FOLLOW US ON:
GET THE NEWSLETTER
CONTACT US
Uplifting movie themes played in a MINOR key suddenly become evil, oppressive, militaristic
08.20.2015
12:46 pm
Topics:
Tags:


 
Last week I posted here about a musician who had taken a handful of iconic horror soundtracks and turned them “soothing, triumphant, and dorky” by reworking them in a major key.

One of my favorite things about blogging stuff I think is cool is that sometimes the people you are blogging about read what you wrote and respond to it.  In that previous article I had mentioned that John Carpenter’s Halloween soundtrack, playing in a major key, sounded a lot like the Chariots of Fire theme (mashed up with “Baba O’Riley”).  I went on to say, ” the Halloween theme left me wondering… what would the Chariots of Fire theme sound like in a minor key? I bet it’d be scary as hell. Perhaps Mr. Gordon can get on that and let us know?”

Well folks, Mr. Gordon DID get on that and Dangerous Minds got a nice email from him:

I’ve taken Christopher’s advice and converted Chariots of Fire plus a few other classics to a MINOR key.

So here we have the themes from Indiana Jones, Police Academy, The Great Escape, Chariots of Fire, and Jurassic Park—all reworked into a minor key. The results here are just as interesting as the major key horror soundtrack revisions.

Indiana Jones in a minor key suddenly sounds militaristic and would be an appropriate theme if the Nazis had been the film’s protagonists, seeking to rescue the ark from the idiot American archaeologist with no idea of its power.

Police Academy in a minor key suddenly becomes an epic sword and sorcery theme. It’s the sound of Conan (the barbarian, not the late night host) marching through the desert, trying to solve the riddle of steel and defeat the evil Captain Mauser.

The Great Escape theme sounds like a montage sequence from a Jewish comedy.

Chariots of Fire, as I imagined, does indeed sound like a horror soundtrack. Specifically one that is very ‘80s and very Italian.

Jurassic Park‘s theme in a minor key is utterly oppressive. It sounds like slavery.

Check them all out here:
 

 

Posted by Christopher Bickel
|
08.20.2015
12:46 pm
|