The Game Music Toolbox: Composition Techniques and Production Tools from 20 Iconic Game Soundtracks

Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: 15 Questions on Game Composition
	Scoring Process
		What is the Purpose of Game Music?
		It adds Entertainment Value
		How do you Choose the Right Musical Style for a Game?
		What is the Process of Scoring for Games? Is it that Different than Film?
	Implementation
		What is Interactive Music?
		Does Good Game Music Need to be Highly Interactive?
		How does Audio Implementation Work?
	Career
		How Can I Break into Game Composing?
		Is Working in Game Audio a Viable Career?
		What are Some Alternative Career Paths in Game Audio?
	Business and Money
		What are the Main Types of Copyright Deals for Composers?
		How Much Money do Game Composers Make?
		Will Buying Expensive Gear Improve My Sound? Does My Studio Need to Look Like a Spaceship?
	Education
		Should I Go to College/University if i want to Pursue a Career in Game Audio?
		Should I Focus on Developing a Niche or Try to Write in Many Styles?
		What Skills Do I Need to have to Pursue a Career in Game Composition?
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Analysis (Easy) – Analyse the Music Functions in a Game Level
		Task 2 – Analysis (Easy/Medium) – Analyse the Musical Style of a Game of Your Choice
		Takeaway Task 3 – Composition (Medium) – Write a Short Theme Based on a Piece of Concept Art of Your Choice
		Task 4 – Analysis (Medium) – Analyse the Implementation of a Game of Your Choice
		Task 5 – Composition/Production (Medium) – Participate in a Game Jam!
1 Space Invaders (1978): Mickey Mousing, Programmable Sound Generators, and the Birth of Interactive Game Music
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
		Composition Technique 1 – Visual Mirroring (Mickey Mousing)
		Composition Technique 2 – Competing with SFX
		Composition Technique 3 – Adding Tempo Interactivity
		Production Tools – PSGs (Programmable Sound Generators)
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Moderate) – Mickey Mousing
		Task 2 – Production (Easy) – PSG Sound Chip Emulation
		Task 3 – Career Development (Very Hard) – Make a Game Clone
2 Ballblazer (1985): Algorithmic Guitar Solos to Infinity!
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
		Composition Technique – The Riffology Algorithm
		Production Tools – The POKEY PSG
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Research (Easy): Identify Other Algorithmic Techniques
		Task 2 – Composition (Medium): Create an Algorithmic Flow Chart
3 The Legend of Zelda (1986): Music Sequences, Musical SFX, and the SNES Sound
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
		Composition Techniques 1 – Music Sequences
		Composition Technique 2 – Musical SFX
		Production Tools – The Famicom/NES PSG
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Easy) – Write a Theme that Makes Use of Melodic Sequences
		Task 2 – Composition (Easy) – Redesign 5 SFX from Zelda Using Musical Phrases
		Task 3 – Synthesis (Moderate) – Write a Theme Modelled After the Stock NES Sound Chip
4 Amegas (1987): The Birth of the Tracker Sequencer
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Tracker Sequencing in Amegas
		Text Commands
		Illusion of Polyphony
		Programming FX
		Building a Song Out of Patterns
	Production Tools – Contemporary Trackers and the MOD Format
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Remix (Easy) – Create Your Own Remix of the Amegas Theme
		Task 2 – Sequencing (Challenging) – Create a Song Using a 4-Channel Tracker of Your Choice
5 The Secret of Monkey Island (1990): The Secrets of Pirate Reggae!
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique – Inventing Your Own Hybrid Genre – Pirate Reggae!
