Brame Jason Thesis-Libre

Examining Non-Linear Forms:
Techniques for the Analysis of Scores Found in Video Games
by
Jason Brame, BM
A Thesis
In
Music Theory
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
Masters of Music
Approved
Dr. Michael Berry
Chair
Dr. Matthew Santa
Dr. Peter Martens
Fred Hartmeister
Dean of the Graduate School
December, 2009
Copyright 2009, Jason Brame
Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009
Acknowledgments
This thesis would not have been possible without the support of my advisor Dr. Michael
Berry. I deeply appreciate all his time spent readings drafts and giving advice.
And the utmost gratitude goes to my wife, who graciously read draft after draft of this
document and played hours of Final Fantasy in helping to complete this research.
ii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ...................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract ................................................................................................................................. iv
List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. v
I
Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1
II
Background Matter ............................................................................................................... 3

History of Video Game Music ......................................................................................... 3
Beeps and Blips of Yesteryear: Where is the Music? ....................................................... 4
Game Music Takes Form................................................................................................. 5
An Ever-Shifting Form..................................................................................................... 6
State of the Discipline..................................................................................................... 7
Terms Defined ................................................................................................................ 9
III The Unique and Unifying Qualities of Video Game Music .................................................... 12
Eighteenth-Century Dice Music .................................................................................... 13
Polyvalent Formation ................................................................................................... 15
Non-Linear Time ........................................................................................................... 16
Moment Form .............................................................................................................. 17
IV Formalizing Structure: Conceptualizing a Video Games Score ............................................ 22
What is the Score? ....................................................................................................... 22
Representing a Games Score ....................................................................................... 24
Real-Time Game Score Graph ....................................................................................... 26
Music Object Relation Graph ........................................................................................ 29
V
Form of Game Music .......................................................................................................... 32

Reduction in Real-Time Game Score Graphs ................................................................. 32
Linear Forms ................................................................................................................ 34
Branching Forms: A Linear Subset ................................................................................. 36
Centric Forms ............................................................................................................... 38
Compound Forms ......................................................................................................... 41
VI Form and Analysis: Using Game Score Graphs as a Tool for Game Score Analysis ................ 45
The Harmonic Language of Early Video Games ............................................................. 46
Analysis of Super Mario Bros. ....................................................................................... 47
Analysis of The Legend of Zelda .................................................................................... 57
Analysis of Final Fantasy ............................................................................................... 63
VII Suggestions for Further Research........................................................................................ 80
Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 85
iii
Abstract
This paper develops techniques for the analysis of video game music, with most of the
focus on form and the analysis of entire video game scores. Chapter 1 introduces the thesis and
goals of the paper. Chapter 2 gives an overview of video game music history, a survey of current
work on video game music research, and terminology specific to video game pieces. Chapter 3
discusses some older musical concepts that are relevant to video game music, such as the dice
music from eighteenth century and twentieth century ideas of moment form and non-linear
time.
The formal elements that make up the analytical portion of this paper are explained in
Chapter 4. This chapter goes methodically through two different types of graphs that are used
in game score analysis. Chapter 5 takes these graphs and explores some common forms that
have been identified. Three full video game scores are then analyzed in detail in Chapter 6,
showing how these graphing techniques can be beneficial in analyzing video games. Lastly,
Chapter 7 presents ideas on further research in the largely unexplored area of video game
music.
iv
List of Figures
3.1: Simple House Floor Plan to Illustrate Possibilities in Game Music ....................................... 14
3.2: Structure of Moments from Momente................................................................................ 19
4.1: Real-Time Games Score Graph of Sonic the Hedgehog: Opening Levels .............................. 27
4.2: Music Object Relation Score Graph of Figure 4.1 ................................................................ 30
5.1: Sample Real-Time Score Graph Excerpt .............................................................................. 33
5.2: Reduction of Figure 5.1 ...................................................................................................... 33
5.3: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed RTGSG Reduction ............................................................. 35
5.4: Example of a Branching Form ............................................................................................. 36
5.5: Background RTGSG of Pokmon ......................................................................................... 38
5.6: Example of a Centric Form ................................................................................................. 39
5.7: Background RTGSG of Super Mario Galaxy ......................................................................... 40
5.8: Background RTGSG of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past ............................................ 42
5.9: Background RTGSG - Levels 1 and 2 of Super Mario Bros. 3 ................................................ 43
6.1: Overworld Theme from Super Mario Bros. ......................................................................... 49
6.2: Underworld Object from Super Mario Bros......................................................................... 50
6.3: Waterworld Object from Super Mario Bros......................................................................... 50
6.4: Castle Object from Super Mario Bros. and Upper Voice Reduction ..................................... 51
6.5: Area Clear Object from Super Mario Bros. With Harmonic Analysis .................................... 51
6.6: Level Clear Object from Super Mario Bros. With Harmonic Analysis.................................... 52
6.7: 100-Second Object from Super Mario Bros. ........................................................................ 52
6.8: Death Object from Super Mario Bros. ................................................................................. 53
6.9: Game Over Object from Super Mario Bros. With Harmonic Analysis ................................... 53
v
6.10: Invincibility Object from Super Mario Bros........................................................................ 54

6.11: Final Victory Object from Super Mario Bros. ..................................................................... 54
6.12: Reduction of the RTGSG for Level 1 of Super Mario Bros................................................... 54
6.13: RTGSG of Level One in Super Mario Bros. ......................................................................... 55
6.14: Complete MORG for Super Mario Bros. ............................................................................ 56
6.15: RTGSG of The Legend of Zelda .......................................................................................... 58
6.16: RTGSG of Location Object in Final Fantasy........................................................................ 64
6.17: RTGSG of Location Objects: Keys and Neo-Riemannian Transformation Indicated ............ 66
6.18: Keys from Figure 6.17 Mapped on Tonnetz ...................................................................... 67
6.19: RTGSG of the Battle Sequence from Final Fantasy ............................................................ 69
6.20: RTGSG of Location and Looping Event Objects from Final Fantasy .................................... 70
6.21: MORG of Location and Looping Event Objects from Final Fantasy .................................... 71
6.22: Keys of Objects from Figure 6.21 Mapped on a Tonnetz ................................................... 72
6.23: General RTGSG for Most Location Objects in Final Fantasy ............................................... 72
6.24: Inn Stay Object and First Measure of Menu Object from Final Fantasy ............................. 74
6.25: Complete RTGSG of Final Fantasy..................................................................................... 75
6.26: Complete MORG of Final Fantasy ..................................................................................... 76
6.27: Complete Tonnetz of Keys in Final Fantasy ....................................................................... 77
6.28: Graph of Final Fantasy Tonal Path .................................................................................... 78
7.1: Reproduction of Figure 5.5 ................................................................................................. 82
7.2: Linear Narrative in Pokmon .............................................................................................. 82
vi
Chapter I
Introduction
Much of music theory starts with an intellectual curiosity. Whether it is examining the
structure of non-diatonic chord progressions or making sense of a serial piece, music theory is
the process of attempting to understand and discuss the music we encounter in our survey of
the sounding world. This project started from a small collection of soundtracks from the
Nintendo video game series, The Legend of Zelda. As I began to notice similarities and variations
among the soundtracks to different entries in the games series, I began to wonder if the
similarities were intentional, what they were, and what they were trying to convey.
Video games are discussed in great detail among cultural, communications, and
technology studies, but the scholarly study of video game music is only just beginning. A quick
look through this papers literature review will show that the bulk of this research has only
begun in the last three or four years. However, the study of game music is almost exclusively in
the realm of musicology, with much discussion on the subjects of game music in culture, history
and development of game sound, and the aesthetics of video games. Some interesting research
is being done on the types of interactivity of music in video games, but the field is void of any
detailed music theory research. As I began to analyze video game music in more depth, I found
that there is a lack of theoretical tools available to aptly analyze the scores to video games. Like
the creation of dice music in the eighteenth century and the chance or aleotoric music of the
twentieth century, video game music is rarely experienced the same way twice. Much of the
experience of video game music is determined as much by the player as by the composer. This
paper will lay down the foundation of an analytical approach to video game music.
Matthew Belinkie contends that "Video game music pieces are united only by a common
instrument (the console) and not much else".1 To some degree, this statement is true. Game
music comes in all types, whether it is the jazzy upbeat music of Super Mario Bros., the rocktechno sounds of Sonic the Hedgehog, or the full classical orchestral texture found in The Legend
of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The variety of musical styles found in the video game world suggest
that we would need different tools to analyze each score, much as we might use different tools
to analyze a serial piece and a tonal piece. However, in this thesis I will develop a common
language and tools to talk about game music that will allow us to compare these disparate styles
of game music in an intellectually fulfilling way. The primary concern of this thesis is to unify a
conception of video game music and develop tools to discuss its form and structure. Then these
tools will be used to discuss similarities among different types of games and explore the
structure of music in video games.
After a brief history of game music and a literature review, I will explore the uniqueness
of game music and why scores to different games may have more in common than just an
instrument. In Chapter Four, I will discuss the conception of a video game score and show a
method for formalizing a game score. Chapter Five takes the techniques developed in Chapter
Four and explores different types of game forms. Utilizing the same techniques, Chapter Six will
show how this form diagram can be used to show unity and structure within a single game,
aiding in the understanding and appreciation of a games structure. The thesis will close with
suggestions for further research.
Matthew Belinkie, Video game music: not just kids stuff, http://www.vgmusic.com/vgpaper.shtml,
December 15, 1999 (accessed June 20, 2008).
Chapter II
Background Matter
History of Video Game Music
The story of game audio gets retold time and time again in research of video game
music, but rarely seems to get old. One of the earliest printed histories of video game music
told in a research paper is Mathew Belinkies Video Game Music: Not Just Kids Stuff, which
leaves out some of the earlier developments in game sound and music. A more concise history
can be found in Karen Collinss From Bits to Hits: Video Game Music Changes its Tune, where
she outlines three main stages of game audio. These ideas are presented again in more detail in
her textbook Game Sound, which spends the first three chapters going into her three different
stages of game audio development. Each of these three sources offers something new and
interesting about video game music, but the facts are all the same. I will begin with a brief
history of game audio, which will serve as a backdrop and frame of reference for the analyses
that will be conducted in this paper.
Collinss three stages of game music development are rooted in technological
developments, namely, early 8-bit sound cards, the development of 16-bit technology, and the
incorporation of CD audio. While my history does not differ in facts from Belinkie or Collins, I
will take a more music-based approach in delineating the stages of game music development. I
will not go into much technological detail about each system, but will provide any information
that is necessary to understanding the music being discussed.
Beeps and Blips of Yesteryear: Where is the Music?

