I remember hearing the start- up sound of the playstation for the first time. I was most likely at my (then) home in Tromsø. It started with a sound familiar to anyone passionate about classical music or should I say Art Music); The sound of an orchestra tuning. The thin A of the first violin started, then the cellos, then the brass. I thought; "This video- game console must be made for me". Gaming has never been high class, but the playstation stood out. It had a high price, was shiny black, and was defiantly rounded off - effectively preventing anything to be put upon it and thereby securing it a prime spot in the living- room.
That year was the first one I lived by my self. It was a somewhat lonely experience - but also a liberating one. I learned many things about my self. For one; that It's really not healthy for me to live by my self. I like being alone - but overindulging in that respect tends to lead to depression. However, all that solitude gave me a lot of time to pursue my artistic interests. I left elfwood behind, and took a step up into the art world. I was also developing pretenses to really like classical music. It might not sound like a positive thing - but no one likes all art music or all jazz at the very beginning. It's like coffee - you have to acquire a taste - after which you simply love it. Another thing happened; I took up singing in a choir. I became a tenor - sitting next to full- time music students, and other musical nerds. One of our first tasks that fall was singing a piece by Brahms called Ständchen. In the middle of singing I found my self almost moved to tears. The music was so powerful - and standing in the middle of it all, partaking in the ritual that is a choir practice, was just magnificent.
I never thought that liking classical music would ever be combined with my love for video- games. Those two worlds just seem so far appart. A more natural fit was always electronic music - which in any case we inherited from the 8- bit era of the late 80's. For the most part classical music entered the video- game business with the dawn of 2nd generation consoles. The higher fidelity of the playstation and the xbox meant that developers could start incorporating full orchestral scores into their games. A memorable example is Halo - with it's distinct intro music consisting of a lot of clear and clean Es, Final Fantasy X and Shadow of the Colossus. The music was important - it elevated the gameplay and created a tension in the atmosphere that sendt shivers down our spines and made our palms sweaty.
From then music has developed a much richer history. Rhythm games rose to prominence, then waned for over exposure. Later music was incorporated into the gameplay in subtler ways - such as Vincent Diamante's excellent score for Flower by Thatgamecompany, where his sparse piano- tunes were punctuated by light tinkles as you (playing the character of the wind) picked the petals of waiting flowers.
In some ways video games is the ultimate art form - incorporating all those that came before into a single piece. There is play- acting, movies and sculpture - and music. Still - I feel that music has been unique in that it's been given such a prominent place. Like in the early days of film - games are, excepting ambient sounds, mostly silent. Games often last 40 ours - writing dialogue for the whole experience would be incredibly hard, and moreover, not desirable. The game that came closest was Grand Theft Auto IV with it's 9000- page script. But the incessant dialogue was a frequent point of complaint from reviewers and gamers alike. It falls to music to fill up the sound space - and a good or bad score can make or break a game. But mostly break.
I understand the incredulous looks of parents - as children toil away at a Pokemon game - the nerve- racking midi music repeating itself endlessly to mask the silence of speech bubbles (Got'ta catch them all!). Adults don't stand the same "musical" punishment - and shy away from this aural abuse.
Between music being used as a filler, and music being used as a mood regulator, it's always a pleasant surprise when I find something worth listening to as a standalone track. One such game is the indie title Sword & Sworcery EP. It looks and sounds like the game creator and music creator shared vision. And I believe that's why they also share the game- title. But the music was decidedly 8- bit inspired. Not per se Art Music. To find that I had to download another title by the name of Echocrome.
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| Echochrome |
Sakamoto designs music for games as a living. He has contributed to, amongst other titles, Yakuza 2 and Castlevania Judgement. If you start the music player at the top - you'll hear a track from Echocrome. The music is charactericed by strong themes, sparcity and a kind of thematic independence which I find refreshing. The progressive tempo, and the small ensemble help to bring out a sense of urgency in the gameplay. It is also one of the most memorable pieces of game- music ever to come out.
