Does video game music deserve more respect?

xvampire

Does video game music deserve more respect?


EA's head of music has struck out at the Grammy awards for failing to separately honour video game soundtrack composers. Has he got a point?
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/dec/15/games-soundtracks-grammys

glottis8

There is some really great scores in video games, i do think they should be recognized.

Del

~ The BAFTA's annually award musicians. They've recognised them for years. This year Uncharted 2 musician won, although it was tight as Assassins Creed 2 was picked for favourite to win.

Marine

They should get more respect, but putting them in their own category is a terrible idea, makes it sound like games can't compete with movies or tv scores. Should change "other visual media" to games though

And like Dreamer said, the BAFTA's do this already, and they have a some what respectable game awards show, not some Spike tv crap too

Mark Dygert

Video Games Live goes a long way toward breaking the 8bit sound barrier that most people associate with video games while still managing to pay homage to the classics.

www.videogameslive.com

I'll be going to the Jan-22th show in Seattle, ahh The Paramount good memories... good times this won't be like those concerts but then again I've mellowed so its probably a good thing.

JacqueChoi

Yeah, not just video games music.

The entire games industry deserves a lot more respect.

Sean VanGorder

I second Vig on the video games live. I've been to it twice so far and it was great. Really powerful stuff.

Edit: Definitely called you Vig out of habit.

lampekap

i really love Rom di prisco's techno music for the old classic nfs games

Joshua Stubbles

JacqueChoi wrote: »

The entire games industry deserves a lot more respect.

QFT.

Mark Dygert

JacqueChoi wrote: »

Yeah, not just video games music.
The entire games industry deserves a lot more respect.

Agreed, and as the average age of gamers grows older and they start to have kids we'll see its appreciation grow. There are still a lot of old reporters who got their start as when LA Noire wasn't a step back in time... When we see more of the old guard retire, we'll see less "video games are the devil!" "technology trampled my tulips!" reporting.

I just read an article about how Black Ops is turning GF's Wives and SO's into 21st century "COD Widows" like football did to "past generations". The rest of the article was the typical out of touch, technophobic media trying to tie games to everything that is wrong with the world, but it showed signs of promise... just need to hold the pillow down a little longer and ... err I mean they're coming around.

Sean_EG wrote: »

Edit: Definitely called you Vig out of habit.

I don't mind at all, call me whatever you want. Even nasty names, just be prepared for whatever I decide to call you =P

Autocon

What is the difference between music in movies, games and television?

Absolutely nothing. It should get just as much respect as any other music score.

Ryan Hawkins

I like when studios go out and get people like Hanz Zimmer to me it makes the games alot more fun to play and listen to.

ErichWK

As a musician who has put out tons of albums and played with tons of bands and played big shows i feel like a lot of Videogame music today is lacking. The problem with a lot of video game music today I've noticed, is that the orchestrated stuff doesn't produce a solid melody. It isn't memorable, it's epic as all hell and beautiful and crisp...but..lacks heart and soul. Why do you think the classic 8-bit music is so great and memorable, they had so little to work with in terms of technology, that they had to make sure the songs they wrote were catchy.

Thats not to say Videogame music today shouldn't be acknowledged for it's amazingness. The Epic Mickey soundtrack IS AMAZING. And of course there is my favorite video game composer of all time..

Mutha Fuckin Grant Kirkhope. He worked for rare and produced some of the best music of al time..now I heard 38 Studios has him, right? I'm so jealous.. I would kill to hear what he's working on right now. But yea, Grant Kirkhope is an amazing example of someone who is given an orchestra and knows what to do with it.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmzdVvrBcFw[/ame]

Kwramm

ErichWK wrote: »

The problem with a lot of video game music today I've noticed, is that the orchestrated stuff doesn't produce a solid melody. It isn't memorable, it's epic as all hell and beautiful and crisp...but..lacks heart and soul.

same with a lot of the bombastic-mega-epic music of sooo many recent hollywood blockbusters. after a while all their scores become the interchangeable hans zimmer, klaus badelt & co sound *yawn*
Not that I don't respect their work, but some more diversity would be nice. Or maybe it's just the customers to blame who order this stuff....

