music

duration

The lengths of sounds and silences in music. Beat, rhythm, tempo

pitch

The relative highness and lowness of sounds. High,low, direction of pitch, melody, harmony

texture

The layers of sound in a piece of music. Different layers of sound, types of textures, the way it is created or used.

tone colour

The properties of sound that allow the listener to identify the sound source. Instrument, tone colour description, playing techniques

structure

How the music is organised. Overall structure, sections, how the other concepts are used within each section.

dynamics

The variations in volume of sound in music. Relative softness and loudness of sound, change of loudness (contrast), emphasis on individual sounds (accent)

expressive techniques

Musical details that articulate a performance style.

8-bit sound

Lower quality sound used in earlier video games characterized by a limited range of tones.

16-bit sound

Higher quality sound in video games, allowing for more detail and a wider range of tones.

chiptune style

The chiptune style was inspired and made up of simple melodies from sound synthesizer tech.

what realm of videogame music are we moving into?

We are moving into a realm of a future shaped by advancements in AI, virtual reality, augmented reality, and the expansion of metaverse.

what was really important in videogame music?

Input of the player

what was the first video game to have music?

Pong (1972)

what was the first videogame to have continual background music?

Taito space invaders (1978)

digital audio

Electrical impulses are converted into sound waves.

digital sampling

first recording an analogue signal → converted and stored digitally → digital data is converted to sound waves that we can hear using digital to analogue converters

who composed the soundtracks for supermario bros and the legend of zelda?

Koji Kondo

who composed the soundtrack “final fantasy”?

Maestro Nobuo, which reached number 17, making it into the top 20 for the 5th year in a row.

who composed the soundtrack “kingdom of hearts”?

Yoko Shimomura

who composed the sound “the elder scrolls V:skyrim”?

Jeremy joule

role of music in videogames

Set the atmosphere or mood, represent character, place, and change in scene or prompt player actions, enhance emotion, creates tension.

common musical characteristics of video game music

repetitive melody (pitch), clear sense of pulse (duration), thin texture for early videogames, thicker for contemporary game music (texture), large range of dynamics to match the visuals/scenes (dynamics)