#leitmotifs

[ghostfacerseffect]

Thinking about film scores & concept albums & auditory storytelling

[megaderping]

Deltarune Chapter 2 is full of leitmotifs, but did you know that A CYBER'S WORLD? and Welcome to the City contain one of the sneakier examples? In this short, I go over this fun musical easter egg!

[aspiringsophrosyne]

Leitmotifs in Across The Spiderverse.

Let's talk about how the music of Across The Spiderverse tells us more than what might be obvious. Spoilers for both movies from here on out: you've been warned. 

EDIT: added in one more very important instance.

For those who don't know or need a reminder, a leitmotif is a musical signature associated with a character, an idea, a situation, or some or all of those things together. And for the first Spiderverse movie, Daniel Pemberton made excellent use of at least two big ones. 

To see what I mean, check out this video. If you haven't already. It highlights how music helped tell the story of Into The Spiderverse. 

While this video exclusively covers the leitmotifs in the soundtrack of ITSV, once you know what they sound like, you can hear their inclusion in ATSV.

For instance, Miles' personal leitmotif (that ties together the themes that makeup Miles-as-a-person's journey) shows up both times he attempts to tell his mother that he's Spider-Man.

But the Spider-Person theme, in particular, is all over the place in ATSV. This is fitting, considering it features so many Spideys. Not only is it front and center in Peter B.'s theme and is hiding out in Gwen's, Pavitr's, and Hobie's themes, it demonstrates how Miles-as-Spider-Man has developed between movies: playing throughout My Name is Miles Morales. It's one of the first things we hear when we see the young hero again.

This is an evolution from before, as for most of the first film, the Spider-Person motif plays incessantly for the other Spiders but sparingly for Miles. Whenever it was used for him, it was to show he'd reached a new station in his learning and growth. It plays for him when he first thwips away from Doc Ock and intertwines with his personal theme during his leap of faith to show that he's finally become Spider-Man.

So to have multiple iterations of the Spider-Person leitmotif jammed into the song that plays when we first see Miles again shows how much he's grown.

However....the other places it plays in the movie can give us clues about the nature of the conflict between Miguel's Spider Society and the newly formed Spider-Band. To illustrate this, I want to talk about three specific moments where it's prominent in the soundtrack.

During Nueva York Train Chase, Miguel busts out of the train like a horror movie monster and calls after the younger Spider: "Who do you think you are? Really!?"

Miles answers: "My name...is Miles Morales. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. I'm pretty sure you know the rest, jerk!" He then proceeds to drop, kick Miguel in the face, and then nail him with a ball of webbing.

This is around 2:05 of Nueva York Train Chase on the official ATSV soundtrack by Daniel Pemberton. What do we hear after Miles declares this and then (temporarily) eludes 2099?

The Spider-Person leitmotif.

It's not much later that we hear it again. When? At about 2:25 in the track The Go Home Machine. When Margo Kess, Spider-Byte, decides not to interfere with the titular machine and keep Miles in Nueva York.

This moment is critical. Miguel is trying to stop Miles. Even if the machine doesn't take him home, it gets Miles out of the older Spider's clutches and gives him a chance. And when he gets away, what plays? The Spider-Person leitmotif. The music tells us that at this moment, in trying to escape and save his father and not halting his escape, Miles and Margo are acting like Spider-People.

The music is on Miles' side. The music tells us that Miles is acting like Spider-Man by resisting the Spider-Society. He's doing the right thing.

And on top of that, what do we hear after 2:35 of Start a Band? The moment where Peter B. looks outside and sees Gwen waiting for him? The Spider-Person leitmotif. It tells us that in taking Hobie's watch and gathering her band together, Gwen's acting like Spider-Woman.

It then plays over and over again until the credits role. The music is telling us that the Spider-Band's mission marks them as Spider-People. They are living up to the title. They are doing the right thing.

I don't think the music is the only thing in the movie that points the audience to that conclusion. There's also a lot of subtext, meta, and suspiciously little information about how Canon Events and the multiverse generally work. But this is one of the simplest ways the movie tells us that Miles and the Spider-Band are in the right. 

[invertedfate]

wait. is reunited a major motif because it symbolizes the happy ending that was torn away from everyone?

I treat it as a Frisk leitmotif because it's an original melody that plays at the end of Pacifist where Frisk's name is given.