Anyway, video games shouldn't get their own category. Except for the 8 bit soundtracks, many game scores I have on my ipod could just be as well for a movie, tv series, etc.

XenoKratios

Video Games Live executes a good job when it comes to game music, but other than that you never ever hear about it.

It's mostly... "DUDE this game has redic. grafix man" or "BRO, should get the new COD cause it's COD".

3devo

YES

Slash

Video game music is a passion of mine. And yes, I'm with the things were better before crowd.. Bombastic orchestral themes might fit the mood of an epic scene, but I have to second those who say its just not memorable. (With a few notable exceptions of course, i find myself humming to Soule's morrowind theme every now and then.)

Final fantasy is a good example (in my book) of how quality made the music worse. Every final fantasy game has had memorable melodies, but i can't for the life of me remember a single melody from 12 or 13..

Mario, zelda, little big adventure, little big planet, monkey island etc etc.. great music in great games. Everyone i talk to about videogame music feel the same way tho, so i think there's definitely appreciation for the craft out there. Mainstream and "official" recognition is less prominent tho, and videogame music deserves more. Unless it turns into "most epic violins" and "number of people in ominous choir chanting in latin" awards.. :P

The NeverHood had one of the most unique and memorable themes ever, and it fit the style of the game perfectly. I find myself whistling to these songs years after i last played. Here's a sample:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WreJGBEF5iA[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ezKiARF3YA[/ame]

lampekap

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2019-Videogame-Music

xvampire

ErichWK wrote: »

The problem with a lot of video game music today I've noticed, is that the orchestrated stuff doesn't produce a solid melody.

I think the same way.
also i think today many game music are based on ambient and moment/sequence,
so the music and the sound trigger if you are in the right place and in the right time.


btw
I havent play Nier, but I think this music is a pretty catchy video game music with todays instrument
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMqFV6wdqz0[/ame]
even gametrailers.com review mention it.

of course you know about this
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzvw8uSWucM[/ame]

this one is Hollywood licensed game, yet you can find the music is extremely catchy for gaming.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVA217shUHo[/ame]

video game music style is quite distinct from movies or tv. regardless how up to date the instrument they use.

lampekap wrote: »

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2019-Videogame-Music

thats very Impressive explanation summarize many question!!!

harry parker

hey i appreciate this

SanderDL

Deadly premonition got some pretty sweet music for such a low budget game. Some examples:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T62gFZPAvPw[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Per8-vAZAw0&feature=related[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xiv1VNL-ozw&feature=related[/ame]

SaferDan

I still regulary listen to the the final fantasy sound tracks espically Final Fantasy 8 there is some epic music in that game!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4jvol20r6Y&feature=related[/ame]

Justin Meisse

"audio guys" deserve more respect from their industry - most of the time it's just one person who's tasked with scoring the game and making all the sound effects.

Ennolangus

Justin_Meisse wrote: »

"audio guys" deserve more respect from their industry - most of the time it's just one person who's tasked with scoring the game and making all the sound effects.

I fully agree! Music in a game is just as important as the content(in most cases); if you have crappy music it takes away from the game but if you have good music it can add to the game.

Even games like dead space that have very little music but a lot of sound; that sound development made that game that much more creepier.

I think the musical/sound guys of the industry are under-loved, That's some real talent to make all the tracks for a single game and/or sound effects. :thumbup:

Stinger88

MDK soundtrack is epic. Really fit the pacing of the game.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWUbCGeCleo[/ame]

and lets not forget EWJ level 2. Brilliance!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6Lk3dPU4ds[/ame]

leilei

I wish game music nowadays had more effort rather than 'eh, let's get Soule on the line to cook us up some generic orchestra score. then we'll game of the year for his legendary involvement"

Justin_Meisse wrote: »

"audio guys" deserve more respect from their industry - most of the time it's just one person who's tasked with scoring the game and making all the sound effects.

