Decoding the Music of The Matrix

this video is brought to you by viewers like you thanks for getting me to 500 thousand subs which honestly I have no idea what to say thank you I have it on record saying that I never thought I'd ever get to a hundred thousand subs and that I felt like I was peeking back then now I meant half a million and I need a paper bag to help me write my scripts so just thank you so much but in the time between having zero subs and having more subscribers than the population of Malta I've had a lot of people ask me what I look for in a film score like what I would qualify as a quote-unquote good film score and to be honest it's a really tough question to explain without a really good example so what I'd like to show you is the music in the Matrix films composed by dawn Davis who's writing credits include but are not limited to turbulence - fear of flying house on Haunted Hill and Jurassic Park 3 and subsequently analyzed in a doctoral dissertation by Christopher Heckman back in 2018 the Matrix trilogy is kind of my go-to example for a film score that I think is doing it right and although I've seen some other videos out there talking about the matrix and even talking about some of the music I haven't found anybody going into what makes them music in these films so amazing so uh hold on to your hats cuz this rabbit hole goes deep part one light motifs okay so I'm gonna be honest I've been staring at my computer screen for a couple hours now and I'm three cups of coffee to trying to figure out how the hell I'm gonna start this cuz it's really really complicated okay so like because it's me and it's my schtick and it's gotten me this far I think that the light motifs or the musical themes of the film are a good place to start but the thing is that just looking at the melodies like the theme music or whatever you want to call it like we might do with another film to be honest that's some weenie hut jr. stuff compared to what The Matrix has to offer like yeah there is this main idea for the matrix and Agent Smith gets a light motif and Trinity gets this love theme there's some music for when neo flies there's one for squiddy's but trying to say that just looking at the melody is missing the point it's like trying to say that henry cavill wearing leather pants in the witcher made it difficult to focus its a massive understatement like okay if we have to start somewhere then just look right here this is Trinity's theme it also doubles as neo and Trinities love theme which like let's just sidestep how awkward it is that her sole purpose is to like fall in love with me and I like I get it her name is Trinity she brings the Trinity together but yeah so pay attention to what we get the first time they really talk to each other we hear this because you have been down there okay and that's barely noticeable it's so quiet and subtle but listen to what happens every time we hear it it's awkward to just play it back to back but see if you can pick up on what's happening [Music] I'm thinking Miami for thinking this how that matters to dance [Music] my chance with each continuous statement of the love theme or Trinity's theme whatever you want to call it it grows we get more development we hear more of it this climaxes during Trinity's death scene its final statement is when it's the most complete this theme is something that Davis built from the very beginning to grow and develop he purposefully left their love theme open-ended so it could grow over three films just like their relationship it isn't just some static thing it grows over time it's this organic breathing thing in the world of the matrix their love theme develops as their relationship develops so that's cool but it's barely scratching the surface part two instrumentation so while using instruments to represent certain characters and themes in a story isn't exactly groundbreaking see Peter the wolf it's really important to understand how Davis uses instrumentation to amplify the story on top of utilizing all kinds of crazy instruments like bowed nylon string or Styrofoam cup and a prepared piano and the Illumina phone which I didn't even know existed a lot of a bunch of really out there auxilary percussion instruments Davis layers a lot of metallic percussion instruments on top of each other to create these intense percussive moments that emulate the lumbering oppressive machine that has taken over the world Davis calls these punctuating percussive moments piledrivers [Music] but to contrast those metallic and dredge like sounds that might sound alien to most general audiences Davis uses the most human sound imaginable to represent the human struggle the voice every time you hear a voice it's a call for humanity it's the humans fighting back against the machine we are grown a really great example of this is when neo gets unplugged from the matrix we hear individual voices when he sees the other pods [Music] but we hear a massive choir when he sees the entire power plant those human voices serve as an instrumental light motif for humanity's fight throughout the entire series which helps make the final scene of the final film that much more amazing this track titled neo Dameron is a reference to vogner's go toward a meringue or the twilight of the Gods which was the end of vogner's Ring cycle which ended in the exact same way the Matrix trilogy ends with this cycle repeating itself ergo the Ring cycle its Neos Twilight neo Dameron as The Matrix resets itself on top of that this piece is