		Use of Syncopation
		Shifting Metre
		Parallel Major/Minor
		Free Counterpoint
	Production Tools – General MIDI
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Medium) – Write a Theme that Uses Multiple Time Signatures
		Take 2 – Composition (Difficult) – Write a Simple Theme that Uses a Degree of Free Counterpoint Between Your Musical Voices
		Task 3 – Research (Very Challenging) – Study the Five Species of Counterpoint
6 Street Fighter II (1991): Melodic Tension in Guile’s, Ken’s, and Blanka’s Themes
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique – Creating Melodic Tension with Nonharmonic Notes
		Melodic Tension in GUILE’S THEME
		Melodic Tension in KEN’S THEME
		Melodic Tension in BLANKA’S THEME
	Production Tools – The YM2151 Frequency Modulation Chip
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Remix (Challenging) – Create a SF2 Remix Using FM Synthesis
		Task 2 – Composition (Medium) – Write a Theme that Uses Melodic Tension for One of the Original SF2 Characters
7 Mortal Kombat (1992): From the Arcades to the Dance Floor, Formulaic Writing Makes a Classic Hit
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Formulaic Pop Writing
		Pop Song Structure
		Repetitive Lyrics
		Four on the Floor Kick
		Following a Four-Chord Formula
	Composition Technique 2 – Phrygian Mode
	Production Tools – SFX Sampling
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Easy/Medium) – Formulaic Writing
		Task 2 – Composition (Challenging) Write a Short Theme Using a Mode
		Task 3 – Production (Easy/Medium) – Create an Instrument from In-Game SFX
8 Diablo (1996): Chromatic Chords and Non-Functional Harmony in Tristram Village
	About the Game
	Fun Trivia
	How Did the Composer Get Involved?
	Composition Technique 1: The Chromatic Chords of Tristram Village
		Harmonic Analysis of the Tristram Village Opening Section
	Composition Technique 2: Ambient Music as an Open-Ended Storytelling Device
	Production Tools – Lo-fi Charm
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Challenging) – Compose a Theme for an Area in Diablo that Makes Use of Chromatic Chords
		Task 2 – Production (Easy) – Emulate the Sound of Early Digital Samplers
9 Assassin’s Creed: Music as a Time Travelling Device in Four Historical Games of the Franchise
	About the Games
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composers Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Music as a Time Travelling Device
		Assassin’s Creed – Origins
		Assassin’s Creed – Valhalla
		Assassin’s Creed II
		Assassin’s Creed – Syndicate
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Difficulty Depends on the Chosen Period) – Compose a Theme that is Evocative of a Specific Historical Setting
10 Journey (2012): A Masterclass in Monothematic Scoring
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique – Monothematic Scoring
		Nascence
		Threshold
		Apotheosis
	Production Tools – Remote Recording
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Arranging (Moderate) – Create Your Own Variation of the Journey Theme
11 The Last of Us (2013): When Less is More – Space and Silence as Storytelling Devices
	About the Game – Story Synopsis
	Fun Trivia
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Use of Space and Silence as Storytelling Devices
		Exploration
		Battle
	Composition Technique 2 – Leitmotifs and Storytelling
		Analysis of the Two Leitmotifs
		How the Two Leitmotifs Assist Storytelling in the Game
	Production Tools – Guitar Based Techniques
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Moderate) – Write a Minimalist Leitmotif
		Task 2 – Composition/Production (Challenging) – Write a Theme that Uses Unconventional Guitar Techniques
12 Alien Isolation (2014): In Space None Can Hear You Scream – Controlling Tension with a Vertical Layers System
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique – Controlling Tension with a Vertical Layers System
	Production Tools – Extended Orchestral Techniques
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Challenging) – Write a String- Based Composition that Explores Some of the Extended Techniques Discussed in this Chapter
		Task 2 – Implementation (Moderate) – Create a Vertical Layer Arrangement that will React to Four Different Levels of Tension
13 Mario Kart 8 (2014): Music as an Information Device
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composers Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Music as an Information Device
		Racetrack Location
		Race Stages
		Specific Zones within Racetracks
		Movement of In-Game Objects
		Position in the Race
		Final Lap
