Aphex Twin famous knob twiddlers

hell if i know. i barely know without looking the notes up. the artist i want to know the most about is aphex twin but others would be cool too. i have a feeling there are a couple really popular scales and some that don't get used at all.

One of my favorites is one Miles Davis used a lot.. I call it the Miles Davis Key, but that's not it's proper name.. It goes semitone, tone, semitone, tone, semitone, tone etc

so in C it'd be..

C

C#

D#

E

F#

G

A

A#

C

Alright, alright, before the muso's jump down my neck I know I've got the #'s where it shoud be flats or something.. I'm sure you know what I mean though.

Learn your modes too.. Take ordinary scales, but start them from a different note.. C minor starting from G# for instance.. God I don't know the proper words for any of this.. I know what I mean, even if I can't communicate it properly.

Not sure about famous EKTers, but I use this one.

on a scale of 1 to 10 - this thread is a 3.

On Aphex Twins' SAW vol. 1 it sounds like he just plays the black keys a lot.

  esquimaw said:

One of my favorites is one Miles Davis used a lot.. I call it the Miles Davis Key, but that's not it's proper name.. It goes semitone, tone, semitone, tone, semitone, tone etc

 

so in C it'd be..

 

C

C#

D#

E

F#

G

A

A#

C

That would be an altered diminished scale of the half/whole variety. It's called such because it is a constant structure scale that goes up in aforementioned pattern of half step/whole step. It's counterpart would be the altered diminished scale of the whole/half variety, meaning it is constantly following a pattern of whole step/half step/whole step/half step, etc...

You may have noticed that these two scales have eight notes (not counting the octave) where most scales you may know have seven notes (not including the octave). Because of this they are known as 'octatonic'. Octatonics can be very powerful if used properly. For a really good example of them in use check out Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring'. They make up almost all of that piece, as far as I can tell.

Bonus scale: Try the whole tone scale. It's another constant structure scale (constant structure meaning that it always follows a set pattern when building the scale) The whole tone is made entirely of whole steps on a keyboard. For example, a whole tone scale starting on C would be as follows:

C,D,E,F#,G#,A#,C (Notice that it is only a six note scale)

There is only one other variation on the whole tone scale and it starts a half step offset from the previous scale:

C#,D#,F, G, A, B, C#

Even if you cant hear what that sounds like in your head I'm sure you all have heard a whole tone scale before. It's the cliche sequence of heavenly notes that people use on television when they're fading into daydream/flashback ("I remember it like it was yesterday... yesterday... yesterday...").

i want to know what scales i use

there are some threads about Aphex scales in the Aphex forum.

e.g. see this thread:

  Derelic7 said:

a ton of the analord tracks are in A# minor or A# phrygian (he uses phrygian a fuckload on his albums, its the typical nostalgic playful sad/happy one) , and very few seem to utilise scales that predominantly use most of the white keys. most scales involve the same keys as in C locrian (C, C#, d#, f, f#, g#, a#) unless its the phrygian scale, in wchich case there's a b instead of the C)

  Derelic7 said:

try this one out

 

 

seems like most of drukqs is in a# phrygian as well. dare i say it's the official aphex key?

(both quotes from this topic: http://forum.watmm.com/index.php?showtopic=11463 )

also this thread:

  Derelic7 said:

if you look at drukqs theres more complex counterpoint, together with the rabid beat programming

 

meltphace6 for instance involves an augmented 3rd note in a natural minor scale, and if i'm not too mistaken there's some augmented 6ths too. together with the typical minor 3rd and 6th halftone, it becomes sort of a semi polytonal feel to the music, that he's always resolving as well. the minor 3rd becomes almost a substitute for the root near the end, something that is very common in jazz (but not usually in the repeated manner here).

