Playing Games: The Music of Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 1

I've been playing Final Fantasy VII Remake since it came out and I've simply got to do some analysis of the music.  This will be a multi-part series, though I'm not yet sure how many parts.  I have enough ideas and questions written down to last several months, some of them very extensive, so we'll see how far I get with everything.

I wanted to start today with some outside information that exists about the creation of the audio for the game before jumping into my own thoughts about it.  Here are three excellent videos that have a ton of useful, direct from the source information.

First of all, and this was the first video about the audio I encountered, a video from Playstation Asia about the creation of the theme, Hollow, for the Final Fantasy VII Remake.  Here, Yosh from Survive Said The Prophet and Nobuo Uematsu work to record the vocal version of the track.

As of writing, this video has just under 3000 views.  I'm really uncertain why it isn't of more interest!  I first saw this in February, around the time it came out, and at the end of it I burst into tears.  Not so much because of the theme, which is growing on me, but more because I was imagining how amazing it would be to be in a recording studio with Uematsu on the other side of the glass thanking you and applauding the work you'd just done.  As I've rewatched it, a couple of the most outstanding quotes in this come from the singer, Yosh, who calls FF7R "an iconic project that represents Japan" and "a historical collaboration of Japanese music and Japanese games."

The second video I saw, and most illuminating for the kind of work I do, is a video from the Final Fantasy YouTube channel, Inside Final Fantasy VII Remake Episode 4: Music and Sound Effects.

Again, I'm really stunned at the low number of views.  As of writing, there around almost 57000, which just seems so low to me!

This video interviews a number of people involved in the project, producer Yoshinori Kitase, music supervisor Keiji Kawamori, composer Mitsuto Suzuki, composer Masashi Hamauzu, and sound director Makoto Ise.

Kitase explains how he watched a video of the gameplay of the entire game of Final Fantasy VII as he prepared for this project, before any music was written.  He took tracks from the original game and put them over gameplay for the new game to create an overall image and director for the remake's sound.  Kawamori, Suzuki, and Hamauzu describe one of the most notable features of the game music: the decision to make various arrangements of the same theme that match with the game's scenes, sometimes being more cheerful or sad.  In more active scenes, these tracks may react, cross fading between them seamlessly, thus increasing or decreasing the aural intensity depending on the player's actions.  Kawamori explains how the design team stayed faithful to the original melodies that players would've heard hundreds of times playing the original and "enhanced them with a more modern sound, arrangement, and technology."  I was also impressed when Kawamori explained that the spoken dialogue allowed the storytelling to happen better and this made them want to make the music even better.  (Although I'm keeping my feelings mainly in the coming entries, I will say I would think of spoken dialogue as stepping on music, rather than helpful for it.  I must say that I think the design team handled this very eloquently!)  Suzuki and Hamauzu describe the difficulties of staying faithful to the originals but creating with your own voice.  Hamauzu reveals that not only had he played the original FF 7, sang in the Sephiroth chorus, but also that Uematsu recommended him to work on the Remake.  In a more technical turn, Ise describes the sound management system created for the game, MASTS, that allowed "AI to automatically generate all the sounds for character movement, based on things like the angle of their bone structure and the speed they are moving."  There are also some shots of recording sound effects (12 min- 13 min).

Finally, I'll leave you with the most recent video I watched about the audio in FF7R.  Although it's not a video that describes any technical aspects or has informative interviews, I do think many players would be interested to consider more about the voice actors in the game.  This video, from PlayStationGrenade, Final Fantasy VII Remake: The Voice Actors Behind the Characters details where you've heard the English voice actors before in tv, film, and games.

At the end of the second video linked above, Kawamori says that he thinks "one way to get enjoyment from the game is to see how your actions affect the changes in music as you play."  And that's exactly what I'm doing now as I play a second time through.  I'm also replaying the original FF7 to compare the music and sound in this case.  Illuminating!  I'll be back with more thoughts about the process soon.  Would love to hear any thoughts you have about the sound and music as well!

Game Music Online: Arnie Roth Reimagines 30 years of Final Fantasy Music

I recently read an interview by Brando Bui, editor in chief for the Gamer Professionals website about Arnie Roth.  I loved how in-depth the interview was and also was excited for the subject material because I have tickets to see Symphony of the Goddesses coming up in Detroit in a few weeks.

My favorite aspects of this interview were reading the history of the Final Fantasy concerts as well as how Arnie got into conducting these concerts.  The other fascinating part for me was thinking of all the behind the scenes collaboration that goes into selecting a piece of music to be part of these concerts.  Definitely enjoyed some unique points in this interview that I hadn't read before.

This interview is part of a promotional plug for upcoming Distant Worlds concerts on September 16th in Chicago.  Nobuo Uematsu is even going to be in attendance!  As I look at the webpage a few days later, I'm surprised that a great interview like this doesn't have more views.  If you're at all interested in live performance of game music, check out this interview and/or a concert in your area if you can.

The interview can be found here.

Playing Games: Audio of Final Fantasy XV (part 2)

One thing I've learned from my students is that I should qualify the study of certain games with: spoiler alert!  Interestingly, the consensus seems to be that this applies for modern games only.  I still do say spoiler alert before I play the ending of the original Mega Man in class, but that just gets a laugh.  However, I'm well into Final Fantasy XV now-- between a few different saves, close to 100 hours-- and am starting to think about my late game audio reactions.  While I haven't yet quite finished the story, I'm basically just messing around with side quests and hunts near the end game at this point.  In a way, it's to extend the game, but it's also for me to collect my initial thoughts about the long duration audio experience of the game.  So, warning: spoiler alerts -- at least in terms of the audio-- are probably inherent with these thoughts.  I can definitely say that hearing the musical ending to the story of this game is a delight I'm anticipating, yet delaying at the moment.  I'm such a nerd-- does anyone else really play with these thoughts in mind?  
 

Chocobo Theme 

One of my fascinations of game audio is the examination of themes and their development across games in a franchise.  It's such a powerful homage to use themes from previous games, and yet utilitarian as well.  While composers probably struggle with how to put their own stamp on these classic themes, they convey instant information to the seasoned player.  Consider the Chocobo Theme of Final Fantasy; this is obviously one of the most popular theme in the Final Fantasy universe.  Long time players of the series like me expect to hear a Chocobo Theme in a Final Fantasy game and look forward to discovering how it will be presented.  I mentioned in my previous Final Fantasy XV post that my first encounter with he theme was when Prompto sings it with made up lyrics just prior to when Chocobos become available to the player.  Now having ridden them for hours, I'm thinking more about the how this version of the Chocobo Theme relates with previous versions.  FF XV keeps the theme in G major, the most common of themes across the franchise, especially the early part.  In using strummed/picked instruments as well as fiddle/violin, the theme here has a very bluegrass-rock folk feel as well as a sense of improvisation.  In a way, it reminds me of music I would've heard at family reunions growing up in North Carolina.  This works well for riding an animal around outdoors.  Overall, it's a great Chocobo theme in my opinion.

