Misfortune Teller (Soundtrack)
"Misfortune Teller" is one of the song titles featured on the official Team Fortress 2 Soundtrack, listed as track number 26. Released alongside the Scream Fortress 2014 update, it served as the main menu startup music for the event. Additionally, it will play during Full Moons and the Carnival of Carnage bumper car minigames. It is one of 33 main menu startup themes.
Contents
Video
Analysis
Key: A Minor
Time Signature: 3/4-4/4
Tempo: 125 - 292 BPM
Length: 2:32
Release Date: October 29, 2014
Update: Scream Fortress 2014
Composer: Mike Morasky
Instrumentation: 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, trumpet, 2 trombones, tuba, 2 organs, electric guitar, glockenspiel, drums
"Misfortune Teller" is a track based on carnival music of the early twentieth century and is comprised of two sections: a waltz and a screamer. The track is quite faithful to the styles of music it is inspired by, though typically the two styles aren't found in one singular piece.
The waltz and screamer sections are both intended to be cartoonishly "creepy" and disorienting. The main melodies and countermelodies almost entirely consist of walks up and down the chromatic scale, the bass line played by tuba almost exclusively tonicizes a different key than the melody, and the trombones are instructed to play out of tune. Many of the harmonies are non-functional, with the guitar, tuba, and organs often playing in completely different keys, and there generally being no place where the key feels consistent or fully settled.
The track begins as a waltz, with flute and organ playing the melody and glockenspiel joining every once in a while. The melodic voices remain in the screamer section, but adding muted trumpet. Following the screamer section the waltz returns briefly, before the track ends with a single glockenspiel note that resolves to A minor.
Update history
October 29, 2014 Patch (Scream Fortress 2014)
- [Undocumented] Added a new startup music track for Scream Fortress 2014.
July 2, 2015 Patch (Gun Mettle Update)
- [Undocumented] Re-added Haunted Fortress 2 to the game (as
gamestartup_halloween.wav), and renamed Misfortune Teller fromgamestartup_halloween.wavtogamestartup_halloween1.wav
Trivia
- The official 2017 release on Spotify mistakenly spells the title as "Misfortune teller".
- In the sheet music, the trumpet is notated to play the melody in the last section of the track. However, this was omitted from the final recording.
