I must apologise in advance for this: I have no track for you lovely people this week, as quite frankly, I don’t know what to write about.
So, instead, I’ll create this “The Bridge” feature to talk to you a bit about various interesting things about music and gaming. Bit of a cop-out, I know, but just go with it, you ravenous vultures.
The Bridge, also sometimes known as the middle eight, is a musical device used in a composition which alters the mood, feel, melody, chording structure, tempo, lyrical style or any combination of the above, briefly during the middle section of the song, coming before the last verse or chorus; linking the first half with the second if you will. It can be used to just give a bit of a break, or used as a musical stylistic thing to introduce the ending, reflect on the start, and even lead up to the climax. Not every piece needs to have one, and sometimes you can have several in one song.
To me, music is very important in all aspects of my life. Being a musician has helped me appreciate it more over the last few years. In gaming this is also true. Yes, sometimes I can’t be bothered listening to the in game tracks, or a lot of the time I don’t really pay attention to them, but when I do actually listen to some of the material, I’m blown away.
I really appreciate the effort that some studios will go to to have great music in their games. Nintendo are always good for it (except Wii Music, that is just wrong) with their own IPs. Naughty Dog knocked it out of the park with the Uncharted series, really nailing some fantastic compositions performed by wonderfully talented musicians. Even EA, not known for having scores, include many both popular and not-so-popular songs with several of their games as a soundtrack.
Don’t you think if the developers saw fit to have music in to enhance the experience, you should at least give it a listen? You never know, you might actually like it. A lot of tracks are in there because they suit the mood, or the context of the action on screen; it’s like what they do in films: enhancing the story through subtle audio changes. It helps to heighten emotions and make you feel what’s happening in some small way.
Whether it’s the ominous strings, or the frankly ridiculous heavy metal guitar, you’d miss it if it wasn’t there, but you don’t really notice it. Odd that isn’t it? So, take a moment to listen to what’s playing in the background next time you’re playing. Pause it, turn the slider up and listen to that sweeping orchestra as you play your ballet of blood ad death across the cityscapes of Helghan. You won’t be disappointed. I know I won’t be.
mynameisblair (75)
wick15 (17)
toutski (14)
Daywalker (13)
gazzagb (12)
God of War and Metal Gear Solid have fantastic soundtracks, the same for Heavy Rain.
I really enjoyed the Marines music on the Call of Duty 4 soundtrack, too.
Being a FF nerd, I have most of the soundtracks and love listening to them! They even managed to spawn a tribute band ‘The Black Mages’ plus numerous fan created offerings via the internet.
Yeah, I agree, though The Black Mages is the brainchild of Nobuo Uematsu (who plays keys and Organ with them), the guy who wrote all the tracks for most FFs, so it’s not really a tribute band as such, more a hard-rockin’ creative outlet for Uematsu in the vein of his prog and hard rock heroes.