Shimomura gives a nod to Final Fantasy VII and Uematsu...

One other musical moment that jumped out at me would be very much lost on a less experienced Final Fantasy franchise player.  As I was exploring, I immediately noticed that the town theme of Meldacio Hunter, called "The Hunters" in the FF XV soundtrack has a striking resemblance to Under the Rotting Plate (pizza) from Final Fantasy VII.  These are both in E minor, the and virtually the same tempo-- I clock FF VII at 79 bpm and FF XV's theme at 80 bpm and both have notable soft percussion along with a distinctive recurring bass motive.  In the FF VII instance, the piece has a second section that makes use of the main theme of FF VII that the main theme of FF VII.  In "The Hunters" from FF XV, I don't hear an explicit use of another theme in the game, but the noodling electronic guitar often uses the melodic B-F# interval and my ear is pulled to hearing a loose version of the B-F#-A-G-F#-E theme from Hammerhead.  This is certainly more obscure than the Chocobo Theme would be to many players, but no less strikingly obvious for those who know the series well.  What a meaningful audio tribute to Uematsu and the history of the series, but in a more subtle manner than a repeated theme like the Chocobo or Victory themes.  Compare them for yourself...

I could go on all day about these theme comparisons across the franchise... but for now two shorter thoughts just to finish this up.

Spicy Spoken Dialogue

I'm enjoying the voice acting of FF XV very much.  However, there are quite a few lines with a sexual innuendo that really stood out to me.  Consider first the female representation.  Cindy is obviously a sexualized character and when you approach her she often greets you with the line, "What can I do you for?" with a southern accent.  Makes me feel at home!  Or my favorite is when you make adjustments to your car and she's leaning over it in a mildly ridiculous fashion as the camera angle is from behind and says "And this goes... there!"  I've got nothing against a sexual joke, and a video game isn't supposed to be perfectly appropriate at all moments, but I suppose in my "old age" these really stood out to me.

Two others that have to do with male banter:  The most blatant line in the game came very early to me when I was fishing.  Gladious can say to Noct when he reels in a fish: "Puny, just like yours." This sort of male banter isn't unusual in any way, but left me wondering why the writers went with a putting down of Noct's member.  Why not reverse it?  Why couldn't the line be: "Wow, that one's a real whopper, just like yours!"  I guess it wouldn't be as funny that way, but the line left me wondering why the designers decided to diss his penis size rather than praise it.  Another example: one of the lines when you approach the Longawythe cafe worker about complete hunts is "think you're up to the task?"  Again, this is perfectly innocuous, but something about the way that the actor delivered the line in this particular take and the inflection of the word "up" struck me as another knock on Noctis' manhood.  "Ah yeah... here it comes!" is one of Prompto's lines possible when just about to eat.  Whew, Prompto, I'm getting thirsty myself...

The Radio

The last aspect I wanted to touch on in this second writing on the audio in Final Fantasy XV is the radio.  This is a really under appreciated part of the game in my opinion.  I love the ability to hear music of my choice from the franchise during the gameplay.  Now, I'm such a purist that I wish the tracks had been the original versions of the music, out of tune and clunky pieces from the first Final Fantasy, for instance, instead of the updated GBA releases.  But, that's probably just me longing for more nostalgia.  Since before the game was ever released, there were lists published of what music would be available to hear.  But not every track from another game is available, obviously; only certain tracks are.  How were decisions made about which tracks would be used from the various games and which would not?  How was the order of the tracks within each game album decided as well?  I'm guessing the first one was chosen to be a very iconic tune from the game that would help players to recognize it immediately.  Still, these are questions that I'd be interested to know more about and doubt there will be much discussion over.  I've also been fascinated to notice how the tracks are titled.  For instance, from Final Fantasy VI "Darryl's Airship" or "Second Airship" or something like that is titled "Searching for Friends."  Were these updates to the translations for these titles?  Or did I just never know these titles correctly?  More to investigate.

The interactivity of audio is still the most striking part of this Final Fantasy game to me.  For instance, the way that summons are announced as available is initially by a musical cue.  Before any other onscreen notice of the availability, the music changes and then summon command becomes visually available.  Also, the way to know that you're about to have a random encounter in the main world, Lucis, the music changes to an audio cue and Ignus says: "That Magitek Engine-- it's close!"  These are simply huge improvements.  I can't attend GDC this year, but if I could, no question I'd be at the talk about the music of Final Fantasy XV.  Below's a preview if you want to whet your appetite.  

I'm hoping to finish up my thoughts about the audio once I've completed the game in a third part to this Final Fantasy XV audio series.  

  

Game Music Online: Ultima Final Fantasy Podcast

Often when we're road tripping, Vince will play podcasts as we drive, switching it up from radio all the time.  He recently put on an episode of the Ultima Final Fantasy Podcast.  I'd never heard of it before but enjoyed hearing the episode he put on.  It's a spotlight on Nobuo Uematsu, part one.  Part two will hopefully be out soon.  The podcast is made by Joseph Degolyer and Kaleb Schweiss and has been around for several years-- guess I'm late to the party.  Not all of the episodes have a musical focus, but the Uematsu one definitely does and would be so much work to put together.  Wow.   

While I wish there were more technical explanation about some of the music discussed, the coolest part for me was simply to hear so much of Uematsu's work chronologically.  From early games that I didn't know he had a hand in through Final Fantasy VI, this episode consists, significantly and happily, of a lot of listening.  I didn't love the fact that they opted so often to play remixes of the music; I like to hear the originals!-- and they have too much of a preference toward rock remixes that sound like the Trans Siberian Orchestra.   That said, remixes are a cool way to involve a huge fan group and base online.  

I find Uematsu to be one of the greatest composers in game audio and one of the most influential composers living today.  I think history could easily look back on him as a Beethoven in the game audio genre.  If you love his work as much as I do, his sweeping melodies and fascinating harmonies, you'll really enjoy hearing his progression in game audio in this podcast.  

Musings: Final Fantasy VII remake.

One of the announcements that sprang out of E3 last week (and sent my Facebook feed into a near overwhelming flutter) was the Final Fantasy VII remake for the PS4.  To say that I'm excited about this is an understatement.  Final Fantasy VII is one of my favorite games of all time.  In fact, when I was younger, I played it through in a very completionist manner, killing the Weapons, breeding Gold Chocobos, and even maxing out the Knights of the Round materia until I had multiple copies.  (Where did I find time for all that?!)  As I've already posted, the music to the game is incredible and was really one of the main inspirations for my teaching and studying video game music.

I don't have a whole lot to add about the remake other than to speculate about the audio content of it, which I haven't really seen receive much attention yet.  First of all, I don't really care for the music in the trailer much at all, other than the use of the Uematsu theme right at the end.  Otherwise, it's too much a cross between Phillip Glass minimalism and Jaws for my taste.  If I listen with my eyes closed, it might as well be a trailer for yet another Transformer movie.  Regardless, the music in trailers for games often have little to no connection with the actual game music, and are often made by different people than those who make the game audio.

