Lecture 1: Course overview, video game music, and the LMMS software

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

In this section lecture, we introduce each other, discuss our motivations for studying video game music, review key concepts from the main lecture, and go over the installation and use of the LMMS software.

Lecture 1 Slides

Lecture 2: Assignment 1 overview (prelude music)

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

How do we do Assignment 1? In today's lecture, we seek to answer this question by reviewing each item in the assignment prompt and discussing three common elements of video game music—arpeggios, melodies, and bass lines. We also talk about ways of improving our compositions through the use of basic audio effects tools. An example of an acceptable Assignment 1 submission is shown below.

Lecture 2 Slides
Example submission

Lecture 3: Assignment 2 overview (character themes)

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Today, we will review the requirements for Assignment 2 (Hero and Anti-Hero Themes). We will discuss how to find MIDI files of popular video game music compositions online, import them into LMMS, and modify the orchestration using different SoundFont patches. An example of an acceptable Assignment 2 submission is shown below.

Lecture 3 Slides
Example submission

Lecture 4: Assignment 3 overview (music analysis)

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

In Assignment 3, you'll analyze video game music in terms of its basic musical structure, instrumentation, and mood. Today, we'll discuss the assignment requirements, analyze a couple music scores, and discuss strategies for finding and analyzing your own music examples. The example submission below by Karleen Heong is not complete, but it addresses many of the items in the assignment prompt. To make sure you've included everything you need, read the assignment template and Q&A provided below.

Lecture 4 Slides
Example submission
Assignment template
Q&A

Lecture 5: Quiz review

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

To prepare you for tomorrow's quiz, we'll review terminology from the previous lectures and concepts from the readings. Below is the list of required readings for the quiz. The readings come from the course textbook "Writing Interactive Music for Video Games" by Michael Sweet.

Lecture 5 Slides
Required readings

Lecture 6: Assignment 4 overview (tense music)

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

In Assignment 4, you'll write a 1-3 minute piece for a tense scene in your video game (e.g. a creepy forest scene or a battle scene) using experimental composition techniques. To get you started, we'll discuss some software tools that allow you to compose and record different types of experimental music. To make sure you've included everything you need in your submission, please follow the assignment template provided below. Also, the Q&A document included below may address possible questions you have about the assignment.

Lecture 6 Slides
Assignment template
Q&A

Lecture 7: Final project overview (part 1)

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

The final project consists of six items. Today, we will discuss four of these items--musical game elements, the cue list, adaptive scoring, and transitions. To help clarify these concepts, we will use a gameplay sequence from Super Mario Bros 3 as an example final project. We will continue our final project overview next week.

Lecture 7 Slides

Lecture 8: Final project overview (part 2)

Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Today, we continue our overview of the final project. Specifically, we dive into more depth with adaptive scoring and transition music, as well as discuss the walkthrough sequence and the accompanying soundtrack. The template file provided below outlines the specific items to include in your submission, the Q&A document addresses questions you may have about the final project, and the audio file gives examples of adaptive scoring and transition music.

Lecture 8 Slides
Final project template
Q&A

Lecture 9: Feedback and Suggestions

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

For our last section lecture, I will give feedback on your previous assignment submissions as well as offer suggestions for relevant courses and jobs you might be interested in. We will end the lecture with a one-on-one help session where you can ask last-minute questions about the final project.

Lecture 9 Slides