The theme of music in games has already been raised in blogs repeatedly, because it’s no secret for anyone how much the soundtrack affects the player’s perception. But in this material, I will try to be compressed if possible and it is available to open the veil of the mechanisms of this influence. In this, I hope my musical education will help me.

However, on the way to I understand us a lot of pitfalls await us. Let us leave aside the subtleties of determining music – this is the subject of disputes of art historians for many decades. Let’s first decide what music is in computer games, and we will come to the fact that it belongs to the part of the game for which auditory perception is supposed. In games, as a rule (but not necessarily), there are voices pronouncing some text. Everything that sounds, but is not these voices, is a sound accompaniment. Music-she is somewhere here, within this area. But it is obvious that not all sound accompaniment is music. For example, the sounds of shots in a shooter.

At first glance it may seem that it is quite easy to distinguish between musical and non -recuscular sounds. Often it is. In order not to go far from the topic of the shooters, we will take for example the game Serious Sam. It contains music recorded and reduced in the form of tracks, which are reproduced depending on the level and its condition, and there are sounds made by the environment. We always know what is the source of sound within the game world, whether it be a monster, a protagonist or his weapon. And it is not necessary that the object that makes the sound really exist in the game. For example, a bird’s cry is the sound of an environment, but there are no birds in the game, they are only implied. And it works.

Music and sound environment work on the atmosphere, but differently

But this scheme is not always applicable. A more complicated option is in the Neverwinter Nights game. In addition to music and sounds tied to some event (steps, strike, adding an entry to the magazine, etc. p.) The game has the so -called emboss. These are the same recorded and reduced tracks as music, but they sound crackling torches, rustling foliage and howl of wind. Like musical tracks, they are tied to specific locations and are reproduced by the background. So what is the difference between them? Perhaps in the use of "means of musical expression" (no matter what it means)? But listen to this track:

If the timcode is not attached – wind up at 16:34

He is in the Music folder. On CD with the soundtrack of the game, he also has. Meanwhile, in the Ambient folder there are tracks that fall much more under some “generally accepted” ideas about music. Unfortunately, you can’t find them on YouTube, but if you suddenly have Neverwinter Nights installed, this is easy to check.

So, if someone understands what is the difference between music and the emboss, I would be interested to listen. Because I don’t understand.

And here we are not https://blackmagiccasino.uk/games/ very smoothly moving on to the next topic, namely, to what functions in games these or other sounds carry. Please note that the same sound in most cases carries several functions. I will try to list them:

Transfer of plot information. For this, for the most part, the voices of the characters are responsible. This is not only naked text, but also intonations and emotions. A good voice actor can convey much more in the phrase than is laid down in the words that it consists

Transfer of gammic information. This includes everything that helps a person play the game. For example, the famous sound from Metal Gear, who shouts to the player: “You were discovered!"
https: // www.YouTube.COM/Watch?V = 8YGFQK-Q9M

Impact. Sounds caused by player actions. The world of computer game is interactive and should encourage the player to various interactions. The term "impact" is quite wide and belongs to all components of the gameplay, and the sound here plays an important role.

And if with the above functions it is more or less clear, then the lower in the list, the more blurry the boundaries of functionality become.

Immersion. Imagine that the game is raining, but there is no sound. Lightning sparkles in the sky, but you can’t hear thunder. If this is not due to game mechanics, then such moments are very striking and interfere with plunge into the gameplay. On the other hand, these sounds seem to be not needed, the game will work without them, but not so good. So, in the case of the sound, immersion is almost identical to. n. suspension of unbelief (Suspension of Disbelief). Everything that contributes to the first, contributes to both the second and vice versa.

Atmosphere. Here we enter the area of ​​very subtle matters. The atmosphere affects the emotions of a person, from which angle he looks at the same situation. This is a kind of filter concentrating the player’s attention on certain aspects of what is happening in the game.

Artistic image. The most foggy function of all. I even doubted whether it should be included in this list. However, games, as you know, is art. Some samples have an amazing aesthetic integrity, and in them the most clearly manifests what I want to say in this paragraph; We will call such games among them as Dear Esther, Journey, Gris.

Now we can consider the problem of sound environment and music in another context. What functions do they perform? If you do not go into details, it seems that the atmosphere and artistry are assigned to the music, and behind the environment there are game -mechanical information, impact and immersion. In fact, of course, everything is much more complicated. Any of the functions can be performed by both music and the sounds of the environment.

So, the soundtrack of the vast majority of games is adaptive to one degree or another, which means that it can convey information to the player. Elementary example: if calm music has ended and alarming began – enemies are nearby.

Moreover, the soundtrack may have impact. In Pathologic 2, it consists of two layers, one of which is rhythmic – begins to sound only when the protagonist is in motion, which encourages movements around the city.

A competent handling of a sound environment can turn it into music, supplement and enrich the sound of the soundtrack. The opposite is also true. In the game Limbo, music and the sound environment reach such a degree of symbiosis that separating one from the other becomes an overwhelming task. All sounds in the game work as a single coordinated mechanism. This is evidenced by the fact that the composer of the game, Martin Stig Andersen, was surprised at the lack of mentions of music in reviews, as if there was no game in the game.

There are A Lot of PEOPLE WHO THEKESES No Music in Limbo. IF YOU Read the Reviews It’s Like There’s Absolutly No Music in There. I Think That’s Really Interesting.

“Many people believe that there is no music in Limbo. If you read reviews, it seems that there is no music at all. I find it very interesting."

In fact, the music is, as it were, “disguised” surrounded by the fact that it is half consists of sounds that we expect to hear in game locations, for example, the noise of circular saws or the roar of a huge plant. In addition, individual musical blocks are clearly tied to certain game events. Such contextual dependence allows you to achieve harmony between the entire sound space and gameplay. In the final section of the game, gravity periodically changes its direction to the opposite. At the same time, the change of gravity is synchronized with the soundtrack: by sound reminiscent of a ball that bounces off the floor with a decreasing amplitude, we can understand that the floor and ceiling are about to change places.

And in the game Star Wars: Republic Commando there is a moment when the attack aircraft pass through the conveyor at the droid factory, and we cannot understand whether the sound of this conveyor is part of the environment or music. Answer: Both. This effect is achieved due to the harmonization of sound, it is composed in such a way as to sound musically.

It turns out that in the end we again came to the conclusion that we cannot draw a clear border. The industry is developing, technical capabilities are growing, and with them the requirements for composers, sound designers and sound engineers are growing with them. The approaches to writing a game soundtrack are also changing. Music often becomes an important part of the plot and game design.