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Video game music is musical pieces and soundtracks from computer and video games. Although the quality varies
wildly, video game music displays a level of creativity and a breadth of variety that is unrivalled even by film scores.
History
Arcade games in the 70s often
contained music of some sort, but it was typically monotone and so indistinct that it was
easily dismissed and parodied. This trend continued in arcade games well into the 80s, and in
early home consoles and computers until the release of the Commodore 64 and
the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
Previous game systems and home computers had for the most part continued the beeps and boops of early arcade games (except for
the Magnavox Odyssey, which was silent).
The capabilities of the Commodore 64 and NES were not up to what most people today would ever consider listening to, but the
ability to play multiple samples simultaneously (effectively multiple instruments) at higher quality than had usually been
possible before allowed composers to be much more creative with their music. Many melodies originally composed for the NES have
been longevous, notably music from the Super Mario
Brothers, Legend of Zelda, Castlevania, and Final Fantasy series. These systems
were also able to create some types of sounds with remarkable clarity, giving rise to a few tunes which many find enjoyable even
in their original formats; the opening theme to the original Final Fantasy being a prime example.
Until the appearance in 1990-1992 of the Super NES, video game music often
sounded characteristically "bleepy", although some home computer sound chips, like the Commodore
64's SID, partly ameliorated this. With its SONY
SPC700 chip, the Super NES revolutionized video game music, spawning the modern age of
this field of applied acoustics (or digital sound revolution), exemplified by games such as Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI, Chrono Trigger,
Castlevania IV, and ActRaiser. The Super NES was another evolutionary step in the progress of video game music technology, but a
critical one that made it much easier for developers to put music people would actually want to listen to into their games.
From early times, and continuing today, much video game music comes in the form of loops, music which repeats continually
without interruption. (Think of Shari Lewis's "Song that Doesn't End.") This
isn't always the case, though, and loops saw a particular decline with the popularity of CD-based game systems. Loops are
probably popular due to the open-ended nature of many games, with no fixed time limit.
Video game music can be stored in several ways. The two most common are for it to be sequenced together from stored samples, or from computer-generated tones; or for the music to be prerecorded in either a
standard CD format, or some streaming audio format.
Sequenced music has been around from the start. It has gotten progressively higher and higher in quality, usually improving
markedly with the release of every new gaming system, and sometimes even being pushed beyond the perceived limits of the old
ones. (For example, listen to the music in the end credits of Super Mario Brothers 3) The Sega Genesis was a huge step forward in sound quality from previous
systems, but still had a very tinny quality to it, with poor bass. The SNK Neo Geo was also a big step forward (but being primarily an arcade system, most players never
noticed). The Super NES finally brought video game music to a level of audio fidelity that most people would accept, however. It
was the first game console capable of producing sequenced audio which could fool an untrained ear into believing it had been
recored live. Quality has also continued to improve on later systems, with the at times unbelievable sound quality of such games
as Final Fantasy 7 on the Playstation, or Panzer Dragoon II on
the Sega Saturn.
Prerecorded music had previously been prohibitively expensive to use in video games, even in arcade games. When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 appeared in the
arcades, its recorded title screen song seemed amazing. The first widespread use of prerecorded music came with the release of
the Turbografx 16/PC
Engine CD system. This console never really caught on the in the US, but was very long-lived in Japan. Other companies also
released CD-based systems, which often had music saved in a standard CD format which one could
listen to by putting the discs into any CD player. This Red Book audio format format had a disadvantage in that it didn't allow the consoles of the
time to access other data while playing music, and it took up a lot of space. Eventually, with the release of the Sega Saturn and
Sony Playstation, streaming audio formats were introduced. (Look for the .XA
files on a Saturn or Playstation disc.) They use much less disc space and can be accessed much more quickly and randomly, and can
contain loops.