written in Sanskrit which when it comes to film's ending with an epic choral piece with lyrics written in Sanskrit you kind of get the vibe that someone was listening to a lot of John Williams [Music] but unlike Williams who just picked random Sanskrit words because he thought they sounded good which Davis on the other hand specifically set texts from the Pavan maha-mantra introduced in the apana shot translated the choruses singing lead us from untruth to truth lead us from darkness to light lead us from death to immortality peace peace peace in the final battle where neo has to defend all of humanity pelted by rain that looks like code from the matrix is falling all around him it sounds like neo has every human voice behind him in this fight which if that isn't the sickest thing you've ever heard then I don't know it is I absolutely love this piece of music but and I know I'm referencing the wrong film here we need to go deeper we aren't even close to the fun stuff part three tonality okay so here's where it's going to start to get kind of complicated if you aren't up on your music theory so good luck because this part really threw me for a loop when I first read it in Heckman's dissertation if you're listening really crazy super closely you'll notice that all the vocal lines are diatonic while a lot of the non vocal music tends to be chromatic a great example of that again is when yo gets unplugged from the matrix bunch of chromaticism for the machines but Big D minor chord that's completely diatonic when we want to represent the humans I'm not gonna leave you high and dry what does diatonic and chromatic mean well diatonic more or less means the notes that you find in a major scale that doesn't literally mean a major but any scale with this specific pattern it's when you have a scale that has a half-step two whole steps a half step and three whole steps in that order if you end up using these notes and only these notes then you're looking at something diatonic chromatic on the other hand is using all twelve notes in the octaves so a chromatic scale is literally playing all the notes all half steps that's chromatic so if you match the keyboard that's chromatic but if you play something in a key signature then that's diatonic now I can already see an army of theory nerds telling me that I'm wrong and that I'm missing certain details here and there but the truth is that we have a lot to go through and if you're hoping that I'm somehow gonna be able to explain every single nuance of all the theory that goes into these films in a way that makes sense thank God have mercy on your soul so when Davis is using music that uses a diatonic scale it represents humanity but when he's using music that comes from the chromatic scale it represents the machines so when it comes to how Davis expresses the human versus machine conflict it isn't just the instrumentation but also the tonality or the diatonic versus chromatic scales that he uses to communicate who's doing what or who's winning whatever's happening so Trinities light motif is very diatonic this final statement is in I think c-sharp minor' she's human and this relationship is very human and having a relationship is a very human thing to do and it's solidly built within that diatonic framework I just can't get enough of this theme it's just so it's just perfect but listen is something that we get for the machines [Music] [Applause] marveled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to a it's very chromatic it's a bunch of notes that don't really stick into one key signature at a time you might not be able to pick out that it's specifically chromatic if your ear isn't up to snuff but it still might sound more chaotic or dissonant as opposed to something more consonant like Trinity's theme but the best demonstration of all that chromaticism that we get from the machines is agent Smith's light motif [Music] see it uses three notes all half steps apart see look if these notes were like this a half step and a whole step apart then it could be chromatic or diatonic but by having these three notes all half steps apart agent Smith's light motif uses the smallest amount of information possible to secure itself in the chromatic scale to be clear agent Smith's light motif is the most efficient way to communicate that he is with the machines while having no wasted information just like a machine a Sentinel for every man woman and child in Zion that sounds exactly like the thinking of a machine to me like I said just trying to look at the melodies here is really missing the point so what Davis does in general is that he uses these two scales to convey what's happening in the film with these minimalist techniques and textures so like right here when agent Smith's shoots neo and seems to have one Davis layers every note in the octave on top of one another so he ends up with this giant chord with all 12 notes from the chromatic scale the machines have one so they have every note from their scale all playing at once but right here when neo defeats Smith it's a very similar structure but instead of layering notes from the chromatic scale he layers all seven notes from a diatonic scale in this case it's this D Aeolian pyramid because Neil represents all of humanity and he's the one winning the fight so we get the complete human scale but what that does is that it gives Davis a brand new technique for developing massive amounts of tension in a score in this really subtle an almost subconscious way here are two scenes