the underlying parabola

[hawthorne]

The first 5 songs of Lateralus (xcluding Mantra) are in the key of D or some derivation of it.

The last 5 are in D as well, (xcluding Faaip)

The 3 in the middle, I believe, are in some form of the key of E.

E is one whole step above D
so the keys of the album form a "y=-" parabola.

E

D D In the realm of Tool there is no coincidence.

(if I have misspoke or misheard please correct me all you fluent music speakers.)

[yllwcrystlstr]

keys are sometimes hard to determine...i dont remember music theory too much and it is 'theory'. But for many rock songs, you could determine the key based on the most-repeated chord, or the first chord of the chord progression. This may not be 'correct' according to theory but I dont care.
Tracks 1-5 are 'in' the key of D. But with Parabol/a, its hard to determine, especially if you use my way of doing it. It could be either E or D, most likely D. And dont forget, D is in the E minor scale and E is in the D minor scale. Thats one of the most confusing things about determining keys.
Reflection could be in the key of B minor, and Triad is based around an E5, so I dont think this is too accurate. But the basic idea is very good, and I think if it was changed somehow it would work. How, I dont know. Tool usually is in the key of D so maybe not Key. Something about notes though...or maybe tempo/time signature?

[RNS]

ok, in terms of guitar on the album, lets clear this up once and for all. Tool as a rule usually tune down to D ( D A D G B E ), all of Lateralus is played in D, with the only exception being Parabole which is in E for the guitar. PARABOLA is definitely in D, listen to the guitar part in the chorus, it's in D, it's much too deep and heavy sounding to be played in E.

I really don't think there's any underlying reason for this , apart from that Adam Jones writes riffs in D, cos they sound heavy and thats the way he likes it.

But nice idea about the maths thing.

[the reverend]

Parabola isnt in D.
It is a fucked up Low-B tuning or some shit.

[hawthorne]

i've always determined key in my little ignorant fashion of seeing which notes sound good. So you can resonate a D and E, respectively, without it sounding too dissonant.

i'm actually more interested in the idea itself than in whether or not it works out.

[hism]

Parabola is played in the key of E min.

Some seem to be confusing the key and the tuning of the guitar.

If you're talking about what the guitar is tuned to when playing it - B/E.

[ObviousParadox]

everything is in drop d except for parabola in drop b/e...

[Parable]

If you want to study what Parabola means to the song, I suggest you look at the tuning. That's just my theory. As far as keys go, the middle of Schism is in Amin, just a dominant move from Dmin. Reflection is definitely in Bmin. And Parabol/a is in Emin. Disposition is actually in E. The rest of the album is in Dmin or such, even Triad. Tool is not a band to focus heavily on different Keys, at least not yet.