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Audible Words, Pt. 2: 'Updating the State of Critical Writing in Game Sound'
As predicted in “Harnessing…” diegetic music has since bloomed into a rich area for interactive entertainment – it features strongly in games today – Rockstar’s ‘Max Payne’ and their ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series, to name but two pertinent examples, both make innovative use of music emanating from within the game diegesis. “…many "in house" composers simply do not have the skills (and perhaps, alas, the musical talent) to take this exciting form further” (1) This may well have been the case as little as five years ago, however, interactive composers have earned their positions, they must achieve a high degree of sophistication and deep understanding of their project’s style and structural framework, requiring cognitive skills and ‘musical talent’ often on par with those of many linear composers. Deutsch’s article served to highlight the shortcomings of the games industry in a period where it was embryonic, and provided some useful areas into which it could develop. It is interesting to look back now, after only around five or so years, and see how far game audio has evolved and progressed both towards and away from it’s antecedent of film sound. Writing on Game sound, in addition to defining itself outside film, needs to also distinguish itself between academic or ‘industry’ debate and self-promotional vignettes. Both of which are very different modes of writing about game sound. The future of writing about game audio will no doubt begin to polarise between these two states even more as academic institutions do more work in this area. There have been dramatic shifts in the importance placed upon sound and music in games over the last seven years, the industry is in better shape than it ever has been, still poised for more large-scale growth. Yet, at the same time, the vagueness of the supporting literary climate often undermines these successes. One way to open the academic arena up is to ensure academic writers become more involved directly in the development community, in addition to this stronger links between universities offering courses in interactive sound and the industry itself are needed in order to strengthen the academic standing of interactive audio. Both the Vancouver Film School and the National Film and Television School in London deserve particular mention here for already making this happen having great involvement from industry sound designers in their courses, which enable them to stay up to date with the cutting edge techniques of the industry. Provided that recognition is given to the rapid shift of working practices since the birth of the medium, and efforts are made to build closer sinews between universities and commercial game development environments, there will certainly follow a subsequent shift in the accuracy of any theoretical writing. Notes: (1) Deutsch, Stephen. ”Harnessing The Power of Music and Sound Design in Interactive Media” (2000) – Self Published on the Bournemouth University Website (2000) (2) Benjamin, Walter, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" in Illuminations (translated by Harry Zohn) Fontana 1992 NFTS http://www.nftsfilm-tv.ac.uk/index.php?module=Course&course_id=162 |
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