Ways to describe implications of music, and the theory behind it

[The Pezman]

I made this thread to discuss a couple of things, as you might be able to tell by the title. The first (and more important, IMO) is how to best describe songs that make you feel a certain way. Now obviously, how music makes you feel is so ridiculously open-ended a question it's almost meaningless to ask. However, I think we can agree certain music is meant to illustrate tension, excitement, fear, etc. More visceral reactions than emotional ones. One of my favorite soundtracks is Kingdom Hearts II. This is because many of the tracks are, for lack of a better word, epic. And not epic like the Lord of the Rings theme either. They have the feeling of so many dark secrets waiting to be discovered, part of a massive world no single character could possibly hope to fully explore (flying in the face of most RPGs).

sends chills down my spine because it implies this so well.

does as well.

I ask this question because I hate not knowing a better way to describe or create this, and I also wonder whether music theory might not reveal some light on the issue. I took music theory in high school, but had only been acquainted with the art form seriously for about three months prior. The instructor was understanding, and though I didn't do great, I learned a lot. Of course, since I didn't use it, it dropped out of memory. I don't imagine, of course, that a chord analysis will explain everything, but it may help. So can anyone help me?

[Tensei]

So you want a scientific/musically theoretic description of the feelings these two particular songs evoke?

Can't be done, how you experience songs is completely subjective. You say these songs send shivers down your spine, to me they sound like any other generic rpg (battle) theme, definitely not Shimomura's best.

The point I'm trying to make is, I don't 'hear' it, what you're trying to describe, so I can't make a theoretic explanation of the 'epicness' of the song, let alone how it would be 'epic' in a different way than the Lord of the Rings theme.

[Sil]

I ask this question because I hate not knowing a better way to describe or create this, and I also wonder whether music theory might not reveal some light on the issue. I took music theory in high school, but had only been acquainted with the art form seriously for about three months prior. The instructor was understanding, and though I didn't do great, I learned a lot. Of course, since I didn't use it, it dropped out of memory. I don't imagine, of course, that a chord analysis will explain everything, but it may help. So can anyone help me?

No, music theory won't help unless you're curious about the conventions of Japanese music in general (such as use of melody and harmony.) If you have a specific question about the music other than why you feel it is "epic" then that can be answered. The way the music makes you feel is entirely connected to your own personal experience that not many other people are going to share. For example, I've never played a KH game so I don't have a clue what you're talking about when I listen to these pieces.

[The Pezman]

Fair enough. You need context. Here's an example:

Of course, it could be the scenes themselves responsible for instilling that tension, excitement, etc in me. Which would mean the music does little on its own.

Nevertheless, there must be characteristics about this particular music which makes it more appropriate to the scene at hand than "happy" music. Can we identify those traits?