The SECRET Scale in the Hades Soundtrack

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Mixolydian b9#9#13? Set 8-26? Mode 5 of composite minor? Steve? Let’s take a look at this cool scale and learn some interesting things about scales in general. MUSIC THEORY.

Tunes used:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16ENe7ljc3rAmJRwvkyuf4JiK6H1vkjc-hdetju-bHXw/edit?usp=sharing

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38 thoughts on “The SECRET Scale in the Hades Soundtrack”

  8. "Composite Phrygian" makes the most sense to me. It's based in Phrygian, but with that added natural 3 akin to the natural 7 in harmonic minor. Because the two types of 3's are always spaced apart, it feels more like Phrygian-with-accidentals and less like some kind of octatonic scale (imo). And if you follow the melody, the fact that it outlines a minor mode at first—and only adds the natural 3 in the last measure—lends to it being primarily Phrygian but frequently blending into Phrygian Dominant.

    Of course, we all know that "Steve" is the real name of the scale. Great video as always. :3

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  21. Hades 1 is awesome.
    But what even happened to its sequel?
    Grab a game known for its speed, add delay to the dash, slow the normal attacks and then make most attacks charge attacks.
    It's like DmC6 having Skyrim-speed combat.

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  22. A different way of thinking about it– rather than listing every note that gets played and trying to find a scale that includes them all, instead think of it like each triad built on each scale degree has its own quality. In other words, let's say we're looking at a C phrygian scale, except those notes in the scale only make up the roots of each chord and each chord has its own quality. So in the No Escape example you could assign the I chord a major quality (aside from bar 17), the bII a major quality, the bIII a major quality, the IV a minor quality, etc. Basically you'll only ever use E natural as a major third to the C chord and never as the root of a chord, which would be built on Eb instead. Bar four would be a bIII-bII-I progression, each major quality. It's historically a Spanish style of composition (see flamenco mode) but is also used a lot in heavier styles of rock. I probably explained this really poorly but it's a really fun style of composition!

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  23. I’ve definitely used Steve plenty of times but always just thought of it as a mode of composite minor as you put it. Steve is an objectively funny name but I think composite Phrygian is a more descriptive name and I’ll probably use that moving forward haha

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  27. To me, this game's soundtrack is a wonderful example of how choosing to not strictly adhere to theory expectations makes the music better. Not saying theory is useless, but letting it dictate the writing creates a very expected sound, and I like the weird deviations that aren't expected.

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  34. As a big fan of phrygian, especially phrygian dominant, I would definitely say that a blend of the two is the best way to describe it. Phrygian is often used for that sorta ancient/exotic vibe. While Harmonic Minor is typically the "ancient Egypt" scale, Phrygian/Phrygian Dominant though also feeling very desert-y, also lend themselves to various Mediterranean sounds. Ancient Greece and that Spanish flamenco sound can both be derived from Phrygian.

    Regardless of what it is, Darren Korb does a fantastic job.

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  36. I feel like it's much easier to explain what's going on in the music of Hades using a modal theory mindset rather than a harmonic one. It reminds me so much of what happens in Romanian, (and Turkish and Arabic music all the time,) where the feeling of the music isn't really dependent on the underlying chord but more on the particular mode of the melody, and the way you modulate is by using lines that have notes in common with the mode you want to modulate to: for example, if you want to modulate from minor to phrygian, you could go:

    (all in relation to the root) root – major second – minor third – perfect fourth – root – minor third – major second – minor third – minor second – minor third – perfect fourth

    In this case, the minor second isn't really meant to feel natural to the minor sound we started with and that is what is creating tension, like a dominant chord in Western music theory, and the characteristic movement of the mode ( in this case, following the scale up to the fourth) is what creates stability again.

    so analysing this line as all one scale feels a bit odd to me. To me, the "No Escape" song feels the same way, where it shifts between different modalities, and its "scale" doesn't feel like it's a singular one – maybe that's just Mediterranean bias from me xD

    ps. I will add that from an Eastern Mediterranean perspective, it does feel like it's a little lacking in "ornamentation", like there could easily be a lot of runs between the larger intervals which could add flavour, but hey, it also has to sound metal.

    pps. I am not Mediterranean myself, but I have played a lot of Mediterranean music since I was very young because my clarinet instructor found that that was the only kind of music that could keep my fleeting attention for any length of time.

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  37. Klezmer occasionally messes around with Phrygian like this. It will have tuned in dominant Phrygian but borrow the b3, #7, and (most commonly) #6 depending on what chord is being played. b3 is played when on a bIII chord (the #3 is never the root), #7 is used as a passing note or an appoggiatura over the iv chord, and #6 is used as a passing note over the bvii chord. I think I’ve seen b5 used similarly.

    And, of course, it doesn’t just use dominant Phrygian like this but that’s the easy one since it’s the most stereotypical sound.

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