Using WEIRD SCALES to make POP SONGS
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- čas přidán 12. 02. 2024
- Featuring @JusticeCow
I cannot believe how cool these scales are!
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thank you to my patrons for helping me continue my music career - / benlevin - Krátké a kreslené filmy
DO YOU SEE THE RAY OF LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT
It was so fun to make this with you! The 3 maj chords that can also be minor chords in the same key blew my mind!
You killed it 🤙
You saved the day!
It went so hard!
You're so cool
y-you're so cool.......
Man nothing gets me in a writing mood like a new Ben levin video
you HAVE to make full versions of both of these! The second one is so catchy, I've listened to it 20 times already
6:09 for my own listening pleasure
We've got some Björk vibes up in here for the first one.
Björk meets Purity Ring.
Damn I miss Purity Ring it was so good
Was thinking more black dresses
@@MoonWalkerTexsRanger
They're still around! Though the first album is still my favorite.
@ahhhhyes
You're in luck, purity ring and Black Dresses did a song together called "shines."
3:20 One of the coolest songs I've heard in a long time!!
Seriously. I need that in my Spotify playlist like yesterday, lol. So good!
The only reason I can think of that you don't make music as a character of yourself and become a global icon is that you're already happy, and that doesn't appeal to you at all.
What does it mean to make music as a character of oneself ? Genuinely curious, I don't know what that means :x
He already is a global icon
@@cedricbagein9328Like how Lady Gaga is a character. It's like an embellished or exaggerated version of the person.
This is a fake version of him. He's actually a fake doctor.
@@SillyNolanOGs know
definitely taking the 'common chords, strange scale' approach with me from this. It's a bit like the inverse of the pop music from the middle of the last century, which I also love, but the idea of using the scales I love from Hindustani music with mora than just a drone underneath them sounds really cool :]
Those scales blew my mind (especially the augmented with the maj/min/+ ambiguity).
Also Justice Cow’s melody was fantastic. Pulling maximum drama from those half steps in a way that felt super organic.
The first song reminds me of so many different different experimental artists (Bjork, St Vincent, Sneaker Pimps, Skynd, Alev Lenz, Noga Erez, Goldfrapp, Moloko, Gazelle Twin, Dandi Wind, Le Butcherettes, Fever Ray, Low Roar, Android Lust, Dorian Electra) but sounds completely unique at the same time
Reminds me of Poppy and Crosses as well
god yes that first song
fuck i cannot stop listening to it it's so good
In the descending Prometheus scale, the E seemed surprising because I’m used to a descending half step + minor third having a minor second after it (such as Bb-A-Gb-F instead of Bb-A-F♯-E). What a neat maneuver! I wish more people tried putting these scales into pop songs
It ends up being a whole tone scale with one altered note, but that adds a unique character to the scale
First song could easily fit as a seasonal theme for a competitive esport, like LoL or Valorant.
Well first song is dope in and of itself, I don't really get why it would need to be a soundtrack to rightfully exist and be enjoyed😅
@@ke8739 Where, anywhere in what I wrote as a comment, did I say "the first song needs to be a soundtrack to be rightfully enjoyed"?
Bitch, I said it could easily fit as a theme. Nowhere did I say "this is only enjoyable as a theme". Stop trying to poison the well by perverting the inference of my comment.
K/DA meets Bjork lol
@@ke8739 That's not what they're saying though.
I always love seeing any part of Ben's creative process! Not being familiar enough with a scale to improvise over it is a big vibe, and usually something that stresses me out. Justice Cow did so well with that hook!
Aww thanks!
love the second one!! it feels a lot like D mixolydian b6
Both part of melodic minor
I clicked because I saw Scriabin's chord in the thumbnail. What a great little video, and I think this is a wonderful direction for pop music. As you say, extrapolating and using major and minor triads keeps the 'pop' - while using synthetic scales brings in a wonderful flavour that you wouldn't expect in this context. Great work. Liked and subscribed.
