Can the Phrygian Scale sound "happy?" ft. Jake Lizzio, Brian Krock, Trust Fund Ozu, + Courtney Swain

[@AdamNeely]

This was so fun! Just an FYI, guys, we mostly grew up in the west, so we're deeply encultured to hear Phrygian (and related modes) as being "dark." That might not be the case everywhere, and that's what's so cool about music, it means very different things to different people! It's not a universal language, and that's great. One unfortunate thing to note is that there's also a long tradition of using modes like Phrygian with that scale degree b2 to exoticize non-western music, especial North African, Arabic and Persian music in American popular media and movies. The scale - the sound itself - represents "the Other" - to so many people who have watched these movies and experienced that popular media. It's unfortunate, but I think doing these scale challenges has helped me break of out a lot of sonic prejudices that I had!

[@theelectricant98]

Appreciate you providing this context. You're the best

[@neapolis7570]

I mean Jake has a video explaining how phrygian (dominant) is the egyptian scale. I guess it just has to do with traditional eastern music.

[@oskarnystrom4643]

Adam are you an angel

[@MustafaAlmosawi]

Would be very interesting to see a collab with musicians with experience in Middle Eastern Maqams, Indian Ragas and Far Eastern scales.

[@voodoo1988]

Ahh! Thoughtful addition. We see reflection on implicit (historically grown) biases across many fields of society in recent years. I feel that the musical world - especially the classics - is still to have this discussion in a prominent place. Self reflection as you exercised here can only help. Also +1 comment for the algorithm ;)

[@SignalsMusicStudio]

This was WAY too much fun! Cant say "thank you" enough for inviting me onto this collab, it was a honor to be included along such talented folks =) And I must shoutout Beardstank for drumming on my track and Roger Reupert for laying down those tasty trumpets!

[@seiph80]

You deserve it, Jake! Great to see you here!

[@TSiAWD]

Best crossover ever

[@mindlesswaffle]

I've been watching your channel for a while and I was psyched to see you in one of these challenges. You nailed it, man! Can't wait to see you in another one!

[@EricMLopez]

You're a cool guy Jake

[@kamilchosta5526]

Go see his channel if you want to easily understand theory and have a look on that practical side of it, which is often left out in music schools. It's a gold mine for every begginer/ intermediate musician or the advanced one to refresh the knowledge/gain another perspective :)

[@moonman57]

yeah i subscribe to the Adam Neely school of music analysis "that's a chord" "some time signature stuff happening"

[@elli1419]

excited mumbling.

[@krakentoast]

Real

[@muyskerm]

Courtney's song absolutely gripped me. Felt like it was bursting with hope and brightness. Fantastic!

[@aliensporebomb]

Like a morning sunrise.

[@Emul7ifier]

huh, I would never take Bob for an Adam Neely fan haha

[@raidedsalt7110]

hard agree

[@daniellejoiner4929]

1. You’re here?! Awesome! 2. Absolutely, it holds me in this space where I feel a sort of relaxation. Like everything is going to be okay. An amazing work!

[@bonnibloop_]

@@Emul7ifier same lmao

[@kinggimped]

I feel like Jake Lizzio's was the 'happiest' sounding one (and catchiest), Courtney Swain's was the 'prettiest' in terms of the musical imagery... but when it came to pure out-and-out creativity, Trust Fund Ozu's track was simply insane

[@Chestnut-xm2pv]

I think Adam's was the best in terms of expressing happiness. I agree with your opinions on the rest's, though. To each his own, as they say.

[@ne10ne10]

Dude all of them were god tier

[@mysticmagicsmurfdarklord6844]

True

[@JackieTheCatfox]

Trust Fund Ozu's track was what ADHD sounds like. I fucking love it.

[@beenaplumber8379]

I agree. Happiness is all about attitude, not notes in the scale. I learned that after seeing a klezmer concert (my grad school advisor's band). Minor keys can be extremely happy (and fun) with the right attitude. Our expectations of moods (phrygian = dark) apply to strictly Western music. Jake's piece sounded Latin, which has non-Western roots. (I also think trying to make happy phrygian music by implying the major defeats the purpose :P )

[@ImaginaryMdA]

5 musicians confidently attack a round hole with a square peg.

