imperfectly", like chords that aren't sounded exactly together or notes that sound like they might be wrong notes, but the music isn't ruined by them -- if anything, it just becomes part of the fabric.
It's just there, and you accept it as it is. It is not an "imperfection", it is simply the nature of the music. You could try to judge it but there is no meaning to your judgement. The true meaning only arises when you don't judge it.
Bright, through the fall, oh tell me do you know,
why we fight everyday, when a world so full of hate,
is a world where none can live?
Blossoms, drifting through the trees,
There, through the spring, oh tell what you see,
with hope far away, will I live to see a day,
when we learn how to forgive?
Through the glass of every window pane,
May turned into summer rain,
painting all the land so blue.
You said nothing as the air grew warm,
trembled for the coming storm,
silent as though you knew...
Palm trees, wilting to the ground,
Quiet through the end, what do you think about?
As the rivers freeze, can your fronds stand for peace,
if you're all but falling leaves?
Ohhh...
With the seasons changing over,
children growing older,
long as the sun watches on,
I will sing for all forgotten sons,
vigil for the nameless ones,
pray for the dead, can you hear...my song?
If you can't listen to this English fandub of a Japanese song just because you live in the United States, then do the following:
1. Add Sony Music Entertainment Japan Inc. to your shitlist.
2. Ask me for the MP3.
* Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star
Oddly enough I know the cover
"Internet Killed the Video Star" better. I guess you could say that
this one's lyrics make it bittersweet, but... I suspect it's the very "positive-sounding" I6 ii6 V(4-3) (Db/F Eb/Gb Ab(4->3)) progression.
* EGOIST - Planetes (especially the version by Hina Tsukino, which I think uses Sperion's piano arrangement for the accompaniment)
I don't know Japanese at all, and I only figured out the lyrics a while after I heard this song for the first time. But from the first time I heard it I was swept away. Well, not by the verse. The verse just sorta does circles around the same chords over and over again and never goes anywhere. But this is a huge contrast to the end of the verse when it goes to a ii7 V (F#m7 B) cadence and launches into a totally different refrain, with a very strong direction to its harmonies (vi V I to start, or C#m B E) and bass motion twice as fast.
* [Final Fantasy VII] Aeris's Theme
I've
actually seen the big famous FF7 spoiler scenes for this and they have
kinda rather little impact on me. And besides, I was spoiled on said
big famous spoiler before I got to this scene, because I actually never
got to this scene in the game, since my game crashed much earlier. On
the other hand, the music (which is wordless, by the way) by itself can
bring me to tears. Why? I suspect it's the tonic-to-leadingtone-to-submediant downward motion on the IV chord (the G major chord).
* Hikaru Utada - Goodbye Happiness
I think that this is literally meant to be a nostalgia song, but I'm not sure. Still, it has some elements in common with these other songs, in its music. Also has IV to V (F to G in this case), with leadingtone-to-submediant in the melody on that IV chord.
* [Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2] GO->Love & Peace
This song has pretty much jack-all to do with nostalgia, I think? Except for being harmonically similar to and in the same key as Goodbye Happiness. That melodic motif I mentioned with the scale degrees comes on and before the IV chord, too. I heard it after listening to Goodbye Happiness so maybe you could say I became biased, but I think it was earlier than even Goodbye Happiness that I associated this sound with this feeling, because...
* Satou Hiromi - Kowarekake no Orgel
I heard this song before I heard Goodbye Happiness, but it does have similar harmonies and the same key. And instrumentation, too I guess. Well some of these songs all have a similar "bright" instrumentation to them. And it has a IV to V to something (vi, as well as I) in the harmonies.
Related:
* [Absolute Duo] Believe x Believe
This song sounds similarly bright and happy and I like it for that. But it also has downward tonic-to-leadingtone motion in a key bit of its verse. And yeah, that "bright" instrumentation is here too.
* Mozart - Sonata in C major, K. 309
A section of this piece has tonic-leadingtone-submediant on a IV chord and it gives me that same feeling.
(Oddly, Bitter Sweet Symphony doesn't feel bittersweet to me.)
Oh, you want a piece that's basically like throwing this particular construction in your face? Check out "Snow" from Noir.
TL;DR sing "^do ti la so" and harmonies it with a IV chord and resolve it to a V chord for strongly bright, iii chord for a tinge of sadness.
If anyone has pointed this out, it's not something that's shown up on Google.
I have no idea what this is.
It looks like a YouTube video URL but I thought YouTube videos have 11-character URLs, and this one has 12 characters. Trying to use it anyway produces "This video is unavailable."