 

phrygian scale is used alot too, from his earliest tracks to almost all of the analord tracks (phonatacid, lisbon acid etc etc). one key thing to look at here is that he usually avoids the minor 3rd of the phrygian scale until the end of the track since it affects the harmony alot, making it sound less aggressive and more pleasant/happy. for instance the mid to final parts of ziggomatic, vordhosbn and mt st micheals i think.

derelic7 is all over this subject

  Wall Bird said:

Even if you cant hear what that sounds like in your head I'm sure you all have heard a whole tone scale before. It's the cliche sequence of heavenly notes that people use on television when they're fading into daydream/flashback ("I remember it like it was yesterday... yesterday... yesterday...").

You mean like the rhodes piano on squarepusher's 'circular flexing' right?

I use digital scales - they're much more accurate.

  Kupiti said:

  Wall Bird said:

Even if you cant hear what that sounds like in your head I'm sure you all have heard a whole tone scale before. It's the cliche sequence of heavenly notes that people use on television when they're fading into daydream/flashback ("I remember it like it was yesterday... yesterday... yesterday...").

 

You mean like the rhodes piano on squarepusher's 'circular flexing' right?

Bingo.

i always found the easiest way to understand my heroes' choice of notes was to sit down at a piano and work out the tune by ear. then again later in a different key... after a while you start to develop a sense of where things are on the keyboard.

There's a few things to look at here imho, like i posted earlier aphex has a very noticeable habit of particular keys and scales.

electronic music in general doesn't share this type of phrygian/minor obsession, your various minor keys are of course common, but what sets out electronic music from other genres is going into semi-atonality, using "wrong" keys, like BOC using major chords but following the pattern of a minor scale. You can mix these things together for various effects..

Its not so much about scales as it is about harmony, bringing oddness into a phrase, whether iti s by a "wrong" note, an odd sound, etc.

  scones to die for said:

On Aphex Twins' SAW vol. 1 it sounds like he just plays the black keys a lot.

This is actually a good observation, he doesn't play the black keys in most of them but he plays the pentatonic minor scale, which is the blues scale without the blues note. It has that sort of spacious playful key without any overly colorful notes. Inobtrusive is the word, I think. it's the same key setup as the black keys, you notice it quickly.

The "wrong" keys? You mean dissonance?

  nuclearaddict said:

The "wrong" keys? You mean dissonance?

dissonance, augmented/diminished intervals, extended chords, polytonality, you name it, there's a myriad of effects that can be achieved.. One thing that's good to be aware of is the circle of fifths and using that together with your odd melody phrase, if you're using a dissonant note in a sequence that is tonal otherwise, then substituting the fifth of that note, it's very fresh sounding

playing just black keys = electronic music = lazy and boring

I think there's only a name for the type of scale if the person in particular is going out of their way to stick to a certain scale intentionally. I think with guys like aphex/ae/squarepusher and especially plaid have certain melodic instincts that give them a distinguishable element when it comes to their melodies moreso than anything you can use musical theory based terminology to pinpoint the characteristics of.

I can always spot plaid from their melodies alone (even in the blackdog production days) and you can hear similarities between squarepusher tracks that are newer like ultravisitor and his older stuff like journey to reedham. Then you got guys like cylob who are distinguishable more from a method of production than melodies.

  epsy said:

I think there's only a name for the type of scale if the person in particular is going out of their way to stick to a certain scale intentionally. I think with guys like aphex/ae/squarepusher and especially plaid have certain melodic instincts that give them a distinguishable element when it comes to their melodies moreso than anything you can use musical theory based terminology to pinpoint the characteristics of.

 

I can always spot plaid from their melodies alone (even in the blackdog production days) and you can hear similarities between squarepusher tracks that are newer like ultravisitor and his older stuff like journey to reedham. Then you got guys like cylob who are distinguishable more from a method of production than melodies.

i think thats true that they might not intentionally use a specific scale, but it doesnt really change the fact that you can identify specific progressions and scales and whatnot

oh yeah plaid, they have good melodies.. jeez gotta listen to some plaid