Community Question

• Chip Music, Events, Game Music

  Community Question: What’s Your Favorite Live VGM Experience?

  January 19, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | 2 Comments Share this Community Question: What’s Your Favorite Live VGM Experience?

  

  If you’re like me and have been within the video game and nerd music scene for any given amount of time, chances are you’ve been to a few shows featuring cover and tribute bands playing music live for a captivated audience. With Super MAGFest having just wrapped up not quite two weeks ago, and things like Rockage San Jose and VGM Con in the near future, I feel now is a great time to ruminate on all the performances I’ve been to and what stands out for me as some of the best I’ve ever been to, and hopefully exchange my experiences with other fans as well.

  Two experiences pop into my mind. This past MAGFest featured Transformers and Rocky IV composer Vince DiCola joining VGM band LONELYROLLINGSTARS on stage for a live performance of some of the most iconic themes of his career. (Can be seen in the title image.) I’ll keep my synopsis brief as the whole show was beyond amazing, even beyond my bias (Full disclosure, I was artist liaison for LRS working MAG this year.) and the fact it was not technically game music, the moment when “Death of Optimus Prime” was played by DiCola and LRS and the scene displayed on the big screen, my heart felt like it was punched in it’s heart-gut. It made for a ridiculously memorable experience and one of the best shows I’ve ever been to for the music and the experience both.

  The other show I can safely safe was probably the best in my lifetime of going to VGM shows was my first MAGFest, which was MAG 10 in 2012. This was the event that managed to get Final Fantasy composer legend Nobou Uematsu and his band the Earthbound Papas to come pay at the event. I have to say that it wasn’t the music that was the best part of that show, but the sheer excitement Uematsu displayed in stage while playing. When a legend in the game music industry cracks open a Sam Adams on stage, trolls the audience with a Colossus Roar, and moves onto the next song, it makes for a wild moment for fans.

  

  So I ask the readers, what are your most memorable experiences attending game music shows, concerts and performances in your lifetime? Was it the music, the energy or just your general thrill that made it special? Let us know in the comments and let’s keep such memories alive as we keep making more in the future.

• Featured, Game Music

  Community Question: Does your pet like game music?

  January 5, 2018 | Ryan Paquet | 13 Comments Share this Community Question: Does your pet like game music?

  

  My dog who you see pictured above has specific tastes when it comes to game music. He loves orchestral scores, and absolutely hates anything that contains natural sounds, or odd percussion. He’s right at home with Gareth Coker’s score to Ori and the Blind Forest, and adores Joe Hisaishi’s score to Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch.

  Looking at the opposite side of things, when he was a puppy I couldn’t even play Skyrim as the sounds of the birds drove him nuts. As does one of my favorite tracks from Jeremy Soule’s soundtrack “Skyrim Atmospheres”‎. He also used to howl at anything that resembled a pan flute, I am happy to report he’s gotten over that.

  I also used to have a little zebra finch who used to make ‘pew pew’ laser chirps to chiptunes.

  So I ask you, does your pet enjoy game music or react in different ways? If you’ve got a game music savvy animal please tell us all about it.

• Featured, Game Music

  OSVOSTOTY 2017: Community Question Edition

  January 1, 2018 | Shawn Sackenheim | 2 Comments Share this OSVOSTOTY 2017: Community Question Edition

  

  Now that Brenna, Ryan, and myself have had our say on the year in game music, we want to hear from you the OSV community. Let us know in the comments what are your favorite game soundtracks and arrangement albums of 2017?

  For just a quick cursory reminder some of 2017’s most major mainstream and indie titles include Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Night in the Woods, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, NieR: Automata, Persona 5, Prey, Mages of Mystralia, Tekken 7, Splatoon 2, Pyre, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Observer, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Tacoma, Steamworld Dig 2, Cuphead, Super Mario Odyssey, and Assassin’s Creed Origin. That’s just a super small sampling. If you’re really dedicated to making the most informed choices, check out Wikipedia’s full list of 2017 video game releases and get back to us… sometime in 2018.

• Game Music, Miscellaneous

  Community Question: What do You think of Super Mario Odyssey’s Music?

  November 11, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | 1 Comment Share this Community Question: What do You think of Super Mario Odyssey’s Music?

  

  As of this writing I’ve just completed one of Super Mario Odyssey’s most self-referential areas, the Metro Kingdom, AKA New Donk City. If you’ve seen practically any footage of the game up to this point then you’ve probably heard the swingin’ vocal theme from that world, “Jump Up, Super Star!”. That song has been buzzing in my head since E3 as I’ve been eagerly anticipating the rest of the Nintendo soundtrack and the full game. But now that it’s here I’m shocked to find myself saying: I’m just not that into you.

  Granted, I don’t know how much of the game is ahead of me but in any other Mario title I’d have a playlist full of favorite themes after a dozen hours. So far I’ve only earmarked two songs that I really like, but on the upside this disconcerting focus on the soundtrack has tuned my ear to the game’s surprising lack of music.