Unfortunately, just like modern art music, Echochrome is decidedly fringe. The sales figures are too low to even register properly at ranking sites - except of in Japan where it achieved a measly 80.000- something downloads. But poor sales need not reflect poor quality - a truth sorely reflected in Echocrome.
Any and all of us with interests that combine in such odd ways should praise themselves lucky to live in our modern connected world. The instantaneous and world- wide markets make possible the smaller and riskier ventures that dear to be a little avant garde and aspire to high- art, or at least to challenge gamings "pop- industry". (Let's leave the discussion of which is which for later). One last example which I find just as endearing as Echochrome is Proun. A game combining jazz and the paintings of Lissitzky. It's colours and music shine, bloom and twirl just as much as the gameplay. If there's anything to learn from this mishmash of art forms, it is that gaming really lends itself to these inspired combinations - and that when we embrace the best from several worlds we can create unique experiences. Some might say that goes without saying. I'm saying; we haven't seen anything yet.
The "Is this art"? discussion is now largelly finished for gaming. Now the question is; when are we going to start producing art that is worth- while to consume? What would a game with high artistic merits look like? Is it possible to differentiate between entertainment and art?
Possibly the question is wrongly put. A the start of the 20th century professors of various american universities were discussing - when should America get it's Bach? All the while Louis Armstrong where playing the river boats and orchestras - quickly becoming the most emulated horn- blower around - and since going on to transform music forever. Then again, those transformations happened in music, and will never happen in the same way again. We have here the dual example that says; Innovation must follow it's own path, and possibly cannot be helped by the dawning of a new artistic era in other art forms.
If high art is, as Bourdieu says, characterized by it's increased complexity, and thereby inaccessible to the uneducated (or uninterested), then we should perhaps look to games in which interaction is more demanding, it's semantics deeper and it's metaphoric allusions more obscure - one might actually have to refer to the pretenses of the author (as coders are also called) to find the art games; in which case I think Jonathan Blow would come out on top. He has expressed disappointment that even professional reviewers couldn't find the deeper meaning in Braid, and so missed out on it's claim to high- art. I am inclined to disagree. Braid has it's merits, but it's repetitive music and sub- par animation displeases me - and it's try- and- fail style gameplay may fit it's overall narrative - but the emotions the endless repetitions and failures elicit in the player certainly don't - and as such I think the game is a failure.
Ironically two of gamings champions don't much care for the art/entertainment demarcation; namely Fumito Ueda and Shigeru Miyamoto - respectively behind Shadow of the Colossus and the Mario and Zelda series. Miyamoto- san is to gaming as Armstrong was to Jazz. His style has been emulated and his influence is incalculable. A hallmark of them both is how non- linguistic raw gameplay elicits equally non- linguistic and raw emotion from us - driving forth a narrative that is not explicit but internal. In concordance with Bourdieu, these are unaccessible to the untrained - the difficulty of the controllers would quickly tear away any enjoyment of flow. Incidentally the music of the mentioned games have been incredibly important - setting moods and creating memories. So powerful have they been, that professional symphonic orchestras have dedicated themselves to playing only game- music, of which the sounds of Zelda, Mario and Shadow of the Colossus has been well represented.
And in the end I think it is this rolle that music will play within the game universe - just as a small part of a bigger vision. A games music isn't something that comes in addition to "core" elements, like gameplay, but is rather just one of the many parts constituting it. And so you get the familiar asynchronous relationship; art music doesn't make an art game, but an art game confers it's artsy- ness to the music. There are many prominent examples of this - but maybe the foremost is seen in Fez (my review) where the music has the same relation to you as your perspective has - only showing to you the tunes concurrent with the games ontological status. (I know - I could have said that much simpler - but it was so much fun!) Again though: When the world changes, so does the music; most notable in the game's superb ending sequence.
In the end, when we ask the question; What is the relationship between art music and video- games? The answer must be twofold: Art music can be a part of a game, such as in Proun and Echochrome, or the music in a video game may be given that status by constituting one of the many elements of an art game. Lastly the personal perspective. Must we be, so to speak, literate in all the artforms constituting the game to properly appreciate it? As with the question the answer is personal - and must forever be. Because like any artform - no game is complete without a player.
