Creepy Chord Combos (Chromatic Mediant Relationships)

 Have you ever wondered how the harmony in fantasy film music, adventure game soundtracks, or symphonic black metal works? Do you want to create a similarly lugubrious atmosphere in your own music?

If so, here is a theoretical explanation of one commonplace family of chord progressions that can bring about that foreboding sound-world you are looking for. 

Chromatic Mediant relationships are pairs of chords that are either major or minor thirds apart, creating dark moods and a brooding feel, but at the same time maintaining a loose sense of tonality.

Chord sequences like this tend to lend themselves to chromatic melodies that twist and bend through the changes, lines which could sound totally out of place in a more functional harmonic context.  

This sort of harmony can be heard in 'The Lord of The Rings' soundtrack by Howard Shore, and in the music of bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and Cradle of Filth. 

Apart from the chord progressions which are underlined (chords from the same key, that share two notes), there are dramatic tonal contrasts between each horizontal pair, brought about by the chords only sharing one note.

The chords couplets that share a box in the chart are the inversion of each other (the same progressions turned upside down). 

The chart only gives examples starting on C or C minor: don’t forget that any one of these sixteen pairs could be transposed anywhere chromatically, and also that the chords could be embellished with harmonic extensions. 

Something I like to do is  combine two examples a tritone apart, resulting in some really rich yet thrillingly dissonant hexatonic harmonies.  

Rules are there to be learnt then burnt: you are only limited by the breadth of your inspiration and the depth of your imagination (unless someone else is in charge, of course!).

Instrumentation, performance techniques, and texture (as well as dynamics) also contribute to the manifestation of these ominous timbres.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more maniacal insights into theory, composition, and orchestration coming soon.

Intro / Verse  

G#m - Bm  

(Chromatic Mediant Relationship, minor 3rd)  

Cm - D sus 4  

( iv - V in Gm, with suspension and resolution on the D, then between D and  B there is also a C.M.R (major 3rd this time)  

B - Bm  (tonic major-minor pair)  

Cm - D sus 4  ( iv - V in Gm, with Suspension + Resolution on the D )  

Chorus  

[Gm - Bm] x2 (C.M.R major 3rd)  

Cm/^7 add 6  (from C melodic minor) D sus 4 ( iv - V in Gm, with S+R on the D)  

Cm - D add♭9 ( iv - V in Gm, with S+R on the D)

Orchestral Intro 

Gm - E♭m (C.M.R major 3rd, starting in the dominant key of Gm)

Gm - B (C.M.R major 3rd, then tritone substitution of F with B, leading into the tonic key of Cm)

Orchestral Theme

Cm - E - Cm (C.M.R major 3rd) 

Cm - A♭m - Cm (C.M.R major 3rd, then i - iv to the sub-dominant key of Fm)

Band Theme / Chorus 

Fm - A - Fm (C.M.R major 3rd) 

Fm - D♭m - Fm (C.M.R major 3rd, then C.M.R minor 3rd into D)

Interlude

D diminished riffage + chromatic trills 

Verse

E♭5 - F#5 - E♭5 - F#5 - E♭5 - D5 

Pre - Chorus

Cm - A♭m (C.M.R major 3rd)

​Cm - E  (C.M.R major 3rd, then tritone substitution of Bb with E, leading into Ebm)

Vocal Solo (sung by Vortex) 

[ Gm - D ] x 4

E♭m - Gm (C.M.R major 3rd, vocal in Eb major) then (C.M.R minor 3rd)

B♭m add 9 - Fm (iv - i in Fm)

E♭m - Gm add 9  (C.M.R major 3rd, vocal in Eb major, then tritone substitution of C)

F# - Cm - D (iv - V in G minor, same as in Gollum's Song)

Bridge 

D diminished dissonant arpeggios, #11's and ♭9's

***

Tritone substitutions also tend to add a great deal of tension and a feeling of unease to a chord sequence: i'll post another blog specifically on that topic in the near future.  

Often, the most effective harmonic cocktail for this kind of music comes from mixing up different kinds of progressions, so that the music doesn't get too predictable or repetitive, whilst at the same time maintaining an ominous and sinister vibe. 

 In May of 2015, Jon went to Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, to orchestrate string arrangements and additional orchestral parts for the new Amorphis record, which was produced by Jens Bogren.  This album will be released by Nuclear Blast on the 4th of september, 2015.

Jon Phipps ventured to Oslo, Norway, where he hung out with Asgeir Mickelson & Øyvind Hægeland (Spiral Architect), Max Phelps & Steve Di Giorgio (Death), and Ole P Fredriksen (Manitou).  

It was an incredible show, and having the chance to meet these inspirational musicians was amazing for Jon, who has spent years listening to and being influenced by their music.

This picture was taken backstage at Vulcan, on the 21st of March, where Death performed with Loudblast, Abysmal Dawn, and Massacre. 

However, that's not all that happened in Oslo, but the rest, for now, is a secret! 

Watch this space for the grand reveal later this year...

Off the back of the contribution that Jon made to the Angra album, Jens Bogren enlisted Jon to orchestrate six tracks on the new Moonspell record, called 'Extinct'.