Only JC the queen can make such exotic scales sound like that
So much talent in composition and interpretation!
what a gorgeous voice you have ben! awesome tunes you and justice cow came up with
I love the second one so much! Endlessly creative and inspiring as always, Ben 😊
Love this approach and the results you are getting.
woah that second track reeeally suited your voice so well 💪💪💪
This is fantastic Ben, thank you for sharing this.
This just blew my mind! Absolutely love both tracks. Insanely good!!
Awesome Ben! I’ve been spending the last year+ trying to re-orient myself on the piano using the symmetry of the keys (specifically over D and its tritone G#). In the process, lots of symmetrical scales just sort of emerged in addition to the ones you’ve mentioned here (Dorian, Hindu, Byzantine, Pentatonic, etc.) and then other near-symmetrical scales, and in addition to just having a better “foothold” on the keys than I’ve ever had in the past, it’s become super useful for improv, particularly coming up with modulations and passing chords/scales I wouldn’t have used otherwise. Symmetrical harmony is really neat!
Two great songs!!!!!
i'd love to see you mess around with this scale!!! k luv u bye
Wow! A really cool exploration for inspiration! Both of the songs were awesome!
4:00 I need more of this.
That first scale is insanity! Love it!
Of all of this incredible lesson, I think I fell in love the most with the you dropped the word "early" in your second song! Thanks for the new favorite Valentine's Day love song! Mmmm...Thai food...♥️
ive been thinking of writing songs in weird scales and this video is the perfect push i needed!
Very, very cool sounds!
Wow this is incredible
This is so rad you guys!
Your teaching style is a big inspiration of mine. Keep doing what you’re doing forever.
both bangers!!
Ben, no other CZcams music teacher even attempts to push people this far outside of the normal boundaries of making music. I love how you actually show is an example of what is possible instead of just talking about it. Keep making these lessons and making music.
Your Prometheus scale song immediately started sounding like something Andrew Huang would write and I love it. Still very much a Ben Levin composition, of course.
Now that's a wild collab I would love to see.
fantastic - thanks!
Thanks for the lesson Ben!
Thanks Ben!
Bumped into this gem of a video by just accepting YT's suggestions. I must say I really liked your craftmanship, and your friend did amazing job too. THanks for this content.
"I love it when you can derive some normal chords from a strange scale because when you combine them you get that nice balance between familiar harmony a squiggly new sounding scale"
This was such an aha moment for me because i share the same aesthetic preference but ive never put words to it! Going further, i think its also cool and helpful if someone is interested in fleshing these ideas out into full songs, is reverting into something more diatonic for the chorus, then back to the strange scale for the verses. This continues the balance between strangeness and familiarity on the level of the song. Thanks Ben!
that first one is absolutely fantastic
Ben, you always make incredible original music. I am shocked at how accessible you made these two tracks and it’s always refreshing to see you interesting theory and creativity blending with pop. (I wish everyone did this)
Cool concept, cool sounds, cool songs (first reminds me a bit at giant steps) and cool cards on your piano.
That first song is so dark, I love it. That scale is metal af, might have used it unknowingly myself through the years lol
Whaat the f..!?!
That last song you made is soo dope!! Damn I wish that was a full song!! Straight up fire 🔥
.. I cant believe I've been sleepin on this channel
These are great!
Hey, yeah, and to anyone reading - you can start with a six note scale, and you can migrate thru other scales within the same song, no problem... because even if you end up using all 12 notes, and some microtones, it's not like you'd use them all at the same time. For example, it can still sound good if you switch to some different notes for the chorus or bridge or anywhere really. So, even if you're wanting to end up in a different sonic space, don't be afraid to start with one of these weird scales. They can sound good as intros and transitions too.
Yeah, always a great point to mention. "Normal" music changes scales and keys all the time, there's no reason we should restrict ourselves from doing the same even when trying to experiment with intentionally weirder sets of notes.
