How can a scale sound sadder/darker than the scale with the same key signature?
There is a general principle used to describe the intensity of a mode. The more flat notes there are in the formula of the mode, the darker it sounds. So the Locrian scale is the saddest/darkest mode, because it has 5 flats: 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7.
Then how can for example A Locrian sound dark and sad, but it has the same key signature as Bb major? Major keys are the same as the Ionian mode, and the Ionian mode has no sharps and flats in the formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. So the major key sounds happy and bright. So if the tonic is A, it sounds sad, but if the tonic is Bb it suddenly sounds bright and happy? How is this possible ?
An easier example : C Major and A Minor.
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Every mode shares a key signature and a pitch set with some major key. But the different 'tonic' gives its scale a different colour, as you state. That's the whole POINT of modes!
It's all about context and emphasis. When we say that something is in a particular key or mode, we are describing what sounds like the home or most important note. So the reason we would say we're in C major instead of B locrian is that the emphasis is placed on C and everything is compared to that. When we look at keys/modes, we can look at how the other notes within the mode sound compared to the root. The flat scale degrees are more dissonant when played with the root than would be the natural/major scale degrees found in a major mode.
You can also consider this in terms of chords. It may be easier to recognize that the combination of some notes sounds more bright/consonant or dark/dissonant. If you take those chords and consider a scale/mode that goes with them, then consider that being your tonic, you should be able to see how that set of notes, within the context of that chord, sounds more dissonant than the same set of notes against a major chord derived from them.
So it's all about context. You have to consider what is happening in the music and what is the focal point of the melody and harmony.
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