that Heckman's specifically draws attention to listen to what we get when the agents are interrogating Morpheus and listen to what's happening when Trinity learns how to fly a helicopter two things I feel saturated by it operator I need a pilot in both of these instances they're repeating figures that utilize major in minor seconds or half steps and whole steps in a way where they obfuscate whether we're in a diatonic or chromatic sonority these repeating figures are built in a way where they sit right in between the humans and the machines it's impossible to tell who's gonna win it because the music is right in the middle where's the line between a human and a machine when you can upload data into someone's brain is Morpheus the human going to resist the agents or is he gonna break down and become a part of the machine world we don't know what's gonna happen or who's gonna win and that's what the music emphasizes but here's where things get really interesting part for poly cords just like I said there's a specific like light motif for the matrix this is the closest thing the matrix gets to having a main theme or a main idea for example it plays all over the title screens but this isn't really a theme it's barely a motif it's two chords being played on top of one another one major one minor when you play two chords on top of each other it's called a poly cord poly meaning many a chord meaning well you know chord if you don't know what a chord is this videos totally got you lost but what's so interesting about this major minor poly chord motif is that a major chord in a minor chord are always inversions of one another which is a big deal because the matrix has this recurring visual motif of reflections neo can see himself in the reflection of the window while the rain looks like the code in the matrix Morpheus wears sunglasses that reflect the red and blue pills when they start defeating agents Trinity flies a helicopter into a mirrored skyscraper building effectively destroying the reflection and when neo is pulled out of the matrix that he literally contacts his image in a mirror and the steam of reflection is more or less the entire discussion of the film series what if who you thought you were the image of yourself you see in the mirror wasn't actually what you were the reflection here is that there's the real version of you and then there's the matrix version of you each a reflection of the other so when we hear a major and minor chord played on top of one another it's a musical exploration of the central theme of the film like check it out let's use this handy-dandy clock diagram you don't know what that is I have a whole video on it go check it out okay so look this is e minor and this is C major and when you play them on top of each other you can see how they're symmetrical they reflect on to one another but the cool thing about a major in a minor chord is that any two chords where one is major in one is minor will always be symmetrical so if we look at those a minor and C major chords again Heckman explains that the main idea for the matrix this symmetrical poly chord figure mirrors the central theme of reflection the chords are reflections of one another just like neo in the matrix but you ain't seen nothing yet part five Polly rhythms Polly rhythms and when you play a bunch of different rhythms together Polly means a lot rhythm means I'm honestly probably going to fail that class so whenever Neil mentions that he's the one we get this light motif [Applause] the main melodic idea is triadic which comes from the diatonic scale because neo is the one the savior of humanity but the supporting structures appear in multiple different instances of duple and triple meter why because neo is the one he can literally perceive the world on multiple different levels he is the savior of humanity that can seem multiple levels of reality we're hitting the point we're looking at the written score starts to feel like we're looking at code from the matrix there's way too much information that decode the matrix you get used to it I don't even see the code but that isn't even close to what Davis does with polyrhythms this scene where Neos getting pulled from the matrix just buckle up okay it starts with eighth note triplets against sixteenth notes it's three against four neo is in two realities the matrix and the real world so there are two different rhythms going on at the same time it's a poly rhythm we then start this passage that shifts between eighth notes and four three quadruplets because neo is phasing in and out of these two different realities once the mirror starts traveling up his arm we get a very similar pattern to Neil discovering that he's the one he's getting eights against Force Recon triplets and sixteenth notes but as the trace program locks on a Neil's position the different poly rhythms phase in and out of one another until Davis purposefully augments in diminutive diminution okay diminutive Isis because sure that's a word Davis messes with the rhythms until they all come together because the trace signal has locked onto Neil's position the poly rhythms and how Davis manipulates them are literally in sync with what's happening with the programs in the story as they find Neos real-life body and all his finishes with Neil's voice the most human instrument becoming digitized as he realizes his true self [Music] are you having fun yet huh are you feeling it now mr. cats because we aren't even close to the best part yet part six seven there's a scene