This is a rather long entry, but contains a lot of information. If you're new to the blog or a regular reader, I highly suggest taking your time and reading. There's a lot of insight and information below as I analyze the NES games in My Gaming Audio History, a journey I've come to the end of after over a year. Next up, SNES games... but for today, the last of my musings and analysis of the NES era audio.
I've been taking some time to think about what I learned by studying the music (and audio) to these NES games that I played growing up. Not only have I been wondering about results of my study and what I've learned so far, but I've been asking myself fundamental questions like: why is the NES era so fascinating to me, and why am I studying game music? It's this final question that I'm going to start with now...
For one, I've always played games. I've also played the piano as well as several other musical instruments. I've already written about the connections I see between playing games and playing musical instruments, particularly my life and career as a pianist. Yet, recently I've thought of another reason that games study is so appealing to me. My partner is a very successful opera singer and is traveling the world roughly half of the year. I'm at home... my connection with his work is in preparing him for those roles and performances. After that initial step, then he leaves and is gone for months working on the projects in fabulous places around the country (the last year took him to France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and Holland, for instance). I've begun to realize that games are not just nostalgic, but also a way for me to go to exotic locations and hear amazing sounds right from my living room. I think this "away from where I am" aspect is a big part of the draw in studying game audio for me. It's a way to travel anywhere and hear new sounds from my life at home.
Continuing in reverse order, why is the NES era so fascinating to me? And, it's not just me! Many other folks love the 8-bit era above all other game audio times. One thing is that the NES was nearly universal-- it had such a huge market share in the 80s that nearly everyone who played games played the NES and could relate to it. Thus, it gives a universal language among people around my age.
Another reason I think the NES era is so fascinating is that with the development of the NES, the era of home gaming was born. One can definitely hear the influence of the arcades (the "ringing" up of your score at the end of Super Mario Bros, for instance, imitates pinball). However, music needed to fill out the audio experience of gaming because it was at home and not in a crowded arcade. Also, your NES was plugged into a TV, which didn't have great speakers, but probably better ones than your computer sound in the 80s! So, there's an influence of what came before (main the arcade/ pinball sound effects) but also better audio quality.
For me, undoubtedly one of the most amazing aspects of game music in the NES era was the lack of precedent. By the time of 16-bit consoles, there were years of game audio history to build on. But the developers of NES games and game audio were in uncharted territory. What should a game sound like? What should a power-up sound like? What should death sound like? What should running out of time sound like? What did music tell the player about the scene and moment in the game? These questions were decided in this era of home gaming in a way that still carries influence today-- and not just because some sounds are exactly the same (finding a treasure in Zelda, for instance), but even more basic parameters. Generally, power-ups rise, death music descends, running out of time speeds up....
By the time of the SNES, my parents had bought another TV and my brother and I were moved into a new room where we could game without using the "family TV." Thus, game audio no longer filled the house in the same way. Thus, games had lost their universality as my parents no longer watched and listened as we played along for hours.
Finally, what have I learned so far? I've already created a chart where I show how the amount of music in NES games increases over time. But what else? Well...
When I started this project, I expected to find a grand key scheme and design in these games. By this I mean: like a great Beethoven symphony, I hoped to find that a game was in a certain key with various tracks in related keys, which were connected by musical (mathematic) significance. I really didn't find much of this. Koji Kondo definitely has key relationships in the Mario Bros games (these games are overwhelmingly in C major), and David Wise has moments of it-- like the E centered RC Pro-Am. However, composers don't do this as much as one might expect.
I also expected to find lots of thematic relationships. By this I mean musical symbolism that occurs by the use of motives that describe feelings, people, places, things, etc... If you need more info, check out my video on Leitmotifs in Final Fantasy 7. I've only just started my SNES research, and am looking forward to writing about it soon, but I can already say that this is more common in SNES games than NES games. Koji Kondo is definitely a leader in this way.
Finally, I'd like to share one unexpected thing I've learned in my NES game study. Admittedly, I feel a little foolish to write that this is unexpected, because I should have realized it, but... Game composers have "sounds" that define them in the same way that Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, etc, have "sounds" that an experienced listener can identify. I definitely can recognize David Wise music, at least on the NES. He has compositional forms as well as sounds that he uses more regularly than another composer might, say Koji Kondo, for instance. And likewise with other composers. This isn't to say that all games by a composer sound exactly the same, but there are similarities that one can come to hear and understand as this music is studied so that even hearing a piece for the first time allows for educated guesses if you're familiar with more of the composer's work. Like I said, I don't know why I didn't expect to find this, but I hadn't thought of it until now and definitely hear it.
So there are my reflections on the last year and a half of game audio study I've been doing. Now, I'm off to the next era; I've already been studying Super Mario World with great delight. Looking forward to the next journey.
