My favourite part is at 1:15 where that E/Fb Lydian chord appears. It works very well as a climactic moment to build to because it's much darker than the natural minor/Dorian vibe you had previously established. Modally speaking, you borrowed from Locrian. But at the same time, you picked the brightest chord to keep it from being too dark. And then you pivot modulated, using it as a bVI chord in your transition to G#/Ab minor. It's sudden, but it's smooth. I think it's pretty badass.
Haha, love the music theory dump - you're right though, that was pretty much my thought process, and I like your analysis! Borrowing from modes is one of my favourite ways to modulate :)
@@VIUSmusic It reminded me that I ought to do stuff like that in my own work more often. But then again, I write jazz, and jazz isn't known to modulate as much. Unless it's Giant Steps, of course. /j It reminds me of a time I also used outside harmony stuff to pivot a modulation. It was up a half step because I like to be boring. /j I did it through foreshadowing. The first time a section was played through, a phrase was repeated in the key a half step higher, then the music went back to the original key. It adds a brief spike of excitement, which is a cool thing sometimes. Then the second time, the listener anticipates the modulation and it delivers. But then it stays in the new key, which makes it much smoother than if not for that momentary key change before it. Also, there's something about the way your piece handles modulations and mode mixture that's remarkably different from a jazz standard like Moment's Notice, All The Things You Are and Just Friends. Those tunes feel like they're jumping around the circle of fifths for the sake of how it sounds when you jump around the circle of fifths. You have a bit of that going on later in the piece as well. The modulations are also different from stuff like sonata-allegro form where they're baked into the structure. Modulations like that first one feel very deliberate in the way they control the feel of the music. It's like the relationship between keys itself has its own emotional quality, just like an interval, chord or tonality would. But I suppose that's a given because modulations towards sharper keys always sound brighter and flats darker. But it feels like the modulation has been done for its specific emotional quality above all other reasons, which I really like.
