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http://kotaku.com/5821655/why-video-gam ... oundtracks

I found this very interesting. It marks the very difference I've been trying to nail down in why I prefer classic game soundtracks to new game soundtracks: classic games had no voice acting. The article points out that games with voice acting cause the brain to focus on the words instead of the music and there's "not enough bandwidth" for our brains to process both voice acting and an interesting soundtrack. The soundtrack takes a backseat to the speech because that's naturally what our brains focus on. This is also why Hollywood movies and video games with a cinematic flow tone down the music for when characters are talking and leave the lead melodies to areas without talking and intro/credits sequences.

This is exactly why I prefer the soundtracks of old and I didn't even realize it: speechless games. Even the soundtracks from LA's games experienced without speech are far more engaging (the music, not necessarily the game). It's a very interesting difference. In the article the author links to two YouTube videos from FFVII, both of a sequence with text and engaging music (yeah, that's most of the game, but you know). One version was the original game presentation and the other with voice acting. The point was to show just how much more effective the music is when there's nothing else to listen to, and it's remarkably true! Maybe you guys understood this difference already, but I've never thought of it that way before. Perhaps that's why I always preferred KQ2+ without voices and why I never found TSL's or Telltale's game soundtracks particularly memorable or striking (though done extremely well). Though I really enjoyed Puzzle Agent's themes....particularly the puzzle themes, because there's no dialogue!

You know, in light of this I really think it'd be great to play a game solely based on gameplay with a rich soundtrack and no dialogue at all. Speech nor text. Just music telling the story. That would be an interesting experience and a fun exercise to score as well. I'll have to do that before I die sometime...

I can still think of plenty of examples where a game with voice-acting still has great music (I remember the score from FFXIII being the only good thing about the game) but I can see where this article is coming from. In games with voice acting, composers are encouraged to write music as ambience, as they would in a movie. Make it too catchy and it distracts the player from the character performances. This is why the best music in most games today usually happens during the opening menu or ending credits.

Although you could also argue that nostalgia plays a big factor too. Ask me when all the best game and movie music came out and I'll say the 80's and early 90's. I can only think of a small handful of catchy modern movie and games themes as opposed to the dozens of catchy ones from back then.

I think I understand the idea. I can certainly see that music isn't used to tell the story as much as create the mood of a place or situation (like combat) in more recent games. Now they tend to throw in a cut scene instead of play the theme music, when an important transition happens in the game.

However, thinking back on earlier games with voice acting, like GK1, which has very noticeable music, I think it's more a combination of voice acting and ambient sounds that had changed the music. Since sound cards are capable doing so much more now, it's possible to have a lot more additional sounds to flesh out a setting rather than just relying on the music.

I tend to really like ambient music, so I still enjoy the music in a number of modern games. However, it's true that they often don't have as distinct of a theme showing up in the game itself. I can certainly hum "the theme music" from a number of old games, but not from newer games. Then again, I did play those older games many times over and I don't do that anymore.

I also tend to turn the music down in games with voice acting, because otherwise it can make it difficult to hear the dialogue, so that may affect perception of it as well.

Maiandra wrote:However, it's true that they often don't have as distinct of a theme showing up in the game itself. I can certainly hum "the theme music" from a number of old games, but not from newer games.

I'm not sure this counts as "theme music," but what about "Still Alive" from Portal?

Yes, I shouldn't have said "main themes" because most of them are hummable. Halo, for instance. Still Alive and Want You Gone certainly both count. I rather meant the music in the gameplay itself. Main themes, menus, and credits sequences are mostly an exception. But the actual soundtrack during gameplay isn't really that memorable. (and when I say memorable, I mean you can hum the theme)

A great deal of the time, the music in the older games uses the main theme in it here and there throughout the game, so it's difficult to distinguish. It continues to catch my attention because I recognize it within the game as a variant of the main theme.

Plus, earlier games often have a more "hummable" music style mostly due to the nature of the music and the ability to hum that style. For example, I sometimes have music from a couple areas in Deus Ex, in my head, but it's more electronic and not really something I can physically hum.

The salsa version of "Still Alive" shows up in the actual game play of Portal on the radios and it's much more catchy than the end credits version.

I also found the St. George's Bookshop music in GK1 very catchy and that game has voice acting. In some ways I think it has more to do with the musical technology than the voice acting, but the voice acting certainly affects it as well, since you can't have the music and voice competing.

Had games developed increased music technology, but not the voice acting, it would have been interesting to see how the music evolved. It may very well have played a more central role in the narrative.