Showing posts with label Mozart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mozart. Show all posts
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Friday, May 17, 2013
My Gaming Audio History: Mario Bros (1986)
It seems crazy for me to talk about playing Mario Bros after playing Super Mario Bros, but the reality of it is that I definitely played the VS Super Mario Bros arcade as well as the NES version before I played Mario Bros. Technically, Mario Bros had an earlier release in Japan, but I'm chronicling these games as they were released in the US.
Who created the audio experience? Yukio Kaneoka. Kaneoka was an early game audio designer. He also made the music for several other games, including Donkey Kong and Punch Out.
What is the audio experience? With this game, we're back to that earlier stage of game audio-- which really, we've barely left-- where there's music at the beginning of the game, music that marks the start of each new stage, and otherwise, a lot of sound effects on a game that has no ending: fireball on screen, jumping and hitting an enemy, hitting the final enemy, the sound of Mario/Luigi's footsteps, changing directions with Mario or Luigi, monsters and coins coming out of the pipes, the countdown clock on bonus rounds, the POW block, the sound of the fly monsters, collecting coins, the sound of a one-up, and the sound of Mario dying. Did I miss any effects?
How does the audio experience draw the player more deeply into the game? I'd say this fits into the standard arcade platform audio experience. Sounds separate levels of gameplay and
Who created the audio experience? Yukio Kaneoka. Kaneoka was an early game audio designer. He also made the music for several other games, including Donkey Kong and Punch Out.
What is the audio experience? With this game, we're back to that earlier stage of game audio-- which really, we've barely left-- where there's music at the beginning of the game, music that marks the start of each new stage, and otherwise, a lot of sound effects on a game that has no ending: fireball on screen, jumping and hitting an enemy, hitting the final enemy, the sound of Mario/Luigi's footsteps, changing directions with Mario or Luigi, monsters and coins coming out of the pipes, the countdown clock on bonus rounds, the POW block, the sound of the fly monsters, collecting coins, the sound of a one-up, and the sound of Mario dying. Did I miss any effects?
How does the audio experience draw the player more deeply into the game? I'd say this fits into the standard arcade platform audio experience. Sounds separate levels of gameplay and
I'd say one of the most interesting things for me about the Mario Bros games is that the music has a definitely overarching key relationship for the music. This is definitely the same with Super Mario Bros as well. Both games have a key center of C major. In this game, while there is no background music, Mario and Luigi's footsteps arpeggiate up and down a C major chord, which gives a feeling of C as home base for the game audio.
Title Screen: F
Game Start: Mozart, Eine kleine Nachtmusik (opening of Allegro, transposed) C major
Completing Bonus Round: G7 arpeggio
Death music: C
Old games like this had/have so many ports. The pitches on other systems can vary, but in general the music and effects stay somewhat similar. Some ports add new music/audio. For instance, the new Advance remake has classic Super Mario Bros background music added to the stages as well as Mario exclaiming "Mama mia!" when he dies.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Playing Games: BioShock's Source Music
I'm playing three or four games at once right now, which is a bit crazy for me, but I've got the time to do some research right now, so.... I finally broke down and got BioShock a few days ago. I first heard about it from doing the G4's Top 100 games when they mention BioShock as having great audio and finally decided to play it. Despite the fact that FPS games are the best sellers, I've not really played many of them; I think Wolfenstein 3D was the last I played to give you a taste of how long it's been. Thank god for easy mode!
One of the things I've noticed right away is that there isn't too much "music" in the game-- at least not like a platform game, adventure, or RPG would have. I suppose the music suitable for those genres could pull the player out of a FPS. Part of the scariness of BioShock's atmosphere is when splicers suddenly throw bombs at you or yell at you. At most musically, in terms of composed music I've encountered so far, I've only noticed a sustained bass drone or something else that almost blends in to the background atmosphere. Nothing really melodic or singable. I'm also not sure yet of how interactive the audio with BioShock is... if it's very tailored to individual gameplay, this minimalist music I'm hearing could also be a result of my slow, methodical playing. I'm not a charge through the level kind of guy (not yet, at least).
In Stevens/Raybould's The Game Audio Tutorial, I recently encountered the idea that diegetic music (music that your gaming avatar hears as part of gameplay-- think from a radio in Grand Theft Auto) is different from extra-diegetic music (music that only you hear as the player-- think Super Mario Ground Theme) in what it conveys about the characters in the gaming world. For instance, we don't actually think Mario is hearing the music we hear as he jumps around the world (although, I wonder if he would hear sound effects-- question blocks, fireballs, and jumping sounds?). But we would expect a character in a game to hear music played through an onscreen radio-- particularly more so when the audio has a directional component: as our avatar moves toward the radio, the music sounds louder and clearer; as we move away, its volume decreases. While both music only we as the player hear (extra-diegetic) and music we and the avatar hear (diegetic) inform us about the gaming atmosphere, according to Stevens and Raybould, diegetic music "carries a strong cultural message about the time, place, and people listening to it."
