RuneScape is a fantasy medieval RPG video game which has a similar theme to the Wwise adventure game. The soundtrack for this game is magical and helps immerse the player inside the video game by adapting the music to fit each individual location and level. I am going to be analysing a track called ‘Scape Cave’ from RuneScape 3, as the music for serves a similar purpose in the game to the first music block I am going to be composing. Therefore I will deconstruct this composition to learn about how it was constructed harmonic and melodic techniques so that I can use these techniques in my composition.
This track originates from the 2001 game ‘RuneScape’ developed by Jagex, the music for this game was composed by Ian Taylor. The soundtrack for Scape Cave originated from the Varrock Sewers level of this game, this an underground dungeon level filled with enemies such as; rats, spiders and ghosts. This piece of music plays while the player is exploring the sewer, therefore this piece of music serves as a way to personify the environment as the player explores the dungeon.
The music begins with two violins playing the harmony of the music, the harmony of this piece of music is very simple as it just playing a cycle of two chords back and forth. This harmonic cycle repeats consistently up until the B section. The harmony played on the violins is made up of two chords which are C minor (i) and G major (V), the chord C minor however are only playing the root and minor third of the chord. Whereas the g major chord only plays the third and fifth note of the chord, meaning the chords on the violin only jump up and down in pitch by one whole tone. This music is written in the key of C harmonic minor, which allows the G major chord to naturally fit into the music. The two chords in the piece of music are played only one whole tone away, the constant jump between these two chords creates a haunting and dark tone within the music. The two violins bow out the two chords in a flowing legato articulation which makes the chord transitions seem almost seamless, the legato also makes the music naturally flow therefore making the music easy to listen to as the player explores the cave. The tempo for this music is also very slow giving the music an ambient and relaxed theme for the players to explore the sewers to.
The harmony in the music is supported by a harp rolling the C minor and G major triad with a the root note on the top of the chord, this reveals to us as listeners the full form of the chords are playing, furthermore allowing us to confidently pinpoint which key the music is in. The instrumental timbre of the harp creates a mystical and magical tone which rings through the music, this reflects on the video games fantasy medieval themed world. The harp was a popular instrument in the medieval era, therefore this instrument was may have been used in this piece of music to fit the time era of the fantasy medieval video game setting. In the intro you can hear a melodic pizzicato string playing over the chords, this pizzicato string is playing a four note arpeggio over the G major and C minor which consists of the triad and the root note on top of the chord. This string plays on each beat and gives the music a sense of momentum and adventure, this reflects on the gameplay as the player will constantly be looking around for enemies and exploring.
Personally I think the C minor and G major chords being played repetitively creates a haunting and eery tone in the music which compliments the dark setting in the game. The instrumental timbre’s used in the music also creates a tone in the music which relates to the time era and medieval setting of the video game. The repetitiveness of this harmony is not intended for casual listening as it get’s very repetitive and boring, however when the player is exploring the game their attention is focused on the visual stimuli rather than the audio. The pizzicato arpeggio also creates a sense of rhythm which encourages the player to explore the games dungeons, however the harmonic minor key it is written in gives the arpeggio a haunting tone which reflects on the games environment.
After the intro of the music the main melody enters the composition, this melody is played in the pentatonic scale of C harmonic minor to give the melody freedom to play around the harmony. The melody its self is very simple and repetitive as it only has 2 phrases which repeat until the end of the the music, however there are some changes in the melody which occur which I will also talk about in just a moment. The form of the melody follows a simple question and answer format which repeats throughout the music, this is very repetitive so the music makes minor changes to the melody to avoid making the listener completely bored from the repeating music.
At the end of the A section the 2 violins hold the G major chord for twice as long, this builds up tension in the music to help the music naturally build up into the B section. While the G major is being held down the harp also descends in pitch by playing a descending arpeggio, this makes the listener not know where they are going in terms of the structure of the music. This reflects on the games level design as an enemy could be around the corner and the player does will not know. In the B section of the music the violin takes the melody away from the oboe to play the melody in the question and answer form for one rotation, this gives the melody a different instrumental timbre and helps keep the listeners interest. Underneath the 1st violin playing the melody the second violin playing the notes in a much lower octave. This gritty bass sounds from the second violin create a dark and uncomfortable tone in the music, which reflects on the danger of the sewers in RuneScape. The oboe plays the melody in parallel octaves with the violin to give the melody more texture and depth as the two instrumental timbres play in unison. While the violins are playing the melody the harp is absent from the music, this creates musical contrast between the two sections and prevents the music from becoming too repetitive. The final note of the violin and oboe melody is sustained for one whole bar before proceeding the the next structure of the song. This helps build up anticipation for the next part of the songs structure by building up tension in the music.
The next part of the pieces structure is just an identical repetition of the A section, for example the violins return to playing the harmony and the oboe begins playing solo on the melody once again. The A section cycles around for 2 cycles of the melody, however after that is over the music enters the outro. In the out the oboe is absent, after it finishes the melody it does not play for the rest of the music. This is the same for violin one as it leaves 2 beats after the melody, which is when it finishes playing the G major chord. The violin does not leave at the same time as the oboe, as it is kept in for a little bit longer in order to finish the cycle of the 2 chords and exit the music on a natural and resolved tone. The only three instruments which are left playing in the outro are the harp, percussion and the second violin. During the outro the harp continues cycling between the C minor and G major chords by rolling them out in a constant cycle. The violin plays in a very low octave while cycling between the notes C and B, which both belong within the chords C and G major. The deep gritty tone of the violin creates a dark and evil tone which rings through the music signifying the presence of danger, however this contrasts with the harps elegant and sadenning tone within the music. Further more creating an unnatural theme in the music. In the background of these two instruments you can hear some light percussion playing which resembles the sound of shakers and tribal drums, this creates a sense of rhythm in the music which allows us to keep an element of time within the music. The tribal drums reinforce the medieval theme as drums were often used to signify combat and war before battles in the medieval era, therefore making the music link even further to the video games setting The music outro plays a diminuendo which brings the music into silence, therefore bringing the music to a natural conclusion.
The outro and introduction are very similar aside from the fact that the two violins are not playing the harmony together, as only one violin is playing in the outro. However the ending and opening of the music may be similar due to video game music’s nature to loop upon finishing, therefore the composer may have wanted the loop from the end of the music to the beginning of the music to sound natural by making the chord cycle between C minor and G major naturally link up to the start of the music. Personally I believe this music is reflects very accurately on the RuneScapes setting and level design, however personally I found it too repetitive for me to listen to it outside of the video game. However this music was intended to be listened to inside the video game rather than for casual listening, therefore I think the composer was very successful in making this music.
Source List
RuneScape Wiki. n.d. Varrock Sewers. [online] Available at: <https://runescape.fandom.com/wiki/Varrock_Sewers> [Accessed 8 March 2022].
Yann, 2015. Scape Cave – RuneScape 3 Music. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5QPndS2CDE> [Accessed 8 March 2022].