Music Lab 2: Themes in Game Music

Return to CIS 300.

Objective

Compose a simple theme with variation pieces.

Games and Themes

The 'theme and variation' form is very useful when writing video game music. Themes can help a player become more familiar with the game and its contents. They can be associated with everything from characters, areas of play, in-game conditions, to just a general tone of the game. Once the theme is associated with a particular idea, a variation of that theme can evoke the same idea in a different context. For example, a character's theme may be played in a different tone to signify that character's state of mind. Additionally, the game itself might have a general theme, one which is then brought back throughout the game and worked into most pieces of the game’s music. Themes can be used to set the mood and draw the player into the game.

As a specific example, in Super Mario World, the following musical pieces all share the same theme:

• Main Overworld
• Secondary Overworld
• Boss Level

Composing a Simple Theme

Come up with a simple one instrument theme of about 8-16 measures. Feel free to make it longer if you want to. While composing this theme, think about different ways you might harmonize it, and what other types of instruments you could play it on. Try to keep your theme simple and catchy; don’t make it hard to follow. Finally, make sure the theme resolves at the end, and doesn't feel like it is left off mid-tune.

Variations on the theme

Now that you have a theme, you can create some variations on it. There are no formulas for doing this well, so just experiment and use your best judgment as you modify the theme, making sure you can still actually recognize the melody in your variation. Changes to instrumentation and note length can be very effective here, as well as harmonization and minor note reworkings/additions. Try to change the overall mood of your theme in your variations if you can. For instance, if the theme is fast and exciting, make one of your new versions slow and calm. Come up with 2 different variations on your theme.

Turning It In

Create a zip file containing the following items.

A Reason file split into three sections

The first section should be your theme, and the next two should be the variations. As stated, the theme should be around 8-16 measures, but the variations should be longer, at around 40+ measures each. Each variation section must have several instruments of your choice as accompaniment (bass/harmony/rhythm/etc). Make sure to leave several blank measures between each section.

A text file describing your theme

The text file should contain a brief paragraph explaining how your variations alter the theme, and where each alteration might fit into a game.

Submit this zip file as "lab2music.zip" to CMS.

Due Thursday February 7, 2008 at 11:59pm