That's a beautiful picture, Austin. What inspired it?
Zeromus_X: Thanks for the link
Anyway, there is a specific part of the song that interests me. It's the part from 2:14 to 2:38. The first melody has eight notes, the second has four notes, and the third has six notes.
The theme of this melody seems to be
divine splendor. Sephiroth is becoming a God.
I remember when I first fought Safer Sephiroth, and heard this part. And it gave me the
biggest chill I have ever felt in my life from music. It remains my single favorite video game melody.
So I did some reading and found that several factors influence the experience of emotion, and in particular, chills, in music. You can find the transcript of the program here:
Gray Matters: Music and the Brain.
"Panksepp has found that among the listeners he tested, the chills occur when the music suddenly shifts, and a single voice, ...like a lonely, anguished cry in the wilderness... emerges from the background."
"Bharucha says the most important component of experiencing emotions in music involves the violation of expectations. Listeners like music that's expected... and familiar. But listeners also enjoy surprises... music that's novel... music that violates expectations."
In fact, the second melody -- actually, a counterpoint of two melodies -- seems to violate
seven expectations in a row, one on every half-beat, as if it is surprising you by performing an act. I'll say what I think these violated expectations are, for your listening pleasure:
1. The first note of the top melody is one half-step
above the tonic.
2. The second note is moved to
conjunctly (step-wise) rather than
disjunctly as in the first melody.
3. The third note is downward motion.
4. The fourth note is upward motion.
5. The fourth note is prolonged.
6. (no expectation violated on this beat)
7. The highest note of the bottom melody falls below the lowest of the second melody and the highest of the first.
8. The last note of the bottom melody is the same as its
third-to-last note, rather than its fourth-to-last. This is in logical agreement with the top melody, and suggests that both melodies are singing about the "same thing".
The top melody kind of flaunts its high and low note, and then the horns laud it in a third measure. I love that!
I posted about this because I thought some people would think the melody is, well, somewhat arrogant. It kind of... wails in your face about how much more powerful Safer Sephiroth is than you. Would you object to someone listening to this melody over and over again?
Anyway, thanks for reading.