Linked Universe Dungeon Music
(thought process will be in a reblog along with a bonus theme) Hallways theme
Main Room theme
Quick intro I’m a second year music student and this year I’m taking a course for composition for film and media. I had a project where I had to make a theme and then add two variations of it.
I wanted to make a theme for a zelda dungeon but if I used say goron mines as inspiration I’d end up handing in a poorly made copy off goron mines so I decided to make a theme for the dungeon from Linked Universe, I’ve been calling it the owl dungeon.
It’s a commonly accepted theory that the chain is currently in the downfall timeline, as such I decided to keep things in line with what one might expect from a dungeon found in a 2D game. My main inspiration for instrumental choice comes from Link’s Awakening remake, a mix of orchestral instruments and chiptune (also the MAC I was working on was LACKING in the orchestral instrument department, there were no violins, there was no clarinet, it was awful) The original theme is the most basic version of the theme and I made it for the halls of the dungeon. JoJo rarely does things by accident and the fact that the colour scheme of the hallways matches that of the Eagle dungeon was not lost on me. So I looked to the foundation of the series. Zelda 1 has two dungeon themes, the dungeon theme and the death mountain theme (which I hate) The Eagle obviously used the dungeon theme. The dungeon theme essentially runs on running arpeggios (the root 3rd 5th and then upper root of the chord) they’re what keep the theme moving. I did want to make it more of a like music found in the 3D games as LU isn’t pixel art and is drawn in the style of 3D Zelda. So I settled on a slow arpeggio, one per bar in ¾. The progression is i (6)v VI (6)V for my roman numeral literate friends and Cm Gm A G for my friends who know chord symbols.
The 1st variation/2nd theme was made for the main room, just a melody settled on top of the existing chord progression. Looking at the colour scheme of the main room I got stone tower temple vibes from it, both that and openness to the sky, the architectural design however was screaming skyward sword. I ended up going with the dulcimer for the melody, with a bit of reverb. The dulcimer is one of those medieval type instruments like the harpsichord (though the harpsichord is from the renaissance)(and the dulcimer used to be called the psaltery and is ancient greek). I used passing tones for my melodic figures mostly staying within the chord on the strong beats, giving the sort of harmonious yet separate feel the melody and chords would have in say an oracle game (nintendo get those games remade, I believe the soundtracks could be good, in a way)
For my last theme and second variation I made something I don’t actually see existing in Linked Universe but I needed a 3rd theme and it would be a shame not to share it. It was the most complex theme to make and I’m quite proud of it. It’s a fight theme based on the dungeon theme. I chose the fight scene that Sky and Rancher are in, relying heavily on the conventions of Twilight Princess. The hammered wood rhythm is based upon the rhythm from the Darknut mini boss theme from Twilight Princess, just as that one panel is based upon the official art of Link fighting a Darknut and the notes follow the bottom notes of the chords. The 16th note shaker pattern is based upon the basic fight theme from both games (though again mostly Twilight Princess) and the off beat eight notes are also from Twilight Princess’ basic battle theme. As for the main leitmotif that’s carried over I felt the Bassoon and the Cellos were appropriate, they’re used quite a lot in Twilight Princess (and if it wasn’t already clear I am really leaning into TP here) I wanted to keep the main arpeggio intact so even though the two share a rhythm (triplets) the cello stays on the notes of the chord while the bassoon does neighbour motions to embellish it and provide some intensity Fight scene theme
So this was my theme and variation project. I might make more music for LU if inspiration strikes me, as JoJo mentioned there is something to be said about Midna’s lament and the sunset arc but who knows. (I’ll probably make a boss theme when we see it though, just to complete the set)
