[rstark]

What are some of the most popular music scales and modes for acid techno or dark techno type music?

[chasedobson]

minor pentatonic might be a good starting point.

[Derpgerpwalrus]

1+ on minor pentatonic. I'd also just recommend playing with any minor scales to get that darker feel. I don't write acid, but Locrian could be really interesting for the genre.

[Oatbag]

Acid isn't just using random whatever on a 303 and hoping for the best?

[jbvdb493]

Originally Posted by Oatbag

Acid isn't just using random whatever on a 303 and hoping for the best?

You beat me to it, I was going to say it's probably in the key of trial and error on a 303.

[White Noise]

Don't write off major pentatonic either though, I used it like twice before I stumbled onto the arpeggio from Aerodynamic (by Daft Punk). That was neat. When in doubt, Cmaj is easy to work in, just get rid of that third and throw in a 7th or a 9th and it can get interesting pretty quick.

[Oldskooltekno]

Most acid techno and pscyh trance scales are based on the Phrygian scale .Just got to any scale and flatten the 2nd 3rd 6th and 7th degrees and you will have acid.

Also dont forget to add some portamento and some slide and delay.

[-Agu-]

Originally Posted by Oldskooltekno

Most acid techno and pscyh trance scales are based on the Phrygian scale .Just got to any scale and flatten the 2nd 3rd 6th and 7th degrees and you will have acid.

Also dont forget to add some portamento and some slide and delay.

Not exactly interested in acid/psytrance, but definitely gonna try this out.

[Failsafe]

Try phrygian dominant mode, or just choose a scale and bang a few accidentals in there. I really think a lot of acid is based around this.

[liquid_air]

I may be wrong, but much of what I recall passing as acid sounds a lot like Cm with ostinatos based on whole octave shifts. Following this simple approach I generally get fairly convincing acid basslines.

Cmajor and Aminor scales probably cover 80% of Techno and it's predecessors.

[brb]

You have to make a loop then take the batteries out very briefly to make the sequence glitch.