Moonspell are a gothic metal band from Portugal, and similarly to Angra, they have been rockin' the world for two decades. 

Jon's work appears on the songs  'Extinct', 'Domina', 'Malignia', 'A Dying Breed', 'The Future is Dark', and 'La Baphomette'.  

The album was released in March, 2015.  Find out more about Moonspell and 'Extinct' at the band's official Facebook page. 

Click on the image of Moonspell below, which will open a link to the official music video for 'Extinct'. You can hear Jon's work in the breakdown at 03'19", and in the outro of the song. 

In October of 2014, the internationally-acclaimed producer, Jens Bogren (Fascination Street Studios, Sweden) called upon Jon Phipps to orchestrate the song 'Perfect Symmetry', by Brazilian power metal maestros Angra. 

Jon's work can be heard between 02'32" and 03'15" in the song, as well as from 04'12" to the end.

This track is from Angra's new album, 'Secret Garden', which was released in January, 2015.

If you would like to find out more about the band, hear their music, and to see their official music videos, feel free to check out there website here.   

So...What's Next? 

There will be more to come of Jon's orchestration work with Jens Bogren in the near future, so watch this space!  Until then, Jon will be finishing up a project he's been quietly working on with some incredible musicians from Norway and the USA.   In fact, he is heading off to Oslo later this month for a photoshoot relating to this album project, so stay tuned! 

As well as this, Jon has been selected to be the orchestrator for a new Norway-based progressive power metal album project, which will be finished this year.  Orchestration work has started already, which has been made much easier and more effective by the addition of an incredible 27" iMac to Jon's home studio. This blows his 2008 MacBook totally out of the water, and high up into the stratosphere!    

This new power-house of a machine, coupled with the complete EastWest sample library catalogue, and a Sonuus G2M guitar-midi interface is making Jon's orchestration process more organic, spontaneous, and ultimately more realistic.  Expect amazing things on this front in the near future!  At present, the project is very much 'under cover', but the specifics will be revealed once the project has 'cooked' for a little while longer.   

Let's just say, that the project includes some prestigious names, with the mystery members all bringing a vast quantity of experience and expertise from innumerable past bands and projects, most of which are timeless classics, hailing from the death metal, progressive metal and power metal scenes, both sides of the North Atlantic ocean.    

Be very excited: this is going to sound immense! 

The Kuwaiti symphonic death metal band Divine Disorder's upcoming album, which Jon contributed to as both an orchestrator and guitar soloist has been featured on the website metality.net. 

The album has been in the making for several years, and Jon joined in the creative process back in the winter of 2011.  Once the songs were finished, with all the myriad of guest contributions added into the picture, the album was mixed at Fascination Street Studios, in Örebro (Sweden), by Jens Bogren. 

Brett Caldas-Lima from Tower Studio in France has just mastered the album, and Jon got to hear the finished product in it's entirety for the first time whilst Jassem Darkvain (founder of Divine Disorder) came to visit him in the UK this week: the finished songs sound incredible! All the hard work and perseverance paid off in end! Expect an official release date later this year.  

Check out the article by clicking on the picture of Brett, Jens and Jassem Darkvain (founder and bassist of Divine Disorder) below:

http://www.metality.net/2014/02/divine-disorders-debut-album-mixed-by.html

 Alternatively, take a listen to the mixed but not mastered tracks that Jon has worked on as an orchestrator using the SoundCloud player below:

https://soundcloud.com/jon-phipps-music/sets/metal-orchestrations

https://soundcloud.com/jon-phipps-music/set-free-pre-production-sample

"I knew I'd be getting something special and amazing sounding when I hired you to compose & record some orchestral music to enhance my songs.   I never expected that the results of your contribution would so exceed what I imagined that its actually elevated my music from being just a song into a fully realised work of art! Can't thank you enough for that Maestro!"

Carlos Alvarez - producer at Dirty Viking Audio Production & guitarist for Shadowdance (USA)

 "Working with Jon was a great experience. He worked alongside us (Divine Disorder) as if he was a permanent member of the band, giving it all his heart and thought throughout the progress of writing the debut album.

 Every opinion he ever shared with us helped push the band a step further in the right direction and towards a better representation of how the music should sound. Even though the time-frame was pretty tight, he still managed to deliver great sounding and professional work.

 His skills and the ability to deliver a varied and wide range of styles has given us broader and deeper meanings to deliver into certain parts of the songs, through the inclusion of classical, blues, and jazz stylistic ideas into our eclectic metal sound.

 I will definitely go back and work with him again and again on future works and releases. For everyone who is going to work with Jon: You have made the right choice!"

Click on the album cover below to hear tracks that Jon orchestrated for Divine Disorder:

Below there is a quotation from Carlos Alvarez's recent online post about the new Shadowdance and Divine Disorder albums, due for release later this year.

Jon Phipps has made substantial orchestral contributions to both these projects, using software samplers to create symphonic soundscapes that embellish and compliment the metal tracks.  Some of the Divine Disorder tracks can be found here.