What does really make me apprehensive about the remake from an audio standpoint is going from a text based game to a game with voice acting.  I think it's pretty safe to suppose that the game with use voice acting, especially considering the trailer contains dialogue.  One of the issues this brings up is the game audio hierarchy: Dialogue > Sound effects > Music.  Perhaps there could be a fourth category of ambient sounds that might even be below music in import.  By this I mean to say that in terms of audio, when you're playing a game, you must hear the dialogue first and foremost.  If you can't, then the designers really haven't done their job well-- it's just frustrating not to be able to hear and understand plot based dialogue.  After that, usually sound effects are of primary importance-- can you hear that you're under attack?  Do you realize that you're being injured, or supposed to be drawn toward a noisy apparatus, etc.  Some instances of dialogue fall into this category too, "Ow!" or "Over here!" or some short lines that aren't critical to the plot, but rather call your attention to a game state, situation, or event.  Finally after that comes music.  Music has to duck below all these other sounds and it really takes a back seat to them.  (This is also why I'm nervous for the day that Zelda games get spoken dialogue, though some probably would consider my opinion "old school.")

The fact of the matter is that in the original FF7, the music caries such poignancy and emotional weight.  Now, that primary role will be replaced by the dialogue, for better or worse.  Yes, the music will still be there, but instead of it carrying the moment, the spoken words will be most prominent with the music beneath it.  Now, as you rush up the pillar to save Sector 7, instead of music and Barrett's arm gun, you'll be hearing dialogue, his arm gun, sounds of attack, and then the music.  When you steal the Tiny Bronco?  You better believe Rufus will be shouting and there will be plenty of commotion from the Shinra soldiers.  And when Aeris dies?  You can bet there will be more sound effects over the music, and quite likely vocals as well.  These are simply expected today.  (Prove me wrong, design team!  Let the music carry these scenes!)

Now, I don't mean to be a Negative Nancy.  The audio remake may be very well done.  However, it's going to be a massive change from the original where the music really carried the day since there was little to no spoken dialogue.  Think how insane it was to hear "Sephiroth!" in the final battle-- and the Latin from the choir?  That was life changing.  Now that won't seem unusual-- we'll have heard words all throughout the game.  I'll be playing the game regardless, and likely will spend time here comparing the two versions.  But with such an iconic game where the music is so well constructed, paced through the game, and tied into the gameplay, I wonder how this remake will be sensitive to such a huge audio change and simultaneously true to the excellence of the original?

What are your thoughts about the remake and the potential audio changes, particularly considering the voice acting?  Some of my friends have already mentioned that they may not enjoy the choices in voice actors, but I'll reserve judgment on that until I hear it!

Video Game Music Class: Happenings last week and this week.

I'm writing this morning from the airport, where I'm about to fly to LA for the sold-out GameSoundCon 2014.  Super excited for the trip-- not only to meet the game audio experts, but also to learn a bit of FMOD and Wwise.  Pretty sure I'll be the only faculty member on the UM campus who has familiarity with these softwares.  I'll be able to demo them live in class later in the semester instead of my usual playing some of the video tutorials from Stevens/Raybould The Game Audio Tutorial.  Exciting times.

Last week in class, we talked briefly about MIDI and iMuse.  A number of the engineers in class have used MIDI in various ways before, as have the Peformance Art Technology students, of course.  Virtually no one knew about iMuse, though, except one student who had played a game that made use of its technology.  There are some great videos on youtube via Peter Silk's channel that demonstrate some different features of iMuse that I show in class when we discuss iMuse.  The great thing about these videos is that its much simpler and clearer to hear how they're working in some cases than it is to describe exactly what's happening in words.

We also had a superb Skype chat on Thursday with Aaron Marks.  When we have in-class Skype sessions, I pass out index cards to take attendance and ask the students to write a brief thought/reaction to the conversation also.  Often, I get creative doodles on the notecards as well and one student's drawing of the Skype session with Aaron was too amazing not to share with the world.  Talented artist!

Finally, I thought I'd share one other list.  Because we'd been speaking with Chance Thomas two weeks ago and Aaron Marks last week, the theme of this week's online discussion was to get familiar with a game audio composer of the students' choice.  I suggested that they research one of their favorite games and learn a bit about who created the music/sound for the game.  (As I think about it, I'm probably also a bit motivated for this line of thinking as I continue to watch the Diggin' in the Carts series about Japanese video game composers.)  I learned several things from their choices, some about composers I thought I knew well-- for instance, I didn't know that Nobuo Uematsu was an English major (What Do You Do with a BA in English?!)-- and I also learned about several composers and foreign games I'd never heard of.  Cool people and games to get more familiar with!

If you read much of my blog, you know I love lists, so I present below the list of "favorite game composers" from my Fall 2014 video game music students.  There was a fair amount of overlap, so there are fewer composers than I have students!

Austin Wintory
Ari Pulkkinen
Grant Kirkhope
Gustavo Santaolalla
Harry Gregson Williams
Masaya Matsuura
Masafumi Takada
Junichi Masuda
Motoi Sakuraba
Yuka Tsujiyoko
Simon Viklund
Jesper Kyd
Christopher Tin
Jun Maeda
Yoko Shimomura
Daisuke Ishiwatari
Koji Kondo
Brian Trifon
Darren Korb
Jun Senoue
Kevin Manthei
Kan Gao
Robyn Miller
Jeremy Soule
Garry Schyman
Joe Hisaishi
Greg Edmonson
Kazumi Totaka
Yoko Shimomura
Ben Prunty
Magnus Birgersson
Jack Wall
Ryo Nagamatsu
Nobuo Uematsu
Daniel Rosenfeld
Steve Jablonsky
HirokazuTanaka
Setsuo Yamamoto
Jim Guthrie
Michael Land
Kow Otani
Kenta Nagata
Ron Fish
Marty O’Donnell
Mitsuo Terada
Carlo Castellano
Keiichi Suzuki
Christopher Lennertz
Glenn Stafford

Stewart Copeland

My Gaming Audio History: Final Fantasy Legend (1990)

Crossing mediums from the NES to the Game Boy for this entry on the first handheld RPG I played, Final Fantasy Legend.  I've learned that this is actually from a different line of games, Saga, but as a young player growing up in North America, I didn't know about Saga.  This game fit in well with what I knew to be Final Fantasy: towns, talking to NPCs, battles, raising stats, etc.

Who created the audio experience?  Nobuo Uematsu.  Amazing to return to Uematsu right after a Team Fat game-- Maniac Mansion.  Here melody is the focus and tracks are so classically shaped, clean, and balanced.  I do think Uematsu is at his finest in early games like this.  My favorite tracks are definitely the Prologue, with a beautiful, balanced structure.  Wipe Away Your Tears is also easily a favorite, again, another exquisite Uematsu melody that simply pours out longing within the confines of the Game Boy audio.  I especially appreciate the slight ritardando at the end of the loop.  Also, the way that the main theme and Wipe Away Your Tears come back in the final track during the closing cutscenes of the game is rather like a finale in a musical, bringing back the best numbers from the show.  Really amazing detail and such beautiful music for one of the first handheld RPGs.  A much more eloquent ending that the NES Final Fantasy.

