Uffe von Lauterbach   Members

I'm working on a collaboration, and I'm usually confident with my composing skills. But I need a second opinion to see if this sounds correct to anyone else. I'm using other VSTs instead of one for a piano, but for this, I'm using a piano VST for better hearing with the treble and bass. This piece of music is in E♭ minor, 5/4 time, 110 BPM. Here's what I'm asking about: The beginning has arpeggios, and to me, when it reaches the 11 second mark, the E♭ note that starts there sounds correct, because I think the off-kilter bassline helps. But I'm wondering if it sounds correct to anyone else. At the 29 to 31 second mark, I added notes to ascend back up to the E♭ note, because without them, it didn't sound right to me. But maybe they could work without those notes? And I understand that at the 28 second mark, the Emaj13 chord is probably an odd choice for. That's really there to leave the music unresolved. But this is something I also am wondering about. Does the Emaj13 leading into the B6/E♭ at 32 second mark sound right to you? I'm trying to figure this out. Again, the track is meant to hold tension, which is why the chords at the end of each melody aren't being resolved.

Alright. It sounded different to me compared to the original track on the NES. Thank you.

New Question Regarding Time Signatures 1/3/2025 My new question has to do with "Metroid: Zero Mission - Ridley's Lair". The NES version is in 4/4 time. But in Metroid: Zero Mission, it sounds like it's in 3/4 time or 6/4 time. Is it in any of these? And does this at any point have a change in time signature?

Thanks! And Metroid is from Japan, so perhaps that's why. 🤷‍♂️ But at the time, I think this particular track by Hirokazu Tanaka was probably about as close to being musique concrète, experimental, or perhaps some kind of avant-garde in 8 bit form. 😃 Anyway, I'll take into consideration of what you said, as this is something I wasn't sure about how I'd approach it.

I hate to ask this question, because I don't know if the arpeggio is entirely ignored, or if you have to figure out how many chords are within one measure. My question comes from the video below, though. Ridley's Lair does the same thing, but for Mother Brain's theme, it comes off as extreme. So how do I figure out the chords when the top (or bottom) section uses rapid arpeggios? I'm not asking anyone to figure these chords out for me, I'll do that myself if I can get an answer. Thanks in advance!

Sorry for the late response. I've actually been looking into more jazzy chords, so it's funny you mentioned it. I'm not super savvy when it comes to music theory, so I've been checking out videos on YouTube since I've posted this topic. I have no intentions of composing jazz or blues music, but the types of chords used in them are very interesting to me at the moment.

The chord I shared comes first in the composition. The mode is in B♭ Locrian with a flat 2nd, though B♭ minor works here as well. Certain instruments have certain chords or notes. The choir is a B♭aug(sus2). I have three instruments in the bass section. The first is B♭, the second is E♭, and the third, being an octave above the first, is also B♭. The choir then goes to an A♭7 chord. However, because of the basses, it ends up being E♭ minor thirteenth inverted on G♭ (E♭m13\G♭). On the piano, I suppose this could just be condensed into something with just four notes. But I see what you mean about this being analyzed as a C half diminished chord. The context for this is that I'm composing an unofficial Metroid soundtrack, so I'm trying to apply the kinds of chords used from older Metroid music as a way to achieve the sound without relying on synths alone. Your reply has been helpful, though, and I'm glad you were able to help me understand this better.

I'm trying to understand something about how a chord works. To some degree, I do understand it, but only at a basic level. If a chord has a repeated note, is that repeated note taken into consideration when naming the chord? I'll give an example of what I'm asking and compare it to what I imagine might be the correct answer. So far I haven't found a question like this online, and I may be asking the wrong question. Anyway, here is the chord: G♭ C B♭ B♭ E♭ B♭ I have a composition where the start has these notes, with the B♭ being the root, and the G♭ being the last note on top. If I have a B♭ at the tonic, or anywhere, really, is it necessary for me to add the others an octave higher? This chord starts in B♭. So is this a C half diminished seventh inverted on B♭ chord (Cm7♭5\B♭)? Or should it be an E♭ minor sixth chord (Em♭6)? This is what's confusing me. I'm hoping this is understandable to someone with more music theory knowledge. Thanks.

