Definition

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The Epic pattern is a set of auditory cues that indicate large sound sources. Humans and animals use a consistent set of acoustic features to predict the size and distance of unseen sound sources. Given that big animals and people are generally stronger and more dangerous, listeners are especially sensitive to cues indicating a large size. The more abruptly artists introduce epic cues into their music, and the more artists intensify the unique features that distinguish them, the more likely audiences are to experience chills.

Mechanism

The Epic pattern works by tricking our auditory system for guessing the size of unseen objects. Humans and animals use an acoustic feature called tonal volume to estimate the size of a sound source. Tonal volume is different from loudness or decibel level; it’s a combination of resonance and pressure at certain lower frequencies. You know it when you hear it – tonal volume is the “space filling” attribute of a sound. 

Technique #1: Entrances of high-tonal volume timbres

Technique #2: High tonal volume via many unison sound sources

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The second Epic technique involves many unison instruments or voices sounding in unison (to borrow an anecdote from frisson expert David Huron, this is why orchestras use 30 violins instead of one amplified to 30x loudness). In chills-inducing passages, the most reliable ways we see artists pull this off are:

• Mass vocals: where an artist features a large choir, audience singing at a live concert, or crowd-sourced online projects featuring hundreds of singers each recorded separately, typically sounding slow passages with several prominent holds that enable the singers to adjust to each other and align into one cohesive sound

• Unison ensemble: where an artist features a symphony orchestra or expanded brass or percussion sections with doubled or tripled parts playing in unison, typically during slow legato passages or simple, vamped rhythms to facilitate the players blending their sounds and maximizing tonal volume

• “Wall of sound” production techniques: where an artist features many overlaid takes or layered tracks of a single timbre (e.g., Enya’s producer often layers her voice 30 times in a single track) to mimic the effect of many unison sound sources and achieve high tonal volume

Technique #3: Textures conducive to high-tonal volume

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The third Epic technique involves certain uses of counterpoint and orchestration to boost tonal volume. In chills-inducing passages, the most reliable ways we see artists pull this off are:

• Build-ups over an ostinato: where an artist uses a repeating, non-functional progression without a clear tonal center as a lattice on which to layer more and more timbres, which can cultivate an immersive form of listening that focuses audiences on the sonority of the expanding texture

• Unison “motor” rhythms: where an artist uses a fast, propulsive melody with syncopation that stresses downbeats, limited pitch range, and many repeated notes (usually in the leading-toneless minor mode), typically reinforced with parallel voice leading and active accompaniment to cultivate a listener perception of the music as one large, cohesive, well-balanced sonic unit in motion

• Inflexible bass line against complex counterpoint: where an artist contrasts a slow, severe, repeating bass line against active lead lines sounding expressive inversions and suspensions (typically on strings or voices in minor mode), which can make listeners feel a sense of intense “struggle” within the texture  

Technique #4: Large harmonic “distances”

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The fourth Epic technique involves sudden shifts between “distant” chromatic harmonies (far apart on the circle of fifths or with few shared notes), which Western artists have consistently chosen to represent large objects and distances. In chills-inducing passages, the most reliable ways we see artists pull this off are:

• Direct modulation to a distant chord: where an artist features an abrupt chromatic mediant modulation (e.g. I-bIII, I-bVI), “far fifth” transformation (e.g. i-IV), or tritone transpositions (e.g. I-bV), typically embellished with wide voicings, high-tonal volume instruments, and dynamics

• “Valving” or cycling between distant chords: where an artist repeatedly alternates between two chords that are far apart chromatically (e.g. I-bV-I-bV-I), or cycles through multiple distant chords, typically placed at the beginning of a song or an exposed section to signal that this unusual movement is intentional 

• Certain upward leaps to major chords in a minor mode: where an artist features a step-wise melody in a minor key that sets up a large, upward leap at the climax of a phrase to a major chord (usually i-VI but also i-V, i-VII), typically embellished with high-tonal volume timbres and sparse arrangements to focus listeners on the melody

Technique #5: Reverb, delay, and echo

Listen to examples below ▾

The fifth Epic technique involves reverb (our ear associates ambient reverberations with big sounds because sounds from distant sources have to be loud to reach us and tend to hit many reflective surfaces as they travel). In chills-inducing passages, the most reliable ways we see artists pull this off are:

• Reverb added to impulse sound sources: where an artist features a prominent plucked guitar note, drum hit, or piano chord mid-phrase but adds heavy reverb after the onset of the note, which is especially jarring because these timbres tend to decay immediately without the added reverb effects

• Sequences featuring naturally reverberant timbres: where an artist features gongs, crotales, piano or tubular chimes with pedal down, humming choir, or pads that achieve a similar effect, typically placed at the start of a song or section and paired with short rhythmic values to create an overall “wash” of sound

• Sustained delay and echo effects: where an artist suddenly applies an echo effect to a key note in lead vocals, or has a second player repeatedly echo an instrumental entrance on a half-beat or full-beat delay, typically during a prominent climax, resolution, or transition moment to draw listener attention to the effect