Music styles and VGM

[qishmish]

Many music genres and styles found their way into video game music, but i wish some of them would have been represented more. Anyway, i just wanna have some discussion on this matter. I also encourage you to listen to both non-vgm and vgm examples.

Space Ambient

Flowing and relaxing, Ambient music often employs sequencers along with cosmic synthesizers which are played in a sweeping and gradual manner. The successive ascending and descending rhythms are enhanced by almost imperceptible patterns in order to create a resonating, distant psychedelic sound. It emerged in the early 1970s from the ambient side of Progressive Electronic with the specific purpose to attune the listener's mind to a state of cosmic awareness. New Age music also exerted a great influence in the later development of this genre. Notable artists: Steve Roach, Michael Stearns, Jonn Serrie, Constance Demby, and Telomere.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqoW2G4ScSk (Michael Stearns - Toto I've A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore)

While ambient in general is an often guest to games, space ambient usually appears only in space sims. And, as far as i know, space ambient in games is fully digital music unlike golden era of genre, where analogue equipment was used.

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWkVkRMqifA (X-Tension)

Tribal Ambient

Tribal ambient combines the theory and atmosphere of Ambient music with traditional instruments and sounds. The use of percussion is the genre's most common feature, with a distinctly hypnotic sound created by drums from the Traditional Folk Music of regions such as West Africa, South East Asia and the Greater Antilles. These include congas, tablas, djembe, bongos and gourd, goblet and Taos drums, whilst more global instruments, percussion or otherwise, are also often used, such as bells, sticks, chimes, flutes and pipes. Together with the usage of Nature Recordings and calming, meditative drones, these lend the style a naturalistic, peaceful mood. Conversely, the style has also been blended with Dark Ambient by artists such as Muslimgauze and :zoviet*france:, producing a more unnerving atmosphere. Vocals are used sparingly, if at all, and often lend a "shamanic" or spiritual feel to the music. Due to mixing live traditional instrumentation with sequenced synth, tribal ambient sometimes shares similarities and overlaps with forms of New Age music.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJSNH0eZmlo (Muslimgauze - Hand of Fatima)

Such music may appear in games on certain levels, but can't remember whole OSTs of this except for Akuji the Heartless

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ij3Xa2U8L8 (Akuji the Heartless)

Minimalism

Minimalism is a genre of music that was developed in the U.S. in the 1960s. It is generally associated with the composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass, though there were several other composers who contributed to its development. It gained in popularity in the 1970s, and has been practiced by many American and European composers.

Minimalism is usually recognized for its repetitive nature and relatively static harmony, as heard in the Hindustani Classical Music-influenced, Drone-oriented music of Young and Riley. However, one key aspect of the genre's development was its use of process. One example of this is Riley's In C (1964). The piece is composed of 53 short musical fragments of varying length. A pulse is established, and performers start repeating the first fragment a number of times, then proceed to the next fragment, working this way sequentially through all 53 fragments; the decision of how many times to repeat the fragment and when to move on to the next is left to the individual performer. Steve Reich's earlier tape works, It's Gonna Rain (1965) and Come Out (1966), were created by allowing different tape machines playing identical material to gradually slip out of synchronization (or "out of phase") with each other. Later, he adapted this technique to his instrumental works; Piano Phase (1967) employs the phasing effect by having an ensemble repeat a pattern, then requiring one performer to accelerate gradually until they are playing the pattern one beat "out of phase" with the rest of the ensemble.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLZelvSvh3A (Steve Reich - Six Marimbas)

Really can't find any examples in videogame soundtracks except for the wonderful music from "Lost in Shadow" (Wii)

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Rw8OnJo084 (Lost in Shadow)

Gamelan

Gamelan is a style of traditional music originated in the island of Java in Indonesia and representing part of a larger Southeast Asian "gong-chime culture". Strictly speaking, the term "Gamelan" refers to ensemble of instruments—typically consisting of metallophones and gongs, sometimes augmented with drums, flutes and human voices—but the term is often used to describe the music played by those ensembles as well.

Over time gamelan music evolved into many variations, ranging from exceptionally slow-paced and conservative "royal court" styles to fast-paced and entertainment-oriented "village dance" styles. However, almost all kinds of traditional gamelan performance have three distinct features:

They are very, sometimes even extremely long from Western perception (up to six hours of continuous playing without distinguishable breaks between the pieces)
The composition serves only as a basis for 'controlled improvisation', this usually taking form of slight variations in ornamentations
In a traditional setting, gamelan performance is almost never given for the sake of music in itself. It almost always serves as an accompaniment for a ritual / dance performance / drama / shadow puppet performance.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V5UncUNcCU (Sunda degung)

Well, of course there are some games made in Indonesia like DreadOut (featured on HG101) and INheritage: Boundary of Existence, which use gamelan in their soundtracks. But other than that, it's pretty rare to encounter.