Two things strike me as I study through this game again.  First of all, I hear a remarkable cross-game Uematsu similarity.  In the Epilogue track, there are high background alternating pitches (1:34-1:43) that reminded me immediately of the Ancient Forest Temple track from Final Fantasy 7 (first 8 seconds).  Give it a listen-- you'll hear it.  They're even in the same key!

The second fact to catch my eye/ear is the amount of music compared with the gameplay.  The longplay I see online of this game takes over 7 hours.  There are just shy of 12 minutes of music in this game.  That's about a 6:225 minute music to gameplay ratio.  Perhaps even more stunning, over four minutes of the game music comes in the last half hour or so of game play (Warrior's Ascent, The Top Floor, Enraged Battle, and Epilogue)!!!  While games have almost always saved some music as an endgame reward, I think decisions like this show how new the gaming genre was and how composers weren't yet sure how to balance the music throughout the game.

Below are my detailed notes as usual.  These notes were compiled using this soundtrack.

-Prologue: 64 sec.  E major.  Intro (4) A B.  The B theme uses material from the Intro.  Love the canonic voices of the intro.
-Main Theme: 44 sec.  G major.  A B C (9).  Through-composed.  Fascinating that such a regular piece has that one extra measure at the end of it, which adds to the feeling of resolution at the end of the loop.
-Town Theme: 47 sec.  G major.  A B Really like the melodic emphasis on the rising Major 7th interval as well as the use of flat sixth scale degree in the melody in the second half of A.  The end of the loop uses a bIII-V resolution that just seems so "Uematsu."  Not sure what I mean here, but more to think about...
-Battle Theme: 35.5 sec.  C minor.  A B C.  Very musically regular.  Patterns and sequences make the motivic material memorable.
-Victory (Eat the Meat):  16 sec.  C major.  Intro Fanfare (2) A.  Fascinating that the intro fanfare has the same whole tone motion and feeling (bVI-bVII-I) as the original NES game, although here the motion is technically bIII, IV, V.
-Bandit Cave: 48 sec.  E minor.  A A' A''  i-bII-bVII.  A bass vamp begins this tune, the second A adds a melody, the third A is the same melody with a slight change at the end of the loop for a more definitive ending.
-Hurry Up!: 34 sec.  A minor.  A B B'.  The use of bII in this piece toward the end of the loop and it's A minor tonality remind me of the over world theme for FF IV, which was just a few months away from this game.
-Fierce Battle: 43 sec.  A minor.  Intro A A B.  Intro doesn't repeat in the loop.  The A sections have irregular measures (4+3).  Slightly longer than the normal battle theme, perhaps because these battles likely last a bit longer?  Plays with a Picardy third at the ends of phrases in the A sections.
-Requiem: 27 sec.  D minor (Picardy third).  Intro (2) A.  Opposite motion from the introduction's intro, which ascended, this intro descends!  Beautiful, balanced classical phrase.
-Forbidden Tower: 36 sec.  F minor.  A B C.  Really interesting use of bII here, as well as Uematsu's beloved  bVI-bVII-i.
-Wipe Your Tears Away: 66 sec.  E minor.  A A' B.  Such a beautiful, longing melody.  Love the slight ritard at the end of the loop.
-Warriors Ascent: 35.5 sec.  F minor.  Intro (4) A B  Intro Eb minor material doesn't repeat with the loop.  The A section is basically a rising sound... imitating the name of the track?
-The Top Floor: 22 sec.  C.  A A' (down whole step).  A simple short loop that teeters between major and minor.
-Enraged Battle: 52 sec.  A minor.  Intro (6) A A B B.  Intro doesn't repeat with loop.  A section is in A minor, B section is in the relative major, C.
-Epilogue: 2:25.  B major--> E major.  Reuses the main theme of the game.  The music is synced with a slide show of various scenes and bosses in the game.  Requiem?  Main theme in B, Wipe Away Your Tears in E minor, then to major, main theme in A, then back to E.  Moment of Final Fantasy 7?  In the Ancient Forest temple, I hear a similarity here.  Beginning of this reminds me the celebration music at the end of Star Wars 1.

My Gaming Audio History: Final Fantasy (1990)

Since I've already blogged about the music of Final Fantasy pretty extensively in a comparison between the original NES music and the iOS update music, I'll keep this a short with just a few thoughts about the music.  I can't believe that the game has less than 10 minutes of music.  For a NES game, that's not too bad, but considering that it takes 30 or 40 hours of gameplay, it's shocking to consider that ratio 1:180 ratio of music to gameplay.  Pretty incredible!  Especially considering that just about two minutes of those 10 minutes are end game music that's heard only once in those 30 hours.  So, that means 8 minutes of music keeps you occupied for all that time.

One of the things I find most incredible about these beginning game compositions is that the music is so superb.  These composers were working with very crude systems where the music had to be programmed in a very cumbersome way.  Not only that, but the limitations of only having three or four voices was extremely challenging as well.  Further this by the fact that there wasn't really much of a game music history for these composers to look back on and their groundbreaking, foundational work becomes even more inspiring.  Composers like Uematsu took these limitations and difficulties and created art.  The work he and others did was just incredible.  I'll never understand people who dismiss early game music as bleeps and bloops or not yet of age.  It's just like a great visual artist who decided to limit how colors or shapes are used, but still create incredible artwork.

I read on vgmpf that Final Fantasy used very little percussion in the soundtrack.  I'd never really thought about it, but it's definitely true.  For the battle music, the lack of percussion could be the fact that Uematsu didn't want the percussion dropping out to create the sound effects, which were typically created from the same noise maker channel.  There are plenty of scenes where percussion would've been possible, but clearly he didn't feel it necessary for this game.  And several of the tracks were used and reused many many times.  The victory fanfare, the main theme of Final Fantasy (when you cross the Cornelia bridge) and the opening arpeggiation.

Here's a link to the vgmpf Uematsu page.  I was checking it out to see where Final Fantasy fell in his game music compositional history.  I'd be very interested to hear Uematsu's television and radio jingles-- didn't know he'd been involved in that sort of thing.  I see that Rad Racer, was an even earlier NES game Uematsu did the music to.  I thought I hadn't played it, but I've just pulled up a longplay and I definitely have played this game with a friend a lot growing up.  Totally forgot about it.  I'm giving the longplay a watch/listen as I finish up this blog.  Check it out if you want to hear some earlier Uematsu.  Here's a link to the soundtrack if you prefer.

Having now watched that longplay of Rad Racer, the vgmpf page is pretty disparaging about the music in the game.   I don't really think it's all that bad!  Some tracks sound more classical, the ending theme is a nice blues theme that's pretty catchy...  Reading those comments makes me realize it's a really fine line for these websites that are maintain facts/history to not go too far into one person's opinion.  If the writer of that page wants to trash the audio, at least find a source that agrees to back the position up so that it's semi-legitimate.  That kind of opinionated stuff is hardly in the spirit of a "wiki" site.  That said, it's unquestionable that Uematsu's compositional skill has blossomed through his career.  Simultaneously, technological improvements allowed him to better realize his compositions, no doubt.

