194 !!Chapter 11
- Many game composers begin the process by composing several
themes. It is hoped that the creative team selects one to be used as
the title theme or the main theme. - The opening theme music may also be used as the closing theme, or
a new theme might be composed for the closing theme. - In addition to a closing theme, there may be short compositions,
called ‘‘stings’’ (very short sounds or short pieces of music), that
indicate if game players have won or lost the game or if the players
are pushing ‘‘buttons’’ or performing additional tasks that require
short sound effects or short musical sounds. If the choice is to write
a musical sting, one approach is to write thematic material that has
previously been used in the game. It helps to create a unified score.
Musical Thread
All musical scoring should have a ‘‘thread’’ that ‘‘sews’’ the score together.
The thread can be the various themes, musical moods, tonality, orchestra-
tion, instrumentation, or other elements that formulate a homogeneous
score.
!!Study motion picture
scores because many game
scores contain sound tracks
written in the style of tradi-
tional film scores. Also
study the orchestration
techniques used by eminent
film orchestrators. Film-
scoring workshops are of-
fered by the performance-
rights societies BMI and
ASCAP as well as by film
composers and orchestra-
tors. It can be advantageous
to attend.Some composers develop the main
theme into numerous variations from the
viewpoint of both composition and orches-
tration design. One cue might be mixed in
many incarnations. For example, the main
theme could be a full orchestral arrange-
ment, one breakdown could be mixed
without brass, another breakdown will
contain strings only, and so on. In addition
to developing cues (musical selections)
during the mixing process, a composer
might record numerous arrangements of
the same basic music. For instance, the
original tempo might be at 120 beats per
minute and sound heroic, while an addi-
tional arrangement of the same theme
might be at 80 beats per minute and sound
sad. This technique is used in film composition. The composer’s job is to
capture the emotion(s) of a particular situation, which is determined by a
game player’s manipulation of the options offered within the game.
Not all game music is developed from one central theme. A composer
might compose a theme and variations for each major character. A number
of themes may be composed for use throughout the game, but the themes
are not necessarily associated with characters. The themes might be based
on emotions or moods.