My suggestion to study Barber's Adagio was completely serious. If you want to know how to write sad music, study sad music.
Here, I've transcribed the first little bit of it.
Think about how this is put together. First, maybe try muting the lead channel and listen to the supporting chords. It opens with an E-flat minor 7 chord transitioning to an F major chord. Just this alone already has a nice melancholy sound to it. After this, something different happens briefly ( rows 12-28 ) before returning to that same E-flat minor to F major idea (28 to end).
Next I want you to look at the lead. It starts on a B-flat, part of the E-minor chord, but notice that it doesn't immediately change on the next chord. Instead it is suspended for a short time before it moves to the A. This is a common technique for creating and using dissonance: suspend a tone over a chord change, then resolve it back into the chord.
If we look back at the chords for a moment, you can see the same technique happening in reverse at row 34. The D-flat in square 2 moves to the C early (this is called an anticipation), and the rest of the chord catches up a little later.
Anyhow, there's more going on here, but I'll just leave it at this little description of suspension and anticipation. They are good tools.
yucca70; that was more creepy than sad. In terms of what I imagine, I can imagine this being played while exploring a cave or a dungeon, but not while I'm beside someone's death bed. It's because you've selected a minor whose set of notes can't really be used to invoke sadness.
Ehhh every minor scale has the same "sadness" potential. C sharp minor isn't more sad than c minor. Or at least nobody really agree on that.
You mean to say that E major and it's parallel minor has a particular melancholic quality? Do you have perfect pitch, synesthesia or something?
To be honest with you, it's personal opinion (& I know that I suck at defining pitch & the such). This said, it's all a matter of finding a set of notes that can be used effectively to create an air of melancholy (& it doesn't even have to be those two particular key signatures).
Velathnos wrote:
Ehhh every minor scale has the same "sadness" potential. C sharp minor isn't more sad than c minor. Or at least nobody really agree on that.
Yes & no; C# minor & E major both correspond to each other, as does C minor & E flat major. The whole point is that affecting melancholic mood is neither restricted to a particular set of notes, nor the use of minor keys only (as each minor corresponds to a major). But try something in A minor; I can guarantee you'll find it difficult to make a sad song with it because A Minor is C major.
Here's one with both F minor & E flat major. The first movement (in F minor) has a nostalgic melancholy, while the second movement (E flat major) is less nostalgic & more subdued.
ElHuesudoII wrote:
Meh, Chopin's Tristesse isn't in a minor key and it's sad.
Another perfect example to illustrate the whole point; the reason I chose E major & its corresponding minor is due to how effectively it can be used to change a person's emotions. Chopin's song changes through a whole range of moods which, in my opinion, would present the whole spectrum of what we'd call sadness.
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You mean to say that E major and it's parallel minor has a particular melancholic quality? Do you have perfect pitch, synesthesia or something?
To be honest with you, it's personal opinion (& I know that I suck at defining pitch & the such). This said, it's all a matter of finding a set of notes that can be used effectively to create an air of melancholy (& it doesn't even have to be those two particular key signatures).
Velathnos wrote:
Ehhh every minor scale has the same "sadness" potential. C sharp minor isn't more sad than c minor. Or at least nobody really agree on that.
Yes & no; C# minor & E major both correspond to each other, as does C minor & E flat major. The whole point is that affecting melancholic mood is neither restricted to a particular set of notes, nor the use of minor keys only (as each minor corresponds to a major). But try something in A minor; I can guarantee you'll find it difficult to make a sad song with it because A Minor is C major.
Here's one with both F minor & E flat major. The first movement (in F minor) has a nostalgic melancholy, while the second movement (E flat major) is less nostalgic & more subdued.
ElHuesudoII wrote:
Meh, Chopin's Tristesse isn't in a minor key and it's sad.
Another perfect example to illustrate the whole point; the reason I chose E major & its corresponding minor is due to how effectively it can be used to change a person's emotions. Chopin's song changes through a whole range of moods which, in my opinion, would present the whole spectrum of what we'd call sadness.
Ehhh but every major scale are the same too...Eb flat major and C major are the same thing (in equal temperament at least). Transpose any "sad song" in A minor and it will evoque exactly the same emotion.
You mean to say that E major and it's parallel minor has a particular melancholic quality? Do you have perfect pitch, synesthesia or something?
To be honest with you, it's personal opinion (& I know that I suck at defining pitch & the such). This said, it's all a matter of finding a set of notes that can be used effectively to create an air of melancholy (& it doesn't even have to be those two particular key signatures).
Velathnos wrote:
Ehhh every minor scale has the same "sadness" potential. C sharp minor isn't more sad than c minor. Or at least nobody really agree on that.
Yes & no; C# minor & E major both correspond to each other, as does C minor & E flat major. The whole point is that affecting melancholic mood is neither restricted to a particular set of notes, nor the use of minor keys only (as each minor corresponds to a major). But try something in A minor; I can guarantee you'll find it difficult to make a sad song with it because A Minor is C major.
Here's one with both F minor & E flat major. The first movement (in F minor) has a nostalgic melancholy, while the second movement (E flat major) is less nostalgic & more subdued.
ElHuesudoII wrote:
Meh, Chopin's Tristesse isn't in a minor key and it's sad.
Another perfect example to illustrate the whole point; the reason I chose E major & its corresponding minor is due to how effectively it can be used to change a person's emotions. Chopin's song changes through a whole range of moods which, in my opinion, would present the whole spectrum of what we'd call sadness.
Ehhh but every major scale are the same too...Eb flat major and C major are the same thing (in equal temperament at least). Transpose any "sad song" in A minor and it will evoque exactly the same emotion.
oh my god you guys are rube goldberg, just be sad when you make it.. that is key
That's actually somewhat true provided that the notes themselves flow in the same manner (i.e.: as long as the original tempo, volume control & pattern of notes is unchanged, the song itself will maintain the same or similar mood).
However, I personally don't find that E flat major & C major share the same temperament, yet it's very possible (as you can hear in the examples). Which brings another point that was brought up by Necrophageon; conveying emotion through something as dynamic as music involves a great deal of interpretation as well as effective composition skills.
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My problem is I'll be sad, go on the tracker, get aggravated, get mad, and end up rage quitting.
Maybe you should write the ideas down some other way.... sometimes I'll have an idea I want to keep and I'll just record myself singing it with my phone or something.
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Its hard to be sad for me, My problem is I'll be sad, go on the tracker, get aggravated, get mad, and end up rage quitting.
What I sometimes do is play something on an instrument (like concert bells, drums, or a keyboard) instead of in a tracker.
I find it a lot simpler when figuring something out; no need to set volume envelopes, no annoying sounds, no headphones, no crappy speakers, you can play in real time...
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