Lastly, I'll leave you with a link to a G4 Final Fantasy tribute I just watched.  Great stuff.  I'm all the more excited to see that FF4 is coming up in my list.  It's a way off, but still, I'm excited to see how his style grows with the technological advances of the SNES.

Analysis: Comparing Final Fantasy NES and Final Fantasy for iOS

Here are two games I've played a lot, the original Final Fantasy, and the iOS version as well, which is in essence the PSP version.  I want to compare their music.  What's the same between the two, what's different?  Obviously, arrangements of the music have changed and the audio is no longer limited to the square, triangle, and noise channels of the NES.  But beyond these changes, what about the key, tempo, and form of the pieces?  Have these musical features stayed the same or have they been adjusted (updated?) as well?  Generally, I'm wondering: how does music change between an original release and a modern remake?  This study will shed light on these questions.

Note: I know Uematsu created the original music.  Can anyone help me to learn who rearranged the audio for the update and composed the new tracks?  Thanks!

Hypotheses:

1- The keys of pieces will change.  The iOS speaker is very different from the sound system of the NES.  Keys will have been optimized for the portable playing systems.  This is very common in older games when moving across platforms (Contra from arcade to NES or Up 'N Down from the arcade to the Atari).  I'd like to think that the music of FF is so class, such perfection, and with established key relationships that transcend the game.  As a whole, it all flows together and creates a unity; key centers are important to the overall aural pacing of the game and these will be maintained.  However, I'm not optimistic for this result.

2- The tempos of the tracks will stay the change.  The pacing of the game is different on the iOS version-- easier, faster.  Music will be altered to better suit the onscreen action.  Similar to my argument for keys, the tempos will change.  I'd like to think that these were planned, but they're probably planned to math with onscreen action, which is quite a bit faster in this new game.

3- There's added music in the iOS version of the game.  I believe this to be true from having played both versions, but I'm not actually sure.  If memory serves, some tracks have extended sections.  Also, there are new dungeons available and it would make sense to have new music composed for these new places.

Here we go.  This chart is the breakdown of the comparison of key, tempo, musical form, and lengths of the tracks.  The original soundtrack I examined is here.  The remake soundtrack is here.

Theme	iOS Key	NES Key	iOS BPM	NES BPM	iOS Form	NES Form	iOS Length	NES Length
Intro	Bb major	Bb major	88	100	A A B C	A A B C	43 sec	38 sec
FF Theme	F major	F major	89	75	A A B A A	A A B	46 sec	38 sec
Castle	D major	D major	96	100	A A A	A	60 sec	20 sec
Overworld	G major	G major	136	151	Intro'(4) A B A B Intro(4)	A B	77 sec	26 sec
Town	C major	C major	85	90	Intro(4) A B A B	A B	51 sec	21 sec
Shop	C major	C major	66	67	A B(6)	A B(6)	26 sec	26 sec
Sleep	A major	A major					6 sec	5 sec
Key item	G major	G major					5 sec	3 sec
Battle	G minor	G minor	160	150	Gliss- Intro(2) A B(4) C D(6)	Gliss- Intro(2) A B(4) C D(6)	3 sec intro, 39 sec loop sec	3 sec intro, 41 sec loop
Victory	Eb major	Eb major	151	150	Fanfare(4) A A'	Fanfare(4) A A'	3 sec intro, 13 sec loop sec	3 sec intro, 13 sec loop
Game Over	D minor	D minor	80	91	A A'	A A'	26 sec	21 sec
Menu	Bb major	Bb major	60	60	A	A	16 sec	16 sec
Garland's Castle	E minor	E minor	127	151	Intro A B	A B	44 sec	26 sec
Matoya's Cave	B minor/ D major	B minor/ D major	147	150	A(4) B C A(4) B C	A(4) B C	66 sec	32 sec
Ship	F major	F major	146	150	A A' B	A A B	40 sec	38 sec
Dungeon	C minor	C minor	148	150	A B C	A B	35 sec	24 sec
Earth Cave/ Volcano	D minor	D minor	120	150	Intro(2) A B(4) C(12) D	A(4) B C	68 sec	32 sec
Airship	F major	F major	160	180	A B	A B	24 sec	21 sec
Sky Palace	Eb minor	Eb minor	103	100	Intro(4) A A B(10) A A B(10)	A A B	65 sec	31 sec
Chaos Temple/Water Shrine	Ab minor	Ab minor	150	136	Intro A B	A B	42 sec	26 sec
End Game	G major	G major	85	90	Intro A A' B B' A A' B B'	Intro(10) A A' B B'	1:53	12 sec intro, 45 sec loop
Church	Eb major		86		A B C D(12)		50
Ruined Castle	D major		101		Intro A A'		57 sec
Lute	Bb major		86				11 sec
Bridge Cutscene	D major		142				13 sec
Barrel Cutscene	G minor (Picardy 3rd)		52				14 sec
Boss Battle 1	Bb minor		161		A B C D E*		38 sec
Boss Battle 2	C minor		142		A B(12) C(4) D(10)*		2 sec intro, 55 sec loop
Final Battle	Bb minor		181		Intro A B C(7) C'(5) D(12)*		8 sec intro, 49 sec loop

*All of this added battle music is unusual in some way.  The first boss music additions make use of irregular meter; it also uses meters of 5 and 7.  As you can see from the table, the second boss battle music has very irregular phrase shapes.  The Final battle makes use of both irregular meter, with groups of 7, 5, 3, and varying between compound and duple meter, as well as using irregular phrase shapes for groups of 7, 5, and 12 measure phrases.

So, how did my hypotheses do?  

1- The keys of reused music stayed the same!!!  I'm floored!  Perhaps the modern trend is to preserve key relationships!  Could that be a result of better technologies?  Some of the most commonly heard themes: Overworld, Battle Music, and Key Item music are in G/g, as is the End Game music.  Perhaps the overall key of the game is G centered?  Almost all the shared music is in closely related keys for G/g (especially considering different minor scales) except for the sleeping music or the Chaos Temple music in the original game.  Perhaps Uematsu did have an overall key relationship planned for the themes.  Music that would certainly be heard in conjunction (Town and Shop themes, for instance) are in the same key.  Both the airship and the boat's musical themes are in F major.  All of the "dungeon" themes are in minor: Temple of Fiends, Marsh Cave/Earth Shrine, Volcano, Water Shrine, Sky Palace. There definitely seems to be some tonal planning.

2- The speed of tracks definitely changed across this remake.  I count three that sped up significantly on the iOS, six that are significantly faster on the NES, and ten of the tracks that are within about 5 BPM of their original version, which I consider not a large change.  Amazingly, then, in general, the music on the new game has slowed down!  Wonder why that is?  To hear the added voices and harmonies?  Or did it save memory to program faster music on the NES?  I was right, but that leaves me with more questions....