[@nanamacapagal8342]

With varying degrees of success.

[@juliuscaesar5397]

Successfully

[@aclonymous]

@@nanamacapagal8342 2 successes, 2 mediocre attempts and 1 complete failure

[@jasminebaldwin7615]

@@aclonymous I don't think anyone was an abject failure. they're all cheerful in their own way

[@kenpokid10]

​@@aclonymousif your parameter for success is "the music sounds happy", then they all more or less succeeded. If your parameter for success is "the music was clearly, audibly, and consistently using the Phrygian mode"... it's debatable, but I think they did all manage to incorporate at least some elements of Phrygian into their compositions.

[@ZackGrooves]

Poison Ivy goes HARD

[@alicec1533]

Hi Zack!

[@gptandtft]

Hi dad

[@fear9998]

Grow down man!

[@ks3bigksudjoht180]

Where did you come from? Dude.

[@FayeFadem]

ThAnk you!!!

[@cha1isu]

Thank you so much for having me be a part of this, Adam! Faye thank you for being such a badass QUEEN ily 🔥Brian and Jake, big high fives to you both, and I hope we get to meet in person and make some music together sometime in the future 😊

[@ringoman08]

You earned a fan Courtney! Followed you soundcloud already 🥺

[@supersungal2]

Just added your song to my playlist. Thanks for putting it on spotify :)

[@clockworkharvester2663]

Your track reminded me of Royksopp, strange and beautiful.

[@furcornmanwiththemasterpla8380]

Yours was by far my favourite, you've gained a fan

[@floatingdisembodiedhead8975]

Your track was the prettiest. Never imagined Phrygian could sound so calming and warm.

[@uncroppedsoop]

Phiesta feels like a song you'd hear in an indie game in like, a really dangerous late-game area, in a subsection where a bunch of friendly characters are just having a party and ignoring the danger

[@NahreSol]

Great music and great video!!! Loved this installment of the series!!!

[@evan-r-k]

so good, except at 20:54 he didn't say citric acid to help de-bittter the broth

[@fresquitotv]

I am so happy to see Jake getting some recognition. I hope he gets in the wheel of colabs. He deserves all the attention. Of course I am also happy to see other Bent Knee members come along. Courtney is soooo good.

[@joaoassumpcao3347]

This! Jake is such a good teacher, imo he doesn't get the recognition he deserves in the yt world

[@caseylockwood5512]

Jake's channel is the best channel for learning all the cool musical concepts, in a way that will actually make you want to USE THEM. He is criminally under-rated.

[@ozanmrcan]

yeah, he is the one who got me into this stuff

[@ChaosPootato]

Yeah Jake's videos are awesome

[@frigginjerk]

@@caseylockwood5512 Totally agree. I didn't really have an interest in music until I was 18, and I didn't start learning theory until I was in my late 20s, but Jake's teaching style is easy to understand, and I can start using the information right away.

[@BenLevin]

So many of my closets collaborators in one video! Love this video, beautiful music y'all!

[@theelectricant98]

❤️

[@audiosputo2457]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/h5rac6Wjj6eIbqs

[@rassault]

ben had to sit out becuase he absolutely smashes these composition challenges

[@sirtorchington]

U guys are ultimate sweeties and cuties

[@alicec1533]

@@rassault Music is not a competition, but Ben makes great Ben stuff EDIT: Okay, so not only did I accidentally write "composition" originally, instead of competition, but I also misread Marwell's original comment as "smashes the competition". With that said, Music is not a competition, and Ben's smashes these compositions! With everything cleared up, have a great day, or rest of day, or night, depending on what time you are reading this!

[@sonnylost2179]

Adam and Jake in a video, I'm EFFING HAPPY.

[@XistoKente]

Correction, *EPHING.

[@velvetsteele]

Finally!!!

[@elboniu]

I found his videos like two days ago and really liked it, and now bam, video with Adam :D

[@sonicarvalho]

More collabs with those 2 PLEASE!

[@nerahm249]

He and Adam have such elegance in the way they speak about music it's addicting to watch their videos.