Maiandra wrote:I also found the St. George's Bookshop music in GK1 very catchy and that game has voice acting. In some ways I think it has more to do with the musical technology than the voice acting, but the voice acting certainly affects it as well, since you can't have the music and voice competing.

The GK series is a perfect example of what I think: great music and voice-acting can co-exist, and I can name dozens of examples of voice-acted games with compelling soundtracks as well, and the same can be said for movies (see, for example, The Lord of the Rings or, in an entirely different genre, Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, orchestrated by the wonderful Clint Mansell) and TV series (for example Battlestar Galactica).

I think if the game invokes enough emotion, that the music would play a very important part. So while some music may not be "hum-able" they can still be quite memorable.

Strangely, other than the main theme songs - even for older games (including King's Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and Police Quest - all of which the "main theme" I know - the rest of the music is kind of a blur for the most part... except for Police Quest. There's a lot of music from PQ3 I can remember where the pieces are from - and I think because I was "invested" emotionally with the characters, because it seemed the most "real"). And of course, there's also repetition that probably plays a factor. Even though not every scene if Star Wars was strong and emotionally charged, I can listen to my Star Wars soundtracks and be 99% sure where the music goes in the movie. There's such movies as the original The Crow - that had such a strong impact on me, that when I hear the song, I can visualize the scene of the movie with amazing clarity.

I don't remember a whole lot of music from the Sierra games, other than the main themes themselves. I do, however, very distinctly recall the music from the Wing Commander series (particularly the first and second games), TIE Fighter and Mega Man 2.

That's an odd combination, I know.

It's interesting how many mentions GK because that was also my initial thought when I read this . i know many have mixed feelings about the gameplay of GK3, but the theme from the castle study along with the remixes toward the end of the game are among the game related music pieces that I have on my playlist along with American mcgee's Alice, The Longest Journeies, though I admit MI is probably the most prominent (Interestingly enough, the amiga version of the main theme is by far my favorite version and it's not because of nostalgia, 'cause I've only ever played the cd version). Before I foolishly lent my cd with MI 1+2 to a friend who never returned it, I frequently listened to it in the cd player because it also contained the whole soundtrack, heck, I might even find that exact version of the games, just for the soundtrack cd. I therfore do think the article has a point, though. More often than not, I find myself going to settings before I start a newer game, just to turn down the music volume because I otherwise can't consentrate on the voices because the music is too loud.

I must be the only one who thought of KQ6 and several other games before thinking of GK1. Of course, weren't those games released as non-talkies first? If adding the voice acting was an afterthought, then of course they'd have to make the music catchy everywhere.

Actually by turning around and inspecting my game collection, I was able to pick out a few PS2 games that both have voice acting AND in-game music I could immediately start humming to. Kingdom Hearts, Psychonauts, and all my Final Fantasy games have pretty catchy music. In terms of catchiness, Shadow of the Colossus and Katamari Damacy are also really good, but those games rely very heavily on sub-titles.

Oddly enough, almost nothing in my PS3 collection has catchy music (save for FFXIII.)

Datadog wrote:I must be the only one who thought of KQ6 and several other games before thinking of GK1. Of course, weren't those games released as non-talkies first? If adding the voice acting was an afterthought, then of course they'd have to make the music catchy everywhere.

An excellent point. Even GK1 had a floppy version, IIRC, and so it would need the extra musical presence. That goes in line with what I said earlier (or elsewhere I can't remember). I loved KQ2+'s soundtrack but the game kind of dropped a bit once they released the voice pack. It overrode the music, not because it was louder, but because you just couldn't focus on it the same way.

KQ6 has more music than just Girl in the Tower?
Cuz I swear that's the only one I remember...

Tawmis wrote:KQ6 has more music than just Girl in the Tower?
Cuz I swear that's the only one I remember...

It also depends on how often you've played the game.

Out of GK1, I only ever remember the theme for St. George's (and "Saints.") But for KQ6, because I've played the game so often, off the top of my head I can remember the themes for the intro, the opening credits, the castle, village, the ferryman, bookworm, Black Widow, the cliffs of logic, the minotaur, the beast, riding Nightmare, the Lord of the Dead, the sword fight, and the ending ceremony. And that's excluding any GitT themes.

I don't think voice acting should actually bear any burden on the quality of the music, though. Granted, I can't remember any Monkey Island music past MI2, but maybe that means I should trying replaying the later games without voices just to see what I'm missing out on...

Tawmis wrote:KQ6 has more music than just Girl in the Tower?
Cuz I swear that's the only one I remember...

That song was the first love song I ever liked, and yet I had completely forgotten it until you mentioned it :-s. I remeber both lyrics and music for the song from KQ7, though .