Video Game Music

From Berklee Library Research Guides

Books

Audio for Games: Planning, Process, and Production by Alexander Brandon ML3795 .B74 2005 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Tired of video games in which the sound lags far behind the rest of the user's experience? If so, and if you're ready to do better, you need this forward-looking volume! In these pages, sound artist extraordinaire Alexander Brandon provides a broad-ranging exploration of how game audio is created today and how it should be done in the future in order to create groundbreaking audio.
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Hamlet on the Holodeck: the Future of Narrative in Cyberspace by Janet Horowitz Murray QA76.76.I59 M87 1998 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Technology changes storytelling--movies don't tell stories in the same manner as wandering bards. Janet H. Murray, director of the Laboratory for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is fascinated with the changes emerging technologies may bring. Interactive tales, more versatile structures, stories as games, and games as stories are among the topics she explores in her very personable and entertaining style. And what about fears that interactive escapism could be the coming addiction?
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DirectX 9 Audio Exposed: Interactive Audio Development by Todd M. Fay et al.
TK7881.4 .D56 2004 Check Availability

Image:FilmScoring_VideoGame_directx9audioexposed.jpg

From the publisher:
DirectX® 9 Audio Exposed: Interactive Audio Development features a look into the most advanced interactive music and audio development system in history. DirectX Audio, a suite of tools and technologies developed by Microsoft, provides software engineers and content creators the ability to create interactive, adaptive, and dynamic audio content for use in host applications and stand-alone playback.

Game Sound: an Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design by Karen Collins Reserve ML3540.7 .C65 2008 Check Availability
	From the publisher: "... game sound has been neglected in the growing literature on game studies. This book fills that gap, introducing readers to the many complex aspects of game audio, from its development in early games to theoretical discussions of immersion and realism. In Game Sound, Karen Collins draws on a range of sources—including composers, sound designers, voice-over actors and other industry professionals...—to offer a broad overview of the history, theory, and production practice of video game audio."
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The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon and Beyond: the Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World by Steve L. Kent GV1469.3 .K45 2001 Check Availability
	From the publisher: In this rollicking, mammoth history of video games from pinball to Pong to Playstation II Kent, a technology journalist and self-professed video game addict, covers almost every conceivable aspect of the industry, from the technological leaps that made the games possible to the corporate power struggles that won (and lost) billions of dollars. Anecdotes are legion...Equal parts oral history, engineering study, business memoir, game catalogue and Gen-X nostalgia trip, Kent's book is a loving tribute to one of the most dynamic (and profitable) industries in the world today.
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The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers by Aaron Marks EBSCO ElectronicBook Check Availability
	From the publisher: Master the exacting specifications for composing music and creating sound effects on the various gaming platforms and systems. Technical considerations are explained in detail so that game audio professionals can make sense of complicated systems, learn about the highly involved programming elements, and create high quality audio without a hitch.

Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter by Tom Bissell GV1469.3 .B57 2010 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Grand Theft Auto IV is both a waste of time and the most colossal creative achievement of the last 25 years, according to this scintillating meditation on the promise and discontents of video games. Journalist Bissell (Chasing the Sea) should know; the ultraviolent car-chase-and-hookers game was his constant pastime during a months-long intercontinental cocaine binge. He's ashamed of his video habit, but also ashamed of being ashamed of the dominant art form of our time; by turning the eye of a literary critic on the gory, seemingly puerile genre of ultraviolent, open-ended shooter games, he finds unexpected riches.
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The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness by George Alistair Sanger Books on Reserve ML3795 .S264 2004 Check Availability
	From the publisher: The veteran game audio insider explains how to make the best use of audio in a game environment, examining the unique problems confronting an audio developer and presenting a series of useful tools, techniques, and tricks for overcoming such challenges.
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Soundtracks

Halo: Original Soundtrack by Martin O'Donnell CD 27439 Check Availability
	From the publisher:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Soundtrack by Greg Edmonson CD 32947 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Embark on a journey to discover the real truth behind the lost fleet of Marco Polo and the legendary Himalayan valley of Shambhala through this unparalleled musical journey. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the most cinematic experiences in gaming history and this awesome soundtrack comes courtesy of veteran composer Greg Edmonson.
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Crysis: Original Soundtrack by Inon Zur CD 30555 Check Availability
	From the publisher:

Fable: Original Soundtrack by Russell Shaw
CD 27121 Check Availability

From the publisher:
This soundtrack for the popular, goth-rooted, X-Box role-playing adventure is another powerful example of how artistically accomplished the video game industry has become. Indeed, its ambitious musical score frequently outshines many of its mega-budgeted Hollywood competitors. Shaw's impressive cues here manage to conjure an inviting aura of non-specific time and place, filling it with masterful orchestral and choral arrangements that evoke suspense, wonder, terror, and mischief with equal aplomb."