My personal main approach these days is actually to change to a different scale or mode in almost every section of a song but while keeping the same root the entire time. It's a fun way to slip a lot of these weirder scales into your melodies and the consistent tonal center keeps it from getting too confusing. It's basically like treating scales as chords, you can dip into a really wonky or dissonant one for a bit of zest but then as soon you snap back to something more familiar it feels like "home" while also sharing enough critical notes to not seem like you're wildly jumping around.
It also takes like no theory knowledge, if you can count intervals then you cobble together a cool riff out of any scale seconds after seeing what notes are in it, so you get to sound fancy even if you're actually closer to someone just learning to pick out Smoke on the Water for the first time. Music doesn't have to be hard, I'm always looking for more ways to get people to quickly experiment with simple ways to produce very interesting new sounds.
It’s just so darn accessible
This is soooo coooool!!!
Thats amazing!!!
This is so good guys, great
that augmented track was super björk. great work
I'm getting Daniel Johns vibes from the prometheus jam! Love this! Always loved your content
these are so fun
That's actually a pretty cute track and sounds like it could be some weird branch of indie pop
The mystic chord makes its most spectacular appearance in Prometheus by Scriabin. A massive orchestral piece featuring a color organ that displays colors that the composer associated with the sounds of the music.
Love your vids Ben! Please if you find it interesting make the next one about rythm, im a drumer so... it would be cool!
Really cool to hear some sounds different from what I'm used to.
Good to see you're still rockin' Ben. Someday I will understand all this theory stuff.
Man, this is so cool.
You and JC go hand in hand. She could be the face of "weird pop", if that ever was a thing. Thanks again for stressing over cool things and giving the easy way in expanding my mind way in the best possible way! You inspire me to post my cool disoveries, but I'm not there yet. Great presentation as always. Thanks!
This is so funky
Love Ben Levin
Honestly, these bang!
Sounding more like Devin Townsend than ever, woah
Please, please, please, make full versions of both of these.
These songs are so damn good, wish I could listen to them streaming!
I love the attitude to apply new things you learn immediately. Why wait? In fact, don’t wait - Work while it’s fresh! Thanks, Dr. Ben.
That first one's an absolute banger
I'm in love with thr second song
So cool! I once wrote a melody using the second mode of the Prometheus scale, but could never figure out the name of it
Ray of Light is sick! nicely done
Song 1 should be a full song!
I like how this turned out and cool that you used 2 6-note scales. Justice Cow nailed that melody and cool that the second scale has 3 step sizes and works well as a melody in its own right. I challenge you to take it one step further at some point and use a hexany scale
This is THE lesson I've needed for ages...
WOW. JUST WOW.
1:21 “I’m the de-vil I love me-tal”
tenacious d really is goated
Incredible
What a mystical pop experience
so cool
As a prog lover, these sound like the normal scales to me
That augmented chord progression example - C -Cm E-Em etc. made me immediately think of Radiohead’s Little By Little.
Wow, the Prometheus scale song slaps really hard brother.
I saw the Prometheus chord on the front page, said, "Scriabin, really?" and had to listen.
I wish there was more popmusic like this
"Do you see the ray of liiiiiiiiiiight" goes so hard
I like it!
Really works in the pop context, I wonder how much scope there is for more songs with the same weird scale? I guess there's a significant number of weird scales out there, and they can be mixed and matched with more "normal" stuff.
I think I had a dream about recommending Ben Levin’s art to someone
Amazing Job they actually sound like real pop songs. It’s crazy though you think pop doesn’t use esoteric music theory but it actually draws on world scales and atonal stuff all the time for that exotic or dark risqué kind of vibe. I feel like it actually uses weird scales more than most other genres.
The gates to new realms of music has just been opened
Woah that first melody has the essence of Gary Numan's latest album
Definetly! I'm also hearing hints of splinter and savage in there
She is a crazy good singer.
The first one is so creepy sounding!
Feels like the second melody is highly based on a D sort of key center. The first melody was absolutely genius tho
When Justice Cow starting singing it reminded me immediately of Gary Numan. Pop? I dunno about that, but damn awesome.
scriabin and ben levin yes please