Video Games, in the broad sense, were around long before they first had sound.
William Higinbothams soundless Tennis for Two (Unpublished, 1958) is credited as the first
video game. While sound was present in arcades (notably the sounds emanating from pinball
machines when certain interactions took place), sound was not present in video games until
1972, when Ataris Pong made the familiar beep sound so famous. Sounds were not an
aesthetic decision, but were a direct result of the limited capabilities of the technology of the
time.2 The sound in Pong was not the sound that the original creators wanted, yet it was only
what the technology governing the game was capable of.
Space Invaders (Midway, 1978) was the first game to have continuous sound, which was
integral in setting a new standard for sound in games. It contained a continuous four-note
chromatic line that sped up as the game progressed. By 1980, arcade systems were coming with
their own sound chips (known as programmable sound generators, or PSGs) which allowed for
the development of more tonal background music and more variety of in game sounds.
Through the 1970s, music in video games was limited to very short motives looped
during game play, leaving the more substantial musical elements to be found in title music or
the occasional level transition screen (such as in Pac-Man). The same can be said of music on
the Atari 2600, one of the first successful home video game consoles, which was only capable of
two simultaneous sounds, with an interesting set of pitch restrictions.3
Karen Collins, Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory and Practice of Video Game Muisc and
Sound Design (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2008), 9.
3
See Karen Collins, Flat Twos and the Musical Aesthetic of the Atari VCS, Popular Musicology Online,
No. 1 (2006), http://www.popular-musicology-online.com/issues/01/collins-01.html.
Game Music Takes Form

Just as there is no clear dividing line between musical periods (such as Classical and
Romantic music), there is no clear line between musical developments in video game music.
Though the Atari offers some interesting theoretical discussion, the bulk of theoretical work that
needs to be done starts with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This system, like the
arcade systems, has an onboard PSG, so it is still part of the 8-bit history in terms of
technological development, as found in Collinss writings. However, the variety and depth of
continuous background music ushered in a new era of game music that helped propel the
system into the popularity it received. Unlike the Atari, the NES was capable of four
simultaneous sounds (three pitched, and one unpitched for percussion or sound effects).
Belinkies account of game music history begins with the NES, and gives no mention to earlier
arcade and home console attempts. The older systems offer interesting paths of musical
inquiry, and are worth discussing, but they lack much of the substance we find in systems since
the NES.
The Sega Genesis (or Sega Mega-Drive as it was known outside the US) was the first true
16-bit system. It contained the same PSG chip that the NES had, which was reserved for sound
effects alone. The Genesis was also equipped with an FM synthesis sound chip which has six
channels of stereo sound and another channel for 8-bit samples. Some could argue that the
Genesis really was a transitional system in terms of technological development. I would say The
FM chip was a predecessor to MIDI, but the music on the system did not sound much different
than the 8-bit NES, aside from the increased number and quality of voices.
The Super NES followed the release of the Genesis and was superior in many ways to
that system, including its sound capabilities. It had a multipart sound chip which included an 8-
channel digital signal processor that allowed for eight channels of stereo sound through a set of
MIDI instruments. Controls such as volume, reverb, and panning were all possible on this sound
board.
While Collins groups the Genesis and Super NES into a different period of development
from the NES, the use of music on these three systems and their peers is relatively similar.
Transitions from musical object to musical object were done with hard cuts or rapid fades (if
technology allowed) and little was done to make music dynamic and adaptable. There are a few
exceptions, but in general these consoles did little to further the development of video game
music from the NES.
An Ever-Shifting Form
Little has been said of computer gaming in this brief history, as the musical development
on computers was very similar to that of home consoles. Sound on computers depended greatly
on the capabilities of the computer the game was played on and its sound card. Developers had
a lot less control over what the user was going to hear, because they were not guaranteed a
certain kind of equipment. However, as MIDI came to be a dominating medium of game music
programming, LucasArts became really concerned with dynamic music, which lead to the
creation of the iMUSE technology. IMUSE allowed for the music to change and adapt midstream
based on a set of conditions. During a musical sequence, a set of decision points in the game
would be indicated. Each time a decision point was reached, the system checked for a set of ingame conditions to determine whether to continue with the current music object, or to make a
change. The change could be anything from transposing keys, changing instruments, tempo, or
even branching off to another piece of music. For the first time, composers had the ability to
make smooth transitions, and allow the music to change with changing game conditions.
Perhaps background music could become more dissonant as a characters life was in jeopardy,
or could speed up as you got closer and closer to a goal.
More and more dynamic audio elements are in development for game music. The
creation of iMUSE really was the beginning of the modern video game music era. Creating an
ever-changing and interactive score is a primary concern for many game music composers.
Certainly there are games that have not gotten out of the simple cut or fade transitions of older
systems, but they are somewhat limited to quickly produced games and budget releases.
The idea of iMUSE has been incorporated into home consoles after the Super NES, as
sound and storage capabilities continue to improve. With increased storage size, sound does
not need to be compressed. Game systems can output recorded sound and some can even
sequence live-recorded samples in the same way MIDI is programmed in, allowing for the same
dynamic iMUSE concepts to be applied.
Most histories of video game music end with the incorporation of iMUSE concepts and
CD-quality samples. The next major development will define this era for what it is and has
accomplished, but for now, we will turn to the true focus of this paper, the analysis of video
game music.
State of the Discipline