[@francomatiasmarron1274]

I think Jake was the one who best nailed the instructions of the game scale-wise. He kinda went to a B part with a major chord and then returning to the Phrygian minor tonic. But it all felt very cartoonesque and tongue in cheek, sorta. And if you put a reggaeton type of break behind it all you'll surely have one happy phrygian track.

[@nick_cnc]

Nobody else going to point out Jake Lizzio just wrote a dope Super Mario desert world track?

[@DearFreja]

He's actually David Wise, in disguise.

[@linksayajin2958]

Angry Birds Go! Soundtrack

[@valentinasanchez5757]

More like Banjo Kazooie

[@DustinMTaylor]

@@valentinasanchez5757 I was thinking Banjo Kazooie as well!

[@marzmusic6455]

It reminded me of Luncheon Kingdom

[@evandocarmo2209]

Jake and Adam crossover episode is what I've been waiting for.

[@nkg1190]

same!

[@Gustavo.de.Camargo]

YES

[@florinbucur145]

More ! Moooore !

[@chibicitiberiu]

We the sad people would like to petition for the saddest darkest lydian music.

[@gillianomotoso328]

“Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac and “When We Dance” by Sting aren’t pure examples, but partial contenders.

[@sourcerorCTS]

Look at this Garbage Shark chumming the waters. Love you! 🖤🖤🖤

[@scorpiorising3741]

Lydian Augmented

[@ItsAsparageese]

I think the ugly-lydian video had some songs that definitely hit that "sad" vibe more than just an "ugly" vibe, but that's subjective of course

[@davemakesnoises]

This tbh

[@paulyguitary7651]

Jakes is so happy it sounds like it could be an opening to a cartoon.

[@trombonology89]

The beginning sounds a whole lot like the theme to Disenchantment.

[@gizzhead7941]

Jake cheated by using nested modes

[@PhilSamoylov]

Instantly thought about happy tree friends

[@Bladavia]

Banjo&Kazooie vibes

[@DestructoPop]

@@gizzhead7941 Isn't that kinda the name of the game, though? 😂 It just feels like he leveraged a really solid understanding of that particular phrygian scale to force a more cheerful effect. And yes, I 1000% felt that Banjo Kazooie vibe.

[@Narcissistic_Penguin]

TRUST FUND OZU IS THE DRUMMER FOR THANK YOU SCIENTIST! HOW DID I NOT KNOW THIS!!! THIS IS SO FUCKING COOOOL

[@ItsAsparageese]

Right?!? Going down the rabbit hole made me connect those dots AND end up realizing that I've frickin' SEEN TYS when they toured with Coheed but I'd totally failed to realize that that was why the band name sounded familiar when Adam has mentioned them lol. What a cool music niche these people occupy

[@TheMister123]

Her song could so easily be a full-fledged TYS song, too. :-)

[@Jiggerjaw]

hooooly crap, that's one of my favorite bands.

[@dylanaguilar6545]

Wait wahttttttt actuallyyyyyyy

[@mindlesswaffle]

Oh man I'm so glad I read this! I had no clue!!!

[@watcher314159]

Adam's piece gave me the same kind of confused but undeniably happy feeling a Bill Wurtz video evokes. Poison Ivy though... what a bop. Happily and energetically singing about terrible things never gets old. Definitely a new favourite.

[@Xankek]

When he was talking about the scale in the first part of the video my brain instantly went to bill wurtz

[@antonkovalenko364]

Wow. Courtney crushed it. So ethereal with a lofi feel. Jake's quasi-Nickelodeon jam is an incredibly close second for me.

[@Sgroh87]

Kinda reminded me of Massive Attack.

[@ItsAsparageese]

"quasi-Nickelodeon" is exactly the perfect term for the aesthetic of that piece lol, love it

[@Tiemewitte]

The absolute audacity of making a happy song in a dark mode as a challenge and then prominently featuring the lyric 'I just can't stop crying' and have it work regardless. That's just next level.