God of War II Soundtrack by Gerard K. Marino et al. CD 29479 Check Availability
	From the publisher:

Infamous: Official Soundtrack by Amon Tobin et al. CD 32948 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Original soundtrack to the 2009 video game featuring music composed by Amon Tobin, Jim Dooley, Mel Wesson, Sasha, JD Mayer and Martin Tillman.

Mass Effect: Original Soundtrack by Jack Wall et al. CD 30524 Check Availability
	From the publisher: From the earliest stages of its conception, Mass Effect was meant to be an original artwork about the future, inspired by the great science fiction experiences of the past. This synthesis of originaliy and familiarity called for a truly unique soundtrack, with ambitious goals and unprecedented challenges.

Hitman: Blood Money by Jesper Kyd CD 30525 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Building on the previous accomplishments of the music for the Hitman series, Jesper Kyd delivers a dynamic live orchestral score for Hitman: Blood Money, reocrded with the 150-member Budapest Symphony and Hungarian Radio Choir. In addition to composing and producing the choral and orchestral score, Kyd penned several acoustic and electronica-fused music tracks for the latest Hitman score. In short, the music style for Hitman: Blood Money is epic orchestral, electronic and a fusion of both.
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Riven: Original Soundtrack by Robyn Miller CD 13600 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Miller's brooding, ambient soundwashes do just fine by themselves, though one can't help but discern that this is a genre that hasn't come very far from Eno and Tangerine Dream.

Video Games Live. Vol. 1 by Tommy Tallarico et al.
CD 30535 Check Availability

From the publisher:
Conductor Jack Wall leads the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus through many of the most popular video game themes and creates a glorious aural paradise for the gamer in all of us. If you are hooked on the music from video games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Myst, Final Fantasy, Warcraft, Super Mario Brothers and others, then imagine those themes as performed by an orchestra. Yes, it is like heaven without the joystick!

Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu MP22 .U36 F56 2000 Check Availability
	From the publisher:
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Berklee Presentation on Video Games

Sound Design for Composers presented by Michael Sweet and Kurt Biederwolf
Reserve DVD 4275 Check Availability

From the publisher:
Berklee film scoring faculty Michael Sweet and Music Synthesis chair Kurt Biederwolf gvve an outstanding forum on sound design tips. Michael (who has had music featured in the Xbox logo startup, and multiple award winning video games) discusses sound design functioning in a similar manner to the music score. He shows video clips from Apocalypse Now, Alien, Lost, The Shining, and video games Bioshock and Hitman as well as showing off the Nanosampler in Digital Performer (a simple, easy-to-use sampler plug-in) run through delays and reverbs. Kurt builds a synth patch from scratch using audio recorded from a rattly, prepared piano sample, run through multiple effects in Peak and Kontakt.

Sound Design for Film and Games presented by Michael Sweet
Reserve DVD 4276 Check Availability

From the publisher:
Berklee's Film Scoring faculty Michael Sweet presents a forum on sound design for film and games, covering topics from using sounds and ambiences as a story-telling element to adapting an existing effects library sound to make it your own. He shows film clips from classics such as the Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Alien and Blade Runner to television heavyweight Lost, and cutting edge films Seven and Fight Club. He draws upon sound design artists such as Walter Murch and Randy Thom while examining sound design in games such as the Bioshock series and Fable.

Techniques of Video Game Music presented by The Video Game Music Club
Reserve DVD 4454 Check Availability

From the publisher:
In this part 3 of 3 forum series, topics covered include: introduction to implementation: what is it?, what does it do?, why do we need implementation?, what is middleware software? ; presentation of various in game situations which require adaptive audio (footage from actual games) ; brief overview of audio "middleware" solutions (Wwise, fmod, etc.) ; focus on Audiokinetic's Wwise engine: bringing audio into the program, linking events to audio and music, trying out the result

Video Game Music Implementation Techniques presented by The Video Game Music Club
Reserve DVD 4434 Check Availability

From the publisher:
Javier Zuniga and Nazer Lagrimas of the Video Game Music Club look at implementing music and sound effects into a video game engine. Javier gives an intro into implementation, showing the program Audio Overload and its ability to play back and isolate different channels of the game audio. Nazer describes Middleware, the history of game engine coding becoming more sophisticated with programs like Wwise and F-mod.

Video Game Music Panel directed by Dan Carlin Reserve DVD 3540 Check Availability
	From the publisher: Gerard K. Marino, Clint Bajakian, Tommy Tallarico, panel speakers ; Jeanine Cowen, moderator. Recorded at David Friend Recital Hall, Berklee College of Music, Boston, Mass., on Mon., Feb. 25, 2008 at 1:00 p.m.

Video Game Music

From Berklee Library Research Guides

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Berklee Presentation on Video Games

Video Game Music Resources

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