[21:48:11] <GMH> this soundtrack is quite awe-bringing.
[21:48:20] <GMH> the dramatic progression of the tracks is excellent.
[21:49:35] <GMH> beginning of this soundtrack: a bunch of happy themes with clear melodic motifs
[21:49:49] <GMH> middle of this soundtrack: mysterious tracks, often lacking strong melodies or tonal centers
[21:50:47] <GMH> end of this soundtrack: high-intensity action tracks, the last few of which bring back a sense of melody and brightness, including the motifs established early on
[21:51:18] <GMH> very end of the soundtrack: a closer theme, very slow, using one of those motifs.
[21:53:32] <GMH> i usually put the second ending theme, which (unlike the first ending theme) is slow and contemplative and is a remix of the opening theme, between the last action track and the closer
[21:54:40] * Nitya has quit (Ping timeout: 384 seconds)
[21:54:51] <GMH> I could give these parts names. Part I: "Life in Kamogawa". Part II: "Doubt in Kamogawa". Part III: "Redemption in Kamogawa".
[21:58:19] <GMH> honestly a cool thing is that you can listen to the soundtrack with or without the OP and ED(2)
[21:58:25] <GMH> and it works well both ways
[21:58:39] <GMH> oh also there's a silly intermission track which is the anthem of the jersey club
[21:59:00] <GMH> so if you want to not look sound weebish, you can take out those three tracks and the soundtrack still basically works
So I've heard Shuumatsu no Love Song some number of times, though not enough to memorize it completely.
So, what do I do?
Well,
the verse apparently has the following form: A A' B. (Note that the B
section is half as long as either the complete A section or the
refrain.)
I wasn't very satisfied with this, so instead I "patched
in" another version of the B phrase, so I remembered it as this: A A' B'
B. (Or, from my perspective, A A' B B'.)
...I like my version better.
(I've done something similar, albeit consciously, to the OP of Mai-HiME, Shining Days.)
Never mind, I got it. It's LOST, an iDOLM@STER song.
This sense can be and often is expressed through harmonic motion, which naturally organizes the music into phrases, sentences, and sections.
However, sometimes, ostinato patterns can also express this sense. For example:
I V vi IV has the problem of feel stagnant.
vi IV V I does not have this problem.
Key changes can change the entire coloration of a song and thus offer a sense of motion. The so-called sonata-allegro or first-movement form is basically the tale of the prodigal son, in this way.
This is a really beautiful song.
The music is so poignantly sad...
F major - Blue Field
Bb major- Believe x Believe
Eb major- Spring Sky
Ab major- April
Db major- Tune the Rainbow
F# major- Yasashia no Riyuu
B major - Hajimari no Kaze
E major - Planetes
A major - Together Forever or Daisy
D major - Yakusoku wo Shiyou
G major - Fay
C major - ALL IN ALL
Circle of fifths, but with minor keys, and karaoke versions only (except for one song):
[bonus!] F minor - Hoshi to Hana
Bb minor - DAYS
Eb minor - Absolute Soul
Ab/G# minor - only my railgun
C# minor - Another Grey Day in a Big Blue World
F# minor - Chiisa na Hoshi ga Oriru Toki
B minor - Future (from Kiddy Grade)
E minor - Innocence (from Mega Man ZX)
A minor - Beginner
D minor - Secret Ambition
G minor - Asu e no Brilliant Road
C minor - Cruel Angel's Thesis
F minor - TRY UNITE!
For example:
reminds me of the Eternal Daughter theme
also part of the inspiration for my own Arc's Theme
tugs at the heartstrings
it's like, it's so going to Bb
but no, sadly, no
it's even more bittersweet with the choir rising at the same time
it's not quite "sadness" but also not really "bittersweet" either
nor really "tugging at heartstrings"
the best way I can describe it is a sort of gentle sadness with some sense of resignation
my first phone
and i can now use its ringtones on my current phone
this track sounds a little like the second-area theme from Freedom Planet
1. a classical piece, for piano, with a very distinctive and percussive melody. It's in G mixolydian. Early 20th century? Probably by Ravel?
http://vocaroo.com/i/s04KJATOXLL6
2. a J-pop song, probably an anime theme song for a recent series:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1xMWscQlHJG
also I figured out why i did this: The OP of YuYuYu sounds like this.
<3
same thing in James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" which is even worse about it
that one's like "let me shove the tonic triad onto the subdominant because...because"
http://vocaroo.com/i/s1PzfbnPmoov