~Hakurei Shrine~ > Touhou Addict Recovery Center
Characters, music, personalities.
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Pergold:
Anybody realize that Inner Heart sounds like Gangsta's Paradise?
Deftera Ikari:

--- Quote from: Fightest on October 09, 2009, 01:35:39 PM ---Eep. Here's to hoping Remi's just getting carried away.

In other news: Onwards!

Satori Komeiji ? Satori Maiden ~ 3rd Eye

What hit me after the third or fourth playthrough of this track is that both melodies present in the piece, discounting the connecting segment at 0:26, are actually quite pleasant. I?m going to contest you here, Solais ? the melodies, taken completely by themselves, feel really quite dance-like for the first one and extremely lyrical for the second. Although they carry a slightly bitter tone, they are certainly not threatening or mindscrewy. The mindscrew is completely carried by the accompaniment and instrumentation, and is ramped up by them to immense proportions. I?ll go over the content of the melodies first, as the most interesting parts lie indeed where the mindscrew is greatest.

The first melody has many strong beats, lots of ornamentation and syncopation to emphasise those strong beats. As I said before, this smacks of a dance to me, a fast-paced, whirling dance with lots of emphasis on steps and jumps. Considering the harmonies present (and I hesitate to make the comparison due to poor familiarity), this reminds me of Middle-Eastern dance music. Whether intentional or not, these kinds of harmonies might sound alien to those unused to it, for example some of us Westerners, thus painting Satori in an unfamiliar light, something we can?t associate with. Of course, fear of the unknown is probably one of the more animalistic emotions humans (and, I guess, humanform Youkai) have, so it is probably little wonder why Satori is so feared, not even taking into account her power. Of course, this means that many won?t notice the grace with which Satori holds herself, her quiet and strong dancer?s confidence.
This last bit is more of an afterthought, but the sort of dance that this melody bears similarities to is usually danced by men, so there could be a bit of masculinity in Satori, probably most prominent in her assertiveness in her introduction dialogue, where Satori demonstrates her dominance over the characters by holding a one-sided conversation with the characters by reading their every thought.

The second melody is quite straightforward in its harmony, with few odd tones, instead going for a minor key with a few detours into major to show sadness, longing, a certain depression. The Satori shown here is probably unhappy with her current situation, whether it is because of the way she?s seen by others or due to something more ephemeral. I would say it?s simply because she?s lonely, considering her only company for the last whoever-knows-how-long are not the sharpest tools in the shed.

The accompaniment and instrumentation are what really give Satori her ?oomph?. ZUN pulls out pretty much every trick in the book to make the listener uncomfortable and the sound disconcerting. The first melody starts off with a growling bass and the harshest acoustic guitar I?ve ever heard, cymbals, of course, providing sharp accents at the most opportune times. The first melody continues, and the guitar picks up, its completely cold sound having the potential to actually scare, since it really brings a lot of attention to itself, making it sound louder than it actually is. This is another of those animalistic things that seem to permeate Satori?s repertoire ? loud, sharp, high-pitched sounds tend to quicken the pulse, pushing the listener into action. Of course, the listener has no way to actually respond other than to turn the track off, so the helplessness combines with the adrenaline rush to actually create the feeling of fear. Remember that famous track from Psycho? This is much the same effect. You?re absolutely right here, Solais ? the fear is completely internal, created by the listener himself, with nothing to really inspire it other than some loud sounds.

The second melody does much the same, except this time with a loud bass, the minor key of the melody giving it a threatening tone. Its unique contribution to the mindscrew comes in the second repetition, where the melody?s played by two trumpets in a diminished interval, one that sounds just off a pleasant regular interval, once again making the listener squirm, completely uncaring about it.

Basically, Satori seems to be a master at freaking people the hell out, demonstrated by the variety of techniques the melody employs to do so. It?s clear that she does so consciously, so I feel she?s somewhat of a bully. She might lament this from time to time, and might even show regret, so there?s quite a bit of a complex going on within her, balancing the need to assert herself versus the want to have some more varied company. A large factor that pushes people away from her is their inability to understand her, so it?s probably simply a matter of time before others get more used to her, and she stops taking advantage of their weakness.

--- End quote ---

The chorus is what made me love the song, although it does give me some kind of eerie sadness feelings, is it corresponding to what I feel in real life all the time? I think so
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