The Challenges of Writing Video Game Music - Part 1
November 27th 2006 13:36
Writing music for games is an interesting challenge, as they are unlike any other media format. There are a number of specific challenges which have confronted game music composers over the years. Some change, but there are many constant difficulties in the format which make it an exciting field to investigate. I thought it might be an interesting dissertation to examine a few of these challenges which make the field fascinating to me:
1) Music often has to constantly loop
Due to the nature of games, it is often required that music for a particular level or segment or area needs to repeat for the duration of the player's involvement with the scene. This means that it is impossible to make a true climactic point, because this would only serve as confounding to the relationship between action on screen and the music if the action wasn't also reaching a climax. Because time taken in parts of games will vary from player to player, it is impossible to successfully meld action to music entirely. Background music therefore has to be flexible enough to still be evocative of the action of the game while not being completely tied to this action.
This also means that when a climax is needed, the piece of music involved will need to act as a never ending climax. Many traditional Japanese RPGs accomplish this very well. Examples may be seen in the nature of many 'boss' pieces, where music reaches much greater intensity and maintains this intensity in a loop. To create this difference between 'background' and 'climactic' moments, there is often variation of a number of devices within the music to create a constant or unsettled nature respectively. For instance, using the example of a traditional RPG, if a character is walking around a world map area of little significance, music could fulfill a background purpose through consistency of time signature, tonality, rhythmic features and texture. If this character came to a climactic battle, unsettled variation and continued climax could be conveyed through the opposite: changing time signatures, textural variation, changing tonality and swapping and development of ostinatos, to name a few possibilities.
Taking this into account, there is then the challenge to make this music interesting. It needs to be listened to many times over(probably) so a ten second clip which fulfills a simple background function that is of no musical merit will likely grate the nerves of game players. Balance seems to be the most difficult to obtain ideal - an ideal piece of music will be able to loop cohesively, be subtle enough to not distract, be clever enough to still be interesting, and finally attempt to depict or reinforce the on screen action.
I will continue to look at some of these issues next week.
1) Music often has to constantly loop
The Final Fantasy series(music by Nobuo Uematso) achieves a strong balance between depiction, interest, and subtlety.
This also means that when a climax is needed, the piece of music involved will need to act as a never ending climax. Many traditional Japanese RPGs accomplish this very well. Examples may be seen in the nature of many 'boss' pieces, where music reaches much greater intensity and maintains this intensity in a loop. To create this difference between 'background' and 'climactic' moments, there is often variation of a number of devices within the music to create a constant or unsettled nature respectively. For instance, using the example of a traditional RPG, if a character is walking around a world map area of little significance, music could fulfill a background purpose through consistency of time signature, tonality, rhythmic features and texture. If this character came to a climactic battle, unsettled variation and continued climax could be conveyed through the opposite: changing time signatures, textural variation, changing tonality and swapping and development of ostinatos, to name a few possibilities.
Taking this into account, there is then the challenge to make this music interesting. It needs to be listened to many times over(probably) so a ten second clip which fulfills a simple background function that is of no musical merit will likely grate the nerves of game players. Balance seems to be the most difficult to obtain ideal - an ideal piece of music will be able to loop cohesively, be subtle enough to not distract, be clever enough to still be interesting, and finally attempt to depict or reinforce the on screen action.
I will continue to look at some of these issues next week.
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