277: Enjoy the Silence
- Thread starter Joe Myers
- Start date
Silence is a very powerful tool for immersion.
To put it into perspective in an oft-forgotten genre:
This is probably why many racing sims have little to no music play in races. To immerse you in the race.
To put it into perspective in an oft-forgotten genre:
This is probably why many racing sims have little to no music play in races. To immerse you in the race.
I can't agree with this more... In fact, I always felt Portal's soundtrack was orchestrated kind of like a movie soundtrack... for instance, at the pivotal point in the game
when GLaDOS announces the end of the experiment and the return of the portal gun, you're riding an irreversable path around an unknown corner. As you turn the corner a heat wave rises, and with it the flames of a death-trap, and just at that moment you're panicked, confused, all alone with nothing but yourself, the gun, and this pumping urgent soundtrack that seems to say "What are you going to do NOW? Eh? Better hurry up and come up with something, smart-lady!" It just jumps in your face with an intensity meant to heighten the emotions and panic at just the critical moment, and because it's scripted it KNOWS it's the critical moment.
So yeah... The right application of music combined with silence tends to make a game far more immersive and interesting. Plus I just love talking about Portal.
I had recently an inadvertent experience of this when I got Minecraft. For whatever reason, all the sound bugged out save the sound of footsteps and mining. So, the animals, the music, and especially noticeable being the lack of enemy sounds, made certain parts of the game far more frightening than they would have been otherwise.
Now, underground, and in the caverns is already pretty nerve-wracking at times, but it's doubly so when you can't -hear- that zombie sneaking up behind you, and if you aren't diligent about checking your back, it's only that flash of red that alerts you, but by then it could be too late. Jump scares still, sure, but the atmosphere the silence creates is palpable.
Now, underground, and in the caverns is already pretty nerve-wracking at times, but it's doubly so when you can't -hear- that zombie sneaking up behind you, and if you aren't diligent about checking your back, it's only that flash of red that alerts you, but by then it could be too late. Jump scares still, sure, but the atmosphere the silence creates is palpable.
I just know that good music can make a good game great, and bad music can make a bad game horrible. Music (and the lack thereof) really helps the immersion. Like that lack of music in the Halo: Reach level "Lone Wolf" Or pretty much the entire MGS soundtrack. I also know that "Enjoy the Silence" is an awesome song by Depeche Mode
Music set the tone. Sometimes too forcefully IMHO (scary music cue, now player you have to feel scared! Or sad music cue, player must be sad/have pity even if he doesnt care)
When there is silence our imagination have less to busy itself with. From this point on imagination just make stuff up in our brain, and it often leads to us being a bit paranoid or just immersed (look at games like Myst, Riven ect where sometimes the only sound you hear are the natural sounds of the environment).
When there is silence our imagination have less to busy itself with. From this point on imagination just make stuff up in our brain, and it often leads to us being a bit paranoid or just immersed (look at games like Myst, Riven ect where sometimes the only sound you hear are the natural sounds of the environment).
Great article. Spot on, too. Not just games but films use music incorrectly, especially mainstream horror films. What should be a scary scene can be easily ruined by tense strings, etc signifying the approach of the killer/monster.
However it was expertly used in Jaws, leading the audience to believe an attack was imminent, when in fact, it was throwing us off completely. That is when soundtracks can be used to toy with emotions and expectations properly.
I'd love to make a horror film of some kind relying purely on the action to deliver an emotional response.
However it was expertly used in Jaws, leading the audience to believe an attack was imminent, when in fact, it was throwing us off completely. That is when soundtracks can be used to toy with emotions and expectations properly.
I'd love to make a horror film of some kind relying purely on the action to deliver an emotional response.
And also amazingly covered by Lacuna Coil.dogenzakaminion said:I also know that "Enjoy the Silence" is an awesome song by Depeche Mode
I don't know what's with me and Fallout 3. I almost never turned on the radio from the Pip-Boy because there was always music playing in the background. Everybody says they never heard any music in the game...
Silence is music in and of itself, and can do wonders for suspense. I learned this not from video games, but from Greed (the short-lived big-money game show). Essentially a ripoff of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with teams, but at the big reveal of the answer, all the hyper-dramatic background music silenced for several seconds until the "right" or "wrong" chord sounded. Much better than anything Regis ever did, and a good object lesson in NOT using music to build excitement.
Silence also works wonders for simple, calming immersion. It's why to this day I insist on playing Morrowind with no background music (and will viciously edit any mod that adds it to kill it). Simple adventuring and exploring works so much better with pure ambient sound.
I love music (my wife is a professional musician) but knowing when not to use it is as important as knowing when. And Cage's 4'33" is one of her favourite compositions.
Silence also works wonders for simple, calming immersion. It's why to this day I insist on playing Morrowind with no background music (and will viciously edit any mod that adds it to kill it). Simple adventuring and exploring works so much better with pure ambient sound.