As stated previously, music theory has had very little to do with video game music.
However, some important publications are available that give us a good starting point for
introducing music theory into the body of inquiry.
One of the earliest contributions to the study of video game music is Matthew Belinkies
paper Video Game Music: Not Just Kid Stuff. Though Belinkie wrote this paper early in his
undergraduate work at Yale and has since gone onto pursue a non-musical career, this paper
has been disseminated through the online Video Game Music Archive. This paper was
frequently cited in earlier game papers, but has since been replaced by the work of Karen
Collins. Belinkie, as mentioned above, ignores consoles prior to the NES in his history of game
music development, showing that he is more concerned with the continuous background tracks,
and not the sporadic music found in earlier systems. His paper provides a lot of dialogue with
accessible game music composers and gives us limited insight into the industry. The paper itself
is simply an overview of game music, but in many respects has provided a starting point for
much of the early research.
Perhaps the most significant contributor to the study of video game music is Karen
Collins, who has a book and a number of articles all dealing specifically with video game sound.
Note that I used the term game sound, as opposed to music, as she deals with all aspect of
audio production in video games. Among these, her textbook Game Sound serves as a reference
point for all things related to video game sound and music. In a sense, this book provides all the
background knowledge about game sound development that would normally be the preresearch for this paper. Much of the terminology that will be introduced in the next chapter
comes from this source. The bulk of her recent work deals with the interactivity of sound and
ideas for future game sound development. Her work has always been on the border of
musicology and music theory, having written on the music of the Atari 2600s unique tuning
system,4 as well as on the influence of popular music in video games.5 Her account of game
Collins, Flat Twos
sound development is always technologically based, which serves the theorist in understanding
how the music is created, but does not accurately reflect the use of the music in video games.
Writings such as Zach Whalens Play Along An Approach to Videogame Music,6
Tristan Capacchiones Musical Gamescapes: A Study of Unity in Arcanum: Of Steamworks and
Magick Obscura,7 and Axel Stockburgers The game environment from an auditive
perspective,8 have dealt with music elements more directly than others. Whalen and
Capacchione take specific examples to show how game music and the game environment are
directly linked to each other. Stockburger goes further to give us terms for the different
functions of music in games and how that music interacts with the game environment with
detailed examples from Metal Gear Solid 2. Each of these authors contributes to the concept of
how music functions in video games, but still leaves a void in overall game music structure and
construction. While Capacchione attempts to explore game unifying elements in the music of
Arcanum, he does not have a way for the reader to conceptualize the whole score at once.
Terms Defined
From this point forward, I will begin using terms specific to video game music that need
some explanation. Video games are not composed of one musical idea, but consist of many
Karen Collins, Video Games Killed the Cinema Star, Music, Sound and the Moving Image 1/1 (2007):
15-20.
6
Zach Whalen, Play Along: An Approach to Videogame Music, Game Studies: The International Journal
of Computer Game Research 4, No. 1 (November 2004), http://gamestudies.org/0401/whalen/.
7
Tristan Capacchione, Musical Gamescapes: A Study of Unity in Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick
Obscura, http://www.gamessound.com/Arcanum.pdf.
8
Alex Stockburger, The Game Environment From an Auditive Perspective,
http://www.audiogames.net/pics/upload/gameenvironment.htm.
musical ideas. Each single idea is referred to as a music object. Music objects can be classified
in a number of different ways, depending on the function they serve.
On the most basic level, music objects can be looping or non-looping. A looping music
object plays the same music over and over again in a repeated loop. Sometimes these objects
have short introductions that are only heard at the beginning of the object, and sometimes the
object is repeated in its entirety. They can be of any length, from short four-measure loops to
longer multi-phrase loops. These objects never end until the player does something to trigger a
change. Non-looping objects play from beginning to end. They can occasionally be cut short by
an input from the player, but if left to play through, they will not repeat, but typically be
followed by silence or another music object.
Some music objects are called background or location objects. These objects play
throughout an area, level, or game environment, usually looping until something interrupts
them or the area is left. Other objects are triggered by in-game events, such as opening a
treasure chest, obtaining a special item, or beating a level. These objects are usually nonlooping, though there are exceptions in certain situations. Menu objects occur when the music
changes during menu screens, either in-game or before the game begins.
Though not used frequently, terms describing the interactivity of music objects are
present throughout video game music literature. Borrowing film terminology, Collins frequently
describes music objects as diegetic and nondiegetic. Diegetic music is music which exists as part
of the game environment, whereas nondiegetic music exists to enhance the environment, but
does not exist within the environment. For example, the players character in The Legend of
Zelda: Ocarina of Time can pick up and play an ocarina at various points throughout the game.
The notes that are heard when the character plays the ocarina are diegetic. The music playing in
10
the background when the character is walking through the field is non-diegetic. Game music
objects can also be dynamic or non-dynamic. Dynamic music can change and react to game
conditions, such as the time of day, location within an area, or players status (character health,
power-ups, and so forth). Dynamic music is also music that the player can interact with. Nondynamic music does not change regardless of situation.9
This paper will rarely discuss music objects in terms of dynamic capability or diegesis,
but they do occur on occasion when referencing other writings on game music. Description of
music objects as looping and non-looping, and their function as event-triggered or background
objects are the most important. These terms are frequently used throughout the rest of the
paper.
Collins, Game Sound, 125-127.
11
Chapter III
The Unique and Unifying Qualities of Video Game Music
Any music object in a video game can be extracted an analyzed using a variety of
theoretical tools which currently exist. However, it is the examination of all the objects in a
video game that begins to pose a problem. To illustrate this problem, let us envision a person in
his house. Now imagine that each room in this house has a different piece of music playing,
heard only from that particular room. We can analyze each piece separately, but how do we
examine the relationships between the dining room piece and the living room piece? If the
hallway piece is connected to three different bedrooms, each with their own piece, how do they
each interact with the piece heard from the hallway? Only the person in the house can control
how long he stays in one room, and at what point in the piece he moves from one room to the
next.
The concept of non-linear time in music seems contradictory as music always is
experienced within a linear time span. However, the music itself can be composed or conceived
of outside a linear framework. A video game gives us a set of musical objects that are put
together in a non-linear manner. Game music changes, interjects, and adapts with the actions
of the player. The sequence of presentation of the objects is controlled by the player, not the
composer. What the composer controls are the contents of the musical objects. To use our
previous analogy, the composer cannot control when the person moves from the living room to
the hallway, or which bedroom he goes into, but he can control what piece is playing in each
room. The challenge is to find a way to express the structure and relationships within video
game music and uncover a way to conduct a meaningful analysis. The idea of writing music
within a non-linear structure, yet controlling the relationships falls between the eighteenth12
century practice of dice music compositions and Stockhausens twentieth-century concept of

moment form, incorporating ideas of polyvalent formation and non-linear time.
Eighteenth-Century Dice Music

Well before the compositions of John Cage and his contemporaries, eighteenth-century
composers were experimenting with the idea of chance music compositions. Though over a
dozen of these chance pieces are known to exist, the model for many of these was the first
dice piece, a composition by Johann Philipp Kirnberger (1721-1783) called Der allezeit fertig
Menuettenund Polonoisenkomponist. This composition, or game as it is typically referred to10,
consists of a set of instructions and twenty-nine pages of measures that were to be cut up into a
deck of cards with each card containing one measure of the piece. The secondary composer
(the one playing the game) would then throw two dice. The value of the dice would reference
a table of numbers indicating the exact measure to be used. Then the dice would be thrown
again for the next measure. This number would again be crossed-referenced with the next line
on the table and the appropriate measure selected. This would continue until a polonaise with
two periods of six and eight measures respectively, or a minuet and trio of thirty-two measures
was composed. The minuet alone had 11 to the 32nd power possible variants.11
As the composer, Kirnberger controls the content of the measures. All of the possible
first measures are built on the tonic harmony, despite the different melodic content. Kirnberger
has no control over which measure comes next, but all of the second measure choices feature
10
Both sources consulted use this term, though the piece is no less a composition than any other piece of
music.
11
Stephen A. Hedges, Dice Music in the Eighteenth Century, Music & Letters Vol. 59, No. 2 (April 1978):
180-181.
13
dominant harmonies.12 He maintains a coherent tonal relationship from measure one to

measure two by controlling the content of the measures, even though the choice of the
measure is left up to chance. Imagine if each measure were a music object in a video game. In
the same way as this dice composition, a composer can control the relationship between the
various music objects in a video game by understanding the possible ways the objects connect.
This allows the music objects to relate in a way that is desirable. Unlike Kirnberger, many game
music composers explore other variations, instead of using the same keys and harmonies in all
music objects. For an illustration of some of these variations, let us refer back to the rooms-ina-house example (diagramed in Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1: Simple House Floor Plan to Illustrate Possibilities in Game Music
Let us first start with the Living Room, which is playing a piece in C Major, and is
reflecting a calm living environment. Knowing that the living room can only transition to the
12
Leonard G. Ratner, Ars Combinatoria: Chance and Choice in Eighteenth-Century Music, in Studies in
Eighteenth-Century Music, ed. H.C. Robbins Landon (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd, 1970), 343.
14
Dining Room, or the hallway, the composer might choose to create a piece for the dining room
in the dominant key of G major. This could reflect a constant pull to return to the Living Room
tonally. The hallway might then have a piece in a minor, and be in a mood that might reflect
indecision at which room to go into. The composer now has four rooms to choose from in the
hallway. The living room is set, so it is the mood of the other three rooms that is now important
to set, not only by the object, but the relationship to the previous object. For instance, perhaps
the first bedroom is a very dangerous place, and might be a harsh piece in E-flat minor, a tritone
away from the hallway key. The second bedroom could be a place that is not dangerous or
difficult, but not a place of rest. The composer then might choose to use E major, dominant of
the hallway key to pull the music back to the a minor hallway. Lastly, the third bedroom could
be the final place of rest, returning back to C major. This would not only reinforce an overall
tonic key, but identify both the living room and the third bedroom as resting points. You will
find that the video games analyzed in chapter six exhibit many of these ideas on a more
complicated scale.
Polyvalent Formation
Contemporary composers often considered the idea of composing pieces that were not
fixed. Boulez was not averse to the idea of a serial music composed of modules that could be
shuffled and rearranged in performance, but he was concerned that such a composition be
designed so that the pieces would always fit, and the final result invariably makes musical
sense.13 Though most game music is not serial, the idea of creating a composition that makes
sense, even when sections of the piece are left up to the performers discretion, is a primary
13
Robin Maconie, Other Planets (Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, 2005), 157.
15
concern of many video game composers. The idea of moving or indeterminate forms was
coined polyvalent formation by Stockhausen. 14 There is a certain character of polyvalent
formation in video game music: though the modules, or objects themselves are composed out,
the placement in time relative to the other objects is largely up to the player.
Non-Linear Time
The experience of musical objects in video games can be considered non-linear. The
idea of non-linear time in music has various interpretations. Kramer discusses non-linear time
from the perspective of a piece not following a standard, logical functional scheme. For
example, he argues that you can understand the final cadence of Beethovens String Quartet
Opus 135 to be in measure ten. He then goes on to show how elements later in the piece all
lead up to the final cadence, which has already occurred.15
In Jonathan Kramers book The Time of Music he defines the idea of linear and nonlinear time. Linearity is the determination of some characteristic(s) of music in accordance
with implications that arise from earlier events of the piece.16 Thus, a piece in sonata form
follows a linear convention, where the ending is somehow based on the material of the
beginning. Even a simple binary form is related from beginning to end by way of key
relationships. Video game music can sometimes be thought of as linear in terms of key
relationships or tonal motions. However, many characteristics of game music fit Kramers nonlinear definition. Non-linearity is defined by Kramer as the determination of some
14
Karl H. Wrner, Stockhausen: Life and Works, trans. Bill Hopkins (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1973), 105.
15
Jonathan D. Kramer, Multiple and Non-Linear Time in Beethovens Opus 135, Perspectives of New
Music Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring-Summer, 1973): 122-145.
16
Jonathan D. Kramer, The Time of Music: New Meanings, New Temporalities, New Listening Strategies
(New York: Schirmer Books, 1988), 20.
16
characteristic(s) of music in accordance with implications that arise from principles or

