The Exorcist was recorded in front of a live studio audience.
August 25, 2015 7:23 PM Subscribe
YouTube user Muted Vocal changes 5 iconic creepy themes into major key: The X Files, Halloween, Saw, The Exorcist and Nightmare on Elm Street. He does five more with Jaws, The Fog, Psycho, Phantasm and The Omen. He expands the chipper X-Files theme out into a full track as well.
Oh man the Halloween one sounds like it came off a Mountain Goats album.
posted by griphus at 7:28 PM on August 25, 2015
posted by griphus at 7:28 PM on August 25, 2015
X-Files sounds like an early take of a Mass Effect title screen theme.
posted by figurant at 7:33 PM on August 25, 2015
posted by figurant at 7:33 PM on August 25, 2015
I thought the exact same thing about the X-files, although more of a daytime TV talk show. I also like how Halloween becomes Christmas, essentially.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:34 PM on August 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:34 PM on August 25, 2015 [5 favorites]
He also did 5 uplifting movie themes in a minor key with Raiders of the Lost Ark, Police Academy, The Great Escape, Chariots of Fire, and Jurassic Park.
posted by dialetheia at 7:37 PM on August 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by dialetheia at 7:37 PM on August 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
X-Files sounds remarkably like The Newsroom.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:42 PM on August 25, 2015
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:42 PM on August 25, 2015
The minor-key CHARIOTS OF FIRE sounds like the theme to a really overwrought miniseries from the 70s.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:44 PM on August 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:44 PM on August 25, 2015 [3 favorites]
The X-Files theme is delightful! I want to believe. ....in love!
posted by The Whelk at 7:46 PM on August 25, 2015 [16 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 7:46 PM on August 25, 2015 [16 favorites]
He also did 5 uplifting movie themes in a minor key
Great Escape sounds like a British small-town mystery series.
And JP like a Warcraft 2 cutscene.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:48 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Great Escape sounds like a British small-town mystery series.
And JP like a Warcraft 2 cutscene.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 7:48 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Going down the YouTube k-hole has kead be to this user named Oleg Berg, who has a lot of popular songs on his channel that have been key shifted. A few favorites:
A version of Sweet Dreams that sounds more like Cocteau Twins.
Like Iron and Wine covering Mad World.
Heart of Glass, but, like, mid-2000s synth pop.
Carlos Santana backing a salsa version of Mmm-Bop.
Now THIS game of thrones I can get into!
Personal Jesus, but like a peppy Christian band.
posted by codacorolla at 8:01 PM on August 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
A version of Sweet Dreams that sounds more like Cocteau Twins.
Like Iron and Wine covering Mad World.
Heart of Glass, but, like, mid-2000s synth pop.
Carlos Santana backing a salsa version of Mmm-Bop.
Now THIS game of thrones I can get into!
Personal Jesus, but like a peppy Christian band.
posted by codacorolla at 8:01 PM on August 25, 2015 [6 favorites]
It's just so weird how upbeat these sound.
It's worth following the in-video link to see how they used his perky Saw theme in the opening credits for the fake medical drama SAW: Surgical Admissions Ward. It works perfectly!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:02 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's worth following the in-video link to see how they used his perky Saw theme in the opening credits for the fake medical drama SAW: Surgical Admissions Ward. It works perfectly!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:02 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
My partner remarked that the major-key horror themes sounded like "that music your dad plays at Christmas."
Now I want to hear minor key versions of that Mannheim Steamroller album and imagine the horror films they would belong to.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:03 PM on August 25, 2015 [7 favorites]
Now I want to hear minor key versions of that Mannheim Steamroller album and imagine the horror films they would belong to.
posted by ocherdraco at 8:03 PM on August 25, 2015 [7 favorites]
The X-Files one is gonna make a sweet ringtone.
posted by griphus at 8:04 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 8:04 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I found that X-Files one way creepier.
I've had a minor-key version of "Hey Ya" stuck in my head since 2003.
posted by town of cats at 8:25 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've had a minor-key version of "Hey Ya" stuck in my head since 2003.
posted by town of cats at 8:25 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I just wanted to add my own favourite odd version of the X-Files Theme. This time 'sung' by Leaether Strip.
posted by cirhosis at 8:48 PM on August 25, 2015
posted by cirhosis at 8:48 PM on August 25, 2015
There's a second one: Jaws, The Fog, Psycho, Phantasm, The Omen. Jaws and Psycho sound uplifting. Jaws could be the soundtrack to a man conquers the universe space opera.
posted by Hactar at 8:48 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Hactar at 8:48 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Jaws sounds like I'm about to be reunited with my long-lost doggy!