What is immediately noticeable about BioShock's music is that there's a large amount of diegetic music, and so far, most of that has been source music. By source music, I mean music that exists outside of the game world and has been licensed and put into it. What's striking me as odd is the choice of source music. Take a look at the soundtrack listing. If you notice, these tracks are from the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. BioShock is set in 1960. Thus, this music has a disconnect for me between the game setting and the musical setting. This "Great American Songbook" repertoire that the game uses was popular music that played on the radio-- but decades earlier than 1960! By the mid 50s, the top Billboard hits had songs creeping in like "Rock around the Clock" as Rock and Roll grew in popularity. Elvis has a number of hits in the late 50s and 60s, and by the mid 1960s, The Beetles appear regularly on the top songs list. That should give you a flavor of the popular music of the day around 1960.
Granted, most players probably didn't do dissertation research on The Great American Songbook. Most players probably hear this music and think: older era, earlier time, American sound. I hear it and think: 1920-1950. As a history lover, the 20s-40s are some of the most interesting decades of both American history, world history, and American music history for me. As a person with specialized knowledge in this realm, this music doesn't evoke 1960. It gives me a disconnect between the setting and the music! This reminds me of helping a director friend plan some music to play before and during a play in a 17th century French setting. I did some research and presented her with a variety of informed options by French 17th century composers. At the end of my suggested tracks, I gave her some throwaways-- think Mozart Turkish Rondo-- tracks that were over 100 years too late, but well-known. Now guess which music she picked to use during the play......
Questions for another day: Why did the audio team decide to go with music this early? Could the designers have actually put in popular music closer to the 60s, some of the beginnings of Rock and Roll? How would that have affected the setting? Do you have any thoughts?
One of the things I've noticed right away is that there isn't too much "music" in the game-- at least not like a platform game, adventure, or RPG would have. I suppose the music suitable for those genres could pull the player out of a FPS. Part of the scariness of BioShock's atmosphere is when splicers suddenly throw bombs at you or yell at you. At most musically, in terms of composed music I've encountered so far, I've only noticed a sustained bass drone or something else that almost blends in to the background atmosphere. Nothing really melodic or singable. I'm also not sure yet of how interactive the audio with BioShock is... if it's very tailored to individual gameplay, this minimalist music I'm hearing could also be a result of my slow, methodical playing. I'm not a charge through the level kind of guy (not yet, at least).
In Stevens/Raybould's The Game Audio Tutorial, I recently encountered the idea that diegetic music (music that your gaming avatar hears as part of gameplay-- think from a radio in Grand Theft Auto) is different from extra-diegetic music (music that only you hear as the player-- think Super Mario Ground Theme) in what it conveys about the characters in the gaming world. For instance, we don't actually think Mario is hearing the music we hear as he jumps around the world (although, I wonder if he would hear sound effects-- question blocks, fireballs, and jumping sounds?). But we would expect a character in a game to hear music played through an onscreen radio-- particularly more so when the audio has a directional component: as our avatar moves toward the radio, the music sounds louder and clearer; as we move away, its volume decreases. While both music only we as the player hear (extra-diegetic) and music we and the avatar hear (diegetic) inform us about the gaming atmosphere, according to Stevens and Raybould, diegetic music "carries a strong cultural message about the time, place, and people listening to it."
What is immediately noticeable about BioShock's music is that there's a large amount of diegetic music, and so far, most of that has been source music. By source music, I mean music that exists outside of the game world and has been licensed and put into it. What's striking me as odd is the choice of source music. Take a look at the soundtrack listing. If you notice, these tracks are from the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. BioShock is set in 1960. Thus, this music has a disconnect for me between the game setting and the musical setting. This "Great American Songbook" repertoire that the game uses was popular music that played on the radio-- but decades earlier than 1960! By the mid 50s, the top Billboard hits had songs creeping in like "Rock around the Clock" as Rock and Roll grew in popularity. Elvis has a number of hits in the late 50s and 60s, and by the mid 1960s, The Beetles appear regularly on the top songs list. That should give you a flavor of the popular music of the day around 1960.
Granted, most players probably didn't do dissertation research on The Great American Songbook. Most players probably hear this music and think: older era, earlier time, American sound. I hear it and think: 1920-1950. As a history lover, the 20s-40s are some of the most interesting decades of both American history, world history, and American music history for me. As a person with specialized knowledge in this realm, this music doesn't evoke 1960. It gives me a disconnect between the setting and the music! This reminds me of helping a director friend plan some music to play before and during a play in a 17th century French setting. I did some research and presented her with a variety of informed options by French 17th century composers. At the end of my suggested tracks, I gave her some throwaways-- think Mozart Turkish Rondo-- tracks that were over 100 years too late, but well-known. Now guess which music she picked to use during the play......
Questions for another day: Why did the audio team decide to go with music this early? Could the designers have actually put in popular music closer to the 60s, some of the beginnings of Rock and Roll? How would that have affected the setting? Do you have any thoughts?
Saturday, February 23, 2013
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.
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.
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