[@darthTwin6]

This comment is hilarious and so true! 😂😂😂

[@ItsAsparageese]

Hyperpop is amazing for this, I just discovered the genre from the ugly-lydian video a few months back and I'm absolutely in love with it. 100 Gecs make some ridiculous and sometimes warped lyrics feel so spunky and slap so hard, it's unreal

[@GG256_]

@@ItsAsparageese When I heard 100 Gecs, I hated it so much, I looked at my friend and said something I'd NEVER say, "This is so bad I need to take a break from music for a while." Lol. A hyperbolic joke of course. In the beginning it sounded like an animal crossing character vocalist who grew up listening to emo music learned how to use a DAW. Some songs like stupid horse are still terrible, but now I actually love a few of their songs. It grew on me like noise rock. Hyper pop is cool, but the vocals aren't for me. Hypocritical I guess, because I love aggressive death and black metal vocals.

[@ItsAsparageese]

@@GG256_ Nothing hypocritical about subjective taste, because it's not a function of objective criteria to begin with :) And yeah I love thrash and punk style harsh vocals in particular but also am a big fan of genres with growls/screams/cackles, so I get you on how it feels weird sometimes to be turned off by any vocal style. Usually they all grow on me, I like some unusual vocalists (Bobby Blitz comes to mind). I wouldn't have expected myself to like hyperpop if I was told about it before hearing a piece. I have sensory hyperacusis issues and the lows and highs and distorted noises would be problems for me if I listened through a fancy sound system but my cheap Bluetooth speaker I use for everything helpfully cuts down the frequencies that are the worst problems for me, so hyperpop has become sorta like very mild exposure therapy for me and helps me get comfortable with harsh noise in a way. But it I hadn't been caught off-guard by it from Justice Cow's piece, I'd have avoided the genre from its description lol. Her song made me viscerally uncomfortable the first time I heard it (though of course she wrote it to be discomforting), but I deliberately listened a second time because it was fascinating and the horror vibes were desirable in a way, and then the jam itself grew on me, and next thing I knew I was getting into 100 gecs and fell totally in love with the genre lol. I think "stupid horse" is a blast haha but subjective taste and all that :) I wonder if you'd dig Dorian Electra, their sound is definitely gec-adjacent but a fair bit less manic/goofy, and more edgy and dramatic.

[@Trogmodyte]

I'm leaving a comment so I can hear Adam sing more

[@wushuallan]

Take this offering, oh great algorithm, and hear my prayer. Manifest into reality my unfulfilled fantasy.

[@Maxi.Ledesma.musica]

Yessir

[@3countylaugh]

+

[@arunthebuffoon4554]

The warm bass in that track did it for me. Really good contrast with the robotic vocals

[@caffeineau]

I liked Courtney's one because it felt happy, but emerging from a place of uncertainty and tragedy. Like happiness from finally coming through a long struggle. Fits with her intro. Very pleasant

[@booognish]

Yeah that was awesome when everyone got those vaccines and then went and got and spread COVID everywhere.

[@shreddedbylight]

Trust Fund Ozu's was happiness out of SPITE. I LOVE IT

[@JackieTheCatfox]

I can relate to that feeling tbh.

[@AfferbeckBeats]

Phiesta sounds like it came straight from a super cute platforming video game

[@_ikako_]

like pikuniku or something

[@RWTWM]

My mind immediately to Loco Roco.

[@RWTWM]

Immediately *went*

[@bergamt]

Big Banjo Kazooie energy

[@MaladyKayjo]

YES! Like a Halloween level

[@loganowens623]

when Jake Lizzio was listing the "happy" instruments i was sad to not hear him mention the most jocular brass, the tuba, but so happy to see he used one after all! TUBAAAA

[@greedo69]

thank you for turning me on to the word "jocular" which i will now use in my day to day speech

[@onkelpappkov2666]

Very jocular choice of word.

[@greedo69]

@@onkelpappkov2666 :)

[@ethan.schechinger]

I’m SOOOO so happy Jake Lizzio is finally in one of these! I’ve been waiting for a collab between you guys

[@rainbowkrampus]

Biggest lol of the whole thing was "Phiesta". Groan worthy word play for the win.

[@james.randorff]

Initial thoughts: “Wow, I really love these! As a composer/arranger, I wonder how I could get in on one of these sessions.” After hearing Trust Fund Ozu: “I have no idea what I am doing with my life anymore. How do I even create something like this?!?”