		Gameplay Events
		Gameplay States
	Composition Technique 2 – A Masterclass of Key Modulation
		Pivot Chords (Common Chords)
		Secondary Dominant
		Phrase Modulation
		Parallel Modes
	Production Tools – The Mario Kart Band
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Analysis (Easy) – Analyse the Use of Music as a Source of Information in another Game of Your Choice
		Task 2 – Composition (Challenging) – Write a Theme for a Mario Kart 8 Level of Your Choice that Makes Significant Use of Modulation
14 Apotheon (2016): Recombinant Cells – A Generative Technique for Producing Musical Variation
	About the Game
	Fun Trivia
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Recombinant Cells
		How Recombinant Cells Work in the Opening Level
	Production Tools – A Virtual Choir Singing in Ancient Greek
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Algorithmic Composition (Very Challenging) – Create Your Own Recombinant Cells System
15 No Man’s Sky (2016): A Conversation with the Audio Director Paul Weir
	About Paul Weir
	About the Game
	Composition Technique – Generating Music for an Infinite Universe
	Production Tools – Software for Getting Started with Generative Music
		Career Tips from an Audio Director
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Generative Composition (Variable Difficulty) – Create a Simple Generative Piece Inspired By the Techniques Discussed in this Interview
16 Doom (2016): The Doom Instrument – Using FX Chains Creatively
	About the Game
	Fun Trivia
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique – Creating the Doom Instrument with Sine Waves and FX
		Inspiration for the Doom Instrument
		Signal Flow in the Doom Instrument
		Adding Chaos into the System
	Production Tools – The Doom Guitar Sound and Using a Shepard Tone
		The Doom Guitar Sound
		Shepard Tone
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Production (Very Challenging) – Create Your Own Doom Instrument
		Task 2 – Production (Challenging) – Creating an Infinite Riser Shepard Tone
		Task 3 – Production (Challenging) – Recreate the Doom Guitar Sound
17 Call of Duty: WWII (2017): A Conversation with the Composer Wilbert Roget, II
	About the Composer
	About the Game
	Composition Techniques – Synchronization and Competing with SFX
	Production Tools – MIDI Orchestration
	Career Tips from a AAA Game Composer
	Takeaway Task
		Task 1 – Production/Arranging (Challenging) – Recreate an Orchestral Recording of a Game Theme of Your Choice Using Only MIDI Instruments
18 Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2018): Music as Meditation, Lost Instruments, and 3D Mixing
	About the Game
	Fun Facts
	How Did the Composer Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Getting into the Zone/Composition as Meditation
	Composition Technique 2 – Adding Interactivity with Music Stingers and Music Triggers
	Composition Technique 3 – Mixing the Music within the 3D Game World
	Production Tools – Hunting For Lost Instruments and the Instrument Sculpture
		The Instrument
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition/Implementation (Easy/Medium) – Create a Set of Stingers for an Imaginary Level in Tomb Raider
		Task 2 – Composition (Hard) – Compose Music by Recording an Uninterrupted Improvization
		Task 3 – Implementation (Medium/Challenging) – Create a 3D Spatial Music Mix
19 Control (2019): A Conversation with the Composer Petri Alanko
	About the Composer
	About the Game
	Composition Techniques – Sonic Manipulation and Found Sound
	Composition Techniques – Using Rule Sets and Interactive FX
	Production Tools – Electromagnetic Microphones and Granular Synths
	Career and Creative Tips from a Veteran Composer
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition/Production (Challenging) – Compose a Piece of Music Inspired By Control Using Only Found Sound
20 Cyberpunk 2077 (2021): Diegetic Music in Night City, Riff-Based Composition, and the Sound of Sci-fi
	About the Game
	Fun Trivia
	How Did the Composers Get the Gig?
	Composition Technique 1 – Diegetic Music in Night City
	Composition Technique 2 – Riff Based Composition
		Riffs in Cyberpunk
	Composition Technique 3 – Defining the Sound of Sci-fi
	Production Tools: Use Of Distortion and an Interactive Low Pass Filter
		An Interactive Low Pass Filter
	Takeaway Tasks
		Task 1 – Composition (Medium) – Write a Diegetic Theme That Originates From Night City
		Task 2 – Composition (Easy/Medium) – Write a Riff-Based Theme
		Task 3 – Production (Medium/Challenging) – Produce a Track in Which You Explore Different Uses of Distortion on Every Instrumental Layer
Index