Several composers explain and share their point of view on the process of creating music for video games
It is believe that movies and video games share many common characteristics. The first of them is their ancestral ancestors, the theater and the pampering. Both disciplines make use of photography and narrative; of fictional and realistic worlds; of actors and soundtracks. They are a confluence of very diverse arts that form an independent whole. The two draw an evolutionary line, a trans formative process that varies over time and is refined with the development of technology.
In recent years, the electronic leisure industry has taken a cinematic path, at least in regard to high-budget productions. The difference is that the video game offers an interactive experience that allows the player to manage the character’s destiny, enter his skin and guide him through the world. However, that is one of the different forms that it can take, since there is not always a character to control or a story to live.
As in the cinema, music can play a crucial role. As narrative techniques have evolved – sometimes imitating cinematographic art and other times using the mechanisms of the medium – so have musical compositions.
The idiosyncrasy of the medium itself, which makes it special, which is nothing other than interactivity and direct user participation, affects the way in which the composition of the soundtrack is proposed. In the cinema, music is passive,
because it works synchronized, it starts and ends, explains composer in an interview. The musician, who has participated in video games such as Jericho, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Space lords, has also signed the scores of several films, including Neon Meatby Paco Cabezas. As he points out, video game music is active: You have to compose so that at any given time, it looks good in several situations and is specific for many specific areas. In other cases, you must solve moments like a chase, a discovery, etc.
In that regard, composer adds that between video games and other audiovisual media, the key difference is usually the unpredictability of the former against the fixed nature of the latter. While a static video the time stamps are fixed and can be used as a resource in the rhythm of musical compositions (to underline the message of the work), in a video game, the use of these resources is more complex, because the times are subject to the agency of who plays them. In addition, we must not forget that each medium has its own idiomatic, both in the visual and auditory, which can be used to create a work consistent with itself and exploit the strengths of the format.
For Paula, composer of Gods Will Be Watching and The Red Strings Club, both developed by Deconstructeam, music doesn’t have to get the player’s attention actively. When this happens, it is usually for two reasons: either because it is really incredible (usually little happens) or because it bothers, which is the worst case scenario, but not something uncommon.
The music, sound or silence. Everything is part of the video game; Indie Garden Paws New Years Event With Some Items Only Available For Limited Time it is mixed with other elements, which together give meaning to the work. Each project responds to specific needs and develops with more or less staff. But in the end, regardless of your budget and the number of developers who have worked in your creative process, the important thing is that the work feels cohesive, as a work, neither more nor less.
Barry Lachey is a Professional Editor at Zobuz. Previously He has also worked for Moxly Sports and Network Resources “Joe Joe.” He is a graduate of the Kings College at the University of Thames Valley London. You can reach Barry via email or by phone.
