Each pitch determines how it should sound ???

[I. C. H. Beatbuster]

A few years ago, when I started doing what I was trying to do, I heard about it, read it, or picked it up somewhere. I did not know how and where.
Each tone of voice expresses something else, it was not about emotions that are triggered or felt. But about how it should sound.
F / f for happy, D / d for dramatic, E / e for epic etc.
I tried to find answers on the internet, but the only thing I could find out was.
For most people, minor has a rather melancholy effect, they add a dark sound to a piece in minor. On the other hand, Dur is often described by most people as radiant or happy.
By accident, I once heard in a documentary Paul McCartney say to other musicians, let's play the song again but this time in a / A that is more driving. I do not know if it was in minor or major.
What can I say, I compared it and it's true.
If Paul McCartney is right, and I do not fancy it all, which I do not believe, then I hope to find answers here.

[Ranoka]

I did a G search for "emotion of musical keys" and it came up with https://ledgernote.com/blog/interesting ... -emotions/
I think that's what you're after?

scaler_emotions.png

You should consider getting Scaler from Plugin Boutique, it has a lot of different keys including exotic ones, and it will give you a hint for the emotion of those keys. You can play your midi and it will list the notes and suggest keys that are closest to them. It will also help you build a chord progression with different voicing in that key.
Scaler has some really nice features the new 'Voicing Lock' feature does automatic inversions of the chords to keep the voicing smoother.

Btw, the key isn't the only thing that affects the emotion, also the tempo and rhythm has a huge impact, and the instruments/sound design chosen etc.

[BertKoor]

Yes, google for example "music keys moods" and you will find lists. Lower is darker, higher is brighter. Quite a pigeon-holed approach if you ask me. Let's make a triumphant song, so pick D major! Half a note lower for depressive? Me thinks it's not as simple as that.

The composer will pick a scale (major, minor, pentatonic, etc) for the melody & chord progression. But that's not all there is to it. For example when a song is in a major scale, you can switch to minor for a dramatic effect. Chord progressions can have mixed major and minor chords.

But also you have to take into account the ranges that instruments or vocalists can reach, and the difficulty to play it. That will also influence the key. On piano the easy keys are C, F and G for major scales, A and E for minor scales. On guitar it's different, you'll see more guitar-composed songs in A or E major than piano-composed songs in these scales. The trumpet is based on B-flat instead of C. So some keys can be difficult to play in for certain instruments.

Each vocalist has a certain range in which they can sing with great ease. That will influence how it sounds. If you transpose the song somewhat higher so the vocalist is taken out of their comfort zone and has to work harder for the higher notes, that will change the mood. I think this is what Paul McCartney was talking about.

[jancivil]

Major Seventh is falling in love
unless you put the 7th in the bass. then it's hatefucking after the divorce

[vurt]

i find a minor seventh gives me that feeling like you've forgot your keys but then theyre in your pocket.

[donkey tugger]

D Minor. The saddest of all keys';

[Forgotten]

You beat me to it

[jancivil]

i find a minor seventh gives me that feeling like you've forgot your keys but then theyre in your pocket.

that's the drugs tho

[househoppin09]

Major vs. minor, different intervals or chords, different scale modes, etc. can coherently be associated with emotions/moods, but actual pitches themselves can't, because most people are literally not physically capable of telling them apart without references. The exception would be people who have absolute ("perfect") pitch, but that's a tiny percentage of the population. So anyone who says "D is triumphant" or whatever is spouting complete gibberish (or has perfect pitch and is describing their own personal impressions).

[vurt]

i find a minor seventh gives me that feeling like you've forgot your keys but then theyre in your pocket.

that's the drugs tho

[jancivil]

You *can* associate a chord, interval, what-have-you with a certain mood but that isn't going to translate universally, is it

Once I presented something which resolved to a minor seventh; the harmonies before that were rather more pungent or mysterious or something something, different quality of dissonance. So, one listener really got off on this move emotionally. I would say a big part of that effect is the timing, I really made the most of it with a little rubato, it was just so, as well as the dynamics and touch. And in itself, or by itself it's just a minor/minor 7th. I think of these things as neutral until you do something with them.

[househoppin09]

You *can* associate a chord, interval, what-have-you with a certain mood but that isn't going to translate universally, is it

Once I presented something which resolved to a minor seventh; the harmonies before that were rather more pungent or mysterious or something something, different quality of dissonance. So, one listener really got off on this move emotionally. I would say a big part of that effect is the timing, I really made the most of it with a little rubato, it was just so, as well as the dynamics and touch. And in itself, or by itself it's just a minor/minor 7th. I think of these things as neutral until you do something with them.

Sure, but this is a bit like how words in a spoken language are meaningless until a consensus forms about what they mean, right? There's definitely a common vocabulary when it comes to musical intervals, chord patterns, scale modes, etc., at least in some cases. It may not be "universal" (just like English or any spoken language isn't quite universal with variations based on region, dialect, people who simply aren't familiar with the language at all, etc.) but there are associations that can reliably be assumed due to cultural conditioning, at least. No one is going to think "ooh, happy times!" when hearing a Psycho-shower-scene-esque train of minor seconds, right?

[donkey tugger]

By accident, I once heard in a documentary Paul McCartney say to other musicians, let's play the song again but this time in a / A that is more driving. I do not know if it was in minor or major.
What can I say, I compared it and it's true.
If Paul McCartney is right, and I do not fancy it all, which I do not believe, then I hope to find answers here.

I can only speak about the geetar with any real knowledge, and would say that some keys in pop/rock are more suitable than others for certain styles by dint of what the most common open chord voicings are. An obvious example is that a lot of jangly and indie stuff is in G major (or played with those shapes higher with a capo), given that you can leave the top 2 strings fretted at the 3rd fret and move chords, getting the distinctive chiming sound - difficult to do in other keys without some deft changes.

[jancivil]

No one is going to think "ooh, happy times!" when hearing a Psycho-shower-scene-esque train of minor seconds, right?

That's more than the mere minor second, though; again there's a certain energy implied there, attack, sharpness etc. I
f it's the actual shower scene in that flick there's numerous cues to it sounding disturbed. The violin sound itself, hard sfffz bowing at the bridge already is one.

a 'Minor add 2' with the 2 right there against the 3 can be very poignant.
If it's hard dissonance beyond an interval vertically sounding it could be generally harsh to some people but I'd have to be very specific and once again, what is the texture, the movement, what is the music. Drifting microtonal clusters, it can be dreamy to me. Dissonance is relative, some people are severely conservative and stick to bland, safe sounds.

Personally I don't do that kind of association which is to me really unnecessary pre-judging.

You can get very context-specific to say a Perfect 4th is a dissonance demanding resolution (4-3 suspension over a dominant), there was an actual question of that here. I maintain it's all neutral until there's actual ideas, the shower scene demonstrates what I was saying.

[vurt]

No one is going to think "ooh, happy times!" when hearing a Psycho-shower-scene-esque train of minor seconds, right?

clearly you don't know many serial killers