Rocket Jump Waltz (Soundtrack)

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Team Fortress 2
Official Soundtrack
  1. "Team Fortress 2 (Main Theme)"
  2. "Playing With Danger"
  3. "Rocket Jump Waltz"
  4. "The Art of War"
  5. "Faster Than a Speeding Bullet"
  6. "Right Behind You"
  7. "Petite Chou-Fleur"
  8. "Intruder Alert"
  9. "Drunken Pipe Bomb"
  10. "More Gun"
  11. "Haunted Fortress 2"
  12. "TF2 Saxxy 2011 Theme"
  13. "A Little Heart to Heart"
  14. "MEDIC!"
  15. "Archimedes"
  16. "Dreams of Cruelty"
  17. "The Calm"
  18. "ROBOTS!"
  19. "Dapper Cadaver"
  20. "Rise of the Living Bread"
  21. "Red Bread"
  22. "Three Days to Live"
  23. "Seduce Me!"
  24. "Stink Lines"
  25. "It Hates Me So Much"
  26. "Misfortune Teller"
  27. "Soldier of Dance"
  28. "RED Triumphs!"
  29. "BLU Triumphs!"
  30. "Yeti Park"
  31. "Saxton's Dilemma"
  32. "Mercenary Park"
  33. "Saluting the Fallen"

"Rocket Jump Waltz" is one of the song titles featured from the Team Fortress 2 Official Soundtrack, listed as track number three, as well as track four on The Orange Box Official Soundtrack. This whimsical tune plays during the Soldiers' rocket jumping aerial ballet in Trailer 2, and is also one of 33 different main menu themes.

Videos

Here is the alternate version of the song as heard in the Viaduct development videos:

Analysis

Key: E Minor
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: 111 BPM
Length: 0:39
Release Date: August 21, 2006
Update: Base Game
Composer: Mike Morasky
Instrumentation: 1 clarinet (solo), 3 trumpets, 3 trombones (2 tenors, 1 bass), and piano

"Rocket Jump Waltz" shares the key of E minor with several other entries on the soundtrack. However, instead of the E minor blues scale or natural minor scale like other tracks, it uses the E harmonic minor scale (E, F#, G, A, B, C, D#, E). However, it cannot be considered a waltz because it is in 4/4, rather than 3/4. It features a solo clarinet, with all other instruments either playing chord pads or playing "offbeats" to the piano's left hand.

This track's scoring focuses entirely on the solo clarinet, which is the only instrument to play a melody part throughout, with brass and piano accompanying. The brass outlines the chord progression of E minor, G major, A minor, and B major. Solo clarinet, guided by the chord progression, stays within E harmonic minor. Though not an actual waltz, the accompaniment played by brass and piano are fairly reminiscent of characteristics found in traditional waltzes: the piano's right hand, trumpet 3, and trombone 1 play on offbeats relative to the piano's bass line, the chords change each measure, and the bass instruments (piano's left hand and bass trombone) play on beat one of each measure and stay on the tonic of each chord. Still, though, the track is closer to the more blanket Ballroom dance genre.

Trivia

  • Waltz is a misnomer, as while waltzes are predominantly in triple time, "Rocket Jump Waltz" is in the more common 4/4 (quadruple/common) time.
  • An alternate version of the "Rocket Jump Waltz" can be heard in the developer video showing the creation of Viaduct on the Official Blog.
    • In this version, there is a second clarinet part layered over the solo part, and the last half of the track is repeated.
  • The descending blues scale at the end of the track also appears in the main theme, Mercenary Park, and Playing With Danger.
  • The end of the song (0:34-0:39) plays behind the jeers when a stalemate or sudden death occurs.
  • "Rocket Jump Waltz" is the shortest track on the official soundtrack.
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