[@McGuire40695]

Me, Listening to Jake's song: "Sounds like something straight out of Yoshi's Island." Everyone did great in this, though!

[@AndJusticeForEl]

OMG YES THAT'S EXACTLY IT

[@fenestrapain]

Yoshis island is my favorite game. Kalimba and shakers and tubas do it immediately. Yes. He nailed this assignment.

[@kvothesixstring763]

So what we've discovered is that Phrygian makes for excellent video game music.

[@iantaakalla8180]

Which might be proven by Pokémon.

[@ethanlynch3639]

trust fund ozu's song had me grinning like an idiot. these were all so fantastic

[@_hamza6547]

maaaaaan Jake Lizzio first show up and he nailed it ...jesuuus ...call snarky puppy

[@julianjustin3455]

yes

[@Sclonez]

Dude, It also gave me Snarky Puppy vibes. He nailed it hard.

[@0Enigmatic0]

Faye is a music goddess, absolutely love the song. I'd love to hear a 100 gecs Thank You Scientist crossover. Seriously, wow

[@ItsAsparageese]

After exploring Faye's music more, I'd venture to say her work is kinda in the ballpark of what I'd imagine that crossover to be like haha. Absolutely wild. And she has a few great collabs with Justice Cow that I somehow didn't discover when the previous challenge video had me searching Justice Cow up. I'm so stoked these challenges got me into hyperpop. It's my new favorite thing, I can't stop jamming "Poison Ivy" in particular right now, it's all just SO SO GOOD

[@BrendanMiranda]

Hmm, fitting you’d be drawn to Faye, Spike 😂

[@musthofaramadhani9962]

Wait, goddess? ♀️?😂

[@JackieTheCatfox]

​@@musthofaramadhani9962Yes.

[@fatherindia4810]

I love how Adam uses food to describe music, it's genuinely insightful

[@BrianKrock]

This was so much fun, thanks for putting it together Adam!

[@floatingdisembodiedhead8975]

Yours reminded me so much of maudlin of the Well and early Kayo Dot. Thank you for that.

[@nfectedpsychosis]

Jake’s sounds like it could be on the Yoshi’s Island soundtrack and I freaking love it

[@robertsteinberger]

Absolutely gave me yoshi vibes

[@mysigt_]

It’s definitely got that Nintendo vibe

[@slash196]

EXACTLY what I thought.

[@hazeri]

You are not that far off @JEMAW_ . But i think the closest would be from Paper Mario 64: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJzbdYJnoJ6lfac

[@leonardomartins9292]

It reminded me of Crash Bandicoot

[@Symphonicrockfran]

Wow. Jake Lizzio is here! I love his channel

[@seiph80]

Yeah!

[@mds_space2]

I've never seen someone talking as happy and innocent as Brian Krock about having Meshuggah as his favorite band

[@JooshyBaby]

I want more of Courtney's song. One of those that makes you want to buy the song and play on repeat on the drive into work for about a week

[@rachelkatin4904]

Adam adding his own vocals was great!!! I feel like that's been happening occasionally ever since the rap covers video, in which Adam sort of recontextualizes singing/rapping your own words and the vulnerability it takes to make music

[@therealandrew185]

I think Jake Lizzio actually nailed it. Most of the other pieces did not sound very happy to me personally, but Jake's really sounded Phrygian, and really overjoyed. Good job to everyone else too though, this seemed like an impossible challenge to me, but I was really surprised by each song.

[@Rexalt]

Good job Adam, you're getting a lot better at mixing and producing tracks which I think is something musicians often lack.

[@xander1052]

Trust Fund Ozu's track definitely felt the happiest. Can't beat that 100Gecs feel lol

[@kwarrtzorau7203]

I love how every track ended up sounding vaguely demented.

[@Blutzen]

The biggest thing Adam's scale series has taught me is that hyperpop is my favorite.

[@ItsAsparageese]

SAME. First video introduced me to it and got me hooked, this video just catalyzed my obsession lol. Hyperpop is legitimately the best thing to happen to me in a long time, I can't get enough

[@melpopovich565]

trust fund ozu's was a hyperpop masterpiece, that was amazing

[@karinamaloney1033]

She genius.

