Cursed_BrianFreakingMay 123 no it’s how he decided to cover it. Negative harmony has nothing to do with the indie sound of it. Negative harmony is just a music theory/composition technique
Imagine raising a child that was only ever allowed to listen to the negative harmony versions of anything. Their entire conceptualisation of Western Tonality would be inverted, and it would work, because even though the leading note is now always a semitone above the tonic, it's still there. They may even hear upward intonation as more final, who knows. And then ALL modern western music would seem.... odd to say the least.
i was going to argue that negative harmony isnt really atonal (when you compare to 12-tone stuff or microtones or alternative tuning) but you do have a point about the literal chord progressions challenging the norm hmmmmmmmm
“i’m only sleeping”, “strawberry fields forever”, “here, there, and everywhere” and “i me mine” by the beatles would all be very interesting to hear in negative harmony !!!!!
Miss Marcy I think that's an especially good name for it, because its a literal inversion yet still connotates the songs message. No communication, no one actually expressing themselves. Only it goes one step further, it clarifies the reason too many people jabbering loudly about meaningless nothing, no one listening. I don't think there could be a better descriptor of social media than deafness through volume.
Cthul-who okay, your statement about social media feels a little fake deep, but i just liked it because all the comments were either inversing it properly by just a word to seem more close to the original (ex: the sound of sound), or so literally it was a double negative and had the original meaning, that and it felt like a proper inverse; just because you're loud doesn't mean you have any sense/meaning idk lol
I dunno, it just called to mind SuperNews!'s old skit about early Twitter where it compares it to "shouting into the darkness and hop[ing]] someone is listening." It's been 8 years and it's only gotten more true and more common. Obscurity through information overload, hiding a tree amongst the forest, a lone voice in a numbing cacaphony of endless deafening wallah.
This is fascinating in so many ways. Minor turned to major and vice versa, melodies that used to move up suddenly going down, yet somehow the harmonic tension is preserved and the whole thing still works perfectly. I'd love to be able to understand the concept.
its pretty much just flipping all the notes around a center point, so all the high notes become low, and all the low notes become high, but the distances between stay the same!
That's not what negative harmony is... I swear people just project whatever they want on it and don't understand it's just doing plagal cadences instead of perfect cadences and vice-versa.
I'll explain the mood: So the guy is sitting on a roof watching people walk below enjoying their daily life, he has lost friends and family but decides to let it go and move on. After coming to decide to find happiness where and whenever he can, he then turns around to reveal a bright sun setting over the golden gate bridge and a small smile of relaxation comes across his face as the song comes to an end.
Could you try Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen? I can only imagine how the hauntingly beautiful will change... I quite love these Negative Harmony Covers! It's fascinating how, although the songs sound entirely different, the application of this algorithmic process ends up (most of the time) with a completely functional song (if a little 'avant garde' at some times)!
@@Charles.Wright I'm sure you've found out this by now if you were looking, but you just mirror-reflect the music, vertically. You can picture this as reflecting each line of sheet music. I believe the axis of reflection is note 3½ of the scale (ie. the "mirror" between notes 3 and 4). There are many better explanations out there, both on youtube and off.
That's because "negative harmony" is completely functional. It's not mirrored vertically or whatever. It's just going the opposite way in the circle of fifths. Instead of doing II V I, you do bVII IV I, which is the most standard thing ever in jazz, for example. Or if your tune starts with Am F, you just do the normal circle : A D G C F, but you go the other way : A E B Gb Db. So you'd have Am Db instead of Am F. Which is basically going the other way on the piano as well, but that doesn't mean every note literally has to be inverted.
I think it is because the original song is just plain old sad, sounds sad, is sad. This one is like manic depression, is very sad in the inside, but its got a sorta cherry tune
That one is difficult because the key changes so much and there are plenty of chromatic chords. For lots of parts it would be unclear what axis to swap the pitches around.
Funny you ask! I started work on it a few months ago... Got up to the "I see a little silhouette" section and had to take a break. Don't worry tho I'm in it for the long haul;]
🥰I cannot explain why, but I absolutely *love* this version. I don't know how these cover artists achieved the negative harmony of ''Sound of Silence'' but it's out of this world beautiful.
These versions make the meaning of the lyrics always hit more. I don’t know if it’s just because it makes you listen more and the words are clearer or if the tone and sound makes you feel a certain way.
1. Goodbye light, my new enemy 2. I've left to ignore you again 3. Because a vision loudly receding 4. Took its seeds while I was awake 5. And the vision that was uprooted from my brain 6. No longer remains 7. Outside the noise of noise 8. In peaceful awakenings, I walked with others 9. Wide roads of smooth stone 10. Above the shadow of a streetlamp 11. I opened my collar to the warmth and dry 12. When my eyes were soothed by the lack of a neon light 13. That joined the day 14. And ignored the noise of noise 15. And in the veiled darkness, I saw 16. Ten people, maybe fewer 17. People silent with talking 18. People deaf with hearing 19. People erasing songs that voices always shared 20. Everyone dared 21. Encourage the noise of noise 22. "Wise ones", said I, "You know all 23. Noise like a cure shrinks 24. Ignore my words that I might deceive you 25. Push away my arms that I might avoid you" 26. But my words like loud thunderclaps rose 27. And were silent in the peaks of noise 28. And the people rose and fought 29. Against the neon god they rejected 30. And the sign hid its peace 31. In the words that it was erasing 32. And the sign said, "The words of the fools are hidden in the mountains 33. In palace halls" 34. And shouted in the noises of noise
You're not wrong, it's a sweeter melancholy, as if in the background of all the melancholic atmosphere is a sturdy frame work built firmly from acceptance. "This subtle sadness is just part of who we are as humans, it's what brought us forth to today, and created out incessant urge to look up and reach for something more in the shape of gods"
If I could describe this song in one word, it’d be bittersweet. Cursed, yes, but primarily bittersweet. Feels like something Sayori from Doki Doki would like. I couldn’t blame her, I think this is really cool.
Its awesome to hear how every time the original would begin to feel brighter and have lift, this song starts to feel instead warmer and more enclosed, and vice versa. Where there original feels warm and enclosed, this song lifts and expands. Very interesting.
This is actually making me feel really melancholic for some strange reason, and this is actually my personal favourite that you’ve done. This is inspiring, and you definitely know your stuff. Subbed! ❤️☺️
I've been listening to this daily for three weeks. I'm planning on going the full four weeks, then listening to the original to see how it listens then.
Just listened to a bunch of your negative harmony versions. Some of it's your voice, arrangement, etc but they make me wonder if Elliott Smith played around around with negative harmony when he was writing songs. Something about the interval jumps--maybe he sometimes took a scrap of melody he liked then mirror imaged it and wrote a song around it? Who knows? Maybe if someone did a negative harmony version of one of his songs, it would sound like Foghat or something.
I remember this song playing at my prom back in 1983. I was dancing with my now husband Jason. He held me close and kissed me for the first time 😭 Now we've been happily married for 30 years, thank you Simon and Garfunkel!'
How can a depressed song still sound depressing after a negative harmony treatment? Kudos to Simon and Garfunkel for making the most depressing song ever.
