Understanding Video Game Music

Music is a central component of video games. This book provides methods and concepts for understanding how game music works.

Tim Summers (Author), James Hannigan (Foreword by)

9781107116870, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 September 2016

262 pages, 13 b/w illus. 13 music examples
25.3 x 18 x 1.7 cm, 0.68 kg

'… it is an essential read for those who are vested in bringing ludomusicology into academia, and incredibly interesting for those who are simply interested in philosophical dialogues, personal anecdotes, or historical background regarding music and games.' Emily McMillan, VGMO (www.vgmonline.net)

Understanding Video Game Music develops a musicology of video game music by providing methods and concepts for understanding music in this medium. From the practicalities of investigating the video game as a musical source to the critical perspectives on game music - using examples including Final Fantasy VII, Monkey Island 2, SSX Tricky and Silent Hill - these explorations not only illuminate aspects of game music, but also provide conceptual ideas valuable for future analysis. Music is not a redundant echo of other textual levels of the game, but central to the experience of interacting with video games. As the author likes to describe it, this book is about music for racing a rally car, music for evading zombies, music for dancing, music for solving puzzles, music for saving the Earth from aliens, music for managing a city, music for being a hero; in short, it is about music for playing.

Foreword James Hannigan
Introduction
Part I. Analysing Video Game Music: 1. The video game as a source
2. Methods of analysis
Part II. Critical Perspectives: 3. Texturing and the aesthetics of immersion
4. Music and virtual game worlds
5. Communication for play
6. Hollywood film music and game music
7. Musical play and video games
Epilogue
Appendix: how to hear a video game
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Computer games / online games: strategy guides [UDX], Digital music: consumer/user guides [UDM], Music recording & reproduction [AVX], Electronic music [AVGV], Music [AV]