
How Video Games Changed Popular Music - simulate
http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/how-video-games-changed-popular-music
======
synthmeat
The article goes from adoration of few particular video game
composers/engineers (not undeserved one, mind you), to presenting few tidbits
that attempt to show very tentative link to pop music and blowing it up to
"changed popular music" doesn't do justice to either creative genres.

One just needs to listen to few Japanese synthpop bands from the 70s like
P-Model or Yellow Magic Orchestra to see which direction stream of influence
was flowing back then. I'm pressed very hard to believe that bleeps and blops
of the 70s arcade cabinets impressed any musician, when you had much more
powerful tools to do synthesis far more advanced and relatively inexpensive.
After its peak in the late 80s, as far as pop music was concerned, synth went
in sort of hiatus, to come back slowly in last decade or less, and still,
bleeps and blops are just a single drawer in an immense cabinet of instruments
employed.

I admit not to play too many games recently, but from what I've seen in AAA
titles, it's dominated with bland orchestral ambientals. There's still no
adaptive phrasing, AI composition, and really no intelligence behind it all.
The medium holds immense potential, but I'm still waiting for it to unlock
itself. We had serialism (though I don't enjoy it myself) almost 100 years
ago. What's the hold-up?

I hope this doesn't fall under _gratuitous negativity_. I just don't see it.

~~~
JoshTriplett
> I admit not to play too many games recently, but from what I've seen in AAA
> titles, it's dominated with bland orchestral ambientals.

Not all AAA titles are remarkable for their music, and there's a lot of good
music to be found in more independent titles.

I'll admit to being a sucker for a good orchestra, though.

> There's still no adaptive phrasing

While far fewer games use it than ought to, that's been around for quite a
long time. Take a look at Wind Waker, released in 2002/2003.

~~~
sehugg
Lucasarts's iMUSE system too: [http://www.1up.com/features/imuse-secret-
organic-music](http://www.1up.com/features/imuse-secret-organic-music)

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JonnieCache
The influence on UK urban music particularly cannot be doubted. Check out this
mix: [https://soundcloud.com/kodenine/kode9-sinogrime-
minimix-2005](https://soundcloud.com/kodenine/kode9-sinogrime-minimix-2005)

Especially the tune that comes in just after 6 minutes, and the one which
follows it at around 8:30. They could be straight out of a (S)NES game, as
could much of grime records from those days. While its now coveted by
hipsters/nerds, at the time it was ghetto music. There's still nothing like it
out there which has the same effect.

EDIT: heres another couple. these could be straight from the secret of mana
soundtrack or something:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU2dLHrpOlY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU2dLHrpOlY)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vehT9HG6gbo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vehT9HG6gbo)

as a bonus heres that first one in its natural habitat, with vocals :)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQra9nENdzA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQra9nENdzA)

One of the MCs in that clip is now a chart-topping pop star.

This one actually reached number 31 in the charts itself, and I'm pretty sure
some of the percussion is actually sampled from a gameboy:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8PeDsO0vGo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8PeDsO0vGo)

------
Zikes
While the article focuses on older videogame music, I think more recent
examples show the complex relationship between mainstream popular music and
videogames. Artists like Austin Wintory (composer for TGC's Journey and
Monaco), Darren Korb (Bastion, Transistor), and Michael McCann (Deus Ex: Human
Revolution) have created music that would not be out of place on the radio,
but create a distinct ambience and mood intended to enhance a setting rather
than make the music itself the primary focus.

Because it can be so entertaining without being too distracting, videogame
soundtracks are primarily what I listen to while I'm writing code.

~~~
talles
I love Deus Ex: Human Revolution theme song.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns7fNPiNiNc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns7fNPiNiNc)

~~~
Zikes
I'm looking forward to more from the new Mankind Divided game!

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drcode
Strange to write an article like this without mentioning the SID chip (though
I suppose SID chip-inspired music is more of an underground phenomenon, with
less influence on popular culture.)

~~~
tokenrove
Especially to omit things like the several appropriations of SID tunes by
popular musicians; Kernkraft 400 by Zombie Nation might be the most successful
example, but there were a few scandals around pop artists sampling tunes from
the demo scene, too, as I recall.

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mrampton
There's a pretty awesome documentary series 'Diggin' in the Carts' done by Red
Bull that traces the impact of 8 and 16 bit era music.

From the youtube channel:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtbJmr1WtatcUO5smuoPD...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtbJmr1WtatcUO5smuoPDUEATfYZ1V6mt)
"Diggin' in the Carts" is the untold story of the men and women behind the
most globally influential music to come out of Japan. This six-part
documentary series will delve into the history of 8-bit and 16-bit music, and
the impact it has left in the world of video games and music."

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Dirlewanger
Not a whole lot of supporting evidence for how it "changed popular music",
rather it just becoming more sophisticated as time went on by the technology
allowing for more complex structures and bringing in well-known artists. Video
game music is still very much a niche genre, regardless of how complex it is.
Surprised Michael Jackson wasn't mentioned for his helping out with the Sonic
3 soundtrack, probably one of the greatest from the 16 bit era.