I love music (my wife is a professional musician) but knowing when not to use it is as important as knowing when. And Cage's 4'33" is one of her favourite compositions.
This reminds me of an odd example that is oft forgotten. The battle against Nascour in Pokemon Colosseum was unique in that no music played while you battled. It game you a sense of a much more threatening opponent while still hiding the truth from you. Was this your final opponent? Will you be able to stop him?
It wasn't as well done as it could have been, but it's an interesting addition worth mentioning in gaming lore.
It wasn't as well done as it could have been, but it's an interesting addition worth mentioning in gaming lore.
Silence is inmensely powerful in horror. Just play a little of Amnesia: Dark Descent. Most of the time there's nothing but ambient sounds and you can only hear your nervous breathing, wind blowing, creaks. It builds up tension incredibly and then when music does play it just seems to be synchronized with your disturbed mind and rapid heartbeat. It's in this silence that screams and rufflings stand out as much some disonant violin chord.
I think that music that just contrasts with what's on screen can also create very different emotions than the usual fare of aligning feeling/tone. Also from horror, the movie The Strangers unnerved me to no end when the whole disturbing situation is often framed by happy, joyful country music coming from the stereo. Masterful.
The original tomb raider, the PC version, used silence in great ways too. You're there, all alone in the depths of some ruins and all you hear is rocks sliding, water flowing, air blowing through some crack somewhere. It was excellent inmersion.
I think that music that just contrasts with what's on screen can also create very different emotions than the usual fare of aligning feeling/tone. Also from horror, the movie The Strangers unnerved me to no end when the whole disturbing situation is often framed by happy, joyful country music coming from the stereo. Masterful.
The original tomb raider, the PC version, used silence in great ways too. You're there, all alone in the depths of some ruins and all you hear is rocks sliding, water flowing, air blowing through some crack somewhere. It was excellent inmersion.
I will say that I believe Valve is the king of silence.
For 90% of Half Life or Portal or any of their spinoffs, there is no music. Sure, it appears in some major confrontations, or for ambiance like in Portal, but the quietest moments are the most memorable.
Case in point, the hidden Resistance outpost near the start of Water Hazard in HL2. Just you, headcrabs, and the squeak of a rusty old windmill. Creepy.
For 90% of Half Life or Portal or any of their spinoffs, there is no music. Sure, it appears in some major confrontations, or for ambiance like in Portal, but the quietest moments are the most memorable.
Case in point, the hidden Resistance outpost near the start of Water Hazard in HL2. Just you, headcrabs, and the squeak of a rusty old windmill. Creepy.
This reminds me of Morrowind. It had almost no music (at times it was completely silent, if not for some low ambience music) and it succeeded in creating one of the most oppresive and lonely atmosphere I have seen in a game.
Apparently Bethesda is good at this
Apparently Bethesda is good at this
I often turn the music off so I can listen to my own. I don't do this with all my games, but a lot of them. I remember this one time I wasn't playing any of my music, but the music in the game (Mass Effect, I believe) was still turned off... I got to a dramatic cut scene and seeing the characters jump around to nothing was actually really funny.
Yeah, the power of the lack of sound is often underestimated. Sound is as important to music as music itself.
This applies to everything, not just its application.
I'm playing Aquaria and the music is great, but it's no background music. It gets on my nerves sometimes.
This applies to everything, not just its application.
I'm playing Aquaria and the music is great, but it's no background music. It gets on my nerves sometimes.
I totally agree about silence. Music or audio in general need to be used more (well, less) depending on the situation and the dynamic. For instance, look at what happened to Alan Wake. Whenever enemies spawned onscreen they started the music to either startle the player or just say "Oh hey guys! I just thought you might want to know that a bunch of ghouls have been spawned and are coming to eat your face." So from the first time on from that, all we have to do is walk around practically knowing we're safe until that music starts up again. It also serves to tell us when we defeat the last enemy so we can relax again...though in some cases it gets freaky when you're running around and the music is still going, so you know that there's one more out there lurking for you.
In relation to movies, Hitchcock's "The Rear Window" and "The Birds" had the most suspenseful moments when there was hardly any sound at all. I mean for sure no music, but no dialogue, and sometimes no other sounds either. And it worked really well!
In relation to movies, Hitchcock's "The Rear Window" and "The Birds" had the most suspenseful moments when there was hardly any sound at all. I mean for sure no music, but no dialogue, and sometimes no other sounds either. And it worked really well!
There's a scene in The Godfather, where they're speaking Italian in the restaurant, where there is no score, just the dialogue; yet they subtley use the background sound as the tension building. There's the sounds of the trains outside, you can hear ever-so-softly in the background. You have to build up to the gunshots somehow - but if the music cuts in too early it would ruin the impact. ...probably one of the best scenes in movie history, and the cleverest use of sound I've ever seen a music composer use.
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