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Death Note news articles

Uncommon Time in Death Note Music

17/3/2014

17 Comments

 
Death Note original soundtrack cover
I don't pretend to be a musician, or to understand musical notation. But I know a man who does.

Composer Robin B was looking at the scores for Death Note anime music. He found something very interesting in the signature of Wammy House alumni themes. They're all in uncommon time.

Common time, as the name suggests, accounts for the majority of music out there. It's the 4/4 rhythm that underlines practically every song you ever heard. That beat overwhelmingly dominates the popular download charts, and all other tracks besides.

The Death Note theme songs, plus Light's Theme, Misa's Song, Fuan and all of the themes associated with the shinigamis are in 4/4 throughout.

But it is not present in the themes of L, Near and Mello.

There the common time signature of four beats to a bar disappears under a riot of changing rhythms. It happens with such a regularity that barely two bars ever match the same beat. The Wammy House themes are ALL in uncommon time.


L's Theme begins by sampling Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, which itself was created in uncommon time. That accounts for the latter's beautifully eerie ambiance, as used to such good effect in The Exorcist.

Apparently Hidecki Taniuchi - who composed this and all the Wammy House themes - was told to wrote something akin to Tubular Bells for L. He began with a direct lifting of the opening bars, then developed those in a different direction to represent L.

The uncommon time signature starts at 7/8 (or 14/16), then alternates each bar with another at 6/8 (or 13/16), until it reaches the chorus. Suddenly we're in familiar territory with 4/4 (indicating L solving a case?), before it scoots off again into 7/8.


Death Note L's Theme sheet music
L's Theme chorus continues to swap 4/4 and 7/8 for every bar, until returning again to alternating 7/8 and 6/8 for the verses. As demonstrated in the sheet music published on Ichigo.com.

This exact time signature is repeated in Near's Theme.
There is little doubt that Hidecki Taniuchi wanted us to musically consider Near to be L's successor.  Their beats are identical, until Near's flies off onto a different rhythm for a single bar.

You're hearing here an alternating pattern for each measure of 6/8, 7/8, 6/8 then BAM 8/8. Songsterr has helpfully provided the sheet music for Near's Theme to demonstrate this.
Death Note Near's Theme sheet music
Two other versions available online are transcribed arrangements for piano. Jill-Jênn Vie's version smooths it out into 27/16 time, though she explained in her notes that the meter should be 13/16 and 14/16 alternating.  Ilana-san adapted Near's Theme for duet and also opted to set the time signature as 27/16, until the chorus, where it switches to 4/4.

Two Wammy's House kids and so far, so musically identical.

So what about Mello the second of L's successors, and the only other genius detective to have a bespoke theme? 
Considering that he is Death Note's rebel extraordinaire, a Chaotic Good character who consorts with the Mafia, his theme starts surprisingly prosaic.

In short, it's nearly in Common Time. Good old 4/4, with the only remarkable feature being that it alternates with 3/4 (aka 6/8). Those 6/8 bars have been seen in both L and Near's Death Note themes, and could be accordingly viewed as the time signature pattern for Wammy's House.

Once again, I've lifted the tab score from Songsterr. This is how Mello's Theme begins.
Death Note Mello's Theme sheet music
But then, around the 1.47 minute mark, Mello's Theme goes off on one. It starts there at 4/4, switches back to 3/4, 4/4, 3/4, then suddenly stays at 3/4 for several bars until finding 4/4 again.

My friend Richard Mak just looked at the tabs and told me that this is extremely weird. Songs usually stay with one measure per bar throughout the piece. They don't alternate like this, and they certainly don't soar off into 3/4 for several bars before coming back to the same unusual pattern.

The 3/4 isn't precisely the same as the 6/8 prevalent in the other two detective themes, but it's close enough. It links Mello, at his most musically rebellious, straight back into the Wammy House stable.

These Uncommon Time signatures are so strange as to not be coincidental. Hidecki Taniuchi knew precisely what he was doing.

Edit: I've now added the Death Note music soundtracks to our goodies section.




17 Comments
Alexhliel
17/3/2014 07:28:48

That certainly is interesting, i never thought to actually look at all three of the music sheets and compare *and not in that detail* Though since i used to play L and Near themes on the keyboard you think i'd have noticed something <_<

Reply
Matti
17/3/2014 07:38:21

I didn't know that you are a musician! I wonder what else is lurking in the scores? Please report back if you find anything.

Reply
Alexhliel
17/3/2014 07:42:41

Hahahah definitely not a musician but i like to dabble. I still have my dads acoustic guitar and my clarinet. I would have gotten more into them if id had the time. And i will have to actually take a good look at the scores, but if this was already found i doubt I will find anything else. Best left to more qualified XD

Julian Shively
20/12/2016 13:23:16

I've been obsessed with counting the themes and I've found that if you count both L and N's theme in 3 then it works out to be 9 measures of 3/4 beats

Reply
Matti
17/3/2014 07:56:57

There's still one major query out there. Matt is the other known Wammy House alumni. He didn't get his own theme, but there's a piece of music only ever played during his car chase.

It's called 'Action'. I couldn't find any sheet music for it, so I couldn't check if it too disdains Common Time for that Uncommon Time Wammy House signature 6/8 or 3/4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLq_JDitfi8

Reply
Robin B link
17/3/2014 11:07:56

I have checked it out, and it seems to me as a regular 4/4 beat.

Reply
Matti
17/3/2014 13:23:49

Nice one! Thank you for listening to it for us!

This means either:

a) I'm wrong about the 6/8 (3/4) denoting a Wammy House kid;
b) 'Action' isn't Matt's Theme. (It's never been officially stated that it is. That's a fandom designation.)
c) Tsugumi Ohba never told Hidecki Taniuchi that Matt came from Wammy's House.

Reply
Robin B link
17/3/2014 11:10:32

^ that was a reaction to matti's comment about the song called "action"

Reply
Matti
17/3/2014 13:24:26

Got it! And thanks again for the heads up on time signatures in Death Note tunes. :D

Reply
Trish K.
18/3/2014 01:27:30

Near's, Light's and L's themes are played in standard tuning (E), while Mello's is in drop D, more often used in rock songs.

Reply
Matti
18/3/2014 05:02:56

Like I said above, I don't know too much about music, so this is a new one on me. Thanks for the heads up!

Reply
Trish K.
18/3/2014 06:22:52

You're welcome :) Generally, it's a more hassle, I don't like retuning my guitar and I had to do it for Mello's theme. But then, it's a great melody, so it was fun to play it :)

Alexhliel
18/3/2014 07:28:23

See, better left off to those who know more than me hahaha

Reply
Matti
18/3/2014 07:38:44

Loving your work anyway!

Reply
Matti
18/3/2014 07:39:39

To Trish - Ah! That explains precisely what you meant by having to tune to the music. I thought it was that, but it's good to have it confirmed.

Reply
orangepunch
19/3/2014 19:41:57

This is so interesting!!

Reply
Matti
20/3/2014 03:28:37

I know! Just proves that it's always good to cast fresh eyes over the most familiar things.

Reply



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