Throughout the history of the video game industry, there has been many changes concerning
music in video games. Music in video games progressed greatly within the life of the
industry from 1972 to the present. These progressions can be seen as improvements in
quality which includes an increase in the number of output channels, an increase in song
length, a great improvement in the quality of timbres, and also a general shift from
non-programmatic music to programmatic music which fits a game. If one takes a close
look, one can see that all of these improvements are either directly or indirectly
resulting from improvements in the technology which is used to produce video game music.
These improvements in technology include the increase of the number of bits of a Sound
Central Processing, the increase of Audio Random-Access-Memory, the switch from the use
of frequency modulation to digital sampling, and the use of compact discs for playing
music during a game. By closely examining the contribution of the preceding
technological advancements, one can see that technology has indeed caused great
improvements for music in the video game industry.
The first technological enhancement which greatly enhanced the quality of music in
video games is the number of bits which a sound Central Processing Unit (CPU) has. The
sound CPU is a component in a video game system which controls every single sound which a
system produces. This, then, obviously includes music. Specifically, the CPU controls
what sounds are to be played at what time, their volume and dynamics, and each sound's
length and rhythm. In a sense, the sound CPU acts as a conductor who has absolute
control over every single instrument in his orchestra. The increase of the number of
bits serves to improve music quality by increasing the number of channels of sound which
can be played at the same time. This will just be like increasing the number of
instruments in an orchestra. As in the romantic period, an increase in the number of
instruments can lead to a richer and more varied blend of sounds which can be used to
cause effects of drama and human emotions during game play. This increase in emotional
portrayal can also be seen as the first step towards the rise of programmatic music in
video games.
Another technological improvement in the industry which improved the quality of music
in video games was the increase in the amount of Audio Random-Access-Memory (ARAM). The
ARAM is a memory storage area which performs two main functions. The first of its
functions is to store data concerning the layout of a song. This data contains
information such as which voices will be played at what time, specifications concerning a
song's rhythm, dynamics and structure, and any other information which is used by the
sound CPU when it produces sounds. When compared to music in the mainstream musical
industry, the ARAM can be seen as the musical score which musicians read in order to gain
the information to play a song. Since the ARAM stores a song's structure, increasing the
size of the ARAM will obviously have a profound effect on the overall length and the
variations in structure of a particular song. The result is that an increase in ARAM
will yield songs which are longer and contain more variations within its structure.
These changes are particularly important in video games since "a monotonous melody which
repeats every few seconds can lead to boredom and even frustration in a player."1
Therefore, video game programmers are now becoming more and more aware that programming
long varying songs can keep a player from becoming bored and switch to another game.
Thus, this partially increases a player's liking of a particular game.
The other function of the ARAM is to store information which defines the timbres in a
song. Sound, like many other things which occur in nature, actually consists of waves
which travel through a medium and then hit our eardrums, causing them to vibrate and
sending messages to our brain which is interpreted as sounds. Like all the other waves
in nature, sound waves can be mathematically defined as a set of equations. Mathematical
equations are exactly the way in which a video game system stores its sounds. The sound
wave equations are used to define the timbres in a song. Through a process called
frequency modulation synthesis (FM synthesis), programmers define timbre by creating and
working with wave equations from scratch. Similarly to the increase in the length of a
song, an increased ARAM can also be used to store longer wave equations which more
precisely define a timbre in a song. Better defined waves mean an improvement in timbre
which can bring a further sense of programmaticism to a song. This is true because of
the fact that different instruments can be used to effectively portray certain emotions
and situations. For example, a bassoon is often used to set a comical mood while an airy
and thin sound such as a flute can be used to set a mood of fear and horror. Again this
increase in the sense of the programmatic nature of songs helps to draw a player deeper
into the video gaming experience.
To produce sound waves, the process of FM synthesis was already mentioned in the
previous paragraph. During the life of the video game industry, however, digital signal
processing was introduced at around 1990. The emergence of digital signal processing
marked another step in the process of timbre production because it enables programmers to
use a process called digital sampling to define their timbres. Digital sampling is a
process which involves digitally sampling (or recording acoustic instruments and then
using the data obtained to produce wave equations of timbres. The result is a realism in
defined sounds which surpasses even FM synthesis. The rise of digital sampling has even
increased to a higher degree the programmatic nature of songs in video games because of
extremely life-like sounds. As D. Wise, head music programmer and composer of the game
Donkey Kong Country once said:
Music is supposed to draw the player into the game...For us, the use of digitally sampled
sound gave us the ability to better depict a setting's mood, something which beeps and
clicks could never have done.2
The final technological advancement which greatly affected the music in the video game
industry is the use of compact discs for playing music during the playing of a video
game. In the newer 32-bit systems and CD-ROM based systems, the production of video
games has become as simple as recording a song onto a CD and then playing the song when
it is needed in the game. Not only has this process greatly simplified the steps which
programmers take to program music into video games, it also has brought about true
CD-quality sound to the video game industry. Playing music from a CD is also so flexible
that the possibilities for improvements are almost endless and unimaginable.
So, as one can now see, technological advancements were indeed the cause of most
improvements in the field of music in the video game industry. These technological
improvements, which are the increase of the number of bits of a Sound Central Processing,
the increase of Audio Random-Access-Memory, the switch from the use of frequency
modulation to digital sampling, and the use of compact discs for playing music during a
game, have now expanded the horizon of music in the industry and opened up many new
possibilities. Even though the industry itself might not last as long as the mainstream
musical or computer industries, one can see that it has clearly left a mark in the
history of humankind's development and usage of music. To conclude, the words of Tommy
Tallarico, another video game music composer and programmer, perfectly summarize what is
happening in the video game industry:
When people think of video game music, they have always thought of little bleeps and
blips. But now, the industry has changed so radically over the last couple of years as
far as music is concerned that it has evolved beyond anyone's expectations.3
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