Unlike in art music, a degree of indeterminacy is essential to video game music and is one of its most defining and unique aspects. The audience is not merely a passive receiver of a single piece of music identical in each of its reproductions as in other forms of media, rather they are a director and initiator of musical events and sounds in real time. The composition of video game music is influenced by a multitude of factors such as the composers initial compositional choices, the players gaming choices, situational factors within the game itself, and the limitations of the technology used to produce the game music in real time. Subsequently, a number of limitations, implications and advantages arise from the indeterminate nature of video game music in the 1970s.
The degree of indeterminism is constrained by the gameplay features, event chronology specific to each game, the initial compositional factors determined by the composer and the gameplay choices made by the player. As such, the music of a video game needs to mould itself around the events taking place in order to enhance the degree of immersion within the gaming experience. By allowing the sound as well as the video to respond to the players actions, the gaming experience begins to emulate the logic of the real world and increases the degree of user interactivity.
The development of technologies used to produce video game music over time influenced its compositional possibilities. In the 1970s a sound chip embedded in the gaming console converted computer coded pulses into synthesized pulses or tones in order to create music or sound effects in accordance to gameplay, evident in games such as Pacman (1979) & Space Invaders (1978). Games such as these were only capable of synthesized monophonic sounds despite the availability of analog recorded tape and more complex synthesizers used in other forms of media. In this way the technology available to support indeterminate music subsequently influenced its tone colour and textural possibilities.
Pacman (1979) Developed by Namco. Observe the simplicity of the sounds being generated. They are homophonic and unrealistic FM waves.
Rene093Gaming 2008, Pac-Man Arcade Gameplay, video recording, viewed 2nd May 2011,.
The degree of indeterminism is constrained by the gameplay features, event chronology specific to each game, the initial compositional factors determined by the composer and the gameplay choices made by the player. As such, the music of a video game needs to mould itself around the events taking place in order to enhance the degree of immersion within the gaming experience. By allowing the sound as well as the video to respond to the players actions, the gaming experience begins to emulate the logic of the real world and increases the degree of user interactivity.
The development of technologies used to produce video game music over time influenced its compositional possibilities. In the 1970s a sound chip embedded in the gaming console converted computer coded pulses into synthesized pulses or tones in order to create music or sound effects in accordance to gameplay, evident in games such as Pacman (1979) & Space Invaders (1978). Games such as these were only capable of synthesized monophonic sounds despite the availability of analog recorded tape and more complex synthesizers used in other forms of media. In this way the technology available to support indeterminate music subsequently influenced its tone colour and textural possibilities.
Pacman (1979) Developed by Namco. Observe the simplicity of the sounds being generated. They are homophonic and unrealistic FM waves.
Rene093Gaming 2008, Pac-Man Arcade Gameplay, video recording, viewed 2nd May 2011,
umma6umma 2007, Space Invaders (Taito 1978), video recording, Viewed May 2nd 2011,
By adapting to gameplay in real time, video game music also holds the potential to prepare the player for an upcoming event. In particular sound which is acousmatic in that the origin of the sound is visually unclear could influence a player to search for the origin of the sound, or to be pre warned of an incoming danger in the game. For example, in The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time(1998), a giant boulder which the player must avoid can be heard rolling with ascending volume before it is seen visually on the screen. In this way sound which is a product of the interaction between gaming situation and the player enhance aid gameplay.
Notice that the music changes depending on where the player is in the map, the level of danger around, whether the player is in the menu or gameplay, and whether the player is engaged in combat.
DarkFalggore2000 2009, The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time Gameplay N64, video recording, Viewed 2nd May 2011,
The use of recurring leitmotifs within a game helps familiarize the player with recurring items in the gaming environment such as characters, levels, enemies and goals. For example, the iconic Overground and Underground themes associated with levels found in Super Mario Bros. not only create a contrasting mood between the stages, but it also gives the player a sense of bearing within the gaming matrix. By initiating musical cues based on gaming location or scenario, the game becomes more comprehensible through association and the learning curve for the player decreases.
by Andrew Akib
References
Collins, K. 2008,’Non-Linearity’, Game Music, Cambridge, London. Pp. 125-35
Price, S. 2002, ‘Early Video Game Soundtracks', In Magazine, August 2002
Rene093Gaming 2008, Pac-Man Arcade Gameplay, video recording, viewed 1st May 2011,
Bain567 2007, Super Mario Bros. Gameplay Video, video recording, viewed 2nd May 2011,
DarkFalggore2000 2009, The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time Gameplay N64, video recording, Viewed 2nd May 2011,
3 comments:
Joe de la Hoyde says:
This is really cool. We never really stop to consider the music or rather the acousmatics within game music. Maybe the game's ability to cause you immerse yourself within the game is something more to explore in the future. Like such film music provides tension, climax and enhances emotional value, the music within a game such as "Ocarina of Time" not only renders the imaginative image provided in front of you, but aids you in your mission! Do you think its arguable that the player as such becomes not only a player, but a conductor in a musical and gameplay sense, so the music could be viewed maybe not as indeterminate but rather interpreted differently by the gamer and the decisions they make within the game?
Ahhh that Zelda clip takes me back to the good old days. That’s a really good point you raise about the player’s choices within the game influencing music that’s used. I think that it definitely does enhance the interaction between the user and the game, like if you run into a dangerous foe there’s immediately this fast-paced distressful music that really puts you on edge. It adds a completely different level to the game and puts the player in the driver’s seat of both the gameplay and the music. Ocarina of Time was a prime example of this.x And yeah I agree with Joe’s question about the player being more of a musical ‘conductor’ as opposed to a listener.
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