The Enigmatic Scale: Music As A Puzzle

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7 жыл бұрын

Music isn't all fun and games, but hey, sometimes it is. The enigmatic scale was designed to be incredibly difficult to work with, because even composers want a challenge sometimes. But what makes this infamous scale so hard to harmonize? Well, quite a lot, actually. It contains a lot of tricks and traps to snare an unwary theorist, but if you treat it just right it could, in the words of its inventor Adolfo Crescentini, "prove effective". Sound fun? Verdi sure thought so.
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Пікірлер: 73

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Note: Some sources attribute the invention of the scale to Verdi, but after some significant digging on the subject, I'm fairly confident that that's incorrect. Verdi did likely NAME the scale, though: Prior to his use, it was just called the "scala-rebus", or "scale-puzzle".

@DoomBloomArt 7 жыл бұрын

I knew this scale for a while and never knew what to do with it. I still don't know, but at least now I know it's not just me.

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it's... not easy. If I were looking for standard applications, I might try using the third mode as a chord scale over a Major 6 chord. It's got the lower tensions of Lydian with a chromatic passing tone between the 5th and 6th, and if you're using a 6 chord you probably don't want to play the 7th anyway, so lacking one isn't a big deal. But using modes kinda feels like cheating anyway, so who knows.

@RicardoMarlowFlamenco 3 жыл бұрын

Simple view would be to allow for the passing note G# and then simply play A lydian over an F natural drone. At anytime you want to “resolve” your lydian noodling, you can land a sweet F natural note. F augmented maj7 arpegios will sound nice too. If you want to be “proper” you can look at the G# as an avoid note as well, but that already makes the thing not fun. If you wanted to incorporate the decending alteration, try a little A phrygian dominant (E-C#-Bb-A) phrygian dominant pattern connection to F phrygian dominant (A-Gb-F-Eb-F) to resolve.

@RicardoMarlowFlamenco 3 жыл бұрын

Perhaps even simpler is claim the root and second are misspelled. E#, raised 7, and F# tonic is dorian. The second degree of dorian is skipped and the descending alteration is simply the blues maj3-minor3 move. So F# dorian basis, but use Raised 3rd and 7th as appropriate, regardless of your harmony.

@AnAmericanComposer 7 жыл бұрын

I wrote a fugue using this scale, it was very fun and challenging! It was a rather atonal one, to say the least haha

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

I would imagine so! Still, as long as it sounds good, right?

@martisole6249 7 жыл бұрын

upload it!

@MatEnAlks 7 жыл бұрын

Ah, the enigmatic scale. My absolutely favourite with Prometheus and octatonic scale (the last one thanks to your videos). I've spent a lot of time creating a metal song out of this and come up with interesting results. This scale's got a vibe that makes you think you will get into some sort of melody but crushes those hopes immediately, creates a feeling of uncertainity and being not completely safe, just because you cannot say anything about what you hear. There is no basic personality in this. Those are feelings you cannot even name yet, you don't know the words in any language. I like to think about this scale as groups of notes. Oriental, wholetone and chromatic group. The first one creates the hope I mentioned before, that it will lead somewhere, wholetone makes you completely wrong about your first thoughts and the chromatic brings an impression of a terrible dissapointment in terms of resolving that little journey. The whole thing is great in creating ambigious and random feeling. I especially like creating chords that are incredibly powerful and are not easy to understand. So depending on composer, you can achieve a huge variety of usages. It's definitely one of the most interesting scales ever. Thank you for the video. Now I'm looking forward to seeing a video about Ligeti and polytonality in general :)

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

That's a great analysis! That complexity is what drew me to this scale. I didn't know much about it before I started researching this episode, but as soon as I started reading it completely fascinated me. I started playing around with chords, studying the melodic fragments it made... Anyway, it's awesome to hear someone else's take on it! The group-based view is interesting way to look at the scale. It's not how I was approaching it, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks!

@MatEnAlks 7 жыл бұрын

12tone To be honest I also think that not only is this scale a musical challenge but also a psychological challenge, because of its ambiguity. The awkwardness in how it sounds is to me a cool way to find out how much can I stretch my brain to kind of discover a sensible path in those sounds, how hard my brain will try to make it sound melodic subjectively. After few hours of composing with such an heavy scale, being so tight in terms of what you can do, traditional scales feel like a child's play really. And about the groups of notes. When playing on guitar, it's very easy to see, that first notes of each group played together form a tritone. This interval is very present in this scale. Thanks to that, you can often dodge the standard rules of resolving a melody, because simply resolving that one interval into either fourth of fifth is enough of a relief after melody being so irrational and unpleasant.

