Am I exaggerating when I say music is going
through a critical moment in history?
To my surprise, Video Games can play a small
but important role in reminding us of our
beautiful musical heritage.
Bear with me and by the end of this video,
I hope to convince you that music for games
especially AAA games is of a higher standard
than the vast majority of what we get in the
Billboard top 100, and if understood correctly,
can raise the general public taste in music.
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I also want to mention that this video relies
heavily on the books, writings, and lectures
of Sir Roger Scruton on music.
If you end up learning anything at all from
this video then it's probably from him and
not from us.
So, let's start:
We should not be afraid to judge music.
Taste in music is not like taste in chocolate.
Music can be judged by rules and clear concepts.
To start, instead of merely stating "That's
what I like" we should follow up with the
question "why?".
Jazz, for example, puts great emphasis on
the melody by punctuating with semi-closures
and carefully placing ornaments around a note.
By contrast, pop music is devoid of these
qualities and is simply reduced to repeated
notes and sounds kept together by the drum
kit.
Each hit by the drum goes like a nail into
a coffin.
In other words, the vast majority of music
consumed today is cyclical in structure, the
same tune, chord sequence, riff or chorus
comes round again and again until it comes
to a stop or fades out.
But was music always like that?
No.
Cyclical music is the product of mass production
and distribution.
Before that, in classical music, it was rarely
the case.
I first became aware of this idea after reading
a quote by the philosopher and composer Theodor
Adorno.
He states criticizing American pop music:
“that which was once the free expression
of a sincere faith has entered the world of
commodities, there to be deprived of its aura.
It has become a consumer product, addressed
to the addictive ear, part of the ‘regression
of listening’ which refuses true creativity
in favor of the predictable, the effortless
and the banal”
By Contrast, classical music consists of thematic
and harmonic material that is developed throughout
the piece, so that the music moves constantly
onwards, extracting more and more significance
from the original musical impulse.
Should it, on the rare occasion, return to
the beginning or to a previous part, it will
usually be in order to present the material
in a new way, or with new harmonic implications.
Through this structure, the notes work as
words in a language.
Each one leading to the next.
You can't with certainty predict where it's
going but by listening you notice that the
structure makes sense and it keeps on moving
onwards without the need to repeat the same
words again and again.
Musicologists and music theorists don't like
to compare music to the syntax of language
for reasons I agree with, but, for our limited
purpose here and to make a specific point,
I think they will forgive me for making that
comparison.
The structure in classical music requires
concentration and attention.
For many people in modern times, this is precisely
what detaches them from classical music; the
lack of repeated structure that defines pop.
The modern ear can only listen to music comfortably
if it is sustained throughout by ostinato
rhythms and sounds that help the listener
keep on listening without paying attention,
doing all his other daily tasks, the noise
in his ears merely background sounds.
Compare that with a piece of music like Prince
Igor by Borodin, a musical miracle that my
love was established for when I first listened
to it in Bioshock Burial at sea and later
live at the Berlin Philharmonie:
Each note leads to the next
The other instruments come around the Oboe,
like ornaments around a beautiful column
The music keeps on moving onwards with carefully
placed half steps and whole steps.
If the music comes back to previous parts
then it's only to present them in a new way
with harmonic implications.
Listen to the instruments conducting a conversation
with each other
Now compare that with what is now considered
to be music
Oh my gosh, how low the bar has now become
to what can be categorized as music:
repeated notes like hits of a hammer.
each note does not have any relationship to
the next as long as they appear between two
drum beats.
Forget the lyrics, it's another tragedy of
epic proportions.
I know you'll say I picked an easy target,
but let's look at a big hit from one of the
biggest names in the industry today; Lady
Gaga.
In her most famous song; Poker Face, have
you noticed that she stays throughout the
majority of the song on one note?
and once you notice that, think: is that how
melodies are supposed to be composed?
How different is that from Mr.Bean's performance
at the 2012 London Olympics ceremony?
So, let's go to the core of the problem: classical
music puts the emphasis and weight on the
thematic development of a work, it becomes
an arch that brings the whole work together
under a uniting theme.
Modern music puts emphasis on the Melody,
preferably a short one that can be remembered
quickly because that's the easiest way to
market music and put it in ads.
We've accepted the new structure of music;
short bursts of repeated choruses and rhythms
and we’ve let it enter into our consumption-driven
lives; in shopping malls, in restaurants,
and in commercials ...but not in video games.
At least not in the majority of AAA titles.
Many of these games share classical music's
structure of putting emphasis on the thematic
development of the work, and therefore the
musical work that accompanies these games
should be seen in its entirety.
A game like the ps4 installment of God of
War has no interest in its music pursuing
short memorable melodies.
If you listen carefully to the brilliant compositions
of Bear McCreary and the richness of his music,
you'll hear the same golden structure, where
you can't change one note without affecting
the whole work and no part of the work could
be left out without being missed.
The development of the music is similar to
the development of the characters it accompanies
throughout the game’s journey.
When you carefully listen to the main theme
song of the game and become absorbed in its
changes, as a gamer, I'm sure you'll be flying
with your imagination to different areas and
different situations you experienced in the
game.
