Hello revolutionary music makers, I’m Kate Harmony, and this is Ray Harmony.
If you’re new to our channel, please help yourself to our free book: “12 Music Theory
Hacks to Learn Scales & Chords”, which you can download at: HackMusicTheory.com
So last week, totally out of the blue, I get an email from the legendary Kerrang! Magazine,
saying they’ve selected my charity single “We Are” (feat. Serj Tankian, Ihsahn & Devin Townsend)
for a story on metal musicians who’ve done good things for the world.
Wow!! I am deeply humbled (and shocked) to be chosen as one of these eight musicians,
so thank you Kerrang!, and a very special thank you to Courtney Iseman, who wrote the article.
Now, there’s a ton of crazy cool theory in this song, so I thought I’d take this
opportunity to share some with you. And by the way, if you wanna listen to the song,
there’s a link below.
Alright, and on that note, it’s time to open your DAW to hack music theory. But first…
tea!
“We Are” opens with a verse that is dark and dissonant, which is normal for this genre,
but the verse’s vibe is unfamiliar and unlike anything we’re used to hearing.
Why? Well, the scale Ray used for this section is an extremely rare scale, which is only
really found in Indian classical music.
However, he didn’t use this scale because it’s rare, the method behind his madness
is much more practical, and easy to use.
So, Ray started by selecting the mode that would create the nearest vibe to what he wanted,
and as he was after a sad but uplifting vibe, he chose Dorian.
Next, he simply modified the Dorian mode by tweaking the notes that were preventing him
from achieving his intended vibe.
These notes were the 2, which he changed to the ♭2, and the 4, which he changed to the ♯4.
These two tweaks resulted in the exact vibe Ray had heard in his head.
And lastly, regarding a name. While this scale does have a name in India, in the West it doesn’t,
so we just refer to it as Dorian ♭2 ♯4
And this naming method is another great hack for rare scales: simply name them by using
the nearest mode, then list the tweaked notes afterwards.
Alright, now you’re gonna learn how to use this theory to make your own version, and
what you see on the screen right now is the bass line from the verse of “We Are”.
So, start by setting up one bar of 10/4, with your grid set to 1/16 notes, and your tempo
set to 80 BPM. And in “We Are”, the key note of the verse is E.
Step 1. Closest Mode
Start by thinking about what kinda vibe you want, then choose the mode that will get you
closest to that vibe.
For example, if you want a serious sound, you’ll shortlist the minor modes.
Then, if you want a positive twist (like I did), you’ll choose Dorian.
And by the way, if you’re new to modes, then you can learn everything you need to
know about them in three simple hacks, which are in our Songwriting & Producing PDF.
This PDF also contains the other essential music making hacks you’ll need, along with
MIDI file examples (the link is below).
Step 2. Modified Mode
Now that you’re in the ballpark of the vibe that you’re wanting to create, you can write
a melody or chord progression so that you can hear exactly what notes are not right.
So here’s my bass line in Dorian, before I modified the mode.
The 2 in Dorian was preventing the vibe from being as dark as I wanted, so I changed it
to the ♭2.
I then had a mix of Dorian and Phrygian, but it still wasn’t right.
The 4 was sounding too predictable, and as I wanted to create an unfamiliar sounding
vibe, I changed it to the ♯4.
And with that, I had my custom vibe from my modified mode!
Alright, now let’s have a listen to the before and after versions of this bass line.
And if you wanna learn Ray’s secret song-whispering method, which we don’t teach here on YouTube,
then check out our online apprenticeship course (the link is below).
In the meantime though, if you wanna keep learning how to make great music that stands
out, then we’ve got a lesson coming next on how to write a melody using a non-western scale.
So just click that video when it pops up in a few seconds, and we’ll meet you there!