Muted Vocal
3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2020–2024
3:03 · 3.6M views · Nov 20, 2015
A complete rendition of John Williams' Imperial March rearranged in a major key. The change turns Vader's menacing theme into something triumphant.
Used as a counter-example in music theory discussions to show how mode changes a melody's mood.
3 comments from Hacker News
The canonical video on the subject: [LINK] Some people will naively say "All music has pentatonic! Universal!" but ignore vital cultural context. One example in the video is ragas: they can look a lot like Western scales and modes, but they have a time and context. Western music also has a time and context, but it doesn't stand out as much to us unless someone goes full ham breaking that context like with the Imperial March in a Major mode: this video It changes the mood from "this is the bad guys!" to something more positive and triumphant.
Though you asked for an example... but maybe its best to show a counter-example instead? Here's the Imperial Death March played in a Major-scale, instead of a minor scale. this video If everything was in an 8-note (no accidental, transpositions only) measure, they'd sound like "Vader's redemption". To sound sad, you MUST shift to a minor key. A minor key has sharps and flats to create tension. Any "sad sounding" song cannot be properly played in a major key.
For those who suspect HN may have been infested by Rebel shills and their fake news: this video Anyone know where I can find the drawing of the stormtrooper in a locker room, complete with I M P E R I A L knuckle tats? I'm doing my part!