Look at the keyboard, starting at middle C, which is a white key. All the keys in C major are white keys, so going right from middle C, the keys are named: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, then C again an octave higher.

The simplest way to hear the difference is to play a C major chord, which is the first, third and fifth notes of the scale: C, E, G. Just hit all three at the same time and you can hear they have a certain sound together - call it majorness.

In a minor chord, on the other hand, the middle note of the chord (the third, E in the case of a C chord) is flattened -- so, instead of hitting the white E key, you hit the black E-flat key to its left, while keeping the same C and G. You can hear those notes also have a certain sound to them - call it minorness. Go back and forth between the major and minor chords and you'll start to hear the difference.

Here's the thing: scales are based on the *intervals* between the notes in them. C to D is a full step, or just a step. D to E is also a full step. D to E-flat, on the other hand, is a half-step. So the major scale goes like this:

Step, step, half-step. Step. Step, step, half-step.

Notice how the first part and the second part of the scale are identical, with an additional step separating them? Now try flattening the third note of both parts to make a minor scale:

Step, half-step, step. Step. Step, half-step, step.

That's the minor natural scale. Starting at C, it goes: C, D, E-flat, F, G, A, B-flat, C. If you start from a different note, you transpose into a different key and end up with different notes being sharp or flat, but the major- or minorness of it still comes from the interval pattern.

Anyway, what they basically did was take the flattened third (E-flat) and seventh (B-flat) and raised them a half-step while leaving everything else the same. Boom, it sounds like a more upbeat song. Cheers!

For the greatest impact, he should steadily rise in pitch (and just drop back an octave every now and then) to compensate for the Doppler effect.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

I don't think it's a sample. It's a piano arpeggiating a root 5th and octave, which is a common device sometimes referred to as a 'pedal point'. The static nature of a 'pedal' provides tension and a constant from which the rest of the music can draw contrast. The 28 Days Later soundtrack has a cue called "In A Heartbeat" that uses a similar intro. Plenty of Thomas Newman and Philip Glass cues start out similarly too.


Look at the big brain on Brett!

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

conspiracy?
Consider the facts:
-Most musicians and artists are liberal.
-The backing band chose to play "America" in a key awkward to the human voice.

Deliberate SABOTAGE? Probably not.


Oh man....yer onto something distpiuafurtdy.....Wonder if he jacked this shit on porpoise??

Anyone with a flimsy, two-octave range can wing that song in any key-

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

I don't think it's a sample. It's a piano arpeggiating a root 5th and octave, which is a common device sometimes referred to as a 'pedal point'. The static nature of a 'pedal' provides tension and a constant from which the rest of the music can draw contrast. The 28 Days Later soundtrack has a cue called "In A Heartbeat" that uses a similar intro. Plenty of Thomas Newman and Philip Glass cues start out similarly too.


Thank you for this, I think my film-soundtrack-addled brain was mixing the 28 Days Later and Moon piano bits. I still get an eerie déjà-entendu everytime I listen to the Muse song...

I don't think it's a sample. It's a piano arpeggiating a root 5th and octave, which is a common device sometimes referred to as a 'pedal point'. The static nature of a 'pedal' provides tension and a constant from which the rest of the music can draw contrast. The 28 Days Later soundtrack has a cue called "In A Heartbeat" that uses a similar intro. Plenty of Thomas Newman and Philip Glass cues start out similarly too.

And fake...There are number of occasions where one ball touches the keys and a chord is played. Also sustain pedal is being pressed/released all the time. He has three octaves and is playing at least four, listen to the bass notes on that most complex part and compare to the end where he goes to the bottom key.

He could have it on step play mode where any key press advances the sequence forward.. It's still a fake but that's how i would do it.

Still gets my upvote.... but...

I think there may be a slight dishonesty in the way he presents his videos. Listening to his admittedly great cover of Michael Jackson's PYT the beat boxing is far too consistent, and sounds like single "one-shot" samples of a kick and snare rather than a full track-long performance of each drum part - which is how he presents it in the video. I could be wrong though. He also traditionally uses an insane amount of autotune.

That said, I think the use of pitch-shifters/octavers and distortion or whatever is fair play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNZXx_O1sWE

Uh. Might want to check your audio system or update something.

I am listening to an eight foot "woman" singing up and down multiple octaves.

Do we need a "hyperbole" button too next to the sarcasm button? Maybe it should have read, "... a bajillion octave range..." to make it absolutely clear.>> ^Sagemind:

14 octave range? - Hardly.

>> ^Sagemind:
14 octave range? - Hardly. In fact she didn't hit any of the high notes in the song at all.
And there is no way her voice could hit the lower octaves.
Roy Orbison had a 3-4 octave range and was considered one of the best. I have no idea where the claim she can hit14 octaves - That's absurd
Soprano: C4 – C6
Mezzo-soprano: A3 – A5
Contralto: F3 – F5
Tenor: C3 – C5
Baritone: F2 – F4
Bass: E2 – E4
When you have an octave that means that the two notes are exactly 8 notes apart, hence the "oct" part in the word. This means that the octave of D is D. You count 8 notes from the starting note. i.e.
D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D= 8 notes all together
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Orbison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_range
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080214233219AAvJ05T


I think a description revision might be necessary. Thanks for the input on this!

14 octave range? - Hardly. In fact she didn't hit any of the high notes in the song at all.
And there is no way her voice could hit the lower octaves.

Roy Orbison had a 3-4 octave range and was considered one of the best. I have no idea where the claim she can hit14 octaves - That's absurd

* Soprano: C4 – C6
* Mezzo-soprano: A3 – A5
* Contralto: F3 – F5
* Tenor: C3 – C5
* Baritone: F2 – F4
* Bass: E2 – E4

When you have an octave that means that the two notes are exactly 8 notes apart, hence the "oct" part in the word. This means that the octave of D is D. You count 8 notes from the starting note. i.e.

D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D= 8 notes all together

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Orbison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_range
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080214233219AAvJ05T

>> ^ZappaDanMan:

>> ^shuac:
Pro tip: if one frequency range is covered, better to choose a complimentary range (violin or even viola) rather than double down on the same one. Know what I mean?

..or at least transpose the melody an octave higher.


I think they were trying to make it sound like the stuff they usually have to play when they're playing in a group of people. They only hear their parts when they practice so they're not looking at the entire finished product.

>> ^shuac:

Pro tip: if one frequency range is covered, better to choose a complimentary range (violin or even viola) rather than double down on the same one. Know what I mean?


..or at least transpose the melody an octave higher.

She got some excellent interviews but I want to give her an octave shifting mic. That voice gave me a splintering headache.