Evil boss theory!?

[KoolKool]

i usually compose music that sound straight,positive using my very basic music theory understanding

and then one day my friend ask me composing soundtrack for game,stage theme is fine,but then the boss theme, he want the theme to sound fast paced,intense but also evil,dangerous,terror..i don't know how should i start? anyone can help me with note,major,minor selection?

thank you!

[KoolKool]

come on! anyone can help?

[plusch]

I would start with a minor key.

[ATN69]

If I was you I would look around in youtube and other places. Not to copy anything from there but to gain more inspiration and understand how others have done it. The game genre have it's own characteristics.

[stillshaded]

hmm.. it should be pretty straightforward. like someone said, start in a minor key. Make it at a faster tempo?

have some crescendos of arpeggiated diminished chords? lol.. that would do the trick.

You can build diminshed chords off of the seventh scale degree.

so if you were in C minor, you could do B, D F, Ab... you can play around with inversions it will sound fine.

[stillshaded]

and they will definitely want to resolve at some point. You resolve to Cmin, but also you could resolve to the III chord (Eb major in the key of C minor) sometimes.

[Chandlerhimself]

As said above try a minor key. First you should decide what type of song you're going to make. Is it orchestral, Drum&Bass. metal, etc. All of those can be fast and aggressive, but the way to do it will be different. Besides doing things in minor, try adding some dissonant sounding things. Ex. Scrapping metal sounds, 2 notes a half step apart, various instrument tricks. You have to narrow things down more before people can give you good advice.

[deastman]

If I was you I would look around in youtube and other places. Not to copy anything from there but to gain more inspiration and understand how others have done it. The game genre have it's own characteristics.

This is very true. In general, game music is not like ordinary music. It has to be able to continue for an indefinite length of time without getting boring. It has to respond to gameplay events which heighten or lower the dramatic tension. Basically, you have to come up with a loop with a bunch of parts which can be added or subtracted to alter tension. Maybe two or three different loop sections for different parts of the song/stages of the game level. You just can't think about this in terms of conventional songwriting.

[KoolKool]

thank you everyone! i will first start with harmonic minor, in progressive 4/4 beat background

[fmr]

thank you everyone! i will first start with harmonic minor, in progressive 4/4 beat background

IMO, you should make a research for themes that, in your opinion, fit the criteria. Or better yet, ask your fried to give you examples of what he thinks fit the criteria. Doing it in minor, as the only tip, is really basic, and will not lead you into anything.

Here's what i would do:
1. The piece should be motivic, i.e. create a simple, well defined and recognizable melodic or rhitmic/melodic cell, and develop it.
2. Don't go for 4/4 - That's too straight. A more uncommon bar division, like 5/4, for example, can help create tension.
3. The atmosphere is much more dependent on the arrangement/orchestration than the chords or keys the music is written on. So, try to come with an arrangement that translates that tension (swelling string tremolos, for example, swelling horns with a string tremolo on the fade out). For example, the pipe organ, in spite of being essentially a religious instrument, became tied to gothic atmospheres, and when people listen to a music that features prominently the pipe organ together with some brass and strings, they immediately recall some sort of mysterious atmosphere, even if you just play a C Major chord. So, evil, dangerous, terror... pipe organ, some deep and faded percussion, and some very fast string phrases, in 5/4.