Not Of This Earth

[jono]

Hi guys,

I was listening to the new Satch compilation CD a couple of minutes ago, happily playing along to the song Not of this Earth. when half way through I stopped and thought this sounds so cool.

The phrase I'm talking about is at about 1min 58 or 59 seconds to about 2min 04 just before the tapping solo part.

Can someone tell me what's going on in basic theory terms. And also how to replicate this in a song of my own if I can try to write one along these lines?

Thanks in advance

[markgibson]

Hi jono!
I just had a listen to the section you mention.
The main melody is played using the E Hindu scale, the half-step bend in that melody giving it an aeolian flavour (they're both closely related scales).
At 1:59, he's employing the pitch-axis method and switches to E mixolydian (nearly identical to E Hindu, except that the 6th is sharpened in the mixolydian scale). The bass plays a B over this section (the 5th of E) to give it a different sound.

To get a similar sound in your own music, you can use the pitch-axis method. You can be playing something in A Lydian for example and revert to A Mixolydian. So the whole feel of the section you are playing changes, while you are essentially keeping the key note of the section the same.

I hope that answers your question!
Mark

www.markgibson.moonfruit.com