What are the most common scales that DnB is written in? I have heard that G major is one, but was just wondering as I have been taking a short break from production to get my keyboard skills up to scratch, and would like to have an idea of the most used scales in DnB.
Dude, you can use any scale you like. I'm not sure if out of the major scales, there would be any that are more popular than others for drum & bass. Often C# is an unpopular key generally as it contains 7 sharps but when you're programming your chords via MIDI, anything is easily done. Some keys are more popular in different styles of music and others have a certain feel to them eg Eb major & Bb major are popular in jazz, soul & blues as it's great for horn players and G major is often considered to be very a happy, merry key.
Anything is possible in d&b so my best advice is to just experiment, try writing tracks in keys you don't normally and see what results you get.
Just remember this: D minor is the saddest of all keys
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.
__
Latest Songs of filth and taboo depravity SpankMyFilth on SoundCloud
She's got a nasty mouth... FREE DOWNLOADS
This post has been edited 3 time(s), it was last edited by Halph-Price: 21-01-2009 20:03.
Basically, you can design your melody in any scale (preferably C Major or A Minor as they are counterparts) and then port it to your desired scale. Sequencer editing makes this so easy....
__ Thinking about becoming an Image-Line/FL Studio customer? Want a 10% reduction in price? Use this affiliate link:
not so much scales but key, make sure your sub works well with the low notes of ur b-line, theres a sweet spot with sub on a keyboard. I like mine to sit around C0 or D0. anything lower doesnt really represent well on a speaker system and anything higher doesn't really sound like sub ... if you know what i mean
shit i just realized i had a point tot he longer rant i did in this thread. that a scale is a rigid system you can follow, but if you have an idea about the relationship between intervals you can better understand notes, and all scales, and which ones better for what and why.
i dunno where else to find it i was taught it, funny thing, not by my music but by my songwriting teacher. he's got works that are double platinum and was very smart.
nice scale of notes and intervals, this is used from the note lowest on the scale relating to the note higher up in the scale. since it mostly relates from the tonic of the scale.
__
Latest Songs of filth and taboo depravity SpankMyFilth on SoundCloud
She's got a nasty mouth... FREE DOWNLOADS
Im personally a big fan of the Arabic melodic minor scales. I usually get into these when I'm playing classical style piano but once in a while I slam some on some DnB style tune. Check the tunes post for the track Ism Alba for an idea what I mean.
Originally posted by c_ctrl
not so much scales but key, make sure your sub works well with the low notes of ur b-line, theres a sweet spot with sub on a keyboard. I like mine to sit around C0 or D0. anything lower doesnt really represent well on a speaker system and anything higher doesn't really sound like sub ... if you know what i mean
C0 is a pretty crappy place to have your sub dude, do you think that sounds good? I think that F sharp is pretty damn low for a sub
Originally posted by c_ctrl
not so much scales but key, make sure your sub works well with the low notes of ur b-line, theres a sweet spot with sub on a keyboard. I like mine to sit around C0 or D0. anything lower doesnt really represent well on a speaker system and anything higher doesn't really sound like sub ... if you know what i mean
C0 is a pretty crappy place to have your sub dude, do you think that sounds good? I think that F sharp is pretty damn low for a sub
well, i think it depends on the pitch/ocatave that your sine osc is set at anyway, c0 or d0 could be too low but not if the pitch of the osc is high enough...
I will ask this kindly just as I have before...STOP SAYING TWO NOTES IN A ROW WITH SCALES...I know they are the same notes in regards to pitch but not in scales, it makes a difference when dealing with chords which will happen eventually. (Dethworm it should read C-Db-E-F-G-Ab-Bb-C)
Halph D-D#(EB!)-F-G-A-B-C-D is not a key per say, you could argue its some weird modal key but its not D minor or B natural minor or anything close to that. D natural minor is D-E-F-G-A-Bb-C-D. Also Fourths arn't usually used in power chords, thats 5ths and Octaves.
music is the practical application of math. in the purest form. and oddly, we all know it intuitively. it's universal.
)