Going further down the line, I think the engineers at Sound Ideas deserve a lot more too, I mean they are the ones that came up with the repetitive sound libraries abused by professional sound designers after all!

confracto

honestly, I think they're going about it the wrong way.

are video game composers great? yes.
are people choosing not to compose for games because they wont win an award? maybe.
are the grammys a total hack? YES.
should video game composers want the respect of a hack organization? I dream of a world where the answer is no.

moof

This industry just doesn't get the respect it deserves.

But honestly who cares, in 20 years, we're going to be dominating the media landscape anyways, and we're going to have all the pointless reward shows we never needed too.

roosterMAP

By the way, that Earthworm Jim is a transpose of "Night on Bald Mountain" composed by Modest Mussorgsk.

HonkyPunch

Yes.

Calabi

leilei wrote: »

I wish game music nowadays had more effort rather than 'eh, let's get Soule on the line to cook us up some generic orchestra score. then we'll game of the year for his legendary involvement"




Going further down the line, I think the engineers at Sound Ideas deserve a lot more too, I mean they are the ones that came up with the repetitive sound libraries abused by professional sound designers after all!

Thats what annoys me and there are some people that love that generic junk.

I've got got the MDK soundtrack on my pc sourced from the original game CD, because they let you play the music in a cd player.

I think music/audio, is one of the most important things in games, it sets the atmopsphere and tone(but then games these days dont go for that much, or even understand it).

pior

moof wrote: »

This industry just doesn't get the respect it deserves.

But honestly who cares, in 20 years, we're going to be dominating the media landscape anyways, and we're going to have all the pointless reward shows we never needed too.

Yeah unfortunately by then the whole 'epic/gothic choir' black ops style might become even more widespread. I personally cannot stand it when games get orchestrated like that, it feels so formulaic ...

Hopefully there will be more gems like the MGS soundtracks in the future. I love simple pumping stuff too!! The Megaman and FZero tunes are just fantastic, and I hope that more fun stuff like that will still be made!

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d38JDYr6nL0&feature=related[/ame]

I dont think it's just nostalgia btw - it is still awesome!

Stinger88

oh. I also recall loving outcast for its music. A bit star wars-ish at the start but gets good at 2:15.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M26n2gGV7FA[/ame]

EDIT: Also, Lets not forget the original Halo and Tomb Raider OST's.

TortillaChips

Yeah I'm not sure what respect you can give it, except more awards, but I do listen to it more than regular music.

Nostalgic songs and remixs like:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr_BbURaJrY[/ame]

And music like the entire Age of Conan OST is really good to listen to as well:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efl_PNTvPmU[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHzkiCpE8vY[/ame]
And yeah.. too many good tracks on that.

Zack Fowler

They actually announced recently that the Grammys would now feature awards for game soundtracks.

Gamasutra Report: Video Games Recognized Alongside Film, TV Music At Next Grammys

rolfness

I got FF Lineage 2 and Aion music on my music player.. yes its underrated.

its hardly been 40 years since the start of the games industry things will change..

fearian

Rolf, Yeah Aion had a fantastic soundtrack. I'm gonna have to dig that out!

switching to 480p is a must.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpjBi6Qa7EI[/ame]


Stating the obvious here, but I found an album of orchestral FF music on spotify (here!) By Nobou Uematsu, and started listening to it purely for the nostalgia kick - I was blown away. Hearing the classic FF intro, not in midi, but being played by a full orchestra, rising in intensity with a choir behind it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Powerful stuff.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYLdQZQ0YT8[/ame]

confracto

fearian, thank you for sharing that

yeah, uematsu's stuff rocks
playing though lost odyssey with a friend, and it's way better than some of the recent final fantasy stuff without him.

also there's this
so games are starting to [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJiHDmyhE1A"]get in[/ame]

xvampire

fearian,
^ you just murdered me right there and sent me to heaven ... T_T