3- There is more music in the iOS version.  As you can see, the iOS version has eight added musical themes compared with the NES version.  Much of this music is for boss battles, which in the original NES game simply use the regular battle music.  This is keeping in line with other FF titles (certainly 4 onward, I need to check on 2 and 3) that have boss music to distinguish those battles from regular battles.  I remember playing the original version of this game several years ago and was surprised that the music for the boss battles was the same; especially considering that the bosses are significantly harder than regular enemies!

Considering the tracks common to both versions: A note about the form.  In the second and third tracks, for instance, I marked repeated sections of music with new letters because the instrumentation changed or countermelodies were added.  These minor changes weren't possible when the NES came out, but they're simple to do now.  Musically, though, the theme stays the same.  The loop is lengthened by extra repeated A sections, though.  Instrumentation changes or added countermelodies also lengthened the Sky Palace, End Game, Matoya's Cave, Castle, and the Overworld themes when compared with the original versions.

Another common change here is to add an introduction to the music, for instance in both the Overworld and Town music.  The Overworld music is very interesting in that it has an 8 bar "intro" between the A B form.  The first time you hear the theme in gameplay, it only plays the last 4 bars of this intro.  If you're lucky enough to make it all the way through the music without encountering a battle, you'll hear the full 8 bar intro before the Overworld theme plays the second time.  Hope that makes sense.  Give it a listen and you'll get it.  Introductions were also added to Chaos Temple, Sky Palace, Volcano, and Garland's Castle when compared with the original.

One of the biggest changes is in the way sound effects are handled.  In the new iOS version, when you cast a spell, for instance, the battle music ducks to a lower volume for the sound of the spell.  In old NES games, a voice of the music typically had to drop out to create the sound effect.  This is a microscopic version of the problem facing sound designers these days: now that there's not much of a limit to how many sounds can be happening at once, the skill is in deciding which ones are the most important to be heard at a given moment.

All that said, hearing all of the music of the iOS version takes just over 20 minutes compared with almost 9 and a half minutes with the original NES version.  When just considering common tracks, that difference drops to just over 15 minutes for the iOS and stays the same at 9 and a half minutes of music for the NES version.

Other interesting notes:

I noticed that a number of the NES tracks have a BPM of right around 150.  Could this be a common pulse for the game?  These tracks are the Earth Cave, Matoya's Cave, Garland's Castle, Dungeon, Ship, Battle, Victory, and Overworld Themes.  Definitely some of the most common music you hear in the game.  The average NES pulse is 120 BPM.  The average iOS pulse is 116, whether or not the added tracks are averaged in.  So, the NES game has a slightly faster aural pacing.  Interesting considering that the gameplay is faster on the iOS version.

One difference I recall from playing the games is the use of rubato in the new version.  Consider the shop theme, for instance.   The slowing down at the end of the loop isn't just in this theme, there's also subtle rubato in very beginning of the harp arpeggiation in the opening theme; it's as if the harpist is really strumming up the instrument and getting the pattern going!  The church music in the iOS version has slight pauses at the end of the phrases as if to give a congregation time to breathe before the next phrase.  Very clever and subtle musical touches to be appreciated by only the most discerning.

One other difference I've noticed from watching longplays and playing a bit myself tonight is that the new version of the game restarts the theme from where you left off before you were interrupted by battle.  The old game always starts the track at the beginning of the loop.  This is one way of reducing repetition slightly in the new version compared with the old.  

As I worked on this, I did the iOS version research because I knew there would be more music (at least boss music), and I wanted to get the largest portion of the work done first.  When I heard all the end game music with irregular meters, I thought that the original game wouldn't have any irregular meters.  However, the Dungeon theme does use irregular groups of 3 in the A sections!  Yay for another game using irregular meter!

My Gaming Audio History: Mega Man (1987)

If I recall, I played the original Mega Man after I played Mega Man II.  I was totally engrossed with the second installment and thought: I've got to play the first one too!  I'm sure I rented it and played a friend's cartridge as well.

Who created the audio experience?  Manami Matsumae.  Here's a cool interview where she discusses in detail her work on Mega Man.  Really enjoyed reading that she compares composing for game systems (like NES) with the three melodic channels with playing Bach three part inventions.  Interesting that back in this era composers, along with many game designers, aren't listed in the credits of the game.  By '87, we're nearly a decade after Atari got started with Combat and I think about the split in Atari that led to the creation of Activision largely because game designers weren't recognized in credits or some way for their work in the games!  I'm not sure why there wasn't more credit given in this era, but luckily game fans have pulled out the truth on the internet over time.  As a note, in the game credits, the only audio mention is Sound Programmer: Yuukichan's Papa, a pseudonym for Yoshihiro Sakaguchi.

What is the audio experience?  For any Mega Man lover, here are the beginnings of many iconic sound effects for death, 1-ups, power ups, damage, etc.  As far as music is concerned, there's different music for each boss level as well as boss select music on the main menu, victory music, game over music, and several tracks right at the end of the game, for the final boss, when you beat him, and the ending of the game.

How does the audio draw the player more deeply into the game?  Each level having its own music obviously helps to give even more atmospheric differences to the levels.  Also, each level starts with a short vamp that doesn't repeat unless you die, instead the loop point is a few seconds into each track.  Boss music indicates that something more difficult and challenging is happening and doesn't need to be as long as the music for different levels because, one way or another, the boss battles are relatively short.  In the Wily stages, the music doesn't have short intros, instead, the music starts right in with the beginning of the theme.  The music at the very end of the game (Wily stages 3 and 4) gets very chromatic and thus more eerie.

I hear such a similarity between the Boss Victory music here and Uematsu's Battle Victory music from Final Fantasy.  It's the bVI-bVII-I progression.  Is this just a typical fanfare or were the composers referencing each other?  It's very interesting to hear victory music sound so similar!  More investigation is needed.

Also, check out the end game sequence and think carefully about the music as you watch.  First of all, there's a clear key relationship between the theme when you beat Dr. Wily and the beginning of the credits music (both F# major).  Also, there are very distinct music/visual cues that are hit in the final movie: music picks up when Mega Man beams down, the key change from F# to A major happens roughly around the same time as he is shedding his uniform (what's with the Elvis hair?), and as soon as he reaches the edge of NY, we're established in a new key.  Considering the key changes, musically, it's as if we're moving from the depths of the evil palace back to home.  This is the first track I've encountered that changes keys as it continues and also that matches so closely with a series of visual events.

Alright, now to break it down track by track.  Mega Man has just over 6 minutes of music.  Give a listen to the Mega Man soundtrack.

