Melody lines, Harmony lines, Counterparts, and Embellishments - Writing is up to the composer and his or her individual style, of course. But here are some tips to create the commonly used sounds that help maintain the fantasy feel:
- Identify a chord progression that can outline the mode that provokes emotions and feelings you want to convey. Then use notes from the scale to build that segment of the melody. Here are the modes, their emotions, and the interval numbers/ scale degrees that make them feel that way:
- Ionian: Happy/Cinch, Worry-less [6+7]
- Dorian: Mystery [6], (not/less serious) Action/Adventure [6+♭7]
- Phrygian: Like aeolian with and ‘exotic’ or unsettling ♭2 (with these melodies)
- Lydian: unease [1+♯4], Mystery [♯4], Play/Adventure/Calm/(nature) [♯4+5]
- Lydian Dominant: [Lydian’s ♯4 + Mixo’s ♭7], slight eeriness [♭VII +]
- Mixolydian: Mystery [♭7], Play/Adventure/Calm/(nature) [6+♭7]
- Mixolydian ♭6: sadness [♭6 + ♭7], bittersweet [(♭6 + 5)+(4+3)]
- Aeolian: Seriousness [♭6], sadness [♭6 + ♭7]
- Aeolian [Harmonic]:Seriousness [♭6], edge/risk [♭6 + 7]
- Aeolian [Melodic]: build up of excitement [6+7]
- Locrian: Very unsettling and not very fitting for fantasy music
Mode-Mixture - Mode-mixture in your melody is very important as what makes fantasy feel like fantasy is the special instrumentation playing through the specific emotions brought about by the certain modes; the modes that the melody and chord progressions outline.
Motifs - Use motifs to make your piece more coherent and catchy:
- Over moving chords, you could take the same interval numbers and use them through different keys and modes to give a listener an idea to latch on to. (Like moving from a Major scale to a Minor scale to a Lydian scale to help the listener latch on to a scale motif)
- If a piece is on one chord for a long time, or constantly returns to the same chords or chord progression, variation of motifs may be a more fitting approach. Variation may include changing the order of notes, changing notes or intervals used altogether, changing the rhythm of a passage in similar manners, and more. (But changes may be overdone if you change more than one or two aspects of a motif at a time)
- It’s also helpful to use variations of the same motif in a different section of the song where chord structure or the overall energy changes, like a bridge or last chorus of a song to make it clear.
Ostinato - this is used more effectively and exclusively for video game music, but can surely be used for other music with great build-up or as a segment of a larger work. Using this style with fantasy music mainly seems to be about layering voices and parts fluently or making each segment of the song feel different over the same chord changes or a long slew of changes with a repeating form. Starting with a line that plays through almost the whole tune, there has to be either build up every loop or two loops that seems to erupt at a climax or enough variation to maintain interest and excitement. (Moreso for short, repeating progressions).
- These pieces tend to be relatively short (as lots of game music is)
Form Modulation - this is not a reference to the modulation that may happen temporarily within the form naturally, but taking a whole verse and chorus or even just chorus and using it again in a different key. This is most often done using direct modulation towards the end of a piece in fantasy music, because modulating upwards raises the energy level and helps create a strong conclusion.
- You can use direct modulation where you use the exact same lines and harmonies in a different key
- You can use parallel modulation* where you have the same tonic note but change the mode (like ionian to aeolian. Or aeolian to dorian). This would allow you to recycle interval numbers in the melody but change their attributes accordingly (♭, ♮, ♯)
- You can use pivot chords* as well to change the harmonies but leave the melody as it is (these are chords built off of the extension of one chord, like Cm including E♭, Gm, B♭ etc.
- NOTE: When using pivot chords, and parallel modulation, you also have to take into account that you’re most-likely switching moods as well. So the tonic has to be of the right quality (major/minor) for the new key and you also have a new set of chords you can use to maintain the new mood and fantasy feel; you might have chords from the last mood that risk tainting the new mood unless they are changed.
Rhythmic texture
Note: for the most part, this feels self explanatory but there are some things I might like to discuss
- Melody/Harmony:
- The amount of activity in the melody line seems to portray the amount of action going on in a ‘scene.’ It creates the mental image of either a picture of epic mountain scenery or an exciting battle taking place on that epic mountain (Analogy example)
- Support/ Counterparts
- The amount of activity here creates the intensity of a situation. Any activity portrayed in the melody line becomes even more prominent and dramatic or is dulled down to something more tranquil
- [Unpitched] Percussion + Timp
- Percussion seems to help create the overall mood; rather than affecting the surface, percussion delineates the underlying emotions and tension that make up the mindsets of those present at the situation.