tendencies governing an entire piece or section.17 Game music objects are usually unrelated
motivically, orchestrationally, and so forth, to that which came before them. The music objects
are related to the game as a whole, and the section of the game where that object is heard.
These definitions may seem abstract, but we can also understand video game music as
exhibiting qualities of non-linear time in a more apparent way. Music objects frequently go back
and forth; such that a player can be in an area, travel to a second area, then back to the first.
Going forwards and backwards through the order in which the music objects are experienced is
another interpretation of the non-linear time concept. If this is conceptualized with regards to
Kramers definition, it is that all music objects in a game are generated from the idea of the
game itself, and that the objects do not necessarily have to have content related to each other,
but are all related to the idea of the game and the games environment.
Moment Form
Most musical forms rely on the idea that musical material is based on that which came
before it. In moment-form works, every present moment counts, as well as no moment at all;
a given moment is not merely regarded as the consequence of the previous one and the prelude
to the coming one, but as something individual, independent and centered in itself, capable of
existing on its own.18 A moment-form work strings together a series of moments that are
experienced in a linear manner, but the moments themselves are part of something else. It is
the moment itself that is important in this form, and it disregards any connection to previous
17
Ibid., 20.
Quoted in Seppo Heinkinheimo, Electronic Music of Karlheinz Stockhausen: Studies on the Esthetical
and Formal Problems of its First Phase, tr. Brad Absetz, Acta Musicologica Fennica 6 (Helsinki:
Musicological Society of Finland, 1972), 120.
18
17
moments. Heikineimo states that this concentration on the present moment on every
present moment can make a vertical cut, as it were, across horizontal time perception,
extending out to a timelessness I call eternity.19 Each moment is just a glimpse at a segment of
music that has been ongoing for some time. For Stockhausen, these moments did not begin or
end:
I have made a strict difference between the concepts of beginning and starting,
ending and stopping. When saying beginning, I imply a process, something that
rises and merges; when saying ending I am thinking about something that ends,
ceases to sound, extinguishes. The contrary is true with the words start and stop,
which I combine with the concept of caesurae which delineate a duration, as a section,
out of a continuum.20
It is as if multiple pieces are being performed in different concert halls, and the audience travels
from one hall to the other experiencing moments of pieces that are ongoing, before and after
the experience.21
Momente, one of Stockhausens early moment-form works, provides a great example of
many aspects of moment-form and polyvalent formation. Moment form employs three
different types of moments that can be grouped in a variety of ways. These moments are based
on melody (M), duration (D), and timbre (K, for Klang). The I moments are neutral and serve to
connect the different moment groups together. The various moments will borrow qualities of
19
Heikinheimo, 120-121.
Quoted in Jonathan D. Kramer, Moment Form in Twentieth Century Music, The Musical Quarterly Vol.
64, No. 2 (April 1978): 180.
21
Wrner, 108.
20
18
other moments. For example, the M(d) moment will be a melody-based moment with elements
of duration, while a K(m) moment will be focused primarily on timbre elements, while
containing fragments of melodic material.22 Figure 3.2 shows the structure of Momentes
moments.
Figure 3.2: Structure of Moments from Momente.23
This is where we can see the polyvalent formation qualities in this piece. The K group of
moments is in the center, but the performer can decide on which side of K that the M and D
groups go. This rotation around a central moment continues through the branches. For
example, K(d) and K(m) can rotate about K; MD(k) and MD can rotate about M(d). Momente
combines the ideas of moment-form and polyvalent formation, but this is rather uncommon for
moment-form works. His other moment-form compositions such as Carr and Kontakte consist
of moments strung together, but there is no variation in the order of the moments from
performance to performance.
Stockhausens moment-form works were composed with a sense of non-linearity. It is
the discontinuity of the moments that made the form what it is. Video game music is similar to
22
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Stockhausen on Music, compiled by Robin Maconie (London: Marion Boyars,
1989), 64-67.
23
Maconie, 242.
19
a moment-form work in many ways. Video game music is experienced in moments, with each
moment having a different and unique character. Though each moment is usually heard as
having a clear beginning, the moments rarely have a clear ending, unless they are non-looping
objects. Background objects can even be thought to always exist in the background of an area,
even when the player is not in that area. This parallels Stockhausens idea of taking part in a
moment of an object that is infinite in both directions.
Kramer explains moment time as a piece or section where the moments may be
related (motivically, for example) but not connected by transition.24 Kramer discusses
discontinuity as part of a piece that exhibits moment-forming. He believes that discontinuity is
most profoundly felt in tonal music which has natural tendencies of motion and time. To
interrupt this continuity is believed to be a principal element of moment-form music.25
However, we will see that video game music, while exhibiting qualities of moment-form music,
is largely continuous from moment to moment, creating a continuity throughout the game.
Moment form works are often analyzed moment by moment, then considered as a
whole.26 This pattern will continue in this paper, as video game music will be analyzed object by
object, then considered as a whole. However, unlike Kramers admiration of discontinuity in
moment-form, this thesis will focus on the formal aspects of video game music, uncovering
continuity and structure in a video game. Like in moment-form, game music composers
concentrate on creating self-contained moments, or music objects, but like in dice music, they
are concerned with the relationship from one measure, or music object, to the next. These
24
Kramer, The Time of Music, 50.

Kramer, Moment Form: 177-179.
26
See analysis of Kontake in Heikinheimo, p. 151-215.
25
20
relationships are designed to function in an environment of non-linear time where the player is
constantly reordering the polyvalent formation of the game music.
21
Chapter IV
Formalizing Structure: Conceptualizing a Video Games Score
What is the Score?
In his paper titled The Game Environment from an Auditive Perspective, Alex
Stockburger defines the games score as a number of sound objects that belong to the nondiegetic part of the game environment.27 While this is the beginning of a definition, it ignores a
long list of important music objects which should be considered part of the score. Non-diegetic
sounds in video games are almost always music objects, and should be considered part of the
score, yet there are a number of diegetic objects that should also be considered. Going purely
by Stockburgers definition, the music of Guitar Hero (Activision, 2005) is not part of the games
score, nor is the ocarina in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo, 1998). 28 Excluding
these music objects from the score is equivalent to saying the on-stage band at the end of Bergs
Wozzeck is not part of the operas score. I am certain that this is not the case, and in most
circumstances, a games composer has as much control of the diegetic music objects as he does
the non-diegetic objects.
It is also important to think of the games score as the music for the entire game, and
not a collection of scores that just happen to be connected through a games action. This is a
notion that is included in Stockburgers definition. It is understood that a films score
encompasses the music from start to finish, and that excerpts from a film score are not the
same thing as the score itself. As it will be shown later, the composer of a well composed game
score demonstrates awareness of the entire score when composing its various music objects.
27

28
The latter here would, by Stockburgers definition, would be considered an Effect sound object.
22
Therefore, a formal definition of video game score is better stated as follows: a video
game score is the collection of music objects contained within a video game, the transitions
from one music object to the other, and the arrangement of the music objects within the games
action. The games action is used to generalize the various types of game progressions that exist,
such as the level progress of a fighting game versus the world exploration of a role-playing
game.
How can we distinguish music objects from other sound objects? While most music
objects are clearly identified, there will be occasions, especially with older games, when the line
between sound effects and music objects becomes unclear. Music objects should contain a
discernable motive, as defined by William Drabkins definition of motive: A short musical idea,
melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, or any combination of these three. A motif may be of any size, and
is most commonly regarded as the shortest subdivision of a theme or phrase that still maintains
its identity as an idea.29 A music object is not only a motive, but must be a part of the larger
game music landscape. This can include two-second music objects which signal some game play
event. This would not include objects like one or two note blips that are heard when collecting
common game objects, such as coins. These objects stand apart from the music objects because
they are extremely short, have no rhythmic or key context, and occur within most every major
music object within a game. They may be motives, but do not have structural implications on
the games score. In the end, it will be up to the analyst to decide if a sound object has enough
musical credence to be included in a games score.
29
William Drabkin, "Motif," In Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online,

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/19221.
23
Representing a Games Score

