While replaying some of my favourite games, I've noticed that in many of them (for example in many NES/SNES games), the music tracks are often variations of the another theme (such as of the game's main theme.) However, I did not notice this at all the first time I played. My question is, why do composers use variations? Does it make the soundtrack more "consistent"? I suspect that most players do not notice that variations are used, so probably the "wow, this is a nice variation of x!" -reaction is not the main reason. Maybe someone who has knowledge of music theory or composition can enlighten me?

Variations are most likely used in games to give the impression that each song is unique. It gives the game a sense of vastness or making it larger than it really is. If done well, the technique can turn a simple game into a classic.

Variations of themes, motifs, and phrases have been used as a method of organization and expression for hundreds of years.

At the beginning of the Romantic Period, a method called leitmotif was beginning to be incorporated into music. This type of technique described the "structure" of an entire work as centered around the variation and manipulation of a motif or theme.

I think a better question may be "why is variation successful?"

To put it simply, people like being able to draw connections between things that they aurally recognize - whether conscious or not. Also, people also enjoy hearing familiar material in a new presentation. This is done (on the composer's part,) to ensure that the "audience" stays interested in what they are writing - 'cuz let's face it, if you hear the exact same thing for 7 minutes, it's going to get old fast, and no one's going to want to hear it again.

In terms of using it with video games, it seems to me that a composer would construct a main theme (or motif) that would be the motif for the entire game. It would then be his job to tailor the theme or motif to correspond accurately to the events of the game, while eliciting emotional responses from the listener, while simultaneously keeping them engaged.

To my knowledge, much of the same technique is used in movie score production - where each character has they're own particular and unique theme.

Hope this helps!

jj

Quote: Original post by jjandreau
To put it simply, people like being able to draw connections between things that they aurally recognize - whether conscious or not. Also, people also enjoy hearing familiar material in a new presentation. This is done (on the composer's part,) to ensure that the "audience" stays interested in what they are writing - 'cuz let's face it, if you hear the exact same thing for 7 minutes, it's going to get old fast, and no one's going to want to hear it again.

Thanks for the great answer. I was still left wondering: what is the disadvantange of composing each track so that it bears no resemblance to others used in the game? Will this sound worse to the listener, since there will be no familiar patterns? Also, are variations easier or harder for the composer to write than completely new tracks?

On games where the soundtrack is essentially licensed music, you can feel the jukebox-style discontinuity.

But this fits well for games that you only pick-up-and-play without much regard for telling a story or weaving some sort of emotional context--IE: snowboarding games.

On the other hand, consider romantic music that treats instruments or themes as characters who play a part in the story itself.

Listening exercise:

Listen to the full Lord of the Rings score, without the film, and tell me if you HEAR the story.

Quote: Original post by Dannthr
But this fits well for games that you only pick-up-and-play without much regard for telling a story or weaving some sort of emotional context--IE: snowboarding games.

Quite right, Unreal Tournament is another great example. Music must meet the purpose of the game.

Quote: Original post by formalproof
Thanks for the great answer. I was still left wondering: what is the disadvantange of composing each track so that it bears no resemblance to others used in the game? Will this sound worse to the listener, since there will be no familiar patterns? Also, are variations easier or harder for the composer to write than completely new tracks?

I would say the primary dis-advantage of composing each track separately and uniquely is that you have to start from scratch every single time - new motifs, new instrumentation, new style - everything is new. While it may be a good exercise for the composer to demonstrate their flexibility, it offers no growth in terms of motivic development.

As Dannthr mentioned in his great listening exercise - most music written today seems to be written with an "organic" mindset in mind - as if the piece itself is a living, breathing thing that changes along with the story.

While it may not sound "worse" to the listener, it does raise the possibility that the listener could feel as though something were not "quite right." Of course, no one would expect a person to say to themselves consciously, "oh yeah, I heard those motifs 2 levels ago!" But if the tracks were drastically different enough to not be relate-able in any way, then the listener may feel like something was missing.

Hope this helps!

jj

Great topic. There are so many possibilites (or variations, pun intended) for answers here.

If you're thinking about concert music, composers might use variations not only for cohesion, but to flex compositional muscle. After all, how many different ways can a composer use the same material in an interesting, new way? Take for instance, Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Twenty-four variations on one theme with piano and orchestra.

Or, in another case, Bach's Goldberg Variations

30 variations in this one. In each case, the composer demonstrates ways to exrapolate material from a basic idea. You might describe it as an 'organic' process, where one grows material so that the music comes out from itself.

But the question is, why do this and not just keep writing new material? For one, a dedicated listener might be sensitive to the material. But that leads to the next question: how can a composer know someone will pick up that they did that? The answer is, you can't know for sure. The ball is now in the court of the composer.

Let's take a few aspects of variations:

1) "Hey, can you write something like 'pick your favorite composer'?" If you're working for a client and want to make this person satisified, you would want to write a variation of something like what they do. In a sense you're writing something new, but you are referencing something else.

2) You have 30 minutes of music to write and need to generate a lot of material. From a practical standpoint, constantly writing new material could become time-consuming and taxing on your brain. You would want to use the same material in different ways to keep the writing going.

3) This would be the most important aspect for me - the integrity of the music. I find that varying material or using material to grow the music (as I mentioned above) gives the music a sense of organicism and I can justify (at least to myself) why I made specific musical choices. It may start with intuition, but how do you keep not only one small track of music together, but the body in its entirety together? I think this can be applied not only to the music people refer from the 19th century, but popular music idioms as well. You can find it in jazz, especially when people improvise. They take a harmonic progression, riff on it and build from there (the most simplistic explanation, I know).

Sorry, I'm droning on, but I find it's an important subject to address, especially with musical integrity. I find that the most interesting music is not only appealing from an initial standpoint, but looked at with compositional scruity.

Thanks for introducing the topic!

This is a fantastic thread I just have to say. It is excellent to see the perspectives different users bring to the forum. I guess I just want to add that it is an interesting concept to think about how much attention audiences pay to themes and motifs, both consciously and unconsciously. Thematic music is incredibly important, for helping to remind the audience what they are watching, or playing in the case of games, and variations can be a subtle way to remind them of this.

I don't want to draw away from this thread at all, but add to it, by saying that readers may find some insight from my post on writing music for the iPhone, which talks about motifs and their importance in thematic music composition.

Perhaps the greatest disadvantage of not making use of thematic music in games is that the game may have a harder time being memorable, compared to one that has a catchy theme. Clever compositional technique can influence a game's following incredibly.