[@shanechenmusic]

Honestly it reminds me of some of Ben Levin’s stuff in his videos

[@karinamaloney1033]

@@shanechenmusic she works with ben and helps him cameos in his videos often. Good catch.

[@DamianRoseroCazar]

@@karinamaloney1033 agreed

[@herrbasan]

Adam won this one! Btw, how did it happen that the son of a voice coach ended up with such an beautiful, innocent, un-trained singing voice ? Love it! Sing more!

[@josephmay1255]

All around me definitely sounds more on the positive side but still has this slightly somber side to it. It sounds happy but Courtney managed to preserve the darker quality of the phrygian scale. Brilliant

[@lilithsawyer762]

SO happy to see Faye in here, Trust Fund Ozu never fails....

[@Qwazim0d00]

Thanks for having Brian Krock on this video. He has been putting out some of the best videos this past year. Hopefully this collaboration will get more eyes on his channel.

[@Zuracooking]

Poison Ivy is something i didn't know i needed until i heard it, definitely can be a movie/game soundtrack xD

[@danielcorrigan3147]

Jake's sounded like something straight out of Mario, and I loved the whisper harmonies in Courtney's ugh I love the collaborations its amazing

[@gustavotavarezlora5261]

Idk why but everyone in this video seems so cool and chill, and then their songs are so cheerfull, I kinda want to hug them all

[@DumblyDorr]

Holy wow - how hadn't I heard of Trust Fund Ozu before? All of these people are exceptional musicians - but Trust Fund Ozu just *KNOCKED* *IT* *OUT* *OF* *THE* *PARK* . Instantly have a ton a respect. Wow! Jake's felt really happy, too. The most "smiley-happy" to me.... with perhaps only a touch of mischeif - especially in that Zappa-esque moment (which made me very happy).

[@crediblefive]

Trust fund ozu is so so so wonderful!! infectious energy!! thank you for having her on and introducing such an incredible talent to us!!!!

[@freshlysqueezedaesthetics2942]

Great to see Jake here; nice to see people I watch collaborate. I can't wait to see what you guys came up with.

[@cybertronguy98]

Jake's feels right at home over a Mario Kart track, and thats probably the highest compliment i can think of lol

[@mox_ndwn]

Yesssss, I couldn't stop thinking of a Beach/Jungle Mario Kart race track

[@davidtracy223]

make Phrygian scale sound happy? Spanish musicians: Sostén mi cerveza

[@Katharsis540]

Lol.

[@coreyaudet9656]

Trust Fund Ozu for this assignment is my first choice. She made me actually laugh out loud when she got "heavy happy ". Everyone did well and I am thankful for all of you taking the time.

[@leftygroove5161]

It's very happy to see Jake Lizzio of Signals Music Studio at Adam's video as their pieces :D

[@StahlmetallerM]

Courtney beeing all like "ooooooo" is one of my favorite things.

[@HyperFocusMarshmallow]

Great stuff everyone!!! Trust Fund Osu was amazing!.. and also the most happy one 🥳 ...I thought... and then we got Jake Lizzio! These collaborations are the best thing on the internet!!!

[@johnathanrhoades7751]

Phrygian is my favorite mode. That flat 2 is just so good. Ozu just killed it...I think I need to explore more hyper pop type stuff. (everyone else was good too!)

[@alleyway3215]

Great to see Jake from Signals Music Studio on this channel. I love his channel.

[@Quesbe]

Trust Fund Ozu's song was... so freaking amazing! ok to be fair all of the submissions were amazing :D

[@Jex--]

Yes, we do need more Adam singing. This was an enlightening video - my phrygian mood is always late autumn, slipping into the death of winter, but these pieces sort of... revel in the kicking through piles of leaves and shouting obscenity at pumpkins. I'm digging it.

