Fantasy Composition

Can you please recommend some songs you identify as fantasy songs personally so I can study the chords and see why, or if you know a common chord progression in fantasy music can you post/comment it? thanks! 

P.S. - For anyone wondering where the rest of the content here went, I've been doing a lot of studying and putting this stuff together on my own. I'm going to formally type it up somewhere and share the link when it's more or less finalized so I can get critique. 👍

P.P.S. - If you've got some mysterious magical sounding fantasy progressions I'm open to reading what you have. Until I figure it out on my own, hahaha.

EDIT/UPDATE: So here's the finished product! http://tiny.cc/gfcbykgl I'll make a post down below where I say a little about it.

Not trying to be offensive; this is a genuine question: Do you think fantasy compositions sound as such because of the chords/notes or the orchestration more?

47 minutes ago, Monarcheon said:

Not trying to be offensive; this is a genuine question: Do you think fantasy compositions sound as such because of the chords/notes or the orchestration more?

 

         @Monarcheon  I'm not a composer with a name or anything; I have not shared my music to be judged yet, and I'm sure you already know all of this already. But I just wanted let you know that I understand it as well. 

          This is something I explained in the original post. I feel that the instrumentation is the most important factor in making something feel "fantasy" like or feel like the work was from a certain place and period in time. However, playing a blues with medieval orchestration will not stop it from sounding like jazz due to the voicings (inversions + extensions used) of the chords and progressions that create certain moods and feelings. When you have something that is somewhat ambiguous chord-wise, but has 'fantasy' orchestration, you won't get an authentic fantasy feel... you'll feel a little of the fantasy and a little of whatever else may be used.

          There are certain ways we use mode-mixture, melody, ostinato, motifs, modulation, rhythmic texture, and Progressions/Cadences to create a certain type of feeling we are trying to conjure as we compose. Because of our culture, we associate certain aspects and ways of doing things in each of these categories with certain genres. And of course they overlap (Like how fantasy instrumentation (like Skyrim Elder Scrolls Theme for example) and classical instrumentation (Beethoven's 5th for example) may be the same in instrumentation but the form, feelings produced, and progressions used are very different and allow us to categorize one as classical music, and one as epic/battle/fantasy music. I feel that the melodies and chords create the feelings produced and that the chords and melody help to form and mold each other. So as I feel that I have a decent or firm understanding the other categories I am now turning my focus to the chord progressions.

         We associate certain chord progressions with certain genres as we hear them in many pieces of that genre. They might fit in all genres or maybe some genres and not others. The fact remains that it is commonly used within the genre or subgenre and it is there. If it is something that my ear hears and makes me say, "this is a fantasy piece" or "this could be a fantasy piece" in my head just by hearing the chords played straight or even arpeggiated on any instrument, then I know that progression belongs to the fantasy genre as well as others, most likely. And of course fantasy has it's subgenres like the mystery-type peices associated with magic or nature; or maybe it's calm peaceful, mellow, or 'proud' type music associated with a character, town, village, or adventure. I'm looking for chords that bring out these feelings, emotions, and relative experiences just by hearing them.

          I hope this explains my stance well enough. I'm not saying that progressions make the music, but they help make the music and they (were completely, at one time) they are what I understand least about what we associate with fantasy music and different types.

Of course, as I've said above, I made progress but I haven't completed going the the sub-genres I want to hit. So I am looking for people to give me music songs and progressions that they associate with fantasy and compare it's features [within each category] to others of the subgenre(s) I feel it fits in. This way I can determine what makes it fantasy. Thanks, and I'm still looking for more :)

http://tiny.cc/gfcbykgl 

There's the finished product. I wasn't getting any responses (well I kinda got one response) so I tried to put it together myself (I explain it all in the 'article,' I guess you could call it). 

So these past two weeks I've been trying to answer my own awkward questions. I ended up writing something like an article, doing 'research' next to a piano, laptop/youtube, and pencil/paper for a little more than a week and throwing together a little site for it in a couple days to make it look slightly more formal. I call it "A Guide to Fantasy Composition" hoping to communicate that it is only a guide that I made for myself and there can be other better ones out there. [I'm trying to say that it's no reliable work made by a professional, but it still may be helpful.] I haven't found any others yet though. In it I discuss how, through comparing and contrasting fantasy compositions, I have perceived some patterns that occur in the fantasy genre (and sub-genres) and how [I plan] to use them. I'd love some feedback to improve, and hopefully it could be helpful to some of you. Thanx!

First of all, I've got a new link with a small update at http://tiny.cc/gfckgl, so please check that out. 

4 hours ago, ilv said:

Sorry I'm late. I think a fantasy composition could be amultitude of things. I think the #1 feature is a free structure.

 

Very interesting idea. Please elaborate on that! I agree with you on that first idea 100%. Because of this I had to identify/create subgenres when addressing some parts of fantasy, but of course those are only some of the many common fantasy stereotypes and I'm still working on identifying more. 

On your second point, I'd have to agree with @Monarcheon. The #1 feature would probably be instrumentation and orchestration. This much is all over the internet (for different sub genres) so I mostly studied what I feel closely follows orchestration: harmony and voicing. [But I did just add a part on orchestration (J.Jay Berthume section)]

I tried to identify these progressions [or rather the process of making them] (as stereotypes) within sub-genres of fantasy. I'd reason that the idea of 'free structure' is actually a type of common structure within some sub-genres of fantasy. So structure could be a category much like orchestration and harmony... though every composer does things a little differently, so it would have to be pretty vague and generalized probably. Those are just my thoughts, but I may have been noncomprehending of your comment. Even if I don't completely agree I'd love to hear your opinion and explanation as it might help me grow or think about some things differently. 

But Fantasy music isn't a form. Classical music isn't a form. Dark Fantasy Music and Epic Music aren't forms. Baroque Music and Romantic Music aren't forms. I'm not sure what fantasy related forms there are, but those are forms you listed generally related to classical music as a blues is with jazz. I'm sure there is music considered classical [not as in the period but the genre] that doesn't follow a specific form. Therefor free structure only means lacking the use of a specific form which can be present in any genre as the composer sees fit; not just fantasy. So I wouldn't see it as an aspect that I'd specifically relate to fantasy.