Video game music is set apart from other, more static musical forms because of its
interactivity. Understanding the possibilities in a games progression is important in
conceptualizing the score. Depending on the type of game, the games actions may occur in a
set order, or in any order. It is unknown how long a player will linger in one area of the game or
where the player will travel. A games entire world could be interconnected, allowing a player to
roam free between different areas with many possible music object transitions. Various in-game
events can trigger adaptations in certain music objects. In some games, background music can
be randomly selected from a set of music objects, and related only to some non-musical
element of the game, or not related to anything at all. With all these possibilities and more,
theorists need a way of conceptualizing the potentially complex relationships between music
objects.
A graphic representation of the score allows analysts to view and understand the score
as a whole, providing a useful tool for analyzing the more subtle nuances of a video game score.
A video game score graph has two main components: music objects and transitions. In the
graphs explored here, music objects will be enclosed in either an ellipse or rectangle. Elliptical
figures represent objects that loop endlessly. In video games, many music objects will repeat, or
loop, endlessly, either in whole or in part. For example, the Overworld object in The Legend of
Zelda (Nintendo, 1986) begins with a four-bar introduction that is never repeated, though the
remainder of the object loops until it transitions to another object. On occasion, a game will call
for a more interactive looping object, in which case the ellipse will be varied in some way,
usually with a dashed outline, to indicate the objects adaptability within game play. This will be
indicated on the score graph with a legend.
24
A rectangular figure indicates a non-looping object. These objects do not repeat, and
are usually immediately followed by a different music object. It is important to differentiate
between looping and non-looping objects because the latter have a clear beginning and end.
Having a definitive final cadence can affect the interpretation of an object as opposed to an
object that never has a clear ending (usually using an unstable cadential figure to loop back to
the objects beginning).
The second criteria for a game score are the transitions. Transitions must be indicated
in the game score graph to show which object can transition to which, and how the transition
occurs. It is important to show whether the object transitions hard or softly. A hard transition is
when a stinger is used to abruptly end the object to go to another one. A hard transition can
just be a hard cut, the most common transition in the 8-bit era. A soft transition can either be a
simple cross-fade, where one object fades out as the next one fades in, or the use of a transition
matrix, where the computer had predetermined points to transition from one object to the
next, making a smooth and musical connection. Solid line arrows are used to indicate hard
transitions while dotted lines are for soft transitions. I leave it up to the individual analysis
whether or not it is important to break down the transition indications even further on a game
score graph. However, the most important in this paper is the direction indication. The way a
game score graph is laid out is determined by the type of game score being created. There are
two very distinct ways to construct a video game score graph: a real-time game score graph, and
an object-relation graph.
Theses graphic systems that I am about to describe owe much of their development to
the models for network music analysis developed by David Lewin, Richard Cohn, and their
followers. However, there is a very important distinction to make between the graphs
25
presented here and those of Lewin and Cohn. Their network graphs are all transformationally
based, where each arrow in the network represents not only a connection but also a
transformational operation. The arrows in the following graphs represent the direction and
connection between music objects only. This relationship may or may not be transformational.
It simply indicates relationship in time and space within the games score.30
Real-Time Game Score Graph

The most important aspect of a real-time game score graph (RTGSG) is the layout of the
game environment. Transition indications in a real-time score show how music objects are laid
out in the game environment.
As an example, I will show excerpts from the score to Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega, 1991).
Sonic the Hedgehog (to be referred to as Sonic from here on) was published for the Sega Genesis
System. Designed by Hirokazu Yahuhara with music composed by Masato Nakamura, Sonic is a
side-scrolling platform adventure. Each level is divided up into three acts; at the end of the third
act, Sonic, the player-controlled character, fights the level boss. The games action happens
linearly, so once you have completed an act, you cannot return to that act. Various in-game
actions, such as gaining invincibility, can trigger music objects.
30
For more on network graphing systems, see David Lewin, A Formal Theory of Generalized Tonal
Functions, Journal of Music Theory 26, No. 1 (Spring, 1982): 23-60; David Lewin, Some Notes on
Analyzing Wagner: The Ring and Parisfal, 19th-Century Music 16, No. 1 (Summer, 1992): 49-58; and
Richard L. Cohn, As Wonderful as Star Clusters: Instruments for Gazing at Tonality in Schubert, 19thCentury Music 22, No. 3 (Spring, 1999): 213-232.
26
Figure 4.1: Real-Time Games Score Graph of Sonic the Hedgehog: Opening Levels
Figure 4.1 gives us a RTGSG of the opening levels from Sonic. The first music object
heard when you begin a game of Sonic the Hedgehog is the Title Music object. Unlike many
games, Sonics Title Music object is non-looping. Once the player presses the start button, the
game proper begins in the Green Hill Zone, the first level of the game. So the title screen goes
straight into the first level, and you cannot return to the title screen without restarting the
game. That is why the arrow in the game score graph points one direction, from the title object,
27
to the Green Hill Zone object. The arrow is solid, which indicates a hard transition, which is a cut
in all instances of this game.
The Green Hill Zone object is an object that is adaptable to a certain situation. This is
indicated with a dashed ellipsis, and a Dynamic Audio key. The dynamic audio key is a box on
the graph similar to the legend on a road map. It shows a line pattern and what it represents in
terms of dynamic audio. In the case of Sonic, any time the players character finds speed shoes,
the levels music object goes twice as fast. Connected to the Green Hill Zone object with a
double-headed arrow is the Invincible Object loop. This arrow indication shows that this object
occurs from the Green Hill Zone and goes back to the Green Hill Zone object when it is
completed.
At the completion of the Green Hill Zone, you hear the End Level object, a non-looping
fanfare that can go one of two ways, either to a bonus round, or to the next act. The Bonus
object also ends with the End Level fanfare, but is not linked with a double arrow to emphasize
its linear nature. Instead, it is connected to another End Level object. It is not returning to the
first end level object, but playing a new one, which occurs at a different place in the games
actions. It is important in this type of game score graph to be clear about the direction of the
arrows. It may be simpler to combine the objects that are the same which occur in different
places in the game; however, that would defeat the purpose of a RTGSG: to show the elements
of the game as they occur in the game environment and to trace a path of the actions through
the music.
The next act looks exactly the same. The third act has some minor differences that
break the pattern: that is the addition of the Boss music object connected to the Green Hill Zone
with a double-headed arrow. The music changes once the player engages the boss. When the
28
boss is defeated, the music returns to the Green Hill Zone. It is this sequence that triggers the
continuation to a different level, and a different music object, the Marble Zone object. This
sequence also does not have a Bonus object option.
This pattern continues throughout the game, which would not be represented well had I
used more double-headed arrows for closely placed music objects. Had I combined all the
Green Hill objects into one, it would be easy to falsely show that there was a bonus option after
the Boss object is heard, or that the boss object could happen in any of the three acts.
A RTGSG graph has its advantages and disadvantages. It is a great way to show every
nuance of the game and to show patterns like the one uncovered in the Sonic graph. You can
also get a sense of distance between the different game music objects. This can be very useful
in identifying Leitmotifs and discussing the content of closely related objects. One can imagine
when a game composer starts writing for a game, that he already has a grasp of the action and
environment of the game. A RTGSG represents which music object he put with which areas and
actions of the game. The downside of this kind of graph is the size that they can become. The
Sonic graph above, even though it only uses a few music objects, it will contain 24 or more lines,
as there are eight levels with three acts each. Video games for later systems have over a
hundred separate music objects, which can result in some very unwieldy graphs.
Music Object Relation Graph

Of a more manageable size, the Music Object Relation Graph (MORG) only shows each
music object once. The arrows then indicate which objects are directly connected to each other,
regardless of the games actions. A single-headed arrow from Object A to Object B shows that
the object can only move from A to B, and not the reverse. A double-headed arrow shows that
29
at some point in the game A can go to B, and at some other point, B can go to A. In this type of
score, it does not mean back and forth, but just that the possibility exists.
Figure 4.2: Music Object Relation Score Graph of Figure 4.1
Figure 4.2 shows the excerpt of the Sonic score reworked into a MORG. This provides a
different way of looking at certain aspects that might be of interest to an analyst. For example,
this chart shows us more clearly that the Invincibility object can occur adjacent to either the
Marble Zone object or the Green Hill Zone object. While this observation may seem quite
obvious on the Real Time Score graph, it might not be so clear with other games. Also note that
the Bonus object only occurs between the End Level object. That can be quite significant
depending on the music content of those objects, and could make for an interesting analytical
point of discussion.
This score concisely shows all the possible connections from one object to another,
which is one of the more interesting aspects of game music analysis. The MORG can be
misleading without the RTGSG because it alludes to possibilities that are not true. It would be
easy to see how a misinterpretation of this graph would imply that the Green Hill Zone object
could connect to the Invincibility object, and then go to the Marble Zone object. This path is not
30
possible as we know from the RTGSG. It is important to remember that the MORG shows
relationships, among the objects, not possible orders of experience. This illustrates why both
types of scores are important in analytical discussion about game music, each providing
different types of information to the analysis.
31
Chapter V
Form of Game Music
Though there are many different types of video games, from action, adventure, and
role-playing games to sports, fighting, and puzzle games, their fundamental score structures can
be compared to uncover similarities behind different game scores. In this chapter, we will only
look at RTGSGs when discussing form, since MORGs do not represent how the music is
presented in the game environment. Form is an accurate representation of how music is
experienced in a game. Though there is no clear separation of fundamental structure types in
game scores, in this chapter I will present a number of different kinds of forms encountered in
analyzing game scores.
Reduction in Real-Time Game Score Graphs

