Category Archives: Music of The Spiral

The Manders Orchestra

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For Musician and Non-Musician Alike

Sultry, dry, and desolate, we find a great civilization that has emerged from the Oasis. Built by the Manders, composed by Nelson Everhart, and enslaved by the Kroks, a great society emerged from these sands only to wither away and be found by our Marleybonian friends.

There is continuity within music. Last time we discussed how themes develop across a story, but now we will talk about another important element of music. Atmosphere is a tool of world-building. Percussion and orchestration drive the sensation of what we hear in Krokotopia, filling the sound with specific instrumental timbres to feel the essence of where we are. We will now explore the music of Krokotopia to envision what wonders lie in store.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8FCrZtZo5k

“Main Theme 1”

First of all the music we hear of Krokotopia, the ambience is subtle but familiar. The bass in the harp instrument keeps the time after the tam-tam hit as reeds and other harps and lyres ornament the overall sound. Around 00:20 seconds in, we listen to a very familiar instrument: horns. Horns in general blend in with the instruments around them and their addition at this point is seamlessly done, simply adding onto the previously established texture by playing a simple melody of long sustained tones.

At 00:58 seconds, we have an oboe play a light melody before having the strings take over at 1:10, with the horn from before adding counterpoint to where the strings have sustained notes. What is counterpoint? In music, counterpoint is the idea that several voices should have interesting melodies at the same time. Both pitch and rhythm will differ from each other in two to four ongoing melodies. This is what people found interesting when listening to pieces such as fugues in Europe around the 1500’s to 1700’s.

I bring this up to mention the fact that music from all around the world is vastly different, and when our western ears create and develop it, the composer knows we are subject to what we are accustomed to. By combining the music we are commonly used to in video games and movies alike, as well as knowing the way to create Egyptian music, we have this magical creation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4QR7-GAiAI

“Theme 2”

We now begin the exact same way as before, striking the tam-tam before going into the same texture. The ambience is there all the same, but now we have a very different emotion. More suspenseful, more drama – the world is becoming more elusive as we delve into the Sphinx’s clever riddle. The various instruments of the ensemble carry around ornaments until a theme is stated twice by a lyre and gets carried to the vibraphone. This theme gets repeated until we hear the melody from the previous track 00:32 seconds in, sounding doubled by the flute and horn before being carried to solo violin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjwjBVkSbFA

“Theme 3”

Another tam-tam strike marks the start of our piece to begin the texture. This time, there is a stately upbeat pulse. The march-like pulse is a mark to go forth and continue our journey. We have a lower flute give a dreamy, dancing melody similar to some of the ostinatos from the other tracks. Ostinatos are repetitive figures that continue throughout a section or the entirety of a piece. This theme gets carried to the oboe and then the horn. The idea of the call-and-response voices is common throughout these tracks. It creates continuity to these themes and instrumental texture.

The texture of a piece builds the atmosphere and the world building of this land. The music we hear is what Krokotopia would sound like in an instrumental landscape. The march comes to a halt (no pun intended, my marching band friends) before the main theme from the previous two tracks is stated again, and always calm and airy as the first. Violins on their high E string add the slightest texture, but the impact of the texture is all the greater. It feels as though we have been met with challenge. The strings take over, brightly and crisply their strings are bowed into a beautiful glorious restatement of the main melody, with the horns strengthening the texture and chords in the meantime.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC6oakVwoYY

“Theme 4”

My personal favourite, the fourth one begins with a harp arpeggio before the loudest tam-tam crash besides the powerful horns. The mood evokes grandeur and royalty. The horns play on as flutes and harps hover their arpeggios above, like magical orbs within the royal chamber. An oboe plays the dancing melody from the previous track.

After the royal intrada, or musical introduction, the theme 3 melody hums from the flute, strings, and oboe. This serene interlude brings us to a climax with another tam-tam strike. This is one of the more exciting themes from the bunch. The strings wail the melody as percussive textures occur in the background.

We hear drums stricken with hands, clanking from what sounds like a triangle on the second beat of each measure, and a scrapping metallic sound on every offbeat. The metallic sounds from the scrapes and the triangle envision wealth. And who is the wealthiest in all of Egypt? Cleopatra of course, who would dissolve pearls in drinks only prove how rich she was. In this part of the story, we end Krokotopia by fighting Krokoptra, the Wizard101 counterpart.

At timestamp 1:09, the strings develop on the melody. Cordial and delightful, chords play behind the once solemn melody. We are coming to the end of our story in the stormy tombs of Krokotopia. Horns add flares to the music, alongside a small short-short-long motif after each phrase.

Krokotopia has not lost all of its mystery quite yet. The bright mood changes at timestamp 2:00, The entire ensemble breaks into a minor key upon the deep and dark roll of the drums. Suspended in wonder, Harps flare arpeggios into this new texture. Bells add-in, representing magic and mystery. Famous examples include Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker Suite and John William’s “Hedwig’s Theme” from Harry Potter.

