While I realize a lot of people my age are very fond of certain classic video game themes, such as that of Super Mario Brothers, I was a bit too old for the original NES and Super NES. So, Mario and The Legend of Zelda never really resonated with me.
I suppose you could say that I was of the Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man era, where the music was limited to a 4-5 second ditty at the beginning of the game:
As well as the intermission themes:
Still, you get the idea. Things were a bit minimalist back then, and not because the creators didn't want to add music, it's just there were limitations to the technology (and the associated cost).
Well, and that for a lot of arcade video games found at the check lane area of grocery and discount stores the sound was actually turned off*, so unless you went to an actual arcade you may not have heard the music at all.
My first real encounter with a video game's soundtrack beyond a short little ditty was that theme for Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar.
This is the version I was familiar with, for
the Commodore 64.
It's not a very deep theme by any stretch of the imagination, but when my college roommate began playing the game for the first time, the sound was a revelation.
You could draw a straight line from an Ultima IV through games such as Wing Commander and X-Wing, through Diablo and Baldur's Gate, up through Civ IV's Baba Yetu to today's games. There's always something in there to draw inspiration from, and while some people play video games with the soundtrack muted, the music is well worth a listen.
***
I guess that it was inevitable, but all the above was prelude to the announcement that the (now) venerable Battle Bards podcast has ended. Eleven years is a long time for a podcast's run, and Syp, Syl, and Steff gave us years of great video game music. I know it was only Syp and Syl for the past few years, but I'll always think of the three of them when I think of Battle Bards.
My personal favorite of their podcasts was very early in their podcast career: their interview with Chance Thomas, the composer of LOTRO's Riders of Rohan Soundtrack. Were it not for that interview, I'd not have gotten up the nerve to contact Mr. Thomas and see how I could purchase the score to Theme for Rohan, as it seemed to me that it could be adapted to a high school orchestra.**
I'm amazed how young Taylor Davis looks
in this video. I guess we've all gotten older in
the 12 years since this video first aired.
I wish the Bards luck in their future endeavors, and I'll miss their voices.
Now to listen so some more music...
*I don't know if my experience was the same as others, but there were always complaints about the noise from arcade video games, so the sound was frequently turned down/switched off at the request of the store owners.
**Mr. Thomas did confirm that the piece could be adapted for high school (or even middle school).
#Blaugust2024
I think my favourite early pieces of video game music were the soundtrack to Giana Sisters (a German Mario knock-off) and the Bubble Bobble level music (also on the C64). Once I moved on to the PC, the original Monkey Island was filled with nothing but fantastic music, though the catchiest tune to me was always the Scumm Bar theme.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of interesting that Mario was fun and upbeat, but Giana Sisters was far more serious in tone. The Bubble Bobble music is also fantastic; there's something about the C64 that seems to have inspired a lot of video game composers.
DeleteI have honestly never played Monkey Island, so this was new to me. I played the LucasArts' Lawrence Holland flight simulator games, such as Their Finest Hour and Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe; the former had no thematic music, while the latter's was... kind of blah.