To obtain the underlying form, we have to utilize some basic reduction principles.
Instead of removing non-essential chords and prolonging harmonies, which is the standard for
analytical reduction in music, we will be removing non-essential music objects to uncover a
games fundamental form. For example, take Figure 5.1.
32
Figure 5.1: Sample Real-Time Score Graph Excerpt
It is very common to have a looping background object that is present throughout a

section of the game, and to have this object occasionally interrupted with event-triggered
objects, either looping or non-looping. These objects return to the ever-present background
object when they end or the event that triggered the object ends. In theory, some video games
can be played without any of these event-triggered objects occurring, if the player avoids them.
While these musical objects may be avoided, the background objects cannot be avoided. These
event-triggered objects are superseded by the more prevalent background objects. We can
then reduce this graph down to just the background objects, as shown in Figure 5.2.
Figure 5.2: Reduction of Figure 5.1
This reveals the core musical components of a game score graph and will uncover the
fundamental structure of a game score.
33
Linear Forms
As mentioned previously, one way in which video game music is interesting is in its nonlinearity. Every game has some aspect of non-linearity, but many games exhibit an underlying
linear fundamental structure. A linear video game score occurs in a defined sequence. Level by
level, and event by event, the game has only one course to follow, and the major musical
objects can only occur in a fixed order.
One such game is Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts, 2008) for Xbox 360,
Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Wii, Playstation Portable, and Nintendo DS. It was developed by
LucasArts, lead by Haden Blackman. The score was composed by Mark Griskey, and supervised
by Jesse Harlin, based on themes developed by John Williams. This section will reference the
game developed for Playstation 3, though all releases are similar.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (hereafter referred to as Force Unleashed) is an action
game where the player assumes control of Darth Vaders secret apprentice, Starkiller. As
Starkiller, the player proceeds through each level, destroying all enemies that come along. The
game proceeds through ten separate missions, each of which is bridged with a cinematic cut
scene that advances the story of the game.
34
Figure 5.3: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed RTGSG Reduction
As we noted in the games construction, the levels progress one after another with no
flexibility to the order and no choosing one level over another.31 While unpredictable game
elements such as the length a character stays in an area and the time certain game events take
place are still variable, the overall form of the game is a linear pattern. This graph shows that
after each level, a cut scene occurs, propelling the action into the next level and next music
object. These cut scenes are of a fixed length with a fixed music object.
31
It is possible to go to a previously completed level from the menu screen, but this requires all forward
motion in the game to stop. The game is designed to play out in a linear narrative, therefore this ability to
go back to previous worlds is not placed in the graph. Furthermore, the menu system in the game is void
of music, so transition to a previous world is not musically interesting because the silence that spans the
music objects is enough to make the transition analytically trivial.
35
Branching Forms: A Linear Subset

A type of linear form that is more diverse is a branching form. This form has a clear
beginning and end, but instead of one straight path there are multiple paths that branch off and
converge at different points throughout the game. An example of this form is given in Figure
5.4. While in this example, the player might have to visit all ten areas before completing the
game, the player must travel through various paths in the game to reach each location. The
music objects are not connected through any one object but branch out in several paths.
Though the composer might choose to utilize the same music object for different areas, a RealTime score graph must be representative of the order in which the objects are encountered. In
a Branching Form, the same object can be used frequently throughout, but the lack of a central
connecting area on the game map prohibits the graph from linking these areas together.
Figure 5.4: Example of a Branching Form
36
Pokmon (Nintendo, 1996), a game that spawned television shows, comic books,
collectible card games, and over twenty different video games, is a very popular version of this
game score form. Pokmon was released in Japan in 1996 and in North America in 1998. It was
conceived of and directed by Satoshi Taijri with music composed by Junichi Masuda. The player
controls the lead character in a Birds-eye view adventure, traveling through towns, caves, and
routes capturing Pokmon (player-controllable monsters) to battle other characters monsters.
The ultimate goal is to defeat eight gym leaders in order to gain access to the final area, Victory
Road, where the player faces the final battles of the game.
Figure 5.5 represents the branching form as it exists in Pokmon.32 Just after the
beginning, there is a branch from Viridian City going to Route 2 and Route 22. Though Route 22
takes the player to the final areas of the game, they are not accessible until first going through
all the other areas. I consider this type of form a subset of linear, because it has some of the
same qualities. The player must go through a particular set of music objects in order to reach a
goal. However, the difference in this form is that the order in which the player experiences each
music object is flexible, depending on the path that is chosen. Once all the paths are unlocked,
the player has freedom to wander the game world, but must experience the music objects in the
set orders defined by the branching paths.
32
The underground passageways that connect different musical objects through various caves have been
omitted in order to simplify the graph.
37
0- ,
!"!
# %
& '
(
..
'
* +
- %
Figure 5.5: Background RTGSG of Pokmon
Centric Forms
Linear forms are very common in games from the 8-bit era, but are less common now.
One of the most common form types that exists in video games, especially quest-based games
(action, role-playing, and adventure games) are centric forms. These forms resemble bicycle
spokes, where the entire game revolves around a single music object. This object is usually an
38
Overworld map or a menu system which is connected to the games other areas. Figure 5.6
shows a general example of a centric form score.
Figure 5.6: Example of a Centric Form
Centric forms can have other embedded centricities, but generally fall back to a single
object that serves as a main crossroads for the game. For example, in Figure 5.6, Area 4 object
is centric to the Area 5 object and the Town object, but the Area 4 object is centric to the Centric
object along with Area 1, 2, 3 and 6. The most important thing to note about this form is that
the centric object is directly connected to numerous other objects that exist in the game. The
analyst can then look at the various connections and see what the relationship of this central
object is to all the others connected to it, and how the game composer creates a sense of
connection and unity throughout the game.
39
Figure 5.7: Background RTGSG of Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo, 2007) is a prime example of a centric form. Published by
Nintendo for the Wii system, this game was designed by Yoshiaki Koizumi with music by Mahito
Yokota and Koji Kondo. The player controls the protagonist, Mario, in a three-dimensional
platform game in a quest to collect power stars.
Figure 5.7 shows the background RTGSG of Mario Galaxy. All the worlds in which Mario
travels to are connected to the Comet Observatory in the center of the graph. He then can
enter one of six hub areas to access the different galaxies in the game. The Comet Observatory
object serves as the centric object in this game. This is connected to each of the six hub objects
as well as twelve levels that are directly connected to the Comet Observatory. The Six hub
objects are each connected to four or five different levels, or galaxies, each with their own
unique object. Interestingly in this game, the Hub object is actually the same for each hub. The
40
Hub object is an ametric, atonal, ethereal object that destroys any sense of tonality from the
Comet Observatory, allowing the connecting level objects to transition into various keys without
regard for the Comet Observatory object.
Compound Forms
Some games have more complex structures that can be classified as combinations of the
forms listed above. I will present two such games here, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
(Nintendo, 1991) and Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo, 1988). Each of these games can be
expressed as a compound form. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past has two parallel centric
structures connected only at a couple of points, while Super Mario Bros. 3 has multiple centric
structures imbedded in a larger linear framework.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (hereafter referred to as Link to the Past) was
published by Nintendo for their Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Produced by
Shigeru Miyamoto with music by Koji Kondo, A Link to the Past is a Birds-eye view adventure
game where the player controls the main character Link on a quest to rescue Princess Zelda.
The quest involves traveling across the light world of Hyrule to three dungeons to gain access to
the Master Sword, the only item that can defeat the evil wizard. Upon defeat, the wizard sends
Link to the dark world, a parallel version of the light world, where he must travel to seven more
dungeons to gain the power to seal away the evil Ganon. Travel between the dark world and
the light world is limited.
41
Figure 5.8: Background RTGSG of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Figure 5.8 shows an extremely reduced version of the Link to the Past, highlighting the
overall dual structure. Each world has its own centric structure around the Light World object
on the left, and the Dark World object on the right. Since the map of the Light World and Dark
World are parallel to each other, there are many similarities between the objects. For example,
the Caves, Fairy Fountain, and Houses objects are the same in each world. The Light World and
Dark World dungeons each have their own music object, but are mirrored in the structure.
However, these two centric structures are only connected between the Light World and Dark
World objects, through the Warp object. This creates an overall dual-centric structure, where
two separate centric structures function independently of each other, but are connected at
some level between a small number of objects
Super Mario Bros. 3 (hereafter referred to as Mario 3), was also published by Nintendo,
designed by Shigeur Miyamoto, and has music composed by Koji Kondo. It was originally
released for the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan) in 1988. Like other games
in the series, the player controls the protagonist Mario through a platforming adventure. This
game is two dimensional and the action is side-scrolling.
42
Figure 5.9: Background RTGSG - Levels 1 and 2 of Super Mario Bros. 3
Figure 5.9 is a background RTGSG of the opening levels of Mario 3. After the opening
sequence, Mario starts out on the world one map which is connected to several different levels,
castles, and other surprise objects, each with their own music object. Once Mario has defeated
the Koopas Air Ship, he is then taken to the next world. This sequence is continued until
reaching World Eight, defeating the final boss King Koopa, and saving Princess Peach. Each
world is a centric structure, linking the brief world object to the music objects contained in each
of the levels. Though each world object is a centric form, the worlds connect to form an overall
linear progression from beginning to end.
We can even take this form one step further and add in the warp aspect to our graph. If
the player obtains the whistle object, a secret found in some of the levels, he can travel to
World 9, the warp world, and take a shortcut to a future level. This then would create a
branching form, where multiple paths could be taken to reach the same goal. However, in this
game, if the warp is taken, the player cannot go back to a previously visited level, unlike the
branching form explored in Pokmon.
These are just some of the primary forms that exist in video game scores. Different
genres of video games may exhibit other types of forms, but most games will fall into either a
Linear or Branching model, or a combination of the two. Understanding a games form can help
43
discuss similarities between the construction of different video games. Within the analysis of a
single game, the form can help shape the MORG of the game, and give us reference to an
analytical approach. A background linear form will lead to a background analysis similar to
diagramming the tonal scheme of a symphony, as the action happens along one directional
plane (either forwards or backwards). A background centric score will encourage an analysis
that focuses on networks and multiple simultaneous relationships. Both types will be explored
in the next chapter.
44
Chapter VI
Form and Analysis: Using Game Score Graphs as a Tool for Game Score Analysis
Up to this point, I have discussed various methods of score construction and possible
forms of video game scores. Using these ideas and techniques, I will examine three different
games in depth, showing how the models discussed in this thesis are important in the analysis of
video game scores. I will also show how analysis of the entire score can yield interesting
information about narrative aspects of that particular game.
The games chosen for this analysis are all from the Nintendo Entertainment System
(NES). Aside from my familiarity with this system, these games have been chosen because they
provide scores that are small enough to map and discuss in detail within the scope of this thesis.
They will allow me to take a look at entire game scores, not just small areas or the reduced
forms explored in the previous chapter. As mentioned in Chapter 2, the NES was only capable of
four simultaneous sounds. Three of these sounds were pitched and one was unpitched, used
for sound effects or percussion. However, even with these limitations, the games I will be
exploring here have incredible variety.
The analysis of Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, 1985) will present a basic analysis of a
simple linear game score, and explore the benefits of the RTGSG and MORG. The Legend of
Zelda analysis will explore the narrative connections uncovered through the examination of an
entire game score. Lastly, Final Fantasy (Nintendo, 1987) will show how illustrating the
relationships between music objects can uncover interesting key relationships in a centric game
score. Each game contributes something very different to the analysis of video game music.
45
The Harmonic Language of Early Video Games

