Creating "vibe" on purpose?

[[UEAK]Clowd]

This gets a little deeper, and perhaps a bit more emo, than just production tips so I decided to post it in off-topic.

So, I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but when I listen to music(especially certain songs) that I was really into/just came out/etc from certain times in my life, all the feelings and memories from those times come back. I'm not alone in that.... right? haha

anyway, so obviously that is a big part of the power of music.. and when I listen to my own music even if it's written about those same times, it obviously doesn't have that same power because I wasn't listening to it during that time. It's connected but it's not.

So I wonder if maybe it's possible to capture the same vibe by writing in the same keys as those songs and/or using similar chord progressions, etc?

apologies in advance for my semi-coherent ramblings haha

 

[devouredremains]

I don't think the "vibe" you are referring to can even be intentional. It just happens.

 

[jrt12]

very cool question... and thats one of the things i love about music, the power to take you back to that moment/emotion/event.

i'd have to give it more thought, but i think its more than just chord progression/key. i think most important would be the performance, the emotion captured in that recording. i think thats what hits home and speaks to you.

i think of the simplicity of tracks like "Roads" by Portishead or the energy Axl gives in "Welcome to the Jungle" and think that if anyone else had done those very songs, i wouldnt still love them to this day.

 

[GarethSE]

a lot of my stuff takes my back to certain periods of my life

my last metal band about 2 years ago, we had a few tracks up and blah blah blah
i was at the bottom of this pit of depression at the time, and i'd just learnt how to scream, and it sounded fucking awful, but i recorded vocals for one of the tracks and you can just hear that im really not a happy bunny, takes me back to that time period every time whether i like it or not.

 

[DanLights]

yeah watching old videos of me playing when 16/17 with my crappy old metalcore band really takes me back to those days, and I start remembering all the good/great/awesome/shitty times I had when I was that young. As said above, I don't think that vibe can be done intentionally at all

 

[Yhanthlei]

Basically that's simple psychology, that's called classical conditioning...
When get exposed to two stimuli simultaniously (first the situation, feelings whatever, second the music)
they get connected. From then on exposure to the second stimulus (music) evokes the same
reaction as the first stimulus (the situation).

About intentionally recreating this "vibe": I forgot how it's called, but it has beend proven that different stimuli,
as long as they are similar to the original, conditioned stimulus, evoke the same reaction, but not as strong.
This means, similar chord progressions, similar sounds could reproduce these vibes, but there had
to be a strong connection in the first place

I hope that's not to confusing ^^
Never thought those countless hours of psychology in school would ever be remotely useful again