An accessible guide to video game music, this book covers essential topics for understanding game music—from how games produce chip sounds to the significance of game music in concerts. It explains both technical and cultural aspects, using twenty games as case studies, and shows how video game music works and why it matters to so many people.
Tim Summers provides an engaging introduction to video game music aimed at gamers, music enthusiasts, budding composers, music professionals, and anyone with an interest in the topic. Pixel Soundtracks explore a wide variety of topics, including:
- the history of game music
- sound technology and chip music
- interactive and generative music composition
- how game music tells stories, creates worlds & characters, and evokes emotions
- classical and pop music in games
- battle and boss music
- nostalgia, remakes, and fandom
- game music concerts and albums
Summers dives deeply into twenty beloved games across the decades to illustrate crucial concepts. These games include Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros., BioShock Infinite, Dark Souls III, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, and more. The book is separated into five stages and a “final boss,” and sections build off each other into increasingly broader topics—starting with the specifics of computer chips and ending with questions of game music’s engagement with identity. The “final boss” brings together ideas presented throughout the book.
Based on the latest research, this book will allow readers to better understand the fantastic experiences and meanings that arise when games and music fuse together.