@gargus6287 7 жыл бұрын

I would love to check out what you came up with using this scale. is there any way I could get a glimpse of it ? I'm always eager to use new concepts for my metal compositions, like atonal modes and polymeters, and this sounds just as exciting

@yeln4tsmusic 7 жыл бұрын

You sir, are CRIMINALLY UNKNOWN!!!!! Your videos are amazing!

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Aw, thanks! Feel free to share them if you know anyone who'd be interested!

@octahedron115 5 жыл бұрын

Ling ling can write 50 symphonies in 1 nanosecond with that scale

@dyscotopia Жыл бұрын

I used to write and perform electronic music regularly with the only theory I had being that I could get away with using various pentatonic scales and everything would just kinda work. Your channel and Charles Cornell's inspired me to actually investigate music theory. My current piece goes from A Phrygian to Ab Enigmatic to D Aeolian dominant. Easily vamping chords is definitely harder in the latter two but it's so interesting the different feels they give and they all share a pivot chord so once I find a harmony that works it's pretty easy to transition from one to the other. It's a different, mathy way to compose but super fascinating in its own way

@pablodebiddlybo3771 Жыл бұрын

I was today years old when I found this Channel. Very well constructed content.

@this_connor_guy 6 жыл бұрын

I am... HELLBENT on making a song in the enigmatic scale. This video definitely helped me understand it more, so thank you for that

@SunroseStudios 5 жыл бұрын

we're.. experimenting with some weird scales as well (including the second mode of the enigmatic scale, which we've nicknamed the "zeno scale" for the time being because of how the intervals decrease as it approaches the octave), and if we ever write a proper thing on those we might send it over to ya. ...also um, your voice is cute? is that okay to say? idk. anyway thank you, all these bite-sized bits of music theory have really taught us a lot.

@RicardoMarlowFlamenco 3 жыл бұрын

If you interpret the Gb as F#, you have dorian basis where you skip the second (F#ABC#D#E) and use your maj7 when you need it (E#)...the decending alteration sounds weird BUT you can think “bluesy” as in your maj3rd pops in.

@stevie8271 2 жыл бұрын

i know this is 2 years late but i agree abt their voice

@adlfm 7 жыл бұрын

Whoa! I'm totally in for the challenge! Thank you for making videos on such fascinating subjects!

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Good luck!

@constanzar.2523 6 жыл бұрын

I've actually made a metal song with the scale. Really enigmatic, indeed.

@Racosz 5 жыл бұрын

2:32 - Forte Name 3-8B - A mixed-interval triad (major third and major second).

@beatlejuice5951 5 жыл бұрын

I love this shit. I'm reading a book I recommend you check out it's written by a nuro scientist who is also a musician and it's a trip of a book. It's simply called "This is your brain on music"

@eliassimon666 7 жыл бұрын

Adam Neely sent me! Lovin the Verdi rec

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Cool, thanks! Glad you're here!

@jonnyp1340 5 жыл бұрын

3:09 i love that interval

@nataliealliepage7155 6 жыл бұрын

The 7th chord is just a Sus2 chord.

@tonyhakston536 5 жыл бұрын

I didn’t realize this was meant to be difficult to write in. I found it rather easy to work with. Then again, the song I wrote was far from complex, so.

@colepeterson9961 3 жыл бұрын

The favorite scale of Edward Nigma.

@kyle-silver 7 жыл бұрын

So I've noticed that in your intro you write with your right hand, but in the videos you write with your left. Do you have a stunt double!? (I've heard rumors swirling that ViHart does)

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Heh, yeah. The intro shows our original animator, who was right-handed, but he moved away and I took over. Didn't bother reshooting the intro 'cause it's a lot of work and I didn't think many people would notice.

@anirudhsilai5790 6 жыл бұрын

Neat!

@alexconnolly5448 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds fun ok im interested

@lindseytaylor1522 9 ай бұрын

I know zilch about music, just learning but loved this video as so creative and informative,

@stephen0793 7 жыл бұрын

Hey great channel! I have a question- if you are familiar with Allan Holdsworth's music, he uses many exotic scales, I was wondering if you knew any songs by him that use this scale. If I can find the answer my self I will let you know

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

I know some of Holdsworth's stuff, although I'll admit I haven't gone too deep into it. I don't know that he ever used this particular scale, but I wouldn't be too surprised to find out he had!

