An article I've written on video game music, and some thoughts on the musical modes

[MarkN]

Hey guys,

I've recently been lucky enough to have a piece published on video game music, and used it as a chance to talk about the interesting distinctives of game music that set it apart—it's written to accompany an activity rather than meant to be listened to passively, it is often required to loop and extend indefinitely, and it has the potential to be adaptive and respond to player feedback. The article is here: http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20081201/1newheiser-a.shtml

Obviously OCRemix was worth mentioning in there (not that me tossing you a link is going to do anything to affect your traffic), and you guys have been a great place to explore some of the potential game music has. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts and any feedback you might have to offer.

(and one last note for the musicians and anyone with an interest in music theory, I've written more casually about the modes in relation to game music. In addition to the major and minor keys there are five other modes commonly used to set up a scale, and I discuss them a bit and gave example of each in game music: http://newheiser.blogspot.com/2008/02/modes-and-video-games-music.html I'd be interested to hear your thoughts there as well and if you know of any more useful examples)

[prophetik music]

Also, you're aware that Aeolian, while sharing the pitch set of natural minor, isn't the same as minor, right? I can't really think of anything that's bona fide Aeolian. Too much V-i action.

you've got it backwards: natural minor isn't necessarily aeolian, but aeolian is the basis for the natural minor scale. same pitch set, same progressions are common between them, and there's no V in natural minor due to the lowered 7.

[MarkN]

This could stand to be clarified a bit. I can't say for sure but I think I only understood it because I'd already heard things like it. I'd make it a little more clear that the Greek modes -- including the Dorian and Phrygian that Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras talked about -- aren't analogous to the church modes.

One thing that's tricky there is that I'd like to make the associations in so far as they do resemble one of the church modes, while still making it clear they're not strictly the same. Hmmmmm.

Also, you're aware that Aeolian, while sharing the pitch set of natural minor, isn't the same as minor, right? I can't really think of anything that's bona fide Aeolian. Too much V-i action.

Hmmm, maybe we could stand to clarify our terms here then, I'm thinking of Aeolian in terms of employing the Aeolian scale.

As for other examples, FF6's battle music is pretty Phrygian but I think Magus's theme is more memorable. And I don't know any Locrian stuff either.

Yep, aside from the seven characters in Mother 3 who are named after the seven modes (Ionia, Doria, Phrygia, Lydia, Mixolydia, Aeolia, Locria), it's hard to find any examples of it being put to use.

I looked at your other article about the rest of the modes. Are you familiar with Messiaen's modes of limited transposition? If not, GO GETCHA SOME.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modes_of_limited_transposition Very interesting, it seems to be different than most of the standard modes since it apparently lacks a tonic, I'd have to see it in use.

EDIT: I forgot to read the first article. You're a good writer and you do good work. One thing though, I think we've had a talk or two on here about what constitutes a leitmotif and we were kind of mutually of the opinion that FF's various themes don't really constitute leitmotifs since they were almost always track changes or plain old normal motifs within other pieces. FF music doesn't really have the scope for leitmotifs, though you could make a case for that changing later on.

Thanks for the feedback there as well! So basically you're saying that you'd consider a "motif" to be a recognizable musical theme, where as a leitmotif is a musical theme that occurs and shows up in a number of pieces? In other words, mixing a motif into several tracks to show the presence of a character would be different than simply playing a track to mark the presence of a character? Am I reading you right there?

Trying to think of a video game soundtrack where motifs are used across pieces, the Chrono Trigger soundtrack makes a lot of use of Chrono's basic theme in a few tracks, including the boss battles.

In fact, come to think of it, it's pretty silly to talk about modes in a modern context at all unless you're listening to a modern chant. Or a chanson or something.

Well, I was trying to talk about pieces in terms of employing the different scales of the modes, if there's a more proper way to talk about that connection while still showing the relationships to the modes, that'd be good to know.

[Drack]

Phrygian you say? Look no further than Metroid!

Deep Norfair from Super Metroid. This tune was also heard in Metroid Prime as the theme for Magmoor Caverns.

There's also some Dorian music available in video games, I just have to remember which games have them.

[SLyGeN]

A few things:

I had come across this article via Stumbleupon, and enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the article relating the modes to how a piece of music feels. I loved learning about the different modes because I was finally able to understand why I liked certain pieces of music.

Also, the Aeolian and natural minor scales are synonymous. It's the intervals between consecutive notes that make the scale, not the actual notes used. I'm curious to know what some of you think the difference is. :\

You wanted a piece in Locrian, the Sprout Tower from Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal is in C Locrian.

I also haven't really analyzed One-Winged Angel, but it has so much variation in it, I would have a hard time classifying the whole piece as a single mode. The thing about your article, is one really needs to have had a music theory course to really appreciate it. You ought to show what the modal differences are before-hand. Let someone hear the Major/Ionian WWHWWWH, and then let them hear, in the same key, the Aeolian/minor WHWWHWW intervals. Go ahead and do the same for all of the different modes, and make it clear that Ionian does not need to start on C, Dorian need not start on D, Phrygian need not begin on E, etc.

As a metalhead, I was very happy to see that one of my favorite songs as a kid was in Locrian (sprout tower again).

Another thing. That E harmonic minor jingle you think of when you think Luigi's Mansion would be considered a leitmotif, I think. You know, the little bit he whistles.

[MarkN]

And I have to apologize if I come off as too critical. I'm just trying to be helpful. You've given this music the kind of attention it deserves and I appreciate that.

No worries. I'm pretty sure both of our hearts are in the right place, since we both care enough about the subject matter to talk about it, and hearing about other points that are worth making or expressing more precisely is very useful feedback.

You wanted a piece in Locrian, the Sprout Tower from Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal is in C Locrian.

That's a very interesting piece... I don't have the game or the soundtrack handy so I'm having to make do with listening to samples from walkthroughs on youtube. I can see how the intervals would qualify as C Locrian, but I'm wondering how you make the distinction between classifying it as C Locrian, or seeing it in the key of B flat minor, to my ear it seems to resolve more easily to a B flat. But again, not having any good locrian examples makes it tricky to know what to compare to.

I also haven't really analyzed One-Winged Angel, but it has so much variation in it, I would have a hard time classifying the whole piece as a single mode. The thing about your article, is one really needs to have had a music theory course to really appreciate it. You ought to show what the modal differences are before-hand. Let someone hear the Major/Ionian WWHWWWH, and then let them hear, in the same key, the Aeolian/minor WHWWHWW intervals. Go ahead and do the same for all of the different modes, and make it clear that Ionian does not need to start on C, Dorian need not start on D, Phrygian need not begin on E, etc.

That is a good point, and it's tricky to find a way to discuss these things while providing the right amount of background, my main goal was to provide examples to show how they can sound significantly different and hope people would pick up on it from there, for a more detailed explanation of the theory I might just have to point them to Wikipedia, I'm hoping people would understand the major/minor distinction before reading the rest.

Another thing. That E harmonic minor jingle you think of when you think Luigi's Mansion would be considered a leitmotif, I think. You know, the little bit he whistles.

Very cool, another game I may have to pick up. And thanks a lot for your thoughts as well.