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RPG music has attained a level of sophistication that puts it alongside any
other form of popular music in the cultural pantheon by this point. As a
mood-creator and mood-sustainer, the music in RPGs tends to fulfill all
anyone could request (leaving aside instances in which the music is
abominably wrong). In this function RPG music is remarkably similar to the
music gracing film and television, which makes a merger between the
different schools of composition more sensible than the initial
juxtaposition probably appears. Music in the field of film and television
is, after all, intended to evoke a mood, and this is what RPG music is also
intended to accomplish.
While it would be possible to simply take music from any given film and
insert it into an RPG, this is the lazy approach. Ideally film music is
specifically tailored to the film(s) it is a part of. To remove it from
that context and use it cavalierly is a blatant instance of money-grabbing.
The exception to this rule is if a game is based upon a movie, but RPGs are
far less likely to be developed in synchronicity with a movie's release date
than other genres of video games. To go against the movie's release date
runs the great risk of funding for the project being dropped if the movie
underperforms. And RPGs that ARE released concurrently with a movie tend to
be lackluster affairs at best: witness the GBA Lord of the Rings titles for
uninspired overhead hack & slashing.
Barring the reuse of music from films, therefore, having a film composer
write the score for an RPG is the logical strategem. Film composers are
already experienced in their craft of complementing onscreen action, and
would only need to quickly acquaint themselves with the different exigencies
attendant to an RPG environment. To compose different music for the
entirety of any given RPG is a Herculean endeavor I for one would not visit
upon any composer, as even the shortest RPGs require at least 15, more
likely 20, hours to complete by rushing through. Imagine having 20 hours of
brand-new music to compose: the composer would doubtless run away rather
than try to complete it! Endlessly repeating tracks for different areas can
become annoying to the lost player, but is necessary to avoid horrendous
stress for the composer and/or overloading the memory available for the
game.
Film composers who, upon a casual memory sifting, have created memorable
music within the confines of their current genre and thusly can be
considered worthy candidates for gracing an RPG's development team in the
future are plentiful. John Williams is quite probably at the top of the
field, and his music is already used in both Knights of the Old Republic
titles. Having composed every movie since JAWS that Steven Spielberg has
directed, every reader should be able to identify themes John Williams has
introduced into the popular culture. Is there any reason he could not be
expected to do the same for RPGs? Danny Elfman has composed numerous
distinctive pieces for Tim Burton films, and has shown himself to be a
tireless worker when the project calls for it; his unique touch would be
welcomed as an RPG composer. James Horner has an incredibly diverse ouveur
of titles ranging from APOLLO 13 to STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN to
TITANIC, proving his versatility. Hans Zimmer has composed everything from
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST to RAIN MAN. Clint Mansell, not
a widely-known composer, wrote the haunting music of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.
Howard Shore composed the overall excellent music that is featured in THE
LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy. Many, many other potential RPG composers are out
there as well - I am quite partial to the music Philip Glass composes.
Two questions must then be addressed regarding the introduction of film
(and perhaps television, though TV themes tend to be pop songs) composers
into the RPG realm. The first dilemma is drawing a composer away from the
film world to work on something new. Money could be the answer to this as
it is for so many problems, but outbidding a movie studio is likely to be no
easy task for a game developer. A more successful stratagem might be to
promise an easier working environment, given the presence of the composer
during much of an RPG's development cycle. This is in stark contrast to the
film world, where only when a movie is completed does the composer do
his/her work, and on a very tight deadline to meet the agreed upon release
date. The budgetary strains felt by trying to lure a composer away from the
movie world would be far worse if the standard orchestra setup were
employed, and this is the second difficulty. RPGs for years employed
synthesizers as their musical instrumentation not only because of
technological limitations, but because one person using a synthesizer is far
less expensive than hiring more. Newer RPGs tend to employ a few musicians
in addition to the composer, but the use of a full symphonic orchestra is
expensive. Adjustments could be made to a composer's usual method of
working, or additional budget money could be devoted to hiring an orchestra
for just long enough to play the music - rather akin to the film world,
where every hour of rehearsal is an hour of paying scores of highly trained
musicians for nothing that will be used in the end product.
A clarification in closing: I am not under any circumstances suggesting
that Nobuo Uematsu, Yoko Shimomura, Motoi Sakuraba, Yasunori Mitsuda, or any
other RPG composer be thrown out of work in favor of someone with Hollywood
sound experience. I make this proposal intending to supplement, not
replace, the fine work of current RPG composers. Unless of course certain
composers always do a subpar job, in which case their jobs should be made
open post haste.
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