Emotional Framework

A game is a really complex thing emotionally. Every event in the storyline also creates drama and empathy with the players. I’ve begun thinking about how the music should be structured in order to reinforce the emotions that grow out of the story. It’s a pretty widely accepted idea that certain musical keys carry with them a very clear emotional message or tone. The masters of the classical age used this idea to a mathematical degree, and created some of the most incredible music ever heard by human ears. Mastery of these concepts is key to having control over the music that you create.

This is my problem. When I was in school I used to be in the band and I took a few basic music theory classes. Back then it all seemed incredibly boring. Plus the teacher was a choad. I was more interested in trippy trance beats and effects processors. But god that teacher sucked. Now I wish i would have paid more attention.

I’ve begun digging around a bit and I found this. via : biteyourownelbow

From the English translation of Helmholtz’s Tonempfindungen:

C major: Pure, certain, decisive; expressive of innocence, powerful resolve, manly earnestness and deep religious feeling

Db major: Fullness of tone, sonority and euphony

E major: Joy, magnificence, splendor; brightest and most powerful key

E minor: Grief, mournfulness, restlessness

F major: Peace, joy, light, passing regret, religious sentiment

F minor: Harrowing, melancholy

F# major: Brilliant, very clear

Gb major: Softness, richness

Of course this is a tiny excerpt of the giant page. Most of the indexes are from books published in the 1600′s which is pretty rad. The only problem with it now is that it brings me back to the very first issue. Authenticity. I do not intend to use string, brass, or complex percussive instruments, as these things are very European in origin and the people of pre-colonial New Zealand would not have know of them. The music from this period was also non-harmonic. Voices mostly were used in unison or in chanting, and there was nothing known of chords. I’m still not sure how I’ll solve this.

It’s nearly impossible to write music without using chords or keys, yet that is exactly what the music of the age was like. Here are some examples of music from SoPac island indiginous cultures. Most were recorded in the 50s or 60s so by this time the western influence had pretty deeply seeped in.


Bora Song ‘Wirru Wirru’
This is a field recording from Papua New Guinea, but it bears resemblance to the native music of New Zealand it it’s structure and instrumentation. Note the ‘cough’ sound being used as a musical element. That’s awsome.


a ko`olau au `ike i ka ua
This is an older recording (which explains the recording quality). Note the strange sense of rhythm and simplicity of the chanting. The drums are almost linguistic in their rhythms.


Song Of The Spirit Te’e (1969)
This song is from Samoa. It’s is way different than the style of many other SoPac island cultures in that it incorporates harmony. This is not as clear a distinction as you might think, as this recording was made in 1969 after a couple hundred years of mingling with western culture. It’s unclear if this existed before the whiteys arrived or if was a result of the culture assimilating the musical ideas of christian hymns into their own music.


Those damn Christians always fucked stuff up. Boooourns.