Before beginning these analyses, I would like to discuss the tonal language of these
composers. There is much influence of western music, both art music and popular music, in the
tonal language of early video game composers. Much of the harmonic structure of the music
objects I will discuss can be understood in traditional diatonic analysis. However, there is a
noted influence of popular music harmonies in each of the games. The motions I discuss
frequently are the use of bVII as a dominant substitute, and the bVI-bVII-I cadence.
Walter Everetts discussion of tonal systems in Rock music provides a great explication
of the use of modal inflection in the language of popular music. He discusses six different tonal
systems that he believes are prominent in the tonal systems of Rock music. The system that is
dominant with the composers discussed here is his third system: Major-mode systems, or
modal systems, with mixture from modal scale degrees. Common-practice harmonic and voiceleading behaviors would be common but not necessary.33 This system allows for the
substitution of chords from modally inflected scale degrees to function as their diatonic
counterparts would.
For example, the music of the composers examined below frequently employ the
aeolian bVII chord functioning as a substitute for a more traditional dominant chord, such as V
or vii. The bVII can be heard as a dominant chord because it retains the motion from scale
degree four to scale degree three in a bVII-I progression. This is the same voice leading motion
that governs the voice leading in the V7-I motion. The bVII removes the leading tone, but
creates momentum through other voice leading tendencies.
33
Walter Everett, Making Sense of Rocks Tonal Systems, Music Theory Online Vol. 10, No. 4 (December
2004), http://mto.societymusictheory.org/issues/mto.04.10.4/mto.04.10.4.w_everett.html.
46
We see the bVI lead often to the bVII in cadential motion. Bjrnberg acknowledges this
cadential motion as frequently "replacing the iv-V-i cadence of regular tonal minor.34 We see
it often replace the IV-V-I cadence of regular tonal major as well. Not only that, but we also
see an example of bVI alternating with I. Both of these are normal functions of a vi chord:
substitution for the IV chord in a predominant function, as well as the expansion of a tonic area.
The bVI makes a good substitute for vi because it retains the tonic pitch and interval relationship
in size (though not quality). Its third relationship to tonic allows it to continue to function as a
tonic embellishment. It functions in the cadence because it allows for a descending third
progression from the lowered third scale degree. These modal chords retain the function of
their diatonic counterparts, and can be understood as functioning like those chords, even
though some of the voice leading conventions are removed or altered.
Analysis of Super Mario Bros.35

Super Mario Bros. (hereafter referred to as Mario) launched the Nintendo
Entertainment System into widespread popularity with its simple side-scrolling game play,
imaginative worlds, and hidden secrets. Developed from the creative mind of Shigeru
Miyamoto with music composed by Koji Kondo, Mario was one of the first games to have a
continuous soundtrack throughout the entire game. Its main theme is perhaps the most wellknown video game tune in the world.
Mario is an adventure game, which has a narrative goal. The players character, Mario,
travels across eight levels with four areas each in search of the princess, who was captured by
34
Alf Bjrnberg, On Aeolian Harmony in Contemporary Popular Music, Typescript,