This is a very good explanation, and I appreciate you answering in a way that isn't confusing for me. The part that confused me about this video is that he uses the G major chord. At least I assume this because it says G and not Gm. So that's partially the reason I got confused as to why he said it was borrowed from the parallel minor key while showing in text "Both borrowed from G minor". But after reading your post, I think I now understand where the B♭(sus2) is coming from. I'm going to go ahead and keep the information you shared so I have a better understanding in case I somehow forget in the future. Thanks again!

Hello. While the title is upfront, there's a reason I'm stating this. I've recently watched a video made by 8-Bit Music Theory. I'm not very savvy in music theory, but I think I'm at least knowledgeable of it to some degree. At 10:20 of his video, he has the theme of Brinstar play. It goes G, B♭(sus2), G, B♭(sus2). He then says that if this was more generic music like Zelda or Pokemon, the music would be G, then F, making it a major ♭VII rather than ♭III(sus2), and states that they're both borrowed from the parallel key of G minor, even though the chord shows G major. This is what I found about each of those scales, and I'm no music theorist, but it's not making any sense to me. F major is F, G, A, B♭, C, D, E, F G major is G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G G minor is G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G I'm trying to figure out why he says ♭VII (F major) ♭III(sus2) (B♭ major?) are from G minor, which F major has B♭ and F natural, G major has B natural and F#, while G minor has B♭, E♭, and F natural in it. Sorry if I'm confusing. I tried to ask in a way that's not confusing, because I'd really like to understand what I'm not currently able to at the moment. Also, I did look up major/minor parallel keys on YouTube, but they don't seem to reflect what is stated in 8-Bit Music Theory's video below. Or maybe they do and I'm just not getting it, obviously.

Cool! Thank you! I counted 11/8, but then there were some parts that broke off into a different time signature, so it was really throwing me off. I thought I even counted 5/8 at one point, but again, it's jumping everywhere. I'd much prefer a single odd time signature rather than one that's most likely moving around often, just because that would simplify things a bit to transcribe. Oh well. I'll have to do my best with this if I can. I considered 3/4 at one point. I think where the rhythm sort of "slows down" for lack of a better word. Anyway, thank you guys for your help! I really appreciate it.

New Question Below at the End of This Topic 1/3/2025 Instead of creating a new topic, I figured I'd revive this old one, because I have another question about a time signature, but from a different Metroid track. The previous one was about "Metroid Dread - Experiment No. Z-75", which was answered.

I'm trying to come up with a composition where it sounds like you'd be in the sky or floating. I don't want to rely on synths to create this atmosphere, and I don't want to use the whole tone scale, either, since that feels a little generic when it comes to something sounding otherworldly. Are there any other chord progressions that would achieve this feeling? Or perhaps some descriptions like making the notes sound like they're swaying the wind and relying on triplets to create that feeling. Anything would help. Thanks.

I don't particularly compose in Greek modes, but moving into something that's not the typical major and minor scales does interest me. This may or may not be the one time I use Locrian mode because it's giving me a lot of trouble, but I'm committed to figuring something out. I'll have to take your word on the chromaticism if that can help out. I've never heard of dissonant thrash metal guitar riff mode or anything like that. I'm still trying to mess around with a melody for the beginning sections. Anyway, thanks for the advice and feedback.

Personally it does feel right to me. I went back and changed it a couple days ago to have it end an Fadd4, so I was having concerns about it. I haven't finished the track, so no loop yet. I was going to continue, but I stopped just to ask this question because I didn't want to have to go back and change things until then. Personally I think in terms of quality, the choir could sound more realistic, but I just have something that sounds too synthetic. Not that I have an issue with it. I haven't come up with a melody quite yet. It's in Locrian mode, so I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to make that work. And yes, Uffe is a real name. It's Danish for wolf.