WELCOME

Instructor: Bruce Donald Campbell

Faculty, Continuing Education - RISD
Providence, RI

Visiting Scientist, Brown University
Providence, RI

Email: bcampbel01@risd.edu

Prerequisites: None

DESCRIPTION

Video game music has evolved over three decades from simple blips and bleeps into a genre of its own. This genre has been influenced by the technological limitations of its roots, and also by numerous crossovers from popular music, electronic music, film soundtracks, and anime. In this class, I’ll give a tour of the history of video game music and the programmers and musicians who made it what it is, and we’ll take time to appreciate some of the most significant technological and artistic accomplishments while understanding the reasoning behind it towards creating better user experiences.

RESOURCES

CLASS LINKS

1. Video Games Class
2. NPR Story on Music History
3. Video Games Music Archive

SYLLABUS

Course Overview

• Introduction
• Course Objectives
• Motivation

Video Game Music refers to any musical works or effects found in video games. Effects can be created digitally via synthesizers, or sampled from live sources, such as an orchestra.

-Effects can be created digitally via synthesizers, or sampled from live sources, such as an orchestra Music and sound have been in games since the early days of games, but music in games really began to flourish in the 1970s. Back then the technology was very limited and it was a challenge to make a full sound with inferior equipment. In the mid '80s game music started to develope some originality as game music developers shifted from just the game designers to actual experienced composers. Some notable composers began to emerge like Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Koji Kondo (Super Mario Brothers, Legend of Zelda), and Hirokazu Tanaka (Metroid, Kid Icarus, Earthbound).

As technology increased games gained a higher capacity for more sophisticated music and were able to contribute to a more immersive experience. Technology emerged to allow pre-recorded music to be played in game, and to have many more sound channels allowing emulation of orchestrated pieces. Some really breakthrough soundtracks started to emerge around this time like Resident Evil, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Street Fighter 2, and Pokemon.

Game music has continued to evolve into a brilliantly diverse genre. It emulates the sound of many different genres, but it has no uniform style of its own. There is no standard way a game should sound, so there is room for game music to occupy a diverse variety of sounds and moods spread across the musical cosmos.

Vocabulary

• Video Game Music, as created by a computer, has been around as early as 1951.
• The song God Save The Queen was played by a Mark I Ferranti computer in 1951, as an accompaniment to a video game event.
• The early video games were produced without inherent sound, but in 1972 Pong was released, which is the first game with sound effects.
• FM Synthesis, created by John Chowning at Standford University in 1967-1968. 20 million dollar gain through licensing.
• Video game music became defined by:
  • 8-bit (1983-1992) NES and Sega Master System (Zelda Demo)
  • 16-bit (1987-1996) SNES and Sega Mega Drive (Zanac Demo)
  • 32-bit & 64-bit (1993-2002) N64, Sega Saturn, and Sony Playstation
  • 128-bit (1998-2006) Game Cube, Sega Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox

Why is sound important and how does it affect us?

Sound in games help set the mood of the game and establish an overall atmosphere. When the action picks up the music in a game speeds up to suit what's going on visually. This works both ways to slow or raise the feeling of intensity and excitement. Soundtracks and effects should enhance and enrich the gameplay. You want the game to be made better by the sounds that accompany it.

Soundtracks and effects can make you feel an entire range of emotions if done well. They can bring about great happiness or deep sadness at any moment. Ambient and environmental sound can be very subtle yet effective in shaping your gaming experience. Playing Grand Theft Auto 4 without hearing cars drive past and people talking on the sidewalk can severely hinder and disrupt the experience and sense of immersion. If the music and effects don't match the setting and environment then the player may lose all sense of belief in the game. It wont feel real and immersive to anyone and this greatly hurts RPGs in particular.

Vocabulary

• Foley: Describes small sounds (For example, footsteps, a door handle turning, etc) that can affect the cues and immersive experience in a game.
• Chiptune: A piece of music produced by sound chips found in gaming systems or home computers. This type of game music was popular from the 1980s to approximately the mid 1990s.
• Soundtrack: Consists of scores and songs.
• Score: Refers to instrumental music written for the game. Meant to create or sustain a mood or an atmosphere.
• Song: Usually pre-written material. These are licensed from copyright holders or publishers for use in a game, and are often used to make the game appeal to a broader audience.
• Looping music: Music in games that is played continuously.
• Spotting and hit points: Hit points refers to a point in a game or cinematic where music should be dramatic or attuned particularly to an action. Spotting refers to the process of viewing a film in it's entirety to map out where music belongs.

Why is sound important and how does it affect us?

Sound in games help set the mood of the game and establish an overall atmosphere. When the action picks up the music in a game speeds up to suit what's going on visually. This works both ways to slow or raise the feeling of intensity and excitement. Soundtracks and effects should enhance and enrich the gameplay. You want the game to be made better by the sounds that accompany it.

Soundtracks and effects can make you feel an entire range of emotions if done well. They can bring about great happiness or deep sadness at any moment. Ambient and environmental sound can be very subtle yet effective in shaping your gaming experience. Playing Grand Theft Auto 4 without hearing cars drive past and people talking on the sidewalk can severely hinder and disrupt the experience and sense of immersion. If the music and effects don't match the setting and environment then the player may lose all sense of belief in the game. It wont feel real and immersive to anyone and this greatly hurts RPGs in particular.

• WAV
• MID
• MP3

Differences in File Formats

Different file formats provide different features:

1. Frequency Modulation (FM) synthesis: This technology was used mostly in the early ages of game music creation (1980's). FM synthesis uses algorithms to re-create and combine sound waves with the aim of approximating real-world sounds and instruments.

2. Tracked audio: a closed, CPU based system which stores instruments, applies effects, and plays the sounds through a single device. Popular in the 1990's, evolving to Garage Band today.

3. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface): Incorporates several different devices to create sound. All devices can communicate together. Popular in 1990's, creating small file sizes based on notes.

4. DLS1 and 2 — Downloadable Sounds Level 1: Tracked Audio and MIDI merge into DLS1 in 1997. This format allows each instrument to have multiple samples based on frequency. DSL2 improved upon it in 1999.

5. Sound recording using a variety of digital recording devices: Can record live performances. Pro Tools 8 is the current industry standard for audio recording and editing.

• An Example of Background, Event, and Location Sound
• Choosing Music for a Feel
• Downloading from Shareware Sites
• Coordinated play time

Space Invaders Audio

Video game composer Tommy Tallarico explains:

"If you remember in Space Invaders, you know, as the ships started to come down, the aliens, and as they got closer and closer, the sound got faster and faster. Now, what the game programmers did was that they took the person's heart rate, and as they're getting closer and closer, people would start to panic. Now they'd do the same studies without the sound, and the people wouldn't panic as much. And it goes to show and prove how significant audio and music are."

• Spend the time getting all your music work together... background, events, game over.
• Create text notes for any music you might want to add to your game.
• Play online games with other students to discuss audio you might consider for your game.