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Music and Meaning in Video Games

Ludomusicology is the study of game music. It was coined in 2007 and has grown as a field of study since then with conferences, research groups, and societies dedicated to studying game music. Game music can be examined from many sources including system start ups, logos, opening sequences, menus, and different types of music used during gameplay like dynamic, adaptive, interactive, procedural, and cutscene music. Researchers of game music face unique challenges compared to traditional music studies due to factors of interactivity, lack of musical scores, regional differences, changing platforms, and glitches.

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Mitchell McVeigh
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65 views7 pages

Music and Meaning in Video Games

Ludomusicology is the study of game music. It was coined in 2007 and has grown as a field of study since then with conferences, research groups, and societies dedicated to studying game music. Game music can be examined from many sources including system start ups, logos, opening sequences, menus, and different types of music used during gameplay like dynamic, adaptive, interactive, procedural, and cutscene music. Researchers of game music face unique challenges compared to traditional music studies due to factors of interactivity, lack of musical scores, regional differences, changing platforms, and glitches.

Uploaded by

Mitchell McVeigh
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© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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MUC-363: Music and

Meaning in Video Games


Week 1: Introduction
What is Ludomusicology?
“The Video Game as Source” by Tim Summers
What is Ludomusicology?
• Coined by Canadian Researcher Guillaume Laroche
(2007)
• Ludo-Latin word ludus meaning game or play
• Music-obvious (or is it?)
• Ology-“logy”, Greek word logia for “the study of…”

The study of game music.


History of Ludomusicology?
• 2007: Guillaume Laroche undergraduate Summer Scholars
Program
• 2008: Karen Collins wrote Game Sound
• 2012: UK Ludomusicology research group [Link]
holds first conference dedicated to vgm.
• 2014: North American Conference on Video Game Music (
NACVGM)
• 2016: Society for the Study of Sound and Music in Games (SSSMG
)
• 2017: Ludomusicology Society of Australia (LSA)
• 2019: Music and Gaming Festival (MAGFEST) est. 2002
Ludomusicology panel discussion.
Video Game as a Source:
What music can we examine?
Summers, Tim. Understanding Video Game Music. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2016
Before Game Play
• System Start Ups and Corporate Logos:
Recall your own experiences with system start up cues and
corporate logos: Which ones stick out? Describe how these
sounds make you feel.
• Opening Sequences and Menu Music
Can you make some generalizations about the types of music
that accompanies opening sequences in regard to genre,
franchises, studios, and/or gaming systems?
Gameplay Music
Describe and provide an example for each of the terms below:
• Non-Dynamic
• Dynamic Music
• Adaptive Music
• Interactive Music
• Procedural Music
• Loops
• Branching
• Stingers
• Win/Lose Music
• Cutscenes
Challenges of the Text:
Discuss the following challenges faced by researchers of
video game music in regard to text and compare these
challenges to traditional practice:
• Musical Score
• Interactivity
• Regions
• Soundcards
• Remakes
• Change of Platforms/Porting
• Glitches

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