Crystal Music: Gem Musical Motifs
Each Gem in Steven Universe possesses a certain musical motif that plays during certain parts of the show. When Gems fuse, their musical motifs merge into a completely different genre of music. We’re going to look at each one in detail today. Since we’ve only seen detailed dances from the Crystal Gems, only there dance motifs will be looked at. When “Cry for Help” reveals Sardonyx in her entirety, I will update this post with her musical motif.
EDIT: Updated Lapis Lazuli’s motif to include her String themes!
EDIT2: Updated many character’s motifs, added pictures to all segments, added Greg, Sour Cream, Lion, Sadie, Ronaldo, Desert Glass, Dogcopter, Sardonyx, and Stevonnie.
NOTE: When selecting a track to listen to, please right-click and select “Open Link in New Tab” so you don’t lose your spot in the post!
Garnet’s Motif: Hip-Hop (Waka Waka) Bass
Garnet’s musical and dance themes are very much centered around hip-hop movement (specifically the Waka Waka style of dancing). Waka Waka is characterized by very thick and bouncy bass tones and robotic movement of the limbs with fluid motions in between dance poses.
Take a listen to some of Garnet’s tracks. Here’s “Future Vision” from the official Steven Universe OST. Note that very present bass and “funky flow” of the tracks.
Pearl’s Motif: Classical and Swing Piano
Although Pearl has been shown playing the violin, her main musical motif is a piano played both classically and in the swing style. Both styles are played at a slow tempo in the show (around 90 to 110 BPM, depending on the song), giving Pearl an elegant, classy musical feel. Her dance theme, fittingly enough, is classical ballet as evidenced by her propensity to strike graceful poses both during fusion dances and combat.
Give one of Pearl’s most important themes, “Pearl’s Room”, a listen. Take note of the transition from classic piano to swing piano at the 0:11 mark. During this scene, Pearl is performing swan-like ballet poses in the privacy of her room, matching the grace and form of the piano.
Amethyst’s Motif: On-The-Floor Drum Beats (On-Time and Off-Time)
Amethyst’s motif consists primarily of drum beats that can either follow a time signature or occur erratically and randomly depending on the song. Amethyst’s reckless party-girl attitude is reflected both in her energetic drum motif and her simplistic club-like dancing style. Amethyst’s musical motif also utilizes strike and sting samples erratically (think 90s era music or, more recently, Splatoon)
Here’s one of the more fun musical themes, “Gimme Gimme”, heard when Amethyst is chasing Steven down to eat his Together Breakfast. The use of loud drum beats and sting samples can clearly be heard as she tries to get her hands on those panned cakes.
Steven shares his motif with Connie, in that they’re both based on the chiptune style of music (although Connie’s mixes in acoustic sounds here and there). Chiptune intentionally sounds cute and innocent, fitting Steven perfectly. His dance motif has not really been seen yet, although his Stevonnie fusion dance with Connie seems to indicate that he inherits his mother’s (Rose Quartz’s) dance motif of 2-person waltz.
Here’s a Steven-based track, “Watermelon Steven”, complete with chiptune chirps.
Rose Quartz’s Motif: Bells and Piano
Rose’s motif consists primarily of arpeggios of bells and pianos, and other hi-pitch instruments. In the Rainbow Quartz fusion dance with Pearl, we can see that Rose takes the leading role in the dance and moves and sways in waltz patterns (which her son Steven inherited). She also takes the leading role in her and Greg’s subsequent dance on the beach, even spinning him around in a classic waltz twirl.
One of Rose’s quintessential themes, “Rose’s Room” demonstrates both her arpeggio theme and the bell/piano combination her motif is known for.
Peridot’s Motif: Drum ‘n’ Bass/Trance Plucks
Peridot’s motif is stereotypical DnB (a hi-tempo style) with spacey trance plucks speckled throughout. Her personality fits with this motif, it’s just as spacey and awkward as she is, but much like the real Peridot, there’s something very menacing and dangerous sounding about her motifs. Listen to Peridot’s theme, “Peridot”, and love the green space Dorito. Peridot’s trance plucks mirror Pearl’s piano in form and function.