[@colinvollmer]

“Shouting obscenities at pumpkins” this is absolutely the best way to describe that feeling, thank you

[@ItsAsparageese]

This is a fabulous comment, I love how you took the experience of this awesome music-art and reinstantiated it as such concise yet perfect word-art lol

[@saranonimus9211]

I LOVE the whole concept of giving the group a challenge and sharing how each artist solves it. What better way to encourage emergent artists to explore the possibilities and find their own unique voice? Excellent idea, fascinating results. Thank you all SO much!! 💜

[@ItsAsparageese]

Agreed, this is one of the coolest challenge/prompt concepts I've ever seen in music and it's absolutely wonderful. Perfect way to inspire musicians of all kinds to break every barrier ever. We live in such an exciting era of new experiments in music/production like humanity has never seen before, and I'm confident this series already is playing a major part in catalyzing the wave. So, so cool.

[@alsdrumhang]

I was spending a dreary afternoon auditing client files and I popped this video on. I got SO HAPPY listening to these clips. thanks to all of you for your creativity!

[@ghostofdayinperson]

Courtney’s song was incredible. She definitely crushed the challenge in terms of making Phrygian mode uplifting, but the reason it was so beautiful was that it had a melancholy undercurrent that made it ambiguous.

[@jamminhunter]

I love how I can hear and recognize Adam’s bass tone

[@alicec1533]

OMG Faye's made eveyone's face light up!! Full on smiling!

[@xmadrugadaxeternax]

Courtney's is sparkly jam. Wonderful!

[@ravenecho2410]

full bjork

[@landoncbradford]

@@ravenecho2410 bjork meets mitski i was thinking

[@DMLand]

Adam's groove takes us very much into Bill Wurtz territory, which is just about the highest compliment I can pay him.

[@edbatewellmusic]

I just came here to say if Adam creates an entire channel based on this format, I'd watch the shit out of it.

[@TheLumbersnack]

Not a hyperpop fan, but TrustFundOzu killed this challenge!

[@cibojules]

AGREED

[@Lukz243]

I am gonna agree with Trust Fund Ozu and say Adam, please sing more!

[@thefatfella]

Jake Lizzio's song sounds like it could be the theme song for a Gullah Gullah Island reboot. I like it!

[@DestructoPop]

Yeeees! Or a Banjo-Kazooie esque Gullah Gullah game where you play as Binya Binya! Hahaha

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

This video helped me put words to the fact the rhythm is where the emotion of a song comes from got my way more than the key. Like my whole life I've been confused when people say major is happy and minor is sad

[@compulsiverambler1352]

Minor is wistful, not necessarily sad. There is happy wistful and sad wistful

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

@compulsiverambler1352 it can be wistful for sure but I've definitely made and heard some wistful songs in major keys, and some fun, angry, flirty, and mysterious songs in minor keys. I feel like the key modifies the emotion or expresses the emotion in certain ways but the key isn't the emotion, the emotion is in the rhythm, tempo, and melodic contour

[@dwc1964]

These collab "challenges" are my favorite part of this channel, and possibly my favorite part of all of music-nerd KZbin Here's some Engagement. For The Algorithm!

[@injustanotherguy]

Phrygian will always be the sound of a Pokemon battle first and foremost in my mind, so it's already pretty triumphant and exultant to my ears

[@bodhidavis8400]

the last thing that i expected out of Phrygian is hyper pop. but it also oddly makes sense so now im confused

[@weslieberman4009]

Never heard of Trust Fund Ozu but that was such an incredible piece of music

[@Empyrean55]

Love her stuff, it's all wild and crazy and just her! Highly recommend checking her stuff out!

[@weslieberman4009]

@@Empyrean55 Yeah I will! Have her page bookmarked for later

[@quartzofcourse]

They are from the band Thank You Scientist if you want some more of them!

[@ozu2647]

I kept getting startled every time her name was said.

[@martijnvanditshuizen8925]

Brian: "Phrygian is the darkest of the church modes" Locrian: "Am I a joke to you?"

[@iantaakalla8180]

It might as well have been but they already did a challenge for converting Locrian into happy music.

[@josemorgan8048]

Pretty much. Nobody uses locrian

[@JVR10893]

I thought when he said church modes it was to make a point of excluding locrian since the root triad has a tritone so it’s very unchurchy.

