Like many things in
today’s modernized world, anything goes when creating a new video game. The
types of music you may hear and how it’s used in newly-released games varies
greatly. Today, let’s just look at a few uses of music in various modern-age
games.
Today it is more
common to have an actual composer write a soundtrack for a game rather than
using a programmer to create background mechanical sounds. Some people relate
video game scores to film scores when they are actually quite different to
create. Many film composers know exactly what to expect with the film and have
the clean and neat task of putting music to an already-set plotline. With video
games, however, the story or progression is unpredictable since each individual
player determines which direction the plot might turn. Many composers approach
this difficult task by creating a score with flaps containing different ways
the music may turn as well as different layers of instruments, adding more
during intense moments.
Darren Korb,
composer for games such as Bastion and
Transistor is known for his excellent
soundtracks and use of experimental music.
While some games
use the old chip tunes, nostalgically choosing to pull sounds from the 80s,
others use beautiful soundtracks (many people think of Halo when they want to hear a great video game soundtrack). One of
my favorite soundtracks comes from Journey
in which the main character is represented by a solo cello.
Do you dislike the
soundtrack you hear in one of your games? Xbox players can plug their iPod into
the console and create their own soundtrack!
Do you remember
when we looked at diegetic and non-diegetic music during our film music months? Well, these terms also apply to video games! As a reminder,
diegetic music is music that the characters onscreen can hear (there is a
musical source onscreen) while non-diegetic is simply background music. Bioshock Infinite shows a record player
inside a house while Grand Theft Auto allows
players to choose their own radio station inside the car, both diegetic
examples.
Hopefully the
expansive examples touched on above show you that music can be used in many
different ways within modern-day video games. Do you enjoy the range of options
currently on the market or do you prefer the traditional games of the 80s and
early 90s?
