I was hearing this very interesting video by Rick Beato and Nahre Sol about the 7 modes of the "darkest scale ever" (the double harmonic major scale):
The 7 modes are as follows (name of the mode | its degrees | notes in the key of C):
Double harmonic major | 1 - b2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - 7 - 8 | C-Db-E-F-G-Ab-B-C
Lydian #2 #6 | 1 - #2 - 3 - #4 - 5 - #6 - 7 - 8 | C-D#-E-F#-G-A#-B-C
Ultraphrygian | 1 - b2 - b3 - b4 - 5 - b6 - bb7 - 8 | C-Db-Eb-Fb-G-Ab-Bbb-C
Hungarian/Gypsy minor | 1 - 2 - b3 - #4 - 5 - b6 - 7 - 8 | C-D-Eb-F#-G-Ab-B-C
Oriental | 1 - b2 - 3 - 4 - b5 - 6 - b7 - 8 | C-Db-E-F-Gb-A-Bb-C
Ionian #2 #5 | 1 - #2 - 3 - 4 - #5 - 6 - 7 - 8 | C-D#-E-F-G#-A-B-C
Locrian bb3 bb7 | 1 - b2 - bb3 - 4 - b5 - b6 - bb7 - 8 | C-Db-Ebb-F-Gb-Ab-Bbb-C
The short pieces composed in the video sound very, very interesting for some of the modes (specifically the pieces for the double harmonic major scale, the Lydian #2 #6 mode, the Ultraphrygian mode, and the Locrian bb3 bb7 mode - the rest of the pieces in the video were not actually interesting or creative, in my opinion).
It seems to me that the composers in the above video avoided to really harmonize the pieces, and instead mostly played melodic lines comprising the notes of the scales and resorted also to a drone emphasizing the chosen tonic. But some of the pieces sounded so good for me, that I was wondering how it would be to actually harmonize these dark modes and play those scales on top of full bonafide chords.
To begin with a concrete example, I have chosen to work with the C double harmonic major scale: C-Db-E-F-G-Ab-B-C. What would be the "harmonic field" of such scale?
By thinking just on the superposition of minor or major thirds, we get the following triads and tetrads, respectively:
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C-E-G = C | C-E-Ab = C+,
Db-E-G = Db0 | Db-E-Ab = Dbm | Db-F-Ab = Db,
E-G-B = Em | E-Ab-B = E | E-Ab-C = E+ ~ C+,
F-Ab-B = F0 | F-Ab-C = Fm,
Ab-C-E = Ab+ ~ E+ ~ C+.
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C-E-G-B = C7M | C-E-Ab-B = C7M#5,
Db-E-G-B = Dbm7b5 | Db-E-Ab-B = Dbm7 | Db-F-Ab-B = Db7 | Db-F-Ab-C = Db7M,
F-Ab-C-E = Fm7M,
Ab-C-E-G = Ab7M#5.
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Curiously, there are above no chords with the tonic note on G or B. It seems unfeasible to create chords with the tonic on G or B with the notes of this scale if we choose to construct these chords by simply superposing thirds with the notes contained in the scale.
On the other hand, if we simply pick up alternate notes in this scale to construct the chords ("1-3-5" for triads and "1-3-5-7" for tetrads), the harmonic field would be, considering triads and tetrads, respectively:
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I: C-E-G = C [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
II: Db-F-Ab = Db [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
iii: E-G-B = Em [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
iv: F-Ab-C = Fm [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
Vb5: G-B-Db = G(#11) (or Bsus2/G) [ABSENT in the previous list of tertiary chords, since B-Db IS NOT A THIRD]
VI+: Ab-C-E = Ab+ [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
vii0b3: B-Db-F = Bsus2(#11) [ABSENT in the previous list of tertiary chords, since B-Db IS NOT A THIRD]
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C-E-G-B = C7M [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
Db-F-Ab-C = Db7M [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
E-G-B-Db = Em6 [ABSENT in the previous list of tertiary chords, since B-Db IS NOT A THIRD]
F-Ab-C-E = Fm7M [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
G-B-Db-F = G7(#11) (or Bsus2(#11)/G) [ABSENT in the previous list of tertiary chords, since B-Db IS NOT A THIRD]
Ab-C-E-G = Ab7M#5 [present in the previous list of tertiary chords]
B-Db-F-Ab = B6sus2(#11) (or Db7/B) [ABSENT in the previous list of tertiary chords, since B-Db IS NOT A THIRD]
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Actually, I have been unable yet to create good sounding cadences with the intended dark mood for such scale with these chords. I don't know if it is a lack of creativity from myself, or if such "exotic scales" do not harmonize well by following the above reasonings.
What do you think? Any suggestions?
Maybe someone here would be interested in creating some piece(s) with an actually decent harmonization for these dark modes and upload a video somewhere? By "decent harmonization" I mean playing actual chords and cadences (and not just a drone emphasizing the tonic) which sound good and dark, and on top of which arpeggios and the dark scales would fit well.