Surveying literature: searching online databases for game music

I spent several hours today in the UM libraries searching for articles about game music.  I'm now realizing a broader distinction between "game music" and "game audio."  I'm interested in game audio: I want to better understand the broader discussion of game audio (dialogue, voice acting, recording techniques, implementation, etc), but I ultimately want to focus on game music (composers, composition process, musical aspects, musical-technological interaction).  So to go to the next level, I'm turning my attention to individual chapters in books and journal articles with a focus on "game music," and thus turning away conversations about recording dialogue and special effects.  These, of course, are interesting to me as part of the audio experience, but they aren't game music: my primary focus.  I'm also trying to make sure I finish physical materials ASAP so I can switch to electronic materials for the summer when I'm away from home.  I always bring too many books with me...  I'm going electronic this summer.

Tonight I did a very broad search for the top 100 items on ProQuest for "Game Music" and came up with a ton of hits.  Here are my favorites and most interesting quotes, weblinks, and reactions:

-"Game Music Central Presents 'Best of the Best: A Tribute to Game Music.'" Canada NewsWire
Notes: Gamemusiccentral.com no longer exists in this form.  Online media and game music... can they coexist?  How does video game music market itself and connect with others?  How does it react with the world around us?  How do artistic concerns drive it?  

- "Game Music Gaining Interest, Money, Respect." Melinda Bargreen.  Seattle Times
Notes: NBA Live 2003 became the first soundtrack to go Platinum.
Alistair Hirst: "having an orchestral soundtrack is seen as a 'big plus, bringing value to the game.'"

-"College orchestra plays thumb wiggling video-game music."  Stacey Hollenbeck.  Tribune News Service.
Notes: As of Oct 2007, "6 of the 11 marching bands from the Big Ten schools  had played video game music at some point in their half-time shows."  Is UM one of these?  I can't tell via the web, but would love to know if any readers have info on a UM half time show involving game music.  I did find two blog entries by the composition department at MSU about game music...

- "'Live': Game music 'the radio of 21st century.'"  David Stabler.  The Oregonian.
Notes (2009): 68% of American households play video games.  They spend more time playing them than watching TV, reading, or going to the movies.  The average game player is 35.  40% are women.
Tommy Tallarico: "When you watch a movie, you hear the music once and six months later, the DVD comes out and you might hear it again.  Within one year, you probably hear maybe three hours of John Williams' music.  Compare that with "World of Warcraft," where a player is hearing the music 40 to 60 hours a week."

-"Video-game music isn't just kid stuff, it's a concert." Melinda Bargreen.  Seattle Times
Notes: In 2003 EA reported: "40% of respondents said that after hearing a song they liked in a video game, they bought the music CD.  Several emerging pop-artists, after being featured in video-games, now have hit the Billboard charts, according to Billboard's Feb 15 issue."

-"Game Music in the Conservatory."  Dayton Daily News
Notes:  Michael Sweet: "We're seeing kids want to play the violin, french horn, or other instruments because they've heard it in a video game or seen it at a game music conert."

- "Concertos for Your Console:  video game music is now so good, fans want to see it performed live.  Robert Colvile.  The Daily Telegraph.
Notes: Jason Hayes: "People who aren't gamers still think video game music is all kind of like Pac-Man.  But for composers there's always a new challenge-- you're basically collaborating with the player."

-"'The Fat Man' rules in computer game music." Mary Hellman.  San Diego Union-Tribune.
Notes: Johnny Wilson: "George Sanger was the first to take a music composer's attitude toward the product and to integrate the music with the visuals. The score for Loom was revolutionary... What you had was true scoring, with themes for characters and scenes.  It reminded me of what John Williams had done with 'Star Wars.'"

-"In a Nod to Lush Film Scores, Game Music Gains Texture." Matthew Mirapaul.  New York Times.
Notes: "Computers and game consoles now support multiple audio streams-- up to 256 separate "voices" on the Xbox, for example.  Whether the music source is a MIDI synthesizer or a prerecorded sound file, the systems are powerful enough to combine and modify the streams in interesting ways-- provided that the composer has provided the options in advance."

-"Using Living, Breathing Musicians In Game Music."  Jack Wall.  Game Developer
Notes: "If your budget doesn't permit the recording of a live orchestra, then do your best to record enough living, breathing musicians to bring the game alive.  And please, if you are composing for a game trailer that will play next to John Williams' Episode III trailer, remember...  it will be playing next to John Williams' Episode III trailer."

-"Staying in Tune with the Times: Video Game Music Has Come a Long Way." Nick Lewis.  The Ottawa Citizen.
Notes: "Since many young people today play video games more than they listen to radio or watch TV, video games are breaking talent the way MTV did in the 80s.  A recent poll of core gamers aged 13-23 showed 55% of them learned about new artists from video games."

-"Hot for Game Audio."  Damian Kastbauer.   Game Developer.
Notes: Reviews much of the same literature I've read or have ready to read: Collins- Game Sound, Brandons- Audio for Games, Stevens/Raybould- The Game Audio Tutorial, OpenAL documentation-- (I need to learn more about this), Bridgett- From the Shadows of Film Sound, Sangers- The Fat Man on Game Audio.  This may be the gem of my search: my investigation of this may be best summed up by perhaps my favorite social media post: "This exists" (the Game Audio Podcast).

My beloved, NPR, garnered two links:

Lindsay Totty.  "From Mega Man to Final Fantasy, Live Video Game Music."  Ok, so maybe I can convince the U to let me travel to ONE music conference...  Where should it be?  MAGFest?  GameSoundCon?  Project Bar-B-Q?  Also...  I've just been reading/watching interviews with Koji Kondo where he emphasizes the importance of melody in game music composition.  Interesting that Nobuo Uematsu does the same here: "Lindsay: Uematsu echos the thought that it's melody that makes for great game music.  Uematsu: It's pretty easy for me to come up with melodies.  24 hours a day, it's in my head all the time, and I struggle to choose which ones to use."

David Greene.  "Video Game Music: Big Music, Big Money."  The classic Greek conversation between student and master.  How much does it cost to make game music?  Tommy Tallarico: Extremes: $50,000 to $1,000,000.  The average: $250,000 to $400,000.