where Neela standing under an overpass waiting for Morpheus when we hear this track now I didn't confirm all this for myself but I'm just trusting Heckman's word at this point because there been multiple points where his dissertation has made me feel like I'm in the tunnel from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory the score to this film is just unbelievable honestly I've lost faith in a lot of people now that I know that this score exists and so few people are talking about it so while not polyrhythmic the astana tea or repeating figures in this scene or repeating in units of seven with each instrument or motive excel in canon each seven times slower than the last every aspect of this specific musical moment works to preserve some permutation of the number seven but why because apparently and I quote in numerology the number seven resonates with the energy of seeking answers in finding truth this is the scene where Neil's going out and searching for the truth seeking out Morpheus so he can get answers so seven it's seven yup but now here's where it gets really good part seven serialism so this is where I absolutely lost it okay so that sounds like a lot of chaos I get it what we're hearing is a technique called serialism so the idea was serialism is that you have to play every single note in the octave before you can repeat any note no single note gets any emphasis whatsoever which is exactly what Arnold Schoenberg the creator of twelve-tone technique intended he called this technique the emancipation of dissonance when every single note has equal usage and emphasis there is no consonants or dissonance it's the musical equivalent of syndrome and with everyone super no one will be so the thing is that was serialism the artistry and technique comes from how you utilize these patterns of notes or tone rows if I have this tone row I could play it upside down which is called inversion I can play it backwards which is called retrograde or I can play it backwards and upside down which is called retrograde inversion and each of these transformations can be transposed which means I can move it up or down a certain number of notes and so we represent these transformations with AP for prime or the original tone row I for inversion are for retrograde and RI for retrograde inversion then we put a little number next to it to show the transposition or how many notes away from the original our new row has moved so I could play my tone row upside down and backwards five semitones above where it started and we call that RI v if you're lost then good it means you're human this is as advanced as music theory gets before you start talking about set theory and carry analysis just straight up inventing your own tuning systems but when you have all these permutations of a tone row you can arrange them in is twelve by twelve grid that outlines everything that's going on and we call this twelve by twelve grid that arranges all of our tone rows a matrix this pun is not beyond Heckman who not only explains the pun but also worked out the matrix for the matrix so this is what Dave is used for the first film and believe it or not that's not the most impressive part about all this so Heckman's dissertation only covers the first film but in looking up what people had to say about the matrix I found this video by wisecrack talking about why reloaded the second film sucked and it's really great go check it out because I can't cover all of what they go into right here but the central thrust of it was that the first film was really good because it presented all these philosophical ideas in a mono myth form it's the hero's journey Luke Skywalker spider-man Simba Frodo you get it that stuff's been on the internet for years now but that means that with Jesus powers the second film ends up sucking because there's nowhere for neo to go so the way that they sidestep all that is by saying that neo becoming the war and getting all the powers of the one is predetermined by the matrix because it's a part of how the matrix resets itself in short wisecrack goes into how this film is all about determinism a philosophical idea that states that there really isn't any kind of freewill if you know what's happened in the past you'll know what happens in the future determinism loosely believes that through cause and effect every moment in the future is dictated by a moment in the past think of it like watching dominoes fall if you know which domino falls first you can be certain which one falls next and on and on and on until the end if you know where you are and what has happened in the past then you'll know what's gonna happen in the future and this is how they justify a computer program being able to effectively predict the future the Oracle can't actually see into the future she just knows what's already happened and can therefore predict what's going to happen she just connects the dots faster than anyone else her existence is proof of deterministic ideals once you set a series of events in motion there's no stopping it and so long as you pay attention you'll know what's gonna happen which is exactly what happens in Syria list compositions as soon as you hear your first note you can already predict that it's going to be one of the four permutations of your tone Rho prime inverted retrograde or retrograde inverted so going back to the Matrix Davis used for the matrix outlined in Heckman's dissertation if we hear an f-sharp for example we know that we're either gonna hear Prime 2 