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:52 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:52 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
And the whistling in the X-Files reminds me a little of Jack Horkheimer.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:57 PM on August 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:57 PM on August 25, 2015 [4 favorites]
He also did 5 uplifting movie themes in a minor key with Raiders of the Lost Ark, Police Academy, The Great Escape, Chariots of Fire, and Jurassic Park.
These really, really sound like SNES-era Final Fantasy music to me.
posted by IAmUnaware at 8:58 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
These really, really sound like SNES-era Final Fantasy music to me.
posted by IAmUnaware at 8:58 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Chariots of Fire is lovely. Jurassic Park suffers from some weird ADSR issue in the synths he's using (I'm assuming not an actual orchestra) and by playing it at like double time.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:24 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:24 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Major to Minor: "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (Abolitionist Version) by Patreon's own Chase Holfelder
posted by otherchaz at 9:28 PM on August 25, 2015
posted by otherchaz at 9:28 PM on August 25, 2015
The Jurassic Park theme in a minor key sounds like a Lana Del Ray song
posted by The Whelk at 9:40 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 9:40 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
Get High By The T-Rex Paddock?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:47 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:47 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's my dinosaur, dinosaur sadness
posted by The Whelk at 9:51 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 9:51 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
I'm hoping these all find their way into corporate videos.
posted by mazola at 10:25 PM on August 25, 2015
posted by mazola at 10:25 PM on August 25, 2015
Interesting how Psycho sounds completely dissonant and weird in a major key but The Omen sounds like Pure Moods Volume 3
posted by The Whelk at 10:54 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 10:54 PM on August 25, 2015 [1 favorite]
I love Oleg Berg (who codacorolla linked to upthread). My absolute favourite is the surprisingly glum "Be Worry, Don't Happy".
posted by a car full of lions at 11:03 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by a car full of lions at 11:03 PM on August 25, 2015 [2 favorites]
He also did 5 uplifting movie themes in a minor key yt with Raiders of the Lost Ark, Police Academy, The Great Escape, Chariots of Fire, and Jurassic Park.
Weirdly enough, the Chariots of Fire theme ends up sounding like the music from The X-Files. The Raiders theme sounds like the music from one those 1970s airplane disaster movies that Airplane was parodying.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 12:31 AM on August 26, 2015
Weirdly enough, the Chariots of Fire theme ends up sounding like the music from The X-Files. The Raiders theme sounds like the music from one those 1970s airplane disaster movies that Airplane was parodying.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 12:31 AM on August 26, 2015
Jaws sounds like something Aaron Copland could have written.
posted by Fig at 3:14 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by Fig at 3:14 AM on August 26, 2015
Psycho sounds like a somewhat bent Vivaldi...
posted by jim in austin at 3:53 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by jim in austin at 3:53 AM on August 26, 2015
And the whistling in the X-Files reminds me a little of Jack Horkheimer.
Just in case you didn't know, that's Debussy's Arabesque #1, from Tomito's 1974 album Snowflakes are Dancing. It was a pretty big deal at the time.
posted by Herodios at 3:55 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just in case you didn't know, that's Debussy's Arabesque #1, from Tomito's 1974 album Snowflakes are Dancing. It was a pretty big deal at the time.
posted by Herodios at 3:55 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
For a minute I was very confused, thinking that Herodios was saying that this had something to do with the theme to The X-Files! But no, it was the theme to Jack Horkheimer's Star Hustler series. (What can I say, it's been a long day.) It does sound kind of X-Files-ish, now that I listen for it, but it's like Mark Snow's music with all the creepy taken out.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:13 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by Ursula Hitler at 4:13 AM on August 26, 2015
Its a few years old but I still like Riders on the The Storm Riders on the Rainbow by Major Scaled.
posted by rongorongo at 4:57 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by rongorongo at 4:57 AM on August 26, 2015
The minor-key CHARIOTS OF FIRE sounds like the theme to a really overwrought miniseries from the 70s.