Main menu: 4 sec, Ab major -- simple chord planning between Ab and Gb
Boss select: 6 sec, G minor-- love that this ends on V!
Gutsman: 28 sec (26 w/o stage start) G minor-- starts on V
Cutman: 41 sec (38 w/o stage start) A minor-- longer track with AAB form-- Matsumae's favorite
Elecman: 41 sec (38 w/o stage start) B major
Fireman: 30 sec (26 w/o stage start) F# minor-- a huge sequence at the end of this tune-- earworm!
Bombman: 37 sec (30 sec w/o stage start) Db major
Boss: 9 sec, Ab minor, Passacaglia?
Boss victory: 6 sec, E major.  Compare Uematsu's FF battle victory
Game over: 3 sec, Db major
Wily 1/2: 32 sec (starts right on it) F# major
Wily 3/4: 22 sec G minor-- very chromatic
Wily Boss: 13 sec D minor-- very chromatic
Beat Wily: 14 sec F# major
End Game: 90 sec F# major to A major (!)  This is the only track that changes keys.

Surveying Literature: Sound in Video Games (Eric Pidkameny)

I found a copy of Eric Pidkameny's essay, Sound in Video Games, in a larger collection of essays, The Video Game Explosion, edited by Mark J. P. Wolf.  I also know Pidkameny has an earlier essay that's available online, Levels of Sound, and months ago when I found it, I made a note to finish reading it.  That article is a little bit longer, while Sound in Video Games is a short, largely a historic article that briefly charts the aural and technological progress of game sound, and then turns to the idea of Adaptive Audio and synergy between game music and other fields.  This is an excellent, concise game audio history that whets the appetite for more information in a variety of game audio areas.  A great place to start if you're wanting to learn more.

I'm not able to find much information about Eric Pidkameny online.  If he has a website or a bio somewhere online, I'd like to know the link.  One of the cool things about this project is not just that I'm learning more about the audio in games I've played and where scholarship is with game audio, but I'm also learning about who is interested in this kind of study.  It's really becoming cool to connect virtually with these like minds!  I've got a meeting next week to discuss some grants possible from UM that I could win to travel and investigate game music at some conferences.  So hopefully some of these virtual connections I'm making will soon turn into vis-a-vis ones!

As a fan of Final Fantasy games, I was really struck that he takes time to mention the music in Final Fantasy 3 (I would say FF 6) as one of the most important games in terms of game music.  He writes: "In FF3 (6), each hero and villain in the game had his or her own musical leitmotif, which played whenever that character became the focus of the story.  The musical accompaniment was a form of wordless narration, giving insight to the game's characters and events in a way that text alone could not."

There wasn't so much here that was entirely new to me in terms of thought, although I did spend a little bit of time investigating some of the games that are mentioned whose audio I hadn't heard before.  Therefore, in a similar thread with my list of the games Karen Collins mentions in Game Sound, here are the games that Eric lists in this article, in the order he lists them:

Games:

PONG -- first audio
Space Invaders -- first continuous music
Pac-Man -- musical interludes/cutscenes
Berzerk -- dialogue
Sinistar -- dialogue
Dragon's Lair -- digital audio
Super Mario Bros -- new era of game sound
Star Wars: X-Wing -- adaptive audio
Ocarina of Time -- adaptive audio, also highlighting Koji Kondo
Metroid -- these three are some of Nintendo's most popular franchises
Dr. Mario -- also highlighting Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka in these three
Earthbound -- these three are some of Nintendo's most popular franchises
Final Fantasy 3 (6) -- use of leitmotifs, Uematsu is one of the first internationally famous sound designers
Dance Dance Revolution -- music and rhythm based dancing as a part of gameplay
The Sims 2 -- user designated soundtracks blur the distinction of what is game audio
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- user designated soundtracks blur the distinction of what is game audio
Defender -- these two serve as bookends to understand the progression of audio
Chrono Trigger -- these two serve as bookends to understand the progression of audio
Half-Life 2 -- almost all the soundtrack is diegetic music
Halo 2 -- video game music's first move onto the Billboard 200 chart

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.

Playing Games: The Last Story

For my birthday, Vince got me The Last Story.  I'm just a few hours into it (as I'm also trying to finish up Twilight Princess), but I really like it so far.  Trying to figure out the battle system....

Here's the cover of my copy.  If you look toward the bottom, you'll see "Music by Nobuo Uematsu."  I can't remember buying a game before where the composer of the game was so prominently a selling point of the game on the cover of the game.  I suppose there are others I've not thought about or known about, but Uematsu really made his name as a game music composer, and now he's considered so important that his music is a main selling feature for the game.  It's definitely why Vince bought it for me!

As a gamer from the 80s, I'm completely surprised by games that don't have continuous music, but that's definitely not the trend now.  So, while I wish I'd heard more music in my few hours of playing, I've got to say: I love the main theme of the game.  Just give it a listen.  The first 36 seconds are so brilliant-- so simple, so folklike, so Uematsu, shifting from minor to major, so classical in form (1st phrase, 2nd phrase repeats with ending going down, 1st phrase again, and then the B phrase with the double resolution that shifts to major), such clever instrumentation-- bringing the flute in right at the moment when it shifts from F minor to F major.   Awesome.  Looking forward to hearing more!

Analysis: Viennese Waltz in Final Fantasy V: Waltz Clavier

I've been playing a little more of Final Fantasy 5 recently and I was really pleased to hear a waltz in the Viennese style.  What does that mean?  It's a tradition of playing the 2nd beat of the 1, 2, 3 feel in waltz   just a little early.  First, here's one of the most famous waltzes of all time here for you to hear a little of what I mean.  Herbert Von Karajan conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, Strauss Blue Danube.  You can hear the effect clearly between 1:45-2:23, although it's probably easier to hear around the 2 minute mark, once the orchestra has reached more of a steady tempo.  

 

You can hear the same effect in Uematsu's Waltz Clavier (Tycoon Waltz) in the video below.  It's most notable between :46-1:03.  I love this classical, highly stylized reference!  Note: Tycoon is the place in the game where the waltz happens and clavier is an older word synonymous with keyboard.  

Surveying Literature: The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness

This weekend I finished The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness.  The Fat Man is George Alistair Sanger.  Sanger has a team of friends, Team Fat: Dave Govett, Joe McDermott, and "The Professor" K Weston Phelan, who have made their game music central in their lives.  This book reads at time like a self-help book, a philosophy work, sometimes with rambling stories and a crude illustration or two.  However, it's a powerful glimpse into the mind and philosophy of a person who specializes in game audio and there's incredibly important information here, especially in the Hitting the Rubber with the Road section, where Sanger includes detailed descriptions and photos of the best ways to work in the field.  Sanger believes the same issues that have been present in game audio will play out as historical themes throughout time, and hopes that his book will begin such a documentation.  As weird as it is, Sanger knows that his book contains important historical evidence and that game composer methods need to be written down and documented.  He acknowledges that he's possibly writing for someone who pulls the book off the shelf years in the future, yet at the same time, the information contained within is critical.

