Response Paper 4: Replacing rubbish music with appropriate music Due: March 5

For this week, choose a game where you think the music sucks or does not match the gameplay. (If possible and you know Camtasia or Premier, get 5 minutes of footage of yourself playing the game with the sound on.) Replace the music with appropriate instrumental music (doesn't necessarily have to be classical music but must be instrumental).

In a 2-3 page response paper and a CD-R with a few minutes of the game's original music and your selection of music, tell me the following:

1. The title of your game and about its gameplay
2. Describe the original music and tell me why it sucked
3. The source and title (if there is one) of your musical selection
4. Why your selection better suits the game's scene/gameplay
   

In class work

Either choose from 1 of these 3 games

1. Panda Run
2. Super Ninja Strike
3. Dabbawalla International

or find a game online that looks culturally different from Western games. Play the game to get a feel of it and rethink its music replacing it with traditional music from that culture. Name the game and describe its gameplay. Do some research and give credit to your sources! Be as geographically accurate as possible. Like the handout, describe the instrument/s and if possible tell me its use in different musical styles and performances. Decide if the music should be fast or slow, joyful or sorrowful based on the gameplay. Type it up and turn it in by the end of class.

Response Paper 3 Due: 2/27

Watch a movie of your choosing and analyze the use of audio- sound and music in specific scene/s of that movie. I want you to critique the use of the audio using your own voice and the way we've been doing in class. This paper is due next week 02/27.

1 more word about Presentation Papers

Hey folks,

Presentation Papers

They should be between 2-4 pages each excluding your documented sources. Try to aim for at least 3 full pages. Feel free to write more if you have good discussion. This may seem long but try to analyze the pieces of music among you like i have been doing in class. Questions to ask yourself are things like:

1. What do you think the composer is trying to convey with the piece of music used in that specific scene of the game. Like we discussed the Stormwind theme in WoW was chosen because it sounds noble especially when we consider what Stormwind represents- the last surviving human city (?) or WoW's opening screen theme speaks of an epic scope, rife with Warfare and military might.
   
2. Why do you think he chose strings over brass or percussion for example? Why did he choose a low sound as opposed to a high sound.
   
3. What could the use of strings mean for example? Think back to the Psycho example- he wanted to imitate stabbing sounds yet set your nerves on edge, therefore he has the violins play at such a terrifying/unnerving register.
4. Did the composer simply want ambient music, (music that envelops the listener without drawing significant attention to itself) or is he using the music as a symbol- think themes like the piano/keyboard melody for Halloween, the jaws theme or Jason's breathing theme.
5. What is the role of the choir/singers if there is one?
   
6. Does this theme represent a character, event or emotion that happens each time the character appears?
   
7. Why do you think the composer chose an orchestral score as opposed to a rock band, modern hip-hop music, jazz, new age and vice versa?
8. How does the music work with the gameplay or cut scene? You can describe the gameplay and talk about how the music adds or detracts from it. In other words ask yourself: Are the musical decisions effective/ineffective?
   

If you listen very carefully and analyze the music really well, you could easily write 2 pages about the music itself. I'm not looking for you to nail all the sounds of the instruments but you should be able to discuss them intelligently such as the way described above. I will post more ideas for musical analysis on the blog as I think of them but this should give you a good start. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or you need to bounce something off me. This is important so I will also EMAIL it to each and every one of you.

Reminder 2 readings due next week: Feb 13

Just a reminder that you have 2 readings due next week. They are fairly short and can be found on our syllabus.

Change in Assignments Page

Please note that there is a change in the Assignments Page of our class website. It should read

Presentations will start on February 20

The line up is as follows:

Feb 20: Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu (the group that was doing Shimomura is now taking Uematsu becuase there is too little to be found on Shinomura that is in English)
Feb 27: Winifred Phillips, Jason Hayes
March 5: Peter McConnell, Gary Schyman
March 12: Marty O'Donnell

I know this does not give the Feb 20 folk as much time to prepare than the March 12 folk (your 2nd assignment is due on that date) ; thus, I will take that into consideration when grading. Basically, the later your presentation, the more I expect from you. The aim is for each of you to become experts about your composer and teach the class about him or her. Scour the web for interviews and biographies about the composers and you impress more if you tell me more facts than i'm asking from you including things like what the composer him/herself thinks of his/her own music, their thoughts about the composing for games industry etc. Finally, please reply to this post telling me the names of your group members and your composer.

Peter and the Wolf Assignment Due: February 20

Here are the questions for this 2nd Response Paper

From listening to Peter and the Wolf, answer the following questions:

1. What character traits come to mind when you hear each character's music?
2. Critique the musical portrayal of each character

a. Is it effective? Why or why not?
b. How would you improve it?

3. Each member of the group needs to compare the musical theme of 1 character in the music (can be different) to 1 character in games you have played and please name the game.

Bird: Flute
Duck: Oboe
Cat: Clarinet
Peter: All the strings in the orchestra
Wolf: 3 horns
Grandpa: Bassoon
Hunters: Kettle drums also known as timpani and bass drum

Notes:

1) Remember, this is a paper. Don't give me a list
2) I will try my best to put the mp3s of the music on our class website but I might
not have access to it at all. If that's the case, I will change the due date of this
assignment. Keep your eyes peeled.
3) Between the links provided by your classmates, you should be able to complete this assignment although I'd still see if I can get the mp3s up on the servers. First click on Kevin's link to get the theme of each animal, then watch the 3 you tube videos from Lauren's links for the entire piece.