@stephen0793 7 жыл бұрын

to me, apart from the fact that its different going up and down, this scale is the whole tone scale with one note difference (the G flat turns into a G), so in that sense I hear Holdsworth use the whole tone scale a lot, but maybe not this scale particularly

@maeb9131 7 жыл бұрын

0:46 What you just played sounds like the Polar Express lol. I don't know which song but I recognize it.

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Interesting! I'm not familiar, but it makes a nice melody so I wouldn't be surprised.

@lepistanuda 7 жыл бұрын

this scale is made of amazing chords

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

They're certainly interesting!

@francis5518 3 жыл бұрын

If the transcription I found is correct, and my "calculations" too, the beginning harmonies of the song "The chain" by Fleetwood Mac fit the G# enigmatic (don't quote me, for your own good) :)

@RCAvhstape 7 жыл бұрын

Chuck Norris can get a strong sense of resolution from an augmented triad.

@udi112 7 жыл бұрын

can you do an episode on licks?

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

Sure, I'll add it to our list! We did an episode on riffs already (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eqqUjJupnt7FnmQ.html ) but licks are a slightly different beast and they'd be cool to explore too. Thanks!

@AlbySilly 6 жыл бұрын

I made a song using this scale, but it's more than likely it's in another mode. I know about scales but I'm still kinda clueless when it comes to modes

@masicbemester 5 жыл бұрын

look it up

@r.t.5767 Жыл бұрын

I am an absolute amateur at composing (one might say I am a primitivist :D), I don't know anything about theory and I write only in moments of inspiration. I don't recognize any scales, I just find the right notes I heard in my head and try to play them. So when I replicate the sounds I record it or write it and that's it (I guess this process of composing might be easier if I knew theory and practiced with it more). Here's an interesting thing. After playing what I composed I check (using public online tools) what scale I used and for some reasons, all my best songs are in this enigmatic scale. The descriptions of this scale and what I hear on YT videos matches the feeling of these songs I wrote. I guess I naturally write in this scale, is it possible?

@CMM5300 2 жыл бұрын

There's alot of "hidden" chords in the scale. Alot of different sus chords ECT. It's worth looking at all the possibilities if anyone is serious about it.

@CMM5300 4 жыл бұрын

I learned enigmatic minor and enigmatic. Is it supposed to be one ascending and one descending?

@arj8865 6 жыл бұрын

1:33. Added complication? Listen to Indian Carnatic music in the raga of Mayamalavagowla.

@anirudhsilai5790 6 жыл бұрын

True. Just a few weeks ago Cory made a video about the double harmonic major scale, where he said the augmented 2nd could be used to good effect

@lazergurka-smerlin6561 4 жыл бұрын

The only reason I searched for this was that I apparently accidentally made an enigmatic scale

@1234567890noone 11 ай бұрын

lul, same

@noelwalterso2 7 жыл бұрын

I love the content of your videos bur is there a reason why you have to go so fast? It's exhausting

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

There is! Online video is necessarily fast-paced, because it has no captive audience. In fact, it has the opposite: KZfaq is constantly trying to get viewers to click away to a related video that might interest them more. As such, you can't really let there be dead space in your content or people will just leave.

@icecreamforcrowhurst 5 жыл бұрын

Because ain’t nobody got time! Fast is a blessing. Just rewatch if you missed something

@giantpoogiv12 4 жыл бұрын

Goose Boose this is the last video what do we do stranger :/

@stardust-reverie 6 жыл бұрын

god i fucking wish i knew music theory.

@aleji0 5 жыл бұрын

The intro always sounds like alantutorial.

@mcboomsauce7922 6 жыл бұрын

Throw out the theories, Listen to the notes, Just listen and they will tell you what to play Be a pioneer, not a surveyor Music theory isn't a theory It's music hypothesis

@MisterAppleEsq 6 жыл бұрын

Not really.

@Trevoke 7 жыл бұрын

Did you mean "baseline" instead of "bassline" ?

@12tone 7 жыл бұрын

I didn't! It was originally intended specifically as a line to be played in the bass (lowest) voice of an arrangement, while the other voices harmonized above it. I saw that potential confusion coming, so I wrote the word down to try to help clarify, but it's still definitely a bit ambiguous. Fortunately, though, I think both interpretations lead to correct statements (It was intended both as a baseline and a bassline) so it's not that big a deal.

@Trevoke 7 жыл бұрын

12tone understood, thanks :)