  There isn’t a consistent soundtrack bopping along in the background of most of the game’s worlds. There has typically been an initial space outside of the major platforming areas where you’re introduced to the visual style, characters, and mechanics of each world. In these outskirts you’ll largely hear only environmental sounds with the music building in layers as you near the center of activity. From there entirely new tunes come into play as you enter warp pipes or duck into hidden corners. It may not be my favorite Mario soundtrack but I can’t fault them on the technical sound design: it’s been very effective even if it’s not so catchy.

  What about you, fellow Odyssey players, what’s your take on Mario’s latest soundtrack? Let us know your overall thoughts or individual favorite songs in the comments below.

• Game Music, Miscellaneous

  Community Question: What Artists have You discovered through games?

  October 14, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | 4 Comments Share this Community Question: What Artists have You discovered through games?

  

  In a recent press release announcing that composer Tobias Gustavsson had joined Paradox Interactive as Head of Music, Chief Product Officer Johan Sjöberg put into words something I’ve been thinking about for years.

  “Music becomes iconic when it appears in the right game, whether it’s an original composition for that game or not. How many of us remember ‘Superman’ or ‘All I Want’ as ‘The songs from Tony Hawk and Crazy Taxi?’”

  I still prefer original music in my games but in some contexts a licensed song can make the perfect fit. Over the years they’ve also been my lens to the world of popular (and not-so-popular) music. So, putting aside our proclivities for original compositions I’d like to ask the community:

  What are some songs, artists, or bands
  you’ve discovered because of video games?

  Naturally, dance and rhythm games are packed with licensed music and I’ve discovered so many artists and bands from the likes of Dance Dance Revolution, Pump it Up, Eye Toy: Groove, Rock Band and Dance Central. But for my example I’ll skip those and dig back a little farther for just one story.

  (more…)

• Game Music, Miscellaneous

  Community Question: What Can Composers Do When Protecting Their Work?

  June 28, 2017 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Community Question: What Can Composers Do When Protecting Their Work? Share this Community Question: What Can Composers Do When Protecting Their Work?

  

  Here at OSV, we’ve had more than a few discussions about the power that video game composers have or don’t have when it comes to the use and distribution of their work, as well as being fairly compensated for their craft. The usual topic touched upon is the unfairness that composers and musicians have to face when attempting to be hired in terms of being fairly paid for their work, with often the idea that “exposure” should be compensation enough. The discussions were meant to highlight how much work video game composers and musicians of all calibers should be fairly compensated for their hard work and creative efforts when composing music for any video game, from small mobile titles to AAA games.

  The question we haven’t touched on is how far composers should go with regards to protecting their own works from unfair use. Recent issues regarding Starr Mazer DSP composer Alex Mauer and her disputes with developers Imagos (Whose soundtrack we’ve reported on before.) bring to light the importance of having strong contracts between game composers and game developers as well as good communication between parties especially when it comes to compensation, as too often things can go wrong.

  When things do go wrong, then it becomes a matter of how a composers should go about protecting their work. In Alex Mauer’s case, she used social media and DMCA takedown notices to attempt to abolish what she perceived was her work being unfairly distributed after she accused the devs of insufficient compensation. Imagos has come out with statements documenting their agreements and communications with Mauer with regards to her composing for Starr Mazer DSP that support their following the contract both parties agreed upon and proposed solutions, though Mauer contests this. Regardless of where you stand on the situation, it highlights an facet of creative license and content authority that does affect how video game composing and musicians function with developers with regard to who controls what and what extent a composer can and should go to in order to protect their work. DMCA issues, while they can protector content creators from having their work unfairly stolen, can obviously also be abused. Certainly we don’t ever want to see a composer being treated unfairly or being cheated out of compensation, but what happens if the pendulum swings the other way? What rights and responsibilities do the content creators have, and can they take protection of their work too far to the point of doing more harm than good?

  My question is to all the musicians and game composers out there who have any experience or opinion on the matter. What are your thoughts with regards to the protection of your own work? What provisions do you put in your contracts about compensation? What advice do you have to other contract composers with regards to content protection? We’d like to hear your thoughts and discuss how to prevent further issues like the aforementioned from happening in the future to the benefit of composers and the community.

• Game Music, Gear, Miscellaneous

  Community Question: Is it time to move on from MP3?

  May 31, 2017 | Shawn Sackenheim | 8 Comments Share this Community Question: Is it time to move on from MP3?

  

  While the recent headlines touting “The MP3 is DEAD!!” have over-sensationalized the real news, it got me thinking about my own digital collection again. So I’ll ask you, dear readers, the same thing I asked myself: is it time to move on from MP3?

  Sadly, I am not much farther along in my quest to reorganize my music collection than I was when I asked for reader responses in 2015. Over the last two years I’ve been sporadically re-ripping CDs as 320kbps MP3s but with the “death knell” headlines I finally decided to take a look at other formats, namely AAC/m4a.

  I’m no audiophile when it comes to sound. My ancient MP2 files are just now sounding crusty to my ears but AAC has impressed me with smaller file sizes. Support is also more widespread than the last time I peeked out from my MP3 safe zone: all the apps, programs, and even consoles I might use to play digital files now support it. So that’s where I’m at right now, surrounded by my CD collection once again.

  How about you? What’s your format of choice? What do you think about the MP3 news or even the future of digital music files? Let us know in the comments.

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