Minor key soundtracks?

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Skyknight
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Minor key soundtracks?

Post by Skyknight »

I remember Alluro noting quite some time ago that Battle Bakraid and Raiden II were unusual in having minor key soundtracks. Right now, I'm curious as to whether there are any other shmups that use this method. I think Earth Joker might be using a minor key, but I'm not certain. (Doesn't help that all I have to go on is minor chords sounding "darker" and more somber than major chords.)
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BIL
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Re: Minor key soundtracks?

Post by BIL »

I dunno music terminology, but tagging this with interest and also posting Thunder Force III's "The Grubby Dark Blue" for inspection. It always makes me think of Raiden II's sombre soft rock transposed into speedier metallic context.

FinalBaton and the other regulars in the "your new music" thread might know more!
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Eaglet
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Re: Minor key soundtracks?

Post by Eaglet »

Don't know where he could've gotten this from as most STG soundtracks I've heard of are in minor keys.
moozooh wrote:I think that approach won't get you far in Garegga.
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dojo_b
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Re: Minor key soundtracks?

Post by dojo_b »

The division of tracks into major and minor is generally not very clean or objective, especially in 'popular' styles, and often is not that useful. People are still arguing over what key "Sweet Home Alabama" is in. And even though classical composers would often declare the key/scale of their pieces, that scale would almost always fluctuate within the music, so that a piece will be globally "in D major" only according to a subtle abstraction about musical structure.

So I wouldn't worry about it too much. But some things to keep in mind:

-from a passage of music we like to try and infer a "scale", i.e., a set of notes along with a defined "tonal center", or "home"/"root" note, that is in active use. The notes being played may be objective enough, but the home note (which sounds the most "resolved" or "stable") is inferred subjectively by patterns/tropes in the melody and chords.

-a major scale will have a third note that is two whole-steps (four semitones) above the root note. A minor scale's third will be three semitones above the root. It's possible to hear this with practice. There are various minor scales, but this is the most telling distinction.

-the scale of C major (for example) has the same notes (the white keys) as a form of A minor, and most critically, it is very common to deliberately shift between (or hover ambiguously between) these two modes; sometimes throwing in some black keys such as G# from other A-minor scales to accentuate that minor possibility. This sort of "mood swing" is often essential to creating musical interest.

-the ancient pentatonic scale, and its relative the blues scale, are both common in VGM and are especially good at fluctuating ambiguously between tonal centers, creating major/minor ambiguity in the process.

-in addition to major/minor scales, there are also major/minor chords, which in simple form consist of triads (C major triad is C-E-G). Even a piece solidly in a major key/scale will likely have minor chords appearing along the way, and vice versa. For example, in C major scale it is common to see the chord progression (D minor, G major, C major).
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Ako
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Re: Minor key soundtracks?

Post by Ako »

Eaglet wrote:Don't know where he could've gotten this from as most STG soundtracks I've heard of are in minor keys.
this, what the fuck
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