inversion 2 retrograde 10 or retrograde inversion 6 and once you have your second note you're basically guaranteed to know exactly what tone row you're looking at it's like if we saw a melodic line starting with an f-sharp and then we heard an e we would know that Davis is using in version 2 it's kind of like Sudoku from hell but that means that more or less as soon as the music starts you know what's gonna happen you know what tone row the composer is selected it's just a matter of watching them play all the notes in order and figuring out why they chose that tone row how can I make a choice because you didn't come here to make the choice you've already made it you're here to try to understand why you made it partly I can't even i-i've barely touched on anything from this score let alone the scores to the other two films we haven't talked about basically any of the harmonic devices the use of the death theme or how Davis uses D minor is use of brass to symbolize heroism the octatonic scale or literally any of the electronic instruments all of which is clearly and concisely explained in Heckman's dissertation it's at the top of the description for this video please going give it a click there's just so much going on here I'm honestly at a loss for words and before I see a bunch of people in the comments section saying things like oh just because it's complicated doesn't automatically make it better sure I get that but the thing is that by utilizing all these theory structures that are way outside which you might see in a traditional Williams or Zimmer esque film score Davis has offered himself a wider range and more dynamic palette to paint with when it comes to the music in these films the sad moments become sadder the action scenes become more bombastic those moments of tension communicates so much more than just how tense that scene is the thing I absolutely love about this film score is how much it pushes the boundaries of what music can accomplish in a film a film mind you they gave the internet the best fart joke of all time you think that's air you're breathing now and the fact that this score didn't win every award Under the Sun is keeping me up at night it didn't even get nominated for Best Score it won best sound and best sound effects but it wasn't even nominated for Best Score having said that all three films won the BMI film Music Awards so I guess that's something but in a weird way not winning all the musical awards on the planet kinda makes me feel a little bit more excited about analyzing film scores I'm not entirely sure how something this amazing flew under the radar for so long and I'm guess I'm guilty as well I never thought to revisit the matrix and break it down I have a difficult time transcribing film scores nowadays because I have deadlines to meet and if I don't really have some evidence that score does something that I can talk about in a video I can't always justify spending a week transcribing a film for myself so if it wasn't for Heckman's dissertation I never would have found one of my favorite film scores I can't imagine how frustrated someone like Davis must feel putting all this work into a film and not even getting nominated he'll not even being a household name like John Williams or Hans Zimmer it feels unfair but if all I ever get to do with my channel is try to act like a megaphone for people who put the hard work into both writing and analyzing music that really pushes the boundaries of how music can tell a story well then all I have to say is here's to half a million thanks guys thanks for watching our patrons for making these videos possible the very special thank you to a liqueur Kowski Alex clinker always posh captain Casey Christian Clara tan Darrin Algren Elise and Thomas Constantine google it Hayden Elsa I want you to tell me if my fear is justified that no one will pay attention to me if I'm honest about my addiction to ice cream Jacob stylist Jordan Adams Julianne Du Bois Karin Rosa now Kate J Kim Caleta Mike Visnjic myth flick Zdenek I hope I'm saying that right Myron Jon - Taryn Nicholas Coen Noah gray pray Locke Rick Osborne and Who am I also thanks to everybody who asked me to talk about the matrix or just who generally asked me about what I look forward to film score in general I guess if you like I just I hear be sure to subscribe and check out my other videos follow me on Twitter and twitch to have your musical questions answered live and if you really like what I'm doing then consider supporting the channel on patreon but that's I got for now thanks for watching neo Dameron is better than tool of fates prove me wrong

Channel: Sideways

Views: 450,633

Rating: 4.9738922 out of 5

Keywords: Matrix, Neo, Morpheus, Trinity, Reloaded, Revolutions, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, Davis, Don Davis, Heckman, Serialism, Tone Rows, Inversion, Retrograde, Retrograde Inversion, Polychords, Polyrhythms, Tonality, Leitmotif, The Matrix, Reflection, Neodammerung, Gotterdammerung

Id: HhRjn_jpQxk

Length: 23min 28sec (1408 seconds)

Published: Sun May 31 2020

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[u/meseeks65]

Really good video. Makes me appreciate The Matrix even more

[u/wolfman92]

Lost it at: "Part 6: 7"

[u/JWWBurger]

I AM HARVEY, A COMPUTER. JIM SUCKS.

[u/GenocideSolution]

You read only the title and the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.

You watch the whole video and you stay in music-theoryland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.