REBUTTAL TO: The
State of RPG Music
In response to Colin Marlow's thoughts (opinions)
regarding the state of RPG
Music, I would like to say two things: number one, I
agree with you that
orchestral scores are better, but that's my opinion.
Number two, calling the
shift a 'crisis' is incorrect. What you consider a
crisis is merely a
transition. Music is changing in function and form
(even then, very
slightly; the soundtracks are almost totally
orchestral with little J-pop
permeation), nothing more. Music is *constantly*
changing in function and
form. In the late 1800's, Jazz didn't even exist
yet, and with it the myriad
of genres we have today. The most they had were tame
parlor songs, marches,
and the European pieces of Mozart, Beethoven et al.
Play them some of the
orchestral music you find in video games today and
they would've cringed in
horror. Play them 'Scars of Time,' the opening song
of Chrono Cross, and
they'll call it a trashy caucophony. Music has come
a long way since it's
beginning and it's not going to stop evolving just
because you don't want it
to.
You are correct when you say that if music does not
fit a scene it
completely wrecks a scene. Yes. Watching the parties
from American Pie and
hearing an orchestra in the background is bad, as is
watching Aeris' death
and hearing the Rolling Stones. It doesn't work.
Perhaps you think J-pop does not fit a scene because
you didn't like it?
Maybe you didn't realize that you don't have to like
something for it to
serve its purpose. Just because you personally don't
like something doesn't
mean it's bad. 'Eyes on Me' just might've been the
best choice for that
scene(s) in FF8. Maybe Suteki da Ne was the best
choice for the
water/pond/lake scene in FF10. How would one person
alone be the final judge
of this?
Regardless, those are the love scenes! The words in
the song are love words,
the mood of the song is love, the intent of the song
is love, and the song
is played, yep, when something related to love
happens! Hearing a J-pop love
theme when two characters embrace? It fits! The song
talks about love and
sounds like a love song. Hearing an orchestral love
theme when two
characters embrace is also perfectly acceptable, if
you can tell the music
is a love theme. It's just a choice of preference of
the composer, not which
fits more, they both work.
You mention that 'a requiem or requiem-ish score may
be used.' In a love
scene, a requiem (a song of sadness) is completely
inappropriate and, to use
your words, 'ill-fitting to the moment, the scene,
[and] the style.' If you
are complaining about J-pop permeating tragedy
scenes, then keep this in
mind- To hear J-pop when she dies, yes, that's a bad
thing, but that hasn't
happened yet, so why complain about it? If you are
complaining about J-pop's
use in love scenes, why to you suggest using a song
of sadness in its place?
Is love so sad that it requires a mourning piece?
Hearing death music when
two characters embrace? Not fitting.
I do ask what makes you qualified, and "I know my
music, and I know what is
good" is not the correct answer. You know your
orchestral music, yes, so
this makes you a judge (well, maybe not) only of
what is good and bad
ORCHESTRAL music, nothing else. Someone who listens
to punk rock and nothing
else will likely be a good judge of punk rock, and
also despise what you
consider beautiful (even then, everybody has their
own favorite group and
thinks that some other group is terrible). If you
tell them their music
sucks, you're doing it based off of what you know as
good orchestral music.
They'll say the same thing of your music based off
of what is good punk
rock. It's like calling an orange a bad apple. It's
not *trying* to be an
apple, it's trying to be an orange, so by not
applying to the apple
category, it's a bad apple, but Jesus H. Christ,
it's one hell of an orange!
You're applying the wrong judging scheme to the
music you are criticizing.
Finally, you recommend pieces that we are supposed
to like, instructing us
to turn away from the evil that is the maybe one or
two J-pop songs that
aren't played out of context in a game and see the
orchestral light that
never fails and is always perfect. This is pure
opinion. Are you trying to
justify it? You're saying that 'Aeris' Theme' is one
of the best things
written! Just because I believe 'Adagio for Strings'
by Samuel Barber the
most beautiful thing I've ever heard doesn't mean
I'm going to tell you that
it IS beyond any doubt the most beautiful thing
ever, and that if you don't
like it, then there's something wrong with you, just
as you seem to be
telling everybody who doesn't agree with you. We're
not all incorrect.
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