Lapis Lazuli’s Motif: Sidechained Pads/Hall Piano/Strings
Lapis’s motif relies heavily on sidechained static (the “unts unts” you hear in club dance music), and hall piano arpeggios. Her themes can easily lean towards melancholy (as in “I Am Lapis Lazuli”), or extremely dangerous sounding (as in “Mirror Match”) depending on tempo. Lapis Lazuli, much like her motif, is a very dynamic character, perhaps showing the most personality development on any character in the show, and her versatile theme reflects that. Her theme also carries extremely fast drum beats, a motif she shares with Amethyst. Strings are also present in here solo themes, and can be heard as a mainstay “I Am Lapis Lazuli”. When Lapis’ Gem is cracked, the sidechained static is much more prevalent than any of her other motifs. When healed however, the strings take the forefront of her themes. In Lapis’ battle anthem, “Mirror Match”, you can hear it take on elements of other Gems motifs when they enter the fray. with Garnet’s bass at 0:34, Amethyst’s drum beats at 0:56, Pearl’s piano at 1:20, Lion’s music box at 1:33, and Steven and Connie’s combined chiptune at 1:43.
Jasper’s Motif: Distorted Bass
Jasper’s main component in her motif is the presence of distorted bass. Heard most clearly in “Return to the Beach/Jasper”, the gross-sounding bass is definitely a parallel to it’s owner. Jasper’s distorted bass shares similarities in composition to Garnet’s Waka bass.
Opal’s Motif: High-Energy Piano Anthem (a la Masami Ueda)
Opal’s motif is interesting in that it brings to diametric opposites (breakbeat drums from Amethyst and classical piano from Pearl), and forces them to conform to each other’s theme. Amethyst’s beats become structured and formulaic while Pearl’s piano becomes energetic and erratic. This style of music was coined by Masami Ueda (the composer for the Bayonetta games), and the influence in Opal’s theme really shows. Take a listen to Opal’s theme, “Opal”.
Sugilite’s Motif: Dissonant Hardstyle
The mix of Garnet’s bass and Amethyst’s drums do not make a very inviting combination. Sugilite’s motif is very menacing, as Garnet’s bass has become distorted and dissonant, while Amethyst’s driving beat makes it even more unsettling. Sugilite’s theme, “Synchronize”, transitions from a less evil-sounding combo of Garnet/Amethyst to the more traditional Sugilite theme halfway through.
Alexandrite’s Motif: New York Swing/Genre Fusion/Trap
Alexandrite’s theme is very hard to pin down and is a very confusing (but cohesive) mix of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl’s themes. The musical chord stings originate from Garnet while her classy piano lead line and tribal-esque drums come from Pearl and Amethyst, respectively. Take a listen to Alexandrite’s theme, “Alexandrite”, and be as confused as me.
Malachite’s Motif: Minimalist Scare Stings
Malachite, being a horror movie character in and of herself, shares her motif with scary movies like Jaws and Signs. Heard in her theme, “Malachite”, Lapis’s drums and piano have been corrupted into dissonant stings separated by longs pauses, while Jasper’s bass has amped up the creep factor as an underlying harmonic entity. In general, Malachite’s motifs aren’t ever really in harmony or are even playing in the same tempo.
Sardonyx’s Motif: Showtunes/Perfomance Music and Play-Ins
Sardonyx’s theme sounds like something off of a mid-1950s comedy/talk show, fitting with her look and personality. The theme in question, “Sardonyx”, acquires its bouncy bass from Garnet and overlying piano lead lines from Pearl. However, as in Opal, the fusion has forced each one to take on attributes of the other. The result is an extremely formulaic and strict sound, but at the same time the overarching melody is moving very fast and gives you a sense of boundless energy focused through a small area, much like how Sardonyx herself is. Sardonyx as a talk show host is a pretty easy connection to make, and parts of her song bridge themselves to each other using classic “play-in” melodies, played whenever a new person or character enters the stage. When summoning her weapon, you can hear her song begin a stereotypical “performance windup”, including piano trills, drum rolls, and topping it all off with a rising crescendo near the end. The part in question begins at 0:55 in her theme. When she’s destroying the communication hub, the music enters “finale” mode. The music loses a little bit of its formulaic structure to add energy and a sense of excitement and randomness. The drums in particular become much more prevalent.
