Note: this blog post is better experienced on my website, where the audio clips are included!

Snow White Ashes is a game where the characters aren't what they appear to be at first glance. If you have sharp ears, you may have picked up a few things in the soundtrack that play off this idea!

(side note: I could not get my software to record me playing without getting some ridiculous notation like tied 32nd notes, so the rhythms won't be entirely accurate here)

First off, this is the MC's theme (AKA the "mist queen" motif, AKA your theme) which always appears in the key of D minor, and begins with a d minor to inverted G major chord.

The way these chords interact is a sound I've always found a little bit whimsical--perfect for a fairy tale setting!

Here's how it sounds in Scarborough fair, for example...

But!

When the silver-haired man appears, your theme apparently begins to play-but this time, it goes from a d minor to g minor chord, and then transitions into an entirely new key--the hunter's key, G minor.

From here on, we get a new melody--this is when the ashen hunter's theme finally begins playing, but only after being "disguised" as your theme.

This happens again with the second mist queen theme, which starts with the same two simple piano chords:

And here's the intro to the hunter's second theme, once again imitating your theme with an inverted g minor chord:

The only time the hunter's theme appears in an "uncloaked" form is during the "wolf" theme, which starts directly in the tonic of the hunter's key (G minor) and plays a variation of his melody from the start.

The hunter isn't the only character being "deceptive", though. After all, the melody for MC (ostensibly an ordinary girl) and the song that describes the mysterious "mist queen" are one and the same...

Jumping back to the game itself--did you notice the descriptions of the characters' clothing? The hunter is wearing fur; the MC is dressed in wool and sheepskin.

Who's the real wolf in sheep's clothing?