Game Music = the new classical music?
I am very passionate about the orchestral tradition and the fate of the modern orchestra. My choice to live in Boston was indeed influenced by the presence of not only the BSO but so many other fine orchestras and performing groups supported in our fine city. Many people I meet are surprised to hear me speak about my background as a classical musician and then to find that I work in video games, but for me, it is the perfect combination. In fact, some of the scores for games coming out today are simply amazing.
A former student (thanks Mitchell) sent me this link to a NY Times article this past holiday break. In it you can start to get a glimpse of the depth of this new media scoring and how it is breaking new ground for composers and musicians alike. Those of you who know me, know that one of my favorite games last year was 2k’s BioShock. I willed myself to finish the game (it is quite a bit more graphic than most games I enjoy) just to hear the music! Much has been written about the music, and unfortunately few people outside of the video game world have experienced the truly exquisite juxtaposition between the licensed period pieces like Django Reinhardt’s “La Mer” and Billie Holiday’s “Night and Day” and “God Bless this Child” with Garry Schyman’s 21st century classical score.
For those of you that doubt a video game could be the source of a great score, take a listen to the download on 2k’s website. Direct download here.
Game music is steamrolling ahead! Losing the limitations of older game hardware has made it possible for composers to expand to the point where they can fully express themselves in this medium. Berklee continues to push the envelope… we’ve been training composers, musicians and sound designers for decades, alums like Howard Shore and Olivier Deriviere are even mentioned in the NY Times article. Another alum, Shota Nakama, is spearheading performances of game scores on campus through his organization, the Video Game Orchestra (VGO). Through things like our courses on campus, online and even for the younger crowd through our summer programs I can only imagine the great music we’ll be hearing in the coming years in the virtual and physical school halls!
Skilled composers, comfortable with an orchestra, now have a new horizon… and that horizon is simply amazing!
