An Ode to Video Game Music
June 17 2020
Every Friday afternoon, I go for a drive along the coast of my beautiful Australia coastal town with a young non-verbal autistic boy. I hope it is one of the highlights of both of our weeks — I know it is for mine. To sit and drive with someone else in complete un-awkward silence is a true blessing.
In Australia, our public broadcaster ABC has a classical music FM channel. And every Friday afternoon, for an hour that overlaps with this drive, they have a show dedicated to music from video games. It is fantastic. This may be highly controversial, particularly from someone with little knowledge of classical music, but classical music may have found its true home in video games.
If you were ever a gamer, you know just how important the score is to the overall emotional impact of a game. This is not a movie soundtrack that you skip through in a couple of hours — you are immersed in these settings and the music that accompanies them for extended and repeated periods of time.
I was always a Nintendo boy, and my favorite game ever is Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It carries with it probably the most objectively positive memories of my late primary school years.
It was epic. A seemingly mundane boy saves princess story at heart, the worlds it created were indescribably immersive and transportive.
Music was as central to the story as any game I have played. The hero Link had at his disposal the eponymous rich man’s recorder, which had the ability to manipulate with certain melodies not just time (he can travel back and forward in his life), but also the weather, location, and the majestic horse who accompanies him through much of the story. These simple, often 3 note ocarina melodies are then extrapolated out into often epic, full orchestral pieces for the games soundtrack.
It was even good enough for these people — with unashamed geekiness and quite frankly stunning production values — to reenact some of the key scenes in real life, with real life Link playing a real life ocarina.
Before I get lost in a rabbit hole of Zelda Youtube videos, let me get back to my point.
I only realized just how pivotal the music was to the game’s experience when I stumbled across this melancholy piano tribute to its most iconic tunes. It was, as the ocarina promised, a legitimate trip back through time. Melancholy and Zelda? Take my money.
What does video game music mean to you? I would love to hear your experiences.