No, I don't mean like 'oh god this music has summoned something' presence. I mean more like, certain songs have like personalities. As an example: Compare almost any Mega Man OST to something from any Metroid game. The 'vibe' of the music is totally different, this goes to normal music as well, but I don't feel it as strongly. Maybe it's because video game music tends to not have lyrics, and thus you as a listener aren't as distracted. So you can pick up on the composers intent much faster. Even comparing say, Gerudo Valley from Ocarina of Time to say, Dragon roost Island from Wind waker. Both songs sound similar and go for a similar theme, but Gerudo Valley seems way more hype for some reason. And I can't put a finger on why.
Certain pieces of music have a very strong effect on me, and there's a life in it that I can't put my finger on. I don't care for video game music though; obviously it's a matter of individual taste. I get the chills from Allegri's Miserere Mei nearly every time.
I feel the same way about normal music, I wish I understood it more but there's not much regular music I like. I don't mind that normal music exists, makes me sad that people discount video game music as not being 'real' music though. I get WHY people discount it, though, it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to folks who don't play a lot of video games heh.
I don't discount it, and I do play a fair amount of video games. I just don't like most of it enough to actually listen to.
to be fair most of the time when I'm listening to Video game music outside of a game, it's often remixes. Some of them are straight bops and in rare cases even better than the content they're based on. I wasn't saying you personally were discounting it, just saying that non gamers do tend to discount it.
Absolutely! There’s so much power and personality in music, and as for “presence,” while I’m not religious, there are certain songs that can make me feel that connection to something greater. I don’t know anything about video game music, but I see no reason why it couldn’t be every bit as powerful as music made for its own sake. I’m a three-quarter-assed musician, so I know a bit about how composers use tension and release to manipulate your emotions and build drama, but the great ones just have that amazing ability to transport you to a whole sonic world of their own creation. Like writing with words, there’s a lot of technique and practice involved, but some folks just have a gift. And I’m glad they do. Heh, I started writing more, but then I got caught up listening to music instead. Not the worst way to spend my Saturday night! Anyway, here’s a few examples that really move me in one way or another, each with its own distinctive personality: Arvö Part’s “Te Deum” Dream Theater’s “Hell’s Kitchen” Devin Townsend’s “Kingdom” and “Why?” Shai Hulud’s “Given Flight by Demon’s Wings” Lemon Jelly’s “Nice Weather for Ducks”
@AntPoems If anything I'd say video game music does it MORE than normal music. Most video game music is designed around a particular story beat or environment. Even old NES songs like Super Mario's classic themes evoke a certain feeling. (though I don't agree that the 'air' one sounds like a sky thing and the 'water' sounds like a water theme, I think they should've been flipped lol) especially in story driven games, the music drives the action home. You might be interested in the youtube channel 8 Bit music Theory, he does a DEEP study of video game music and how the composers wrote their music. There's also Save Data as well, his video intros go a bit long but the stuff he says about the music in the zelda games is great.
My video game days have given way to diaper changes, but this is a really cool making of for Tomb Raiders sound track:
That makes sense. Like operas and film scores, you get the extra dimension of emotion from the game experience in addition to the effects of the music itself. And since modern games can be so immersive, I could see the experience being more powerful than watching something on a stage or screen. So, while it's not my thing, I can get why people enjoy it. Thanks for the videos! I'll put them in my (enormous) list of things to check out.
8 Bit Music Theory is good because he covers all kinds of music from games, from Persona to Dragon Quest Save Data mostly does Zelda stuff but he does a full analyze of the song's composition, sheet notes and everything. Great starting point is his videos on Majora's mask. Which has some stellar mood music. Hope you enjoy the rabbit hole cause both channels have a massive backlog heh.
My musical tastes tend to be lyrics-driven. Leonard Cohen, for example, is just a man mumbling over simple guitar if you don't/can't follow what he's saying. If you can, he's transcendent.