"George (vocals) and I spent saturday afternoon tracking vocals at my facility Dirty Viking Audio Production for his guest performance on the forthcoming Divine Disorder album to be mixed by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman. Most of the album has already been mixed, I'm still waiting on receiving the vocal tracks for the rest of the album to edit & polish up before sending them to Fredrik.

Anyway, George joins an incredibly impressive roster of guest performers for this release including members and former members of Kamelot, Orphaned Land, Darkane, Testament, Nevermore, Forbidden, Biomechanical, The Kovenant, and more as well lesser known but vital contributors like Jon Phipps Music who I recently mentioned will be contributing some orchestral performances for our reworked "Ageless" album".

https://soundcloud.com/jon-phipps-music/02-the-puppeteer

 This is the title track to Divine Disorders' second single release 'The Puppeteer', a precursor to their new album, which will be out by the end of 2012. I composed and created the sounds for the orchestration on this Kuwaiti symphonic metal track.  

https://soundcloud.com/jon-phipps-music/03-children-of-menace

 This is the B-side to Divine Disorders' second single release 'The Puppeteer'.  The piece is my own orchestral interpretation of themes from the Kuwaiti bands' symphonic metal track 'Children of Menace', which was originally orchestrated by Psy Coma from the band Kovenant.

Find out more at www.divine-disorder.com.

This is the first track from the Kuwait-based band's debut single, which has just been released via their website http://www.divine-disorder.com/single.php.  Karl Sanders (Nile) contributed the guitar solo for this track, and Psy Coma ( Kovenant) orchestrated it.    

Jon Phipps orchestrated the second track, which follows:

https://soundcloud.com/jon-phipps-music/02-code-red-divine-disorder

The guitars, drums, synths, and vocals were all recorded in different parts of the world: see the above mentioned website for more detailed info on all those who contributed their talents to this project.    

More closely to home though, the violin soloist on this track is Elle Torry, a fellow musician from Colchester, who Jon previously worked alongside on Fornost Arnor's albums (see session work).      

The full Divine Disorder album will be released later this year.  Go to http://www.divine-disorder.com/single.php for a free download of the 'Children of Menace' single.    

Jon is currently working on more orchestrations for the remaining album tracks, and he has also contributed a guitar solo to one of the songs: a sample of this can be heard on the home page of this website.  

The full track 'The Death of A Rose (Part I)' from Fornost Arnor's forthcoming album has been uploaded onto the session work page, and you can also hear it by clicking on the player below.  ​

(Death of Rose - Pt I - Fornost Arnor)

I wrote vocal harmonies for this track, as well as the rest of the album, which is called 'The Death of a Rose'.  The tracks which I sang vocal harmonies on can be heard below:​

(Death of Rose - Pt II - Fornost Arnor)

(Farewell - Fornost Arnor)

"If you're serious about playing guitar to whatever level, you need someone who not only is a fantastic guitarist, but is also right up there with both theory and the latest techniques (eg djent) plus all the other styles that you might want to learn - from Buckley, to Blink, to Bullet for example. 

Also, at this point, you need them to be a great communicator, patient as hell, because most of us start out crap (and let's face it, most 'brilliant' guitarists aren't blessed with patience !!) And, if you were being truly greedy, you'd want them to know all the techy stuff ; from fitting piezo pick ups, to guitar set ups, to maxing out that new pedal you just got - but can't get to sound how you want, to 'how do I use cubase ?', or get the best tone for Pantera or that really naff track You're almost too embarrassed to mention ....but really really like...(fill in the gap here, in my case a bit of classic cheese rock from the 80's..ok so I've admitted it !!!)

It's tough isn't it !!! Well, I got kinda lucky, Jon's  background is music academia so there's no theory matter he can't go stella on, he's been playing guitar since he was just out of diapers so there's no one he can't play (Petrucci anyone.. or maybe Necrophagist !!) . He actually loves teaching people, so he doesn't care if you want to learn toxic by Brittany, or something off toxicity by soad, he'll be chuffed when you can play it. And he's one of the most patient people I've met... always looking how to break something down for you to work your way up and get it down at speed. 

He writes and records his own compositions..sequencers anyone ? Oh and he worked in a guitar shop for years, learning all the ins and outs of pedals set ups..you name it : without picking up that unfortunate arrogance, particularly towards beginners, that you have to break through in so many guitar shops !! In essence, he's a nice guy and a genuinely great guitar teacher for anyone old, young, gifted or just plain awful who wants to learn and get better.  My own playing has improved more in the last 6 months than in the last 3 years, and that, not only makes lessons something to look forward to, but a small price to pay."

Visit http://www.myspace.com/fornostarnor to hear a sneak preview of their new album, featuring Jon Phipps's vocal writing and performances.  

Watch Jon Phipps performing on his custom Octavia 8-string guitar with the death metal band Sectioned (UK, USA, Hungary), live @ The Purple Turtle, 9th May 2011: 

 http://www.redravenpromotions.com  

DEMONICAL (SWE) FERAL (SWE) ARROGANZ (GER) GLORIA MORTI (FIN) SECTIONED (UK, HUN, USA)  

The Purple Turtle, Camden Town, London Doors 7pm, £10  

You can check Sectioned out here: http://www.myspace.com/sectionedx