The storage media and file formats which have allowed the use of pre-recorded music have contributed to a trend towards using
the music of well-known artists in video games. An early example would be Way of the Warrior on the 3DO, with music by White Zombie. A more well known example would be Trent Reznor's score for Quake. More recent games, especially
sports and racing games produced in the US even more commonly use not only music composed by popular artists, but
previously-released popular songs of theirs.
There have been games developed in recent years which actually use the music as a neccesary component of the game. The most
noteable of these is the popular Dance Dance Revolution
series, where players step on arrow buttons on a dance pad in time to the music. This genre is known as rhythm games.
Also in recent years, a trend towards combining the two approaches has begun. Games for the PC such as Republic: The Revolution (music composed by James Hannigan) have utilised sophisticated systems governing the flow of incidental music by stringing together short phrases based on the action on screen and the player's
most recent choices. An earlier, more primitive use of this sort of technique was in Lucasarts's "X-wing" and "Tie Fighter" games on the PC.
Fan culture
The Final Fantasy series is considered by many gamers and unofficial
video game and music Web sites to have the best music of any modern video game series, especially the pieces that are part of the
work of Nobuo Uematsu, and it has been widely recognized for its
soundtracks. Japanese game companies routinely make CD soundtracks, called OSTs,
for their games as they do with anime, and also make sheet music books for their games.
Like anime soundtracks, these soundtracks and sheet music books are usually marketed exclusively in Japan. Therefore, interested
non-Japanese gamers have to import the soundtracks and/or sheet music books through on- or offline firms specifically dedicated
to video game soundtrack imports. There are plenty of such firms, mostly online. Those non-Japanese gamers import mainly Final
Fantasy soundtracks. Some of those firms also offer anime soundtrack imports. Listening to video game music outside gaming,
especially Final Fantasy music, along with anime music, is getting more and more popular among non-Japanese gamers. There may
come a time when video game soundtracks will begin to be marketed outside Japan, most likely Final Fantasy music. Video game
music is even performed by European orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra or the FILMharmonic Orchestra in Prague. Final Fantasy music is enjoyed
not only by gamers, but also by music lovers. The video game soundtrack market is growing and may extend to overseas markets.
Many Final Fantasy fans also study musical instruments, especially the piano, and play songs from the Final Fantasy series on the
piano. Video game music is a significant part of Final Fantasy fan culture.
Video game soundtracks are frequently "ripped" electronically through emulation in formats such as NSF, GBS, SID, HES, VGM, SPC, PSF, and
PSF2, and can be played through e.g. Winamp in sample rates above 44.1 kilohertz.
This is called upsampling (as opposed to downsampling). Modern video game music is traditionally done in classical orchestra or
techno music genres. A number of video game critics are known to prefer digitized recordings of orchestrated music in games as
opposed to synthesized music. An example of orchestrated classical music in
video games can be heard in Super Smash Bros. Melee,
with its score performed by the aptly named Orchestra Melee.
On November 17, 2003, Square Enix
launched the Final Fantasy Radio on America Online. The radio station
has initially featured complete tracks from Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XI: Rise of Zilart and samplings from Final
Fantasy VII through X. Inclusion of video game music on America Online Radio network or on radio stations may contribute to the
increase of realization of video games as a form of media or artwork.
There were also several concerts, playing exclusively video game music. Five "Orchestral Game Concerts" happened in Tokyo,
Japan, from 1991 to 1996, and also a Final Fantasy Concert, in 2002. In 2003, the first European Symphonic Game Music Concert
took place in Leipzig, Germany. A Final Fantasy concert was scheduled for the first time in the United States, and it was
performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California, on May 10, 2004. The concert was a one-day
sell-out, that is, when all seats got sold out on a single day.
For a long time there have been many fans (mostly in Japan) who transcribe video game music which was originally in other
formats to MIDI format. Recent years have also seen the development of a scene of musicians (with levels of talent ranging from
none to excellent) who remake and/or remix older video game music, usually with modern levels of fidelity. There are several
websites (listed below) which serve this community.
Known video game musicians
- See: List of video game musicians
Video games noted for their music
Popular sound formats by system
Related music genres
External links
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