Videogame Music: chiptunes byte back? Grethe Mitchell Andrew Clarke University of East London Unaffiliated Researcher and Institute of Education 78 West Kensington Court, University of East London, Docklands Campus Edith Villas, 4-6 University Way, London E16 2RD London W14 9AB [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT Musicians and sonic artists who use videogames as their This paper will explore the sonic subcultures of videogame medium or raw material have, however, received art and videogame-related fan art. It will look at the work of comparatively little interest. This mirrors the situation in art videogame musicians – not those producing the music for as a whole where sonic artists are similarly neglected and commercial games – but artists and hobbyists who produce the emphasis is likewise on the visual art/artists.1 music by hacking and reprogramming videogame hardware, or by sampling in-game sound effects and music for use in It was curious to us that most (if not all) of the writing their own compositions. It will discuss the motivations and about videogame art had ignored videogame music - methodologies behind some of this work. It will explore the especially given the overlap between the two communities tools that are used and the communities that have grown up of artists and the parallels between them. For example, two around these tools. It will also examine differences between of the major videogame artists – Tobias Bernstrup and Cory the videogame music community and those which exist Archangel – have both produced music in addition to their around other videogame-related practices such as modding gallery-oriented work, but this area of their activity has or machinima. been almost entirely ignored in previous writings about them which has concentrated – almost exclusively – on the Author Keywords visual work. This omission was particularly curious in the videogame music, videogame art, fan-art, sonic art, case of Cory Archangel as his musical work, like his visual subcultures, communities, chiptunes art, relies upon hacking and reprogramming well-known console games. It is also worth noting, in the context of this Introduction discussion, that Archangel majored in Electronic Music Videogame studies is a field which has emerged in recent Composition at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.[4] years, growing in prominence and establishing itself solidly Fan-produced music was an area which likewise had as a serious academic field. In parallel with this, there has received relatively little attention in comparison to the study been a growing interest in videogame-related activities such of other forms of videogame-related fan art (drawings, as videogame hacking and modification, videogame art, cosplay, etc.). Again this seems curious as the community videogame fandom, etc. doing this work is (arguably) larger than the machinima community which nonetheless has up to now gained greater An increasingly wide range of activities consist of 2 appropriating videogames and using them as raw material attention. To give some indication of the size of the field, in secondary works. These activities range from artworks the site http://www.ocremix.org, for example, maintains a exhibited in galleries throughout the world to fan-produced collection of more than 1,400 remixes of various images posted onto message forums. videogames and is just of one of many similar sites around the world; their BitTorrent tracker lists over 23,000 Videogame art is one such field. It has, over recent years, downloads of the most popular of their files (Chrono become more high-profile and attracted more critical attention but previous writing on videogame art has 1 concentrated almost exclusively on the visual arts – Musicians can achieve success in the charts or in record painting, sculpture, video art, machinima, etc. In some ways sales, but this is clearly not the same as the institutional this is inevitable as it has, up to this point, been these forms validation that a successful artist achieves through gallery of videogame art that have gained the most attention from exhibition. curators, writers and academics. 2 We say “arguably” because no definitive figures exist for either community. Situated Play, Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Conference © 2007 Authors & Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA). Personal and educational classroom use of this paper is allowed, commercial use requires specific permission from the author. 393 Symphonic). And the “High Voltage SID Collection” is secondary musical work – such as remixes of the original even larger - this site, which maintains music from games, in-game music or music produced by reprogramming demos and original compositions running on the sound chip videogames and/or videogame hardware/consoles. We have used in the Commodore 64 has over 30,000 tracks to choose also used the term “primary work” to describe the original from.[3] in-game music and the term “secondary work” to describe fan or artist-created remixes or reworkings of the primary This paper will explore the sonic subcultures of videogame (videogame) music/sound source. art and videogame-related fan art. It will look at the work of videogame musicians – not those producing the music for A second – related – problem is in defining the limits of this commercial games – but artists and hobbyists who produce paper. Videogame-related music is a large and disparate music by hacking and reprogramming videogame hardware, category of work, and the limitations of space inevitably or by sampling in-game sound effects and music for use in force us to place boundaries on our discussion. In this paper, their own compositions. It will discuss the motivations and we will concentrate on the category that we define above as methodologies behind some of this work. It will explore the videogame music – that is to say, the secondary works tools that are used and the communities that have grown up created from the raw materials of videogames (be it music around these tools. It will also examine differences between or other sounds). In-game music will be mentioned in the videogame music community and those which exist passing, but will not form a significant focus here. around modding or machinima. In a sense, this follows the approach that we have By doing this, we hope to shed some light onto an area of previously adopted [9], where we have found it appropriate videogame activity which has, up to this point, received to rule out the discussion of videogames as art. We are not comparatively little attention (and even less critical claiming that in-game music is not music or not art or is academic analysis). Given the size of the sonic community unworthy of study – far from it. We are merely indicating and their enormous output, we feel that this has been as that the focus of this paper lies elsewhere – in the art that is serious omission. created using this original music as its raw material, and in the communities that produce it (i.e. in the secondary work, rather than the primary one). DEFINITIONS AND BOUNDARIES In discussing where to locate the boundaries of our paper, The initial problem when one is trying to examine we also need to address the position of soundtoys - a broad videogame music as a genre of work and as a phenomenon term encompassing further forms of interactive audio-visual is its diversity and the lack of an appropriately specific and art which often have game-like elements. widely-known terminology that can make sufficient distinction between different sub-genres of work or activity. Soundtoys fall outside the scope of certain recognised definitions of a game/videogame, though inside others. [12] Videogame art (as an area of study) doesn’t have this In other talks and papers [7, 8, 9] and in the introduction to problem as the term “videogame art” provides, on its own, a our book on videogame art, [2] we solved this problem of clear distinction between art practice and commercial classification by excluding soundtoys as videogame art on videogames, on the one hand, and fan/hobbyist art, on the the basis that it does not specifically reference videogames; other. 3 Combined with “fan art”, it provides a set of in stead, we have preferred to situate it within a broader terminology that outlines a whole field (and recognised category of “playable art”. terms words such as “machinima”, “cosplay”, etc. allow distinctions to be made within it). The status of soundtoys as game/videogame is somewhat ambiguous – a fact acknowledged, in part, by the fact that “Videogame music”, on the other hand, is a broader and they are named soundtoys, not soundgames (though there is more ambiguous term. It doesn’t have the clarity of clearly some degree of irony and self-deprecation in the use meaning of “videogame art” or “fan art” and encompasses of this word) and this brings up a broader issue within all types of music from the original music of a game to the videogame studies as a whole. Up to this point, videogame hacked and sampled versions produced as art and by fans. studies has tended to concentrate primarily on cultural artefacts whose status as a game is unarguable and this has, A new vocabulary is needed to provide a suitable level of in effect, lead to a concentration on mainstream games and distinction, so for the purpose of this paper, we will use the a (comparative) neglect of liminal works whose status as a term “in-game music” to refer to the actual game is less clear-cut and/or more debatable. music/soundtrack of the original videogame and “videogame music” to refer to any other videogame-related This was probably inevitable for an area of study which was still relatively young and both establishing its academic 3 status as a distinct field and determining the extent of its Though in our previous papers we have tended to include area of interest.