Titanic

[matthewjames28]

Hi this may sound like a stupid question but i just got the titanic soundtrack to try and inspire me and it already has but i just wanted to know how can certain songs have such a powerful effect on you like make you happy or real sad.


is there a trick to this.


thanks

 

[Astar]

It depends on what emotional effect you want to project to your audience.

If you want sad, then use slow tempo, strings, pads, guitar, piano (For example) and combine that with soft meaningful and emotional lyrics.

For happy, use up-tempo, bright instruments, a catchy melody and lyrics that have a feel-good vibe.

 

[Hosey]

This is definitely one that goes in the realm of theory. This could be explained kind of simply as "Happy songs are in a Major Key, Sad songs are in a Minor Key". Major and minor just refers to where the 3RD note of a 7-note scale is. A matter of shifting the 3rd up or down one half-note is all it is. It's actually more complicated (only a little!) than that, but it's a good starting place. I could kind of explain it, but it's a lot easier to look it up, where you can look at charts and drawings. If you have any kind of instrument at your disposal, it should be easy to learn. It might seem complicated at first, but music theory is A LOT simpler to learn than, say, English or Spanish. We can all speak, can't we?

 

[straypixel]

This is definitely one that goes in the realm of theory. This could be explained kind of simply as "Happy songs are in a Major Key, Sad songs are in a Minor Key".

I disagree. It may sound like a long-way-off subject when you are only learning the basics of harmony, but William's main asset is his stunning orchestrations which in themselves can't be classed as 'theory' but are down to broader issuses of style. Obviously commmanding the resources of a symphony orchestra is a daunting task but you should of course start on a much smaller scale. Everyone round here says it, but nothing will give you a better grounding than theory lessons. The Titanic score fuses elements of Neo-Romanticism and Irish (NOT that silly label 'Celtic') music effectively.

If you want a similar style on a smaller scale, try a flute/whistle/ocarina patch with an epic, diatonic or modal melody, underlaid with a basic strings-in-octaves underlay. For bass, use something orchestral again. Choirs can be particularly effective if you have a decent-sounding source, but don't use massive leaps or things that are blatantly unsingable. If you wanted to add modern colour, use the most basic synth patch you can find. Percussion should be used very sparingly. Although it sounds cliched, experiment with a nice reverb to enhance the 'nostalgic' tone painting.

Key point: know your style and audience well. What works for an audience of a tragic romance definately won't work for comedy (except very ironically).

If some of this doesn't make sense: Google or Wiki!

Percy