[watermelonolemretaw]

hey fellow deltarune ost enjoyers-- what do you think is Kris' theme and why?

I personally follow the analysis that their theme is Darkness Falls (and to a lesser extent, Faint Courage)

for the majority of the game so far, Kris' actions are being controlled by someone else, as represented by the SOUL, so it would make sense that we would only ever hear their theme when the SOUL is out of the picture-- after it's been shattered in battle, perhaps?

[carldoonan]

When a soundtrack is full of those delicious, delicious leitmotifs 🎶 (2020)

[heyhelloitsmilo]

i am sUCH A SLUT FOR MUSIC GOD DAMMIT

god fucking daniel pemberton ATE THAT SHIT UP when writing that goddamn soundtrack i've been saying this for seven fucking months now im

im gonna fall over and perish

[dear-travelers]

Temenos's Leitmotifs

[pleem]

undefined

the “freedom leitmotif” (as heard in the world revolving and big shot) is essentially gasters theme but sliced and mixed into something entirely new this is also the case in twr’s fast section and the dialtone motif may or may not be common knowledge at this point but thought itd be interesting to visualize and color code the intervals in gasters motif are key its not just any old arpeggio like many people want to believe

[cliverosfieldslefttiddy]

Hey you!

Are you like me and have a completely normal* relationship with video game OSTs and composers’ use of leitmotifs within them?

*not normal at all

GREAT NEWS!

I’ve gone through and catalogued almost the entire Final Fantasy XVI soundtrack by character/region/general interlude based on motif use alone!

(Basically in general if a motif shows up only once it’s not gonna be on this list. Also, some recurring motifs didn’t have a designated name or common title scheme so I classified them myself, such as Early Overworld, Disaster Strikes, Impending Doom, Interludes, and Mythos. If anyone is curious as to which songs those categories include, let me know!)

Without further ado, here’s the breakdown. Any numbers after a + indicate tracks from disc 8 of the Ultimate Edition, which are unused tracks or single-cutscene tracks. Spoilers abound under the cut as well.

Final Fantasy: 7

Crystal: 17-20, approximately

Joshua/Phoenix: 15 + 1

Clive/Ifrit: 13 + 3 (bro the unused Ifrit vs Ifrit is so funny to me, it’s basically Lo-Fi Beats To Face Your Inner Demons To)

Jill/Shiva: 9 + 2 (update: I still cry when My Star plays)

Cid/Ramuh: 7 + 1

Benedikta/Garuda: 7

Hugo/Titan: 6

Dion/Bahamut: 7

Barnabas/Odin: 5 + 2

Ultima: 19 + 1 (truly incredible how many times he shows up and how EARLY in the game, too. He was always watching!!)

Anabella: 2

Rosaria: 12 + 1

Sanbreque: 5

Republic of Dhalmekia: 8 + 1 (the unused theme and the actual theme are almost identical, the main motif is just ever so slightly different, which I find fascinating!)

Crystalline Dominion: 2

Ironholm: 5

Waloed: 5 + 2

Early Overworld: 4

Battle Theme: 5 + 1

Disaster Strikes: 3

Impending Doom: 1 (think I made this a category before I realized it only showed up once)

Eikonic: 3

Interludes: 2

Mythos: 5

This was honestly so much fun to do! If anyone’s curious about anything don’t hesitate to ask! Happy to elaborate for anyone curious or wondering about anything

[aspennntree]

persuaded another friend to watch rwby through my extensive leitmotif knowledge i just keep winning

[megaderping]

Did you know that the Undertale track "Heartache" contains a secret leitmotif? In this short, I go into this little musical easter egg, and if you like what you see, I provided a link to a much longer video on the subject!

[ancientbread]

Sorry we accidentally took your boyfriend’s leitmotif and slowly chipped away at it until it’s unrecognizable. The melody is reaching for your boyfriend but can’t find him anymore. Sorry

[mtt-brand-trans]

I put together a video on this! More info in the description of it

[nerdiqueen]

listening to "A Second's Lament (Reprise)" from Goncharov (1973) on loop

the use of leitmotifs and orchestration and yada yada yada the song fuckin slaps

[copepods]

leitmotifs never get old to me like holy shit dude there’s this melody that corresponds to this one guy and if you hear the melody it means the guy is there. holy shit. and sometimes it refers to ideas too not just guys. has anyone heard about this