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed1eTEYGAQU (Monster Hunter 4)

Jungle

Jungle is a fast-paced, often chaotic-sounding form of Electronic Dance Music which had a strong underground following in the United Kingdom during the early 1990s. Its sound is built upon heavy basslines, greatly syncopated breakbeats and occasional use of vocals. Originally used synonymously with Drum and Bass, the term Jungle is now typically used to refer to the earlier, rougher, rave-influenced side of the genre. It tends to emphasise a Reggae influence, best exhibited in the subgenre of Ragga Jungle.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6pgrdfE3BE (Soichi Terada - Sumo Jungle Grandeur)

Well, there were many drum'n'bass tracks in vgm of late 90s/early 2000s, and jungle appeared at that time too. As you may notice, i used Soichi Terada's solo work (of Ape Escape fame) as non-vgm example, so i'll put something else from soundtracks here.

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGEXi6RXSPA (Bomberman Hero)

Electro

Electro is a genre of Electronic Dance Music which emerged with the development of early sampling technology and the introduction of the Roland TR-808 drum machine and is closely associated with Hip Hop's formative years in the early to mid 1980s. The style is defined by TR-808 sounds arranged in syncopated rhythm patterns - often resembling the Funk breaks used in Hip Hop beats - with simple funky bass lines. Other instrument parts are typically created with synthesizers, and vocoder vocals are commonly used and delivered in a deadpan fashion to accentuate the robotic quality of the music. While many of the definitive Electro tracks are, in essence, also Hip Hop, in many instances it is simply electronic Funk and can also be considered an evolutionary link between the work of Electronic groups in the 1970s, such as Kraftwerk, and Techno in the decade following. Electro's influence has long outlived its initial popularity, with nearly every popular Electronic Dance Music genre at some point giving way to a hybridized Electro subgenre.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqYJLtz4_rA (Arpanet - Illuminated Displays)

If i'm not totally mistaken, Amiga etc. had stuff like that in soundtracks

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq6sWKgxw9Q (Jaguar XJ220)

Gabber

Gabber, meaning "buddy" in Dutch, is a fast-paced, energetic form of Techno, often in the 160-220 BPM range. Its hallmark is a distorted kick sound, which is overdriven to the point of creating a square wave that forms a recognizable melodic tone, as well as synthesised melodies and pitch-shifted vocals. Emerging in the Netherlands, it soon found popularity in the early 1990s, and continues to have a strong underground following in the rave and club scenes across many European countries.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=my0e7xGmiEQ (Original Gabber - Pump That Kitten)

Only heard it in some boss battles of shmups.

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSSvC_wwUt0 (Karous)

Happy Hardcore

Happy Hardcore is a highly energetic form of electronic dance music, developed during the late 1990s, characterised by an extremely fast-paced 4/4 beat, saccharine vocals, piano riffs and spacey effects. Its popularity was generally contained within Europe initially - particularly Britain, Germany and The Netherlands - although in recent years it has spawned record labels worldwide specialising in the genre. In contrast with many other styles of Hardcore [EDM], the genre tends to be very bouncy and upbeat in nature, hence the "happy" portion of its name.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAlRtCyr0sQ (Dune - Hardcore Vibes)

No idea where it was in games aside for some japanese rhythm ones.

Acid Techno

Evolving out of the Acid House scene and arguably from German Trance in addition, Acid Techno combines the elements provided from the aforementioned relatives into the frame of regular Techno, tending to be calmer and using a series of Roland instruments like the TB-303 and other synthesizers to utilize its layers. This includes unconventional adjustments among these instruments to achieve its famous "acid" sound.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBdNyhf3omM (FUSE - Mantrax)

While it was pretty common in vgm of 90s, i still think it could have been more; also i don't recal game soundtracks' acid tunes using actual TB-303 sound much

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYA76gbomOs (Machine Hunter)

Trip-Hop

Trip Hop is a style of Downtempo music that grew out of the Bristol underground in the early 90s. The term was originally coined by Mixmag in a review of DJ Shadow but it wasn't until the mid 90s that the term's definition was solidified to define the emerging Bristolian scene of downtempo from groups such as Massive Attack and Portishead, both of which went on to have large commercial success in the UK.

