Extra Credits: Video Game Music

[Makkon]

This episode really hit home for me. Just wanted to share with you guys, and hopefully spur a good conversation.

edit: fixed them embed, my bad

[Pustulioooooo]

Not much to say, but I love and agree with everything in the video.

[CGEyeGuy]

This is one of my favorite episodes

[SpaceAnomaly]

I personally love how a well executed start up menu can completely set the tone for a game. Something as simple as L4D2's atmospheric track and L.A. Noire's moody tune in the background to something as powerful as Star Wars Republic Commando's in-your-face epic and Skyrim's fantastic build up to awesomeness.

Some of the best examples in my opinion are the Metroid games. Since the very first one, their intros/menus are some of the most atmospheric and immersive tracks I've experienced. For me, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a scary game and the intro song still haunts me to this day, but man, do I loooove it.

A great sountrack can also help create some very memorable moments. The final moments of Bastion had me in tears and the end of Mass Effect 1 and Halo 1 made me feel like I could take on the world.

I think this thread complements nicely that other video game soundtrack thread.

What about you guys?

[Dr_Dissonance]

Whilst he understands what the reasons are for the change in musical style, I don't think he fully understands the reasons themselves...

He should have looked into immersive music more, as that is what game music should do: enhance your overall experience playing the game.

In the article linked here:
http://www.scorecastonline.com/2010/08/ ... sing-pt-1/

There's a quote about Danny Elfman:

"Danny Elfman has been criticized over the years for (sic) turning out scores that do not necessarily provide for a great listening experience independent of the film they were scored for."

I completely agree with the response: "Perfect!"

I think that accompanying the overall package (be it film, or game) should be the front and foremost aspect of music scored for media. The article above talks about how a lot of music for film these days caters for the film music fan, rather than the film itself. I think this is true.

It's not true for games. And I'd rather hope it doesn't become true.

But back to my original thought, the main reason for the change is, as said, the opening of more creative outlets. Be it an orchestra, or electronic, we have far more at our disposal than a long time ago.
Which means new criteria have to be met. Timbre being the main one that comes to mind.
Take the Halo example he used. Would it be AS iconic if the male choir was replaced with cellos? I think the male choir is as big a trigger to "Oh, it's the Halo theme!" as the theme actually is...
That's probably the primary thing that has caused the change: timbre, or sound design. If you're writing for the game, rather than the game music fan, then sound design is probably more important these days than melody. That's why there's this big change.

So there you go, my 2 cents...

[Mundius]

STALKER has the best fitting music in any game I've ever played. Even VALVe wasn't able to make music fit into a game THAT well. That atmosphere that the ambience gives you is like embracing your mind with the uneasy feeling that the game is meant to give... and you won't notice the music most of the time. And if you never noticed the music or call it uneventful, well then, you may just go [REDACTED].

[DignifiedHobo]

There are plenty of people remaking old game melodies. There is even a website completely dedicated to video game remixes: http://ocremix.org/

The administrator of that website listens to dozens of submissions every day and only allows the really creative ones through.

Here is an example that should sound familiar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDvNRed98c0

Or this... which is a personal favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... Ncw6znVZN0

I guess my point is, that the guy is right. I do find it harder to remember the music to the God of War games, despite how grand the sound is. Having a large collage of sound tends to be hard to follow and remember, despite how pleasing to the ear it may be... Games like Starcraft, Command and Conquer, and the Megaman series focused on melodies which were good at setting the mood of the gameplay and making it easy to remember the cool tunes....

Makkon, this is exactly why I like your style of music so much. With all your creativity in varied styles, you stick with a clear central melody in all of the stuff you create. Well, so far at least.

But i'm barely a musician anymore, and only resumed a couple of days ago.... I probably don't know what i'm talking about...

[Digital Frequency]

I can agree with this guy. Video game music needs to draw the player in, not distract them with random sound even if that sound is amazingly good.

[Mundius]

I can agree with this guy. Video game music needs to draw the player in, not distract them with random sound even if that sound is amazingly good.

That's the point of VGM.