The Cluster: Dissonant NuWave
Not only does the Cluster struggle to maintain shape, but it also struggles to maintain a musical motif. This dissonant mixture of many Gem’s motifs creates a very unsettling track, perfect for this abomination. Take a listen to it’s theme, “Gem Shards”.
Stevonnie’s Motif: Acoustic NuBallad
A mixture of Steven’s chiptune/piano and Connie’s acoustic/string themes create a beautiful blend form Stevonnie in “Twilight Run”. The character follows many other fusions in that separately the motifs are okay, but together they are glorious.
OTHERS (Humans/Corrupt Gems)
Greg Universe’s Motif: Slap Bass Guitar/Rhythm Guitar
Heard frequently when with Steven or Rose Quartz, Greg’s motif fits his own trademark instrument pretty well. The rhythm guitar is heard extremely clearly in “What Can I Do”, being made almost entirely of that instrument. His son Steven seems to have inherited part of his motif, since Steven himself has ukelele (a diminutive form of guitar) as part of his motif. Greg’s guitar can be heard in many of his partner songs with Steven and Rose.
Sour Cream’s Motif: Complextro/Rave/Retro Game Sounds
Sour Cream’s motif is stereotypical ‘rave music’ played through a Steven Universe filter. Heard in “Be Cool At The Club”, Sour Cream’s motif consists mostly of synthetic arpeggios and trills with even a sort of drop at 1:35 in his song. Use of sidechaining, distorted vocal, and upper frequency sounds lend a classic but nuanced feel to his motif. Sour Cream is definitely a classic raver/EDM person, as evidenced by his trap pants and proclivity towards hosting said raves.
Ronaldo’s Motif: Lo-Fi Sine/Synth Sitar
Ronaldo’s theme is reliant on unsettling note combinations and a low frequency sine tone that is played to sound like a synthetic sitar (a traditional Indian instrument), matching his strange personality perfectly. His theme is “Paranoldo Activity”.
Sadie’s Motif: Harp/Pizzicato Synths
Sadie’s motif is interesting in that it changes depending on her locale. When in Beach City, her motif consists primarily of harp sounds. This can be heard most clearly during Sadie’s many talk with Steven in “Joking Victim”. However, her motif changes instruments when outside of Beach City. When stranded on an island with Steven and Lars, her theme becomes heavily focused on plucked synth sounds. This can be heard in “Sadie and the Beast”, where Sadie’s normally cute pluck sounds are mixed with menacing bass tones as she fights a Gem Monster. A less scary version of her motif is present in the beginning of “The Hill” before it becomes a romantic piano ballad.
Lion’s Motif: Reversed Pads/Piano/Chiptune/Music Box
Lion’s motif when not with Steven is chiptune played in a more erratic manner. However, when with Steven, his motif becomes reversed pads and sounds played over soothing piano lines. As heard in “Lion’s Mane”, this connects him to Rose through their shared piano motif (And also he’s pink just like her). Lion also has a distinct music box motif played during some of his music, such as near the end of “Desert Glass” and the Lion segment of “Mirror Match”.
The setar, not to be confused with the sitar (although they are very similar) is a long-necked string instrument from Iran that gives the classic “desert music” feel to many movie scores. Desert Glass features this instrument very prominently in her theme, “Desert Glass”. It is overlain with the classic Steven Universe chiptune and drum beats.
Dogcopter: Latin Twist/Shopping Music
All of Dogcopter’s themes have very distinct Latin structures, mixed with the pauses and staccato drums made famous by the Shopping Network and the Wii Shopping Channel. Heard in one of his songs, “The Pitch Got Delayed” it really adds another element to the already surreal character of Dogcopter.
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