Would your favorite game, that you know and love, be the same without the soundtrack backing it?
The docrine of ethos states that the music affects your character and emotions. This is found throughout all of the games we play from the lack of music in the survival-horror genre, to the epic soundtrack in Halo. Would you be as into games if the music that has been there was not there any longer. Probably not. From the old digital loops from Doom and Duke Nukem, to the full orchestras of any of the Final Fantasy games, music in the games we love has come a long way.
Games rely heavily on the composer they use. A personal favorite of mine is Martin O'Donnell, the man who made the Halo soundtrack. For the first game, all he had was a MIDI sound studio with very limited effects. When Halo 3 rolled around, he had a full orchestra, and you can feel the power of the soundtrack behind the game. This is a long way away from the humble beginnings of the MS-DOS digital sounds. The first games, for the younger gamers out there, did not have amazing sound cards to rely on. They depended on the sound card built in to the motherboard, which could produce only monophonic, or one tone at a time, themes. A quick arpeggio when you opened a chest. A sullen low tone trill when you entered a cave. It was very unmoving, but it was a start.
Slowly, as hardware expanded, the sound that the composers were able to make became more and more complex. The Duke Nukem theme features the same technology that your phone uses. That was advanced back then. A polyphonic theme was the shit. This technology kept growing, until you were able to listen to very basic MIDI loops. Today, nobody thinks about the sound card that is in you console or PC. That is because it does not matter. Memory being what it is, combined with the fact that more advanced BUS' and CPUs could handle more with less, meant that you just take what comes stock. In fact, most people could not tell the difference unless the card being added supported a Dolby 8.1 surround sound system and was being compared to laptop speakers.
So, why put this much emphasis on creating original scores, themes, and movements? For you. All of this is done so that the game sucks you in. Next time you are playing a game, listen. Listen to the lack of music, or subtle tones in Resident Evil, or listen to Breaking Benjamin's "Blow Me Away" in the fight sequence for Halo 2. Feel how it moves you. The birds chirping are not just there, they serve a higher purpose. All of this culminates into the most emotionally gripping experience. So, next time you are playing a game, just listen. Close your eyes and feel what is happening. It will move you.
In closing, would your favorite games be your favorites without the soundtrack? Would it have touched you differently? How would your experience have changed? Probably a lot.
Post your favorite moment in a game, where the music could have made or broke the scene.
The docrine of ethos states that the music affects your character and emotions. This is found throughout all of the games we play from the lack of music in the survival-horror genre, to the epic soundtrack in Halo. Would you be as into games if the music that has been there was not there any longer. Probably not. From the old digital loops from Doom and Duke Nukem, to the full orchestras of any of the Final Fantasy games, music in the games we love has come a long way.
Games rely heavily on the composer they use. A personal favorite of mine is Martin O'Donnell, the man who made the Halo soundtrack. For the first game, all he had was a MIDI sound studio with very limited effects. When Halo 3 rolled around, he had a full orchestra, and you can feel the power of the soundtrack behind the game. This is a long way away from the humble beginnings of the MS-DOS digital sounds. The first games, for the younger gamers out there, did not have amazing sound cards to rely on. They depended on the sound card built in to the motherboard, which could produce only monophonic, or one tone at a time, themes. A quick arpeggio when you opened a chest. A sullen low tone trill when you entered a cave. It was very unmoving, but it was a start.
Slowly, as hardware expanded, the sound that the composers were able to make became more and more complex. The Duke Nukem theme features the same technology that your phone uses. That was advanced back then. A polyphonic theme was the shit. This technology kept growing, until you were able to listen to very basic MIDI loops. Today, nobody thinks about the sound card that is in you console or PC. That is because it does not matter. Memory being what it is, combined with the fact that more advanced BUS' and CPUs could handle more with less, meant that you just take what comes stock. In fact, most people could not tell the difference unless the card being added supported a Dolby 8.1 surround sound system and was being compared to laptop speakers.
So, why put this much emphasis on creating original scores, themes, and movements? For you. All of this is done so that the game sucks you in. Next time you are playing a game, listen. Listen to the lack of music, or subtle tones in Resident Evil, or listen to Breaking Benjamin's "Blow Me Away" in the fight sequence for Halo 2. Feel how it moves you. The birds chirping are not just there, they serve a higher purpose. All of this culminates into the most emotionally gripping experience. So, next time you are playing a game, just listen. Close your eyes and feel what is happening. It will move you.
In closing, would your favorite games be your favorites without the soundtrack? Would it have touched you differently? How would your experience have changed? Probably a lot.
Post your favorite moment in a game, where the music could have made or broke the scene.