While it shares the constant and repetitive beats of downtempo, trip hop is texturally a little more busy often using a wide array of samples of both live and electronic instrumentals, with offbeat turntable scratches and vocal melodies whilst almost always maintaining a mellow tempo in 4/4. The beats often invoke a surreal, trippy, dreamy and yet slightly dark atmosphere.

While some (particularly earlier) trip hop was instrumental or used rapped vocals that shared traits with Hip Hop, most trip hop uses female vocals taking influence from Contemporary R&B and Soul that normally sound light and ethereal with lyrical themes being abstract and metaphorical.

The trip hop movement has had a considerably broad influence on the mainstream and has become a popular style both in and outside the UK. No longer considered regionally-centric, trip hop has been a term used to describe a plethora of acts that have melded the trip hop sound with different genres and music scenes, but all are still derivative of the early Bristolian sound.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=li-adM-qOwI (Massive Attack - Black Milk)

Most notable examples would be Akira Yamaoka's Silent Hill tracks.

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OneUwrYiGIw (Silent Hill 3)

IDM

Intelligent Dance Music, most commonly known as IDM, is a term invented in the early 1990s to describe the sound of a number of electronic musicians who sought to develop dance music beyond the clubs and more into the realm of home listening. The term itself has been the subject of intense criticism, with many citing the "Intelligent" portion as elitist in nature. Aphex Twin, an artist frequently cited as a pioneer of the scene, stated in a 1997 interview: “I just think it's really funny to have terms like that. It's basically saying 'this is intelligent and everything else is stupid.' It's really nasty to everyone else's music.” Regardless of the arguments surrounding its label, many acts enjoyed a strong underground following after the inception of the term, with Sheffield’s Warp Records introducing acts like Autechre, The Orb’s Dr. Alex Paterson, and B12 on its famed Artificial Intelligence compilation, as well as a number of artists who would enjoy critical acclaim during the second half of the decade, such as Boards of Canada and Prefuse 73.

By the mid-nineties, IDM’s style tended to veer away from the Techno and House sound that inspired it, with a number of the key figures either choosing to go further down the path of experimentation or employing a much more beat-focused approach to their work. Squarepusher, another one of Warp’s biggest names, combined his typically reckless style of Drum and Bass with a number of techniques more commonly found on Jazz Fusion records, further stretching IDM as a useful descriptor of a particular sound, and making it more of an umbrella term. Attempts have been made to alter the name of the genre and shake off the negative connotations, with Aphex Twin’s “braindance” description of his own music and Warp’s “electronic listening music” proving somewhat popular. Regardless, IDM remains a strong modern scene, with artists like Richard Devine and Arovane continuing this often difficult-to-define style of music.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iiK4MgIPtI (Aphex Twin - 4)

Also rarely encountered in VGM until recent boom of indie games. Btw, i love Osamu Sato (see below) more than AFX

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOWQ9KeCt-k (LSD Dream Emulator)


Breakcore

An extreme form of electronic music which uses cut-up breakbeats and atonal noise, often sequenced at incredibly high tempos, to create a harsh and often unsettling sound. Use of the Amen Break is common, though not necessarily a requirement. Pioneers of the genre include Venetian Snares, Shitmat and The Flashbulb.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k95YHRd-fU (Blaerg - Memento Mori)

Oh, i love breakcore. Would love to see it in games more.

VGM Example:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qSdtyZOLR8 (Karous)

Fado

Fado is a popular form of traditional music from Portugal. It mainly consists of melancholy songs usually accompanied by Portuguese guitars or classical guitars. Fado probably appeared around the 1820s or 1840s and was probably influenced by Brazilian and North African Arabic impulses. The first known Fado singer was Maria Severa and the most famous Fado singer around the world is Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999). The Portuguese word "fado" means "fate" in English.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKaPZfqUHxg (Mler Ife Dada - Sinto em Mim)

Did it ever make in any games? Maybe some portuguese obscure ones? Anything?

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Now, forgive me, i'm a bit tired and it's 3-00 am here so i must go. There are tons of other music styles that are not a big deal in VGM and that's sad. Wish they would be more often. Anyway, i would gladly read any thoughts by you on this subject.

[ommadawnyawn2]

You might find some from the first three in these playlists I made a couple of years back:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ambient+music+in+games

The Lost in Shadow track sounds a bit like some tracks from Moon: Remix RPG Adventure for the PS1.

Electro can sound very different depending on the decade and where it's from but yeah, there's lots of 80s electro (with funky basslines and cheesy samples) in Amiga games. 
Let's combine space ambient and 80s electro: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yolnSe2-0Lw