Thank you, Starlights, for venturing through my tour of The Mander’s Orchestra. Have a wonderful night.

Disclaimer:

Please note: I transcribed the music from the original/classic mode music scrolls. Not all of my transcriptions are 100% accurate, but they are close and the rhythm is properly notated. There is less sheet music in this article than the previous because there was more thematic material in the Wizard City themes.

The WizardCity Orchestra

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Intended for Musician and Non-Musician Alike

Wizard City, founded by Merle Ambrose, composed by Nelson Everhart, has an unexplainable joy located in the centre of the world that is uniquely magical. As we cross the line from magic to music, we will analyze through this guide the music that aids the story of the first world we step in. This is unique kind of guide- guided listening!

Music typically aids a story. A leitmotif is a form of musical aid when music is played to represent a specific character or theme. Famously used in Richard Wagner’s 15 hour Opera, The Ring Cycle (home of “The Ride of The Valkyries”). Leitmotifs often relate to each other in a musical way to present continuity in the aesthetic of what it represents.

“Main Theme”

One of the most iconic themes presented in Wizard City is located within The Commons. Throughout this article, a theme is defined as the main melody within a piece of music. I stress this, because we typically think of a theme as the piece as a whole.

This melody, notated above, is a descending major scale with some notes fluttering down faster than others in what is called sixteenth notes. We also have notes going back and forth between each other- a common characteristic in most of the Wizard City melodies. What is a major scale? It is commonly referred to as a collection of notes played in a specific order (Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do, if you are familiar with Solfege and/or The Sound of Music) that comes off as “happy” in tone.

We begin the melody on the English Horn, a relative to the oboe before being taken from the light and airy flute. Pizzicato strings snap along, giving a bouncy vibe. Please note, I only transcribed the underlying bassline and not the complete strings section. For simplicity’s sake, the example is written in concert pitch.

As we drive away from the complex aspects of music theory and orchestration, how does this make us feel? It makes us feel happy and relaxed. “The Commons” is for gathering with the community, and with the few instruments playing at any given time, it feels intimate and easy-going. The light atmosphere is perfect for a passing place to collect quests, or to simply walk on by.

“Theme 1”

Next, we have the original Ravenwood theme. The horn begins by ascending a dissonant Lydian arpeggio coming to a resolution within the next measure. After that, we repeat that same idea, but go down a whole tone scale, similar to how we went down a scale in The Commons theme. The music of Ravenwood is meant to be glorious and bestilling; to be standing before an ancient being as grand as Bartleby and to feel his serene vibe.

The strings respond to the horn, going back and forth between two notes in nearly the same rhythm the horn did, stating the theme as it develops. The Commons theme too, went back and forth between two notes in its melody, connecting these two melodies in a very subtle way.

“Theme 2”

We continue to explore Wizard City with Olde Town. The selection I picked from here begins at 00:27 seconds into the third track. This is the point we truly see the themes come together. The horn begins with a melodic shape that will develop into Theme 3’s main melody, then using that with a descending scale, similar to the whole tone scale used in Theme 1. There is then a key change that develops the first statement into A major, continuing onto a fragment similar to the main Commons theme.

After that climax, the strings (or clarinet in the rendition above) relax with a rhythmically slowed-down version of the Commons theme, developing its character. This is where our Wizard accepts the three streets questline and ventures forth, representing how they are becoming more at home with the world they magically were summoned to.

“Theme 3″

The orchestra ventures to Unicorn Way, the starting point of all trauma our wizards suffer. The clarinet soothingly hums out a happy, twinkling theme. 

It goes to and fro between thirds with passing tones in between, similar to the starting melody of Theme 2. But this specific melody develops until it begins to ascend. This is the first time we have purposely shaped the melody to ascend. This is the largest the melody has ascended, even from the beginning ascension of the Ravenwood Theme.

We go through a key change as the horn reaches the climax of the piece. The horn reaches a high Eb, the highest note used in the melody so far. Both of these show a deeper meaning that our Wizards will reach great lengths in their future. The future of our Wizard’s life is hinted that we will be expected to do great things during our time in Ravenwood, and the music encompasses that idea. 

After an instrumental interlude, we return to the classic Commons melody, but the ending has developed. Before it was five notes, now it is seven.

Thank you, Starlights, for venturing through my tour of The Wizard City Orchestra. Have a wonderful night.

Disclaimer:

Please note: I transcribed the music from the original/classic mode music scrolls. Not all of my transcriptions are 100% accurate, but they are close and the rhythm is properly notated. The Golem Tower, Wizard City Combat, and Wizard City Dreamworld Themes did not fit in with the above, so I have not included them in this presentation.