You might be imagining killing a giant when
the music becomes intense then relax and think
of your son when you hear the violin begin
to play.
This only happens when you and your emotions
meet with the classical music structure.
Pop music structures numb that part of our
brains, that's why we're not surprised when
we hear someone using a pop song as a phone
ringtone, because like a phone ringing, it's
mechanical and repetitive.
You might think, wait a second!
God of War's main theme song has a recognizable
chorus that is repeated.
True, but like Borodin's Prince Igor, when
the melody is visited again, new light is
shed on it as it is presented in a different
way, extracting more and more meaning from
the original impulse that started it.
The second time visiting the same part of
the work, we notice that the melodies are
changed slightly, according to our established
conception of where upbeats end, where phrases
begin, which new notes are ‘intruders’
and which are part of the original flow, and
so on.
But most importantly, don't listen to the
God of War's main theme song in isolation
but to the whole music of the game as one
piece in which the theme song is nothing but
an introduction to the whole work.
I still remember when Sony started its 2016
E3 conference by playing that same music to
an audience that was captured and absorbed
by the strength and intensity of the art their
ears and brains were experiencing.
Something I wish Nintendo had done with its
Nintendo Direct videos.
Zelda: breath of the wild has some of the
best music out there.
The beauty of games like Zelda is that they
make the player unconsciously understand why
there's a need for a long structure in music
where the work comes together under one theme.
This is the only structure that can fit those
games like a hand in a glove, it can move
in any direction the events of the game require,
capturing the player's emotions from anger
to sorrow and pain.
The structure of the music provides the flexibility
to move in any necessary direction, something
completely missing from pop or jazz music.
In Jazz, even when the soloist tries to break
free from the foundations of the music, his
short rebellious act is still surrounded by
clear boundaries, he cannot on his own move
the music in a different direction.
I'll admit that I'll be the first to be charmed
by Abdullah Ibrahim's Mannenberg and the brilliance
of its soloist, but it doesn't come anywhere
close to the freedom that classical music
provides to its composer in deciding which
direction the music can move forward to.
That's why we rarely hear jazz or pop music
in games, it doesn't give flexibility to the
game's creators to adapt the music freely
with the game, and if it's to be done by producing
separate pieces for each different situation
then you might achieve the goal but you'll
have different incoherent parts sitting together
under one roof.
I'm afraid that classical music is fading
from our lives, and I'm holding on to video
games because I think they represent one of
the last beacons of hope: somewhere younger
generations can listen to and enjoy classical
music and subconsciously realize that it is
irreplaceable, and that only classical music
can work in a game like God of War, Zelda,
Final Fantasy or Horizon.
A young person in our day and age is rarely
exposed to classical music and for many, it
happens in video games more than any other
place.
Gamers show a lot of appreciation and respect
for it, something seen in only a few other
circles.
See how many videos are on YouTube discussing
the music of Shadow of the Colossus.
You might say, “Wait!
Some of the most memorable works of music
in games do not follow this structure.
What about Mario or Sonic?”
Yes, but let's not forget that most of these
were composed in the 80s and the 8-bit consoles
were not able to process more than 3 tones
at once which is why we ended up with these
simple and memorable works.
In my research for this video I noticed that
some are praising these works because they
are "memorable" and modern ones are less "memorable".
To me, they are missing the whole point of
having music there in the first place.
Just because a piece of music is memorable
it doesn't mean it's musically good or of
high value.
Music should be measured by the emotions and
thoughts it evokes in the listener.
By using this standard, God of War's music
invokes all kinds of emotions in the listener
while not being that memorable.
Rihanna, on the other hand, has a very memorable
song called “work”.
It fills the criteria of being "memorable"
but elicits no emotional response, merely
adding to the noise pollution filling the
ears of those in malls and restaurants.
Until a couple of decades ago, some songs
were simple in their structure and lyrics
but we didn't mind that because they were
at least evoking ideal, noble and platonic
values in us.
So we didn't mind their naive melodies and
lyrics.
That’s gone from the mainstream and today,
I seek these ideals in Yuna's Theme in Final
Fantasy 10 and Vide Cor Meum by Patrick Cassidy.
The next time someone criticizes music in
modern games as being forgettable compared
to the old games, what they really mean is
that it lacks the repeated ostinato rhythms
and sounds that help the listener to keep
on listening without attention or the slightest
effort.
Me, in my personal life, do I listen to the
music that I'm criticizing here in this video?
Hell yes, and I'd be a liar if I said that
I didn't enjoy Iggy Pop's “madness on a
stage” or “Reelin' In the Years” by
Steely Dan.
Do I expect any sophisticated thematic development
in their music or in their lyrics?
No, after all, Steely Dan named themselves
after a sex toy in William Burroughs book
Naked Lunch, so I'm not expecting anything
they have composed to touch my core at an
emotional level.
If I want to enjoy more sophisticated music
then I turn on my PlayStation or go to the
Philharmonie in Berlin.
I'm your host Elizabeth and behind the computer
screen is Haitham.
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