[@HipsterShiningArmor]

The church modes are the other 6 modes of major with the intentional exclusion of Locrian, which unlike the others didn't exist in the renaissance era and was developed later as a way to kind of fill in the blanks.

[@marcelo.bassalo]

The Bent Knee chick! Love you, Courtney. This is such a crossover episode. Everyone is great, goddamn.

[@lyingpancake95]

I love how you edit everyone's reactions in sequence. It really makes the collaboration feel more connected.

[@aggressivejazzhands2569]

The only thing that makes me happier than these incredible Phrygian tunes is this happy Phrygian video. These challenges are always so wonderful and really showcase some fan-fucking-tastic musicianship. Great stuff Adam!!!

[@mroc170]

Never heard of Trust Fun Ozu but they won me over with the gecs reference

[@ItsAsparageese]

Same, that got me super jazzed up. Definitely check out her other work, I hadn't heard of her before this video either but she's got quite a few other kickass hyperpop bangers out there. I especially love her collabs with Justice Cow, the one who did the epic hyperpop piece in the ugly-lydian video

[@crystalsoulslayer]

There's something really nice about the idea of finding something hopeful and positive in what's framed as dour and dark. Love this. Trust Fund Ozu's song reminded me of "ominous positivity," where encouragement is given in the most threatening way possible. "You will be fine. You have no choice."

[@mminlovewithflo]

Ahhahaha I've never heard of ominous positiveity before. I died laughing on the bus while listening to the track LOL

[@duelinmarkers1]

The Katamari Damacy / New Orleans observation by Trust Fund Ozu is genius!

[@alicefogg8436]

this is incredible - it's my favourite series on KZbin by far! ty Adam 🖤 LOVING the bass clarinet

[@Hoixon]

I always liked Trust Fund Ozu but man, she really killed it on this one

[@DHTokyo3915]

I had never heard of Courtney Swain. Her track was absolute fire !

[@nigelnix1]

T.F.O. Killed it! An excellent eclectic mix of just about every genre, DubStep, Metal, Pop etc. etc. etc. Loved it, 😀

[@GabeMillerMusic]

The production on the Trust Fund Ozu track is absolutely bonkers and I love it so much. Loving this series Adam!

[@LunchBandit]

Salsa music and “Flamenco: Alegrias” are two styles that routinely make happy Phrygian songs. Also, plenty of Arab music also uses it in happy ways.

[@JPVillalobos27]

Alegrias are in major keys. Maybe you're thinking Bulerias? Carnatic music also has a lot of really cool upbeat pieces in Phrygian derived raag "modes”. Raags are not really modes though.

[@vadim4252]

They go out of the mode to achieve that

[@sotetsotetsotetsotetsotet2379]

@@ThatBernie Hijaz...

[@petterhouting7484]

Alegrias is in major??? They sometimes modulate to phrygian but the standard chord progression is phrygian.

[@LunchBandit]

@@petterhouting7484 Yes, the chords and strong beats clearly outline major in Alegrias but the singers end up singing in phrygian a lot or at least throwing trills and licks in phrygian.

[@daniloprates]

Loved them all, but Courtney's hit deep in my 💛 listening in loop

[@rishig.2006]

Hey Adam! Phrygian is honestly one of my favourite "exotic" scales. I'm Indian but bc I grew up in Canada I'm really only well versed in Western music theory tho I'm trying to learn more Indian classical music. The closest Indian counterpart for Phrygian* is a scale called Bhairavi/Sindhu Bhairavi and it's absolutely beautiful, I totally suggest you check it out! *There are, however, other scales with the same notes as Phrygian (Hanumatodi, Bilaskhani Todi, etc.) but I think Bhairavi is the closest approximant simply bc of its flexibility and chromatic range that I think could be very well utilized in styles like jazz.

[@Sableknight]

Wow, Brian wrote his song just for me! Metal time signature wildness? All about it. Also love how many different places Adam's piece goes and how dense it gets. So good.

[@fonkbadonk2957]

Ok, so I NEED a full version of ALL of them. Wow, so much creativity and the results were all totally easy to listen to and had amazing moods. I couldn't name a single song I liked just a tiny bit less than the others, despite all being very different and original. Brilliant idea and execution!