I see it as for an imaginary sequel featuring plantar fascias and bleeding nipples.
posted by rongorongo at 5:08 AM on August 26, 2015
I see it as for an imaginary sequel featuring plantar fascias and bleeding nipples.
posted by rongorongo at 5:08 AM on August 26, 2015
And the whistling in the X-Files reminds me a little of Jack Horkheimer.
that's Debussy's Arabesque #1, from Tomito's 1974 album Snowflakes are Dancing.
For a minute I was very confused
Yes, by that I meant the music used for Horkheimer's Star Hustler showlets on PBS.
Star Trek fans may appreciate the cover art of the Snowflakes Are Dancing album. Step aside, $5CDN note.
If you enjoyed Tomito's take on Debussy, try his take on Mussourgsky. His programming for "The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks" is hysterical. Nobody would do something that corny today, more's the pity.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled internet meme. Only six more modes to go.
posted by Herodios at 5:48 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
that's Debussy's Arabesque #1, from Tomito's 1974 album Snowflakes are Dancing.
For a minute I was very confused
Yes, by that I meant the music used for Horkheimer's Star Hustler showlets on PBS.
Star Trek fans may appreciate the cover art of the Snowflakes Are Dancing album. Step aside, $5CDN note.
If you enjoyed Tomito's take on Debussy, try his take on Mussourgsky. His programming for "The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks" is hysterical. Nobody would do something that corny today, more's the pity.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled internet meme. Only six more modes to go.
posted by Herodios at 5:48 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Some of the "uplifting played in minor keys" ones I'm sure at a few points were briefly adapted to minor keys in the actual movies, when things weren't going so great for the heroes (I got strong but vague memories of this from the minor version of the Police Academy theme).
In the other direction, off the top of my head I remember Marco Beltrami's eerie Scream theme going major at the end of Scream 3 when (spoiler alert) things have worked out well.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:58 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
In the other direction, off the top of my head I remember Marco Beltrami's eerie Scream theme going major at the end of Scream 3 when (spoiler alert) things have worked out well.
posted by doctornecessiter at 5:58 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
Half of major-key transitions sound like game music to me, like something that you'd hear moving primary colored furniture around a sim house.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 6:11 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 6:11 AM on August 26, 2015
I think the videogame-iness of some of these are due in part to the cheap-sounding synths used.
I will use this opportunity to link to the wonderfully cognitive-dissonance-producing Major Scaled version of "Losing My Religion"
posted by zchyrs at 7:21 AM on August 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I will use this opportunity to link to the wonderfully cognitive-dissonance-producing Major Scaled version of "Losing My Religion"
posted by zchyrs at 7:21 AM on August 26, 2015 [2 favorites]
I used to know a guy who would do this kind of thing extempore on the piano. Great fun.
posted by Trochanter at 8:38 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by Trochanter at 8:38 AM on August 26, 2015
My partner remarked that the major-key horror themes sounded like "that music your dad plays at Christmas."
posted by ocherdraco at 3:03 on August 26
Does your dad play Jon and Vangelis every year like mine does?
posted by Evstar at 9:25 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by ocherdraco at 3:03 on August 26
Does your dad play Jon and Vangelis every year like mine does?
posted by Evstar at 9:25 AM on August 26, 2015
The minor-key Chariots of Fire has kind of a Blade Runner vibe to it. Stands to reason, I guess.
posted by doctornecessiter at 9:47 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by doctornecessiter at 9:47 AM on August 26, 2015
That Losing My Religion transposition takes all my feelings about that song and sprinkles MSG all over them. My god. I'm gonna listen to that a hundred times.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:08 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister Moofoo at 10:08 AM on August 26, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's not just the instrumentation or post-processing. (Although John Carpenter's low-budget self-compositions stand out.) It's the feeling that there's something a bit weird about how the musical lines go together. That's something I associate strongly with Mothersbaugh, although other writers do it as well.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 10:54 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 10:54 AM on August 26, 2015
Herodios, I heart Isao Tomita too. Previously about Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer aka Star Hustler.
posted by larrybob at 11:57 AM on August 26, 2015
posted by larrybob at 11:57 AM on August 26, 2015
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posted by thelonius at 7:27 PM on August 25, 2015 [10 favorites]