Sanger is often quoted as saying that video game music is such a young field no one is dead yet.  However, with the death of Steve Jobs just a couple years ago, it's clear that the pioneers of technology: those who created, oversaw, and steered the early days of technological development aren't immortal and won't be here forever.  One day-- perhaps soon, we'll want to know things about the first generation of composers-- many of these questions I'm already wondering now: who knew who-- and how, what connections there were between people in games music, what their working methods were, etc.  Along these lines, I loved seeing the pictures in the book showing what sort of setup these working composers used.  Of course, as new technologies develop, office/work spaces and methods change constantly, so it's great to have documentation starting already.  I love Sanger's emphasis on playing real instruments and capturing live sounds rather than just relying on the computer.  I wonder if this is a pervasive feeling in the field?  It seems as the technological ability to include samples has improved, many games and composers have taken advantage of it, although now it's easier than every to simply compose with virtual instruments.

Despite a classical music training, Sanger makes most of his references in the work to popular musicians.  At numerous points he mentions game designers wanting something to sound "John Williams esque."  The Beetles were obviously a huge influence on him given the number of times he references them.  As a post-Beetles aged person, I wonder who game composers closer to my age would site as major influences?  I suppose it's possible that video games are old enough now that game music could be inspiring new composers to go into the field.  It's cool to see pictures and tales of Sanger and his friends in bands; I knew about Uematsu and the Black Mages, but glad to hear jam sessions are  more prevalent than I thought.  It's easy to forget that game composers aren't just digital guys, they play instruments too!

One of my favorite of Sanger's points is that you have to make compositions your own.  If someone asks you to create something "like" something else-- steal certain aspects, and then make it your own.  I couldn't agree more-- one of my mentors Shirley Verrett used to say to her students:  "It's when you sing with your own voice that people sit up and take notice." Making something similar to but different enough is the credo of popular arts-- enough similar to be accepted, but enough unique to stand out and have people take notice.  Finding that perfect balance is life.  Along these lines, some of my favorite moments came from the philosophical parts in the book, for instance, the quote: "Often the only sense of growth in your career will appear to be in the seeming importance of the party doing the rejecting."

One idea I hadn't thought about before is that Sanger describes game music as it relates to a family setting.  My family moved our tv with nintendo up into a bonus room when I was about 10, so we cleared the problem of only having one tv before the SNES came out, but it's definitely a consideration.  His point is this: while the kids play the game and are immersed in it, interactively, visually, and with audio, others around may not be able to see the screen and certainly aren't playing along.  In other words, the kids are immersed, but the parents might only hear the game.  When games were in arcades, they were dedicated environment for game play and video gamers.  Once the gaming scene shifted inside the house, suddenly a room for gaming and gamers was the family room in the house.  I actually never grew up not knowing a home console-- my parents had an Atari that we watched them play occasionally.  When the Nintendo came out, we got that too.  Sanger makes the point that music for kid's games shouldn't be annoying, simplistic, or too repetitive-- not only does it irritate the parent, the child gets tired of it too and turns it off.  Composers take note: don't just stay in tonic!

I hadn't thought of the difference between music that is used many times versus music that is just for a one time game event and how those things compete for audio memory space.  For each time you make a piece that only plays once, there's less space possible for the themes that play for the bulk of the game.

A final point that really resonated for me was Sanger's comparison between the recording industry and game music.  As mediums change: LPs-->Tapes-->CDs-->Digital, the previous incarnations become not only forgotten, but unplayable.  Even though I still have CDs in my storage closet (and great ones!) the only working CD player I own is on my computer.  I don't use one with my home stereo stereo.  VHS-- I own a few still, but I've got no way to play them.  The same happens in games: as the consoles change through time, some games will become unplayable.  Game systems have a lifespan where games are developed and released for them and then technology moves on.  Yes, some of the past games will be ported and become available-- legally or illegally, but other games for whatever reason won't.  Eventually, the old game consoles will become difficult to work and break.

Most of all, reading this book got me thinking about the history of game music.  Will people care to look back to the first chiptunes once they're old and long forgotten?  What will happen as game composers grow old?  Some are moving into consulting, others publishing about game music, some are beginning to teach.  In classical music we learn the idea that rarely does a musician just do one of the following: perform, teach, write about music, composer, arrange, repair, or sell music or instruments... most often, musicians careers embrace multiple of these.  Perhaps this is true of game music composers as well.

For even more Fat Man, I found this video interview with Sanger shortly after the book came out.

For more current readings:  The Fat Man Blog on O'Reilly.  As of writing, last updated Jan 2009.

Music making in Video Games: Final Fantasy 5 piano

Last year, I played through almost all of Final Fantasy 5 on my PS3.  It's not a game that I knew as a child, since it wasn't released then in the US, but I probably would have loved the piano progression that takes place in the game.  I bet I would've wanted to play all these pieces-- which, in fact, I did anyway, except for the Schubert.

For those who haven't played the game before, let me explain: there are keyboards (visual is organ, internet lingo calls them pianos and the pieces performed are for piano) in various towns across throughout the game that you can play.  The pianos are found in: Tule, Kerwin, Karnak, Crescent, Jachol, Lugar, Moor, and Mirage.  At first you start out with basic beginning scales and exercises and eventually progress to simple classical piano pieces.  It's pretty cool to experience this progression.  The first scale is hesitating and inaccurate, the hands not quite together in 2-3.  4: The start/stop/start, then double time of the Hanon feels like a sudden leap in skill.  From 5 on, there's no metronome anymore.  6: The Schubert is brilliant except for the last note.  7:Beautiful Dreamer has a more subtle mixture between two measures in four and two in three.  The Mozart and Debussy are both pristine and common pieces for those who progress to an intermediate level of piano study.

1: Single handed scale up
2: Two handed 9 note scale up and down
3: 5 note pattern of thirds, in octaves
4: Hanon The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises-- exercise 1
5: Franz Schubert March Militaire, Op 51-- intro
6: Stephen Foster: Beautiful Dreamer
7: W. A. Mozart: Turkish Rondo  K 331, Third Movement from Piano Sonata 11
8: Claude Debussy: Arabesque No. 1

I was surprised that there wasn't already a video of this progression of piano ability online, although there is a live version of these pieces played by VirtualHarmonies in this video.  For me, the coolest thing about this progression is this: it's Uematsu's idea of how to represent someone's achievements and skill building at the piano.  From the first couple of exercises that are really fumbled around, rhythmic inaccuracies emphasized by the metronome, assuring the listener hears a steady pulse so the playing sounds "right" or "wrong"-- all the way to the intermediate classical piano pieces.

From 1992, Final Fantasy 5 is the first game I can think of with a musical progression that your avatar makes as the game progresses and that which unlocks certain skills as you progress through it.  Do you know of an earlier example of musical skill building by an avatar in a game?  What other musical progressions do you enjoy watching your characters make in video games?  I also used to level up my piano skills in The Sims, but that title is from 8 years after FF 5.

Live Performances: Symphonic Odysseys: A Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu

While researching for my Final Fantasy Battle Theme comparison analysis, I found an incredible symphonic performance from July 10th, 2011 of a Tribute to Nobuo Uematsu.  If you like live orchestra music, Final Fantasy, and Nobuo Uematsu, you'll enjoy this, the first part of the video.  The information about the arrangers is in the "about" section of the video.  The complete concert is here.