Swiss Villain Leitmotif

I’m not sure why, but I feel like the villain that this theme is representing lives in Switzerland. This particular villain is more of a schemer than a brute force type I think.

This track is my submission to “Villains Theme Music Jam” and I hope that you’ll give it a listen! Feedback is absolutely welcome and appreciated. 

The theme for this jam was “Villain Leitmotif” (duh) and there was the additional question “what is the most interesting interval in your leitmotif/theme?” There are several intervals that I’d like to mention, some of which in the motif itself, but others more to do with the accompaniment and with the arrangement. 

I really like half step movement in the root of the tonic in a minor key to get a sorta sinister feel. In the case of this song, which is in D minor, the root moves from D to C#. I harmonized that by turning the C# into the root of the V chord(A major) in first inversion. Otherwise, a I-V move would sound super vanilla, but by focusing on that half step motion in the root of the chord, it ends up feeling much darker. 

The next interval that I want to focus on is actual in an embellishment to the actual motif towards the end. I used a big octave jump in the first violins towards the end to inject a ton of energy along with a major increase in the dynamics. It felt very John Williams to me, and like, why wouldn’t I keep that?

To be honest, lately, I’ve focused a little bit less on catchy intervals to grab peoples attention and a lot more on catchy melodic Rhythm. If you are able to put some variation in the intervals of a motif, but make the rhythm super consistent, you are able to play that motif more frequently and get it stuck in peoples heads easier without them getting tired of hearing it. 

Hope you enjoy!