d minor or some call it b natural, and starts at the d key.
d minor is sad/dark/evil/unstable/unresolved/open/deep/malcontent
it's just because almost all the intervals don't resolve directly with the tonic, which is rare.
i dunno so
D D# F G A B C
usually, but you can also flat the A, down a note to a G#/Ab.
but the relation of the first few notes usually are what you'll use int eh basslines and such, and the D to D# is minor interval, usually called a Minor Second. dark very dark.
going down from the D to the C is a Minor Seventh
now the D to the F is a minor third.
these are all minor intervals.
so the D to G is actually a Perfect Fourth. this is STRONG relation. used in power chords mainly.
so with all the minors to go to that strong perfect fourth helps bring some stability and in turn a contrast. also the perfect 4th isn't as strong as the perfect 5th, which is one more interval up. so even tho it's a major interval it's not the full major. usually in chords this was used as a sort of unsettling major, it's often called a partial resolve chord. where at the end of a 4 bar chord progression you would see this at the second chord half way through, and it would end on the 4th chord being the perfect fifth. perfect fifth also a power chord.
now this is where the A or G# changes things. either it will be a G# making it a diatonic tritone, which doesn't sound good at all with the tonic, or D note, the first key. but the diatonic tritone sounds good with the minor second the D#. it's another perfect forth interval.
anyways, B is a major sixth, again isn't as strong as the perfect fifth, so it brings some resolve, some strength into the chords but it's still not an entire resolve, keeping everything still dark.
so when it comes down to it all, although this isn't the strongest scale, it's what makes it dark. to have a full resolve of the chords doesn't make for the darkest music. happy music uses a lot of major chord and resolved chords.
i use this for almost every song. but once you understand the relationship between intervals you also can make better decisions about which notes to use and what they mean.
if you ask any other dnb head, they'll tell you, use your heart or some other bs. but in the end, it's fucking math.
music is the practical application of math. in the purest form. and oddly, we all know it intuitively. it's universal.
(on a side note, that awesome movie drum beat sound you hear often which is a 3/4 played over a 4/4 time, which goes back to medieval ages is actually a perfect fourth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5BeJ7j1Fj4&feature=related it plays briefly here at 1:27 it's the only spot i remember it off the top of my head, but as you can tell it's a common enough "movie trailer" sound. the hard drums going. it gives real motion.
)
ANY QUESTIONS?!
it's not like i know how to explain this easily.