http://www.tagg.org/others/bjbgeol.html.
35
All the musical examples used throughout this section were transcribed by the author from the video
games original music tracks.
47
the evil Bowser. While the first three areas could be of various types (overworlds, underworlds,
water worlds), the fourth area of each level is always a fight through Bowsers castle. The game
is a side-scrolling platformer, meaning that the action is mostly jumping from platform to
platform, in a horizontal motion, with the screen scrolling through the world with the character.
The game consists of eleven separate sound objects. Four of these objects are
background objects, which are the objects in the background of a level, looping throughout.
Two other looping objects interject during the game when a certain condition is met. The other
five music objects are non-looping and are triggered by events. This analysis will present the
overall structure of the music in the entire game by examining each object separately, then
looking at the game as a whole.
The primary music object in the game is also the longest and most varied harmonically
and formally. There are four thematic areas, labeled in Figure 6.1 as A, B, C, and D. Theme A is
the principal theme, B and D serve as episodes, as in a rondo form, and the unstable C bridges
the episodes back to A. The variety in this form is in the third hearing of theme D at the end of
the object. Since the object begins with the last measure of C, the C to A expectation is set up
after two hearings, but once D goes to A the third time, the expectation is destroyed. This
creates the variety that Kondo needed to keep this loop from sounding too repetitive.
Kondo frequently uses the bVI and bVII chords in his objects, borrowed chords
commonly used in Western popular music. These chords are used in this object as cadential
motion in theme B, adding color and a sense of modal ambiguity. By borrowing these chords,
Kondo replaces diatonically minor chords with major chords, contributing to the playfulness of
the tune. More conventionally diatonic chords such as the minor supertonic or the diminished
48
leading tone triad are non-existent, and the presence of the minor submediant in the D section
can be debated.
Figure 6.1: Overworld Theme from Super Mario Bros.
The Underworld object, the second background object, is monophonic, with a highly
chromatic nature, adding to the darkness of these underworld areas. Figure 6.2 shows this
object with an Analytical graph included. The implied G is included as the chromatic descent
implies resolution to G. The ^5 to ^1 motion is also felt strongly when the object loops. With
the initial structural pitches outlining a ^1 to ^4 motion, the implied ^5 to ^1 at the loop
49
identifies C as tonic. This is made to sound even more dissonant due to tritone motions, the
outline of C augmented triad, and chromatic prefix embellishments.
Figure 6.2: Underworld Object from Super Mario Bros.
The third background object, Waterworld Object (Figure 6.3), is largely unremarkable. It
is a C major waltz with harmonies that are largely tonic and dominant, with some passing and
neighbor motion. It is much longer than the Underworld object, consisting of eight four-bar
phrases, though nowhere near the length of the Overworld Object.
Figure 6.3: Waterworld Object from Super Mario Bros.
The Castle object (Figure 6.4), the final background object of each level, lacks a tonal
center; however, it has some tonal roots. The upper voices are essentially minor triads (G
minor, G-flat minor, and B-flat minor) decorated with quick neighbor tones. Notice how the
50
bass voice is largely dissonant with these triads, with only the D in the first measure lining up
with any chord. This dissonance between these two parts creates tension and anxiety, reflecting
the challenges the player faces in these castle areas.
Figure 6.4: Castle Object from Super Mario Bros. and Upper Voice Reduction
These four background objects form the core of the games musical substance, but
there are a number of event-triggered objects that need to be taken into consideration when
performing an analysis of the score. Two of these objects are considered Victory objects. The
first object is the Area Clear object, shown in Figure VI.5. When you complete one of the first
three areas in each level, this music object is heard. The ascending triplets outline the chord
progression used in the B theme of the Overworld Object. Having heard it used as a cadence
frequently in that object, it is now heard as a cadence of the area, musically signaling area
completion.
Figure VI.5: Area Clear Object from Super Mario Bros. With Harmonic Analysis
The second victory object, Level Clear (Figure 6.6), is the inverse of the Area Clear
object. It is played at the end of each level, once you defeat the castle. It uses descending
triplets to outline an ascending progression from I to V through an ascending whole step
51
motion, cadencing in G. The harmonic rhythm speeds up as you reach the cadence point. There
is also a sense that the bVI - bVII - I cadence is occurring here in the context of G major, creating
a cadence on G like in the Area Clear object. It is important to note that this object tonicizes G
major, unlike the other objects discussed thus far.
Figure 6.6: Level Clear Object from Super Mario Bros. With Harmonic Analysis
The next three objects mark death or indicate impending doom. The 100-Second object
(Figure 6.7) alerts the player that there are only 100 seconds left in the time limit of the level.
This short fanfare consists of ascending diminished seventh chords which cadence on V of C
major. The music then reverts back to the background object playing at the time, but played
twice as fast.
Figure 6.7: 100-Second Object from Super Mario Bros.
When a player dies, the Death Object (Figure 6.8) plays. This is the very last measure of
the Overworld Object. This perfect authentic cadence provides closure for that particular life.
The timbre used is different to distinguish it from the Overworld Object, but the pitches are all
the same.
52
Figure 6.8: Death Object from Super Mario Bros.
When a player loses all lives, he is treated to the Game Over object (Figure 6.9) that
begins just like phrase A of the Overworld Object, though slower. It continues harmonically like
that phrase to IV, but then uses a tritone substitution of the dominant harmony to generate a
dominant-functioning bII chord. The half step approach to tonic from above has not yet been
heard in this game and serves as an indication that the player has lost all chances of completing
the game.
Figure 6.9: Game Over Object from Super Mario Bros. With Harmonic Analysis
The two remaining objects to discuss are positive markers. The first is a short loop that
plays when your character gains invincibility (Figure 6.10). This Invincibility Object loop is a
repetition of a D minor-minor seventh chord and a C major-major seventh chord. These
harmonies have their roots in jazz music and are accompanied by upbeat jazz-inspired rhythms.
This reinforces the invincibility power as a positive state in the game.
53
Figure 6.10: Invincibility Object from Super Mario Bros.
The final object occurs when you beat the final boss. The Final Victory object loop
(Figure 6.11) is a typical diatonic progression. It goes along with the sense of victory of finally
rescuing the Princess. It is a classical progression that could come straight out of a Haydn sonata
were it not for its parallel fifths and octaves, and carries the noble character that is associated
with courtly music.
Figure 6.11: Final Victory Object from Super Mario Bros.
Figure 6.12 graphs the primary music material used for the first level of Mario. Koji
Kondo had very little to work with in terms of space on the games cartridge, so we see that
there is not much diversity in level one. Level one alone shows a simple linear form to the
games score. As every level has the same basic structure (though sometimes changing the
configuration of the first three areas), the entire game would map out as a linear structure,
similar to the Star Wars example in Chapter V.
+
&
Figure 6.12: Reduction of the RTGSG for Level 1 of Super Mario Bros.
54
Figure 6.13 shows us all the musical events that can happen within each primary music
event per area in level one. Once we begin adding all the other music objects that occur within
any given area or level, we begin to see how expansive a game score can become.
Figure 6.13: RTGSG of Level One in Super Mario Bros.
The full RTGSG of Mario does not get much more interesting than Figure 6.13.
However, it is important to take note on how quickly the musical surface expanded when taking
into account all the music object possibilities. The variety of sounds a player can experience in
one level continues to break up the monotony of hearing the same background loop over and
over again.
As noted in earlier chapters, both the RTGSG and the MORG are important in the
analysis of a game score. The RTGSG for Mario allows us to understand the structure of the
games score, and to see the ways in which the composer created diversity within the confines
of the technology of the NES. Though the full RTGSG is not used here, it can be useful in
moment-to-moment analysis, helping to understand a certain event or instance in the game and
how those instances relate to other things happening at the same time.
More interesting to the Mario analysis is the MORG. This graph shows us how each
music object is related to the other music objects in the game. The three event-triggered
objects in the center (Invincibility, 100 Seconds, and Death) are shared by all background objects
(with the exception that you cannot obtain invincibility within the Castle object). These objects
55
must be able to transition from the keys of the background looping objects without being too
disturbing. Since most objects have a C centricity to them, this is very easy.
* +
5
))
6 /
&
+
7
Figure 6.14: Complete MORG for Super Mario Bros.
This also shows how the Overworld object is always a point of return before clearing an
area. In fact, the area clear object serves an interesting harmonic purpose. Not only does it
reinforce tonic, but it relates to a set of harmonies that are only found in the Overworld Object.
The only time the Area Clear object is not followed by some part of the Overworld Object is right
before a castle. This transition is really dissonant, which parallels the tension felt going into the
Castle area. Recall also that the Level Clear object is the only object that cadences on V. This
object is always followed by the Overworld Object, which quickly affirms a V to I motion from
the Level Clear object to the Overworld object.
With such limitations put on him by the technology and the repetitive design of the
game, Kondo had very little choice but to unify the key center of all his music objects. Only
56
those objects that occur within a fixed order could vary from the tonic. Only the Level Clear and
Overworld Intro objects could end on a half cadence, because the following objects would
always begin in the home key C. All other objects had to fit into a C-centric world to create a
unified musical experience.
Analysis of The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda has been one of Nintendos most popular series, having at least one
game on every major Nintendo home console system. The first game in the series, The Legend
of Zelda (hereafter referred to as Zelda), was also developed by Shigeru Miyamoto with music
composed by Koji Kondo, and has a very different structure than Mario.
In Zelda, the player controls the main character, Link, on a quest to save Princess Zelda
from the evil clutches of Ganon. Link must travel through the land of Hyrule, in a Birds-eye view
adventure, visiting eight dungeons to capture the hidden pieces of the Triforce, an object which
bestows great power that has been scattered across the world. Aside from using his sword to
defeat the enemies, Link acquires many objects and treasures to complete his quest. Once all
eight pieces of the Triforce are collected, Link travels to a ninth dungeon where he must face
and defeat Ganon to save the Princess and the land of Hyrule.
57
Figure 6.15: RTGSG of The Legend of Zelda
This analysis will be approached differently, in that I will pay more attention to the
relationships of the games music objects to the games events. I am also going to forgo the
MORG for Zelda as the RTGSG is small enough to gather all the information necessary. We will
start by looking at the full RTGSG of Zelda (Figure 6.15).
This game only has three main looping background objects to consider. It is very
difficult to label a particular form on this model. It could be considered centric around the
Overworld object, but could also be seen as a branching form. Due to the nature of the game
play itself, I will call this a centric form. Every time a goal is reached, the music returns to the
Overworld object, except for the final game sequence at the defeat of Level 9. If each dungeon
were to have a different music object, there would be many more connections to the Overworld
object that would make its centricity more apparent.
Unlike Mario where every object was related to C in some way, Zelda has more variety,
which is possible due to the layout of the game score. The Title object (heard when the game is
powered on) and the Overworld object (played throughout all parts of the Hyrule overworld) are
both in a modally inflected Bb Major. The modal inflections are from the Bb minor mode, as Db,
58
Gb, and Ab are frequently used throughout these pieces to color the progressions. By utilizing
these pitches, this object almost exclusively consists of major triads, especially in the opening
phrases. The significance of this will be discussed below.
The Dungeon object, heard in each of the eight dungeons containing pieces of the
triforce, is a highly chromatic G minor object. The fact that this is in a chromatic, somewhat
dissonant, G minor, sets up a good-versus-evil relationship with the Overworld object by
contrasting mostly major harmonies in Bb Major against the G minor and chromatic sounds in
the Dungeon object.
From a theoretical and aesthetic angle, the transition between the keys of these two
objects is a relatively smooth one due to the third relationship between the two tonics. Also,
even though the quality of major and minor is highly obscured in these two objects, the sense of
relative keys exists due to the prominence of the Bb Major triad and G minor triad at the
beginning of these two objects. It should not be ignored that from the Overworld object to the
Dungeon object, there is a descent of a third and the music becomes more chromatic. This adds
to the sense of descent into a dark, chaotic area. While the music of the Overworld consists of
frequent rising major scale segments, the Dungeon is littered with descending semitones and
chromatic lines. The Overworld is always going up, while the dungeon music is always going
down, just like the character walks down into the dungeon and up out of it. Similar to
composers utilizing word painting in their songs, game composers can call upon musical
elements to do the same thing with the game environment, as seen here.
One of the few linear paths in this score occurs at the completion of a dungeon, where
the Triforce Piece Catch object plays through before returning to the Overworld object. By
understanding how the Triforce Piece Catch object fits between these musical objects, it is
59
easier to analyze how this object functions within the whole score. The bass line of the Triforce
object is a direct reduction of the bass line from the dungeon theme. The top two lines take the
two main motives from the Overworld object and transpose them to fit the key. At end of bar
one, the sense of G minor is quickly changed to G major at the first ascent and the sense of
conquest is conveyed as all three voices join in the triplet gesture associated with the Overworld
theme.
Connected to the major background objects are the various event-triggered objects in
this game. The Treasure Catch object, which occurs whenever Link finds or buys something,
begins on an F Major triad and chromatically ascends to Ab Major. This is not a jarring musical
object because it fits so well with both the Overworld and Underworld objects. In the context of
the Overworld, F major is the dominant of the tonic Bb, and the Ab is found in the second
measure of the Overworld theme (a bVII sonority, seen also in Mario). In the Dungeon object,
the exact opposite relationship occurs. This time the F major triad serves as the bVII of the tonic
key of G minor, while the Ab harmony transitions back into the Dungeon object by a semitone
descent, functioning as a tritone substitution for the dominant.
The movement from the Overworld to Level 9 is a pivotal moment in this score, as the
central pitch moves from Bb up to C. Since Level 9 is the final dungeon, the G centricity of all the
other dungeons can serve as a dominant motion to the tonic of the final dungeon. Though
victory has not yet been achieved, the rise from Bb to C indicates progress along the games
narrative. The C centricity of this object is cluttered with diminished chords and tritones, which
have not yet been heard to such extent in this game. At the completion of this dungeon, the
Zelda Rescue object is heard which completes the progression to C Major as the Level 9 music is
60
conquered and the game ends. If C is the ultimate goal of the games score, then the Bb of the
Overworld could be read as a bVII dominant substitution.
The Whistle object is the only diegetic music object in this game. When the whistle item
is played, the main character is whisked away to the entrance of a previously visited dungeon.
The Whistle object, though short, can be perceived as being in B minor, which is so distantly
related to any of the prevailing keys in this score that it gives a sense of displacement, which
mimics the whistle items powers to displace the character from his current location to another
location in the games map.
One object I have intentionally ignored until now is the Game Over object. I think it is
best appreciated when the full key relationships of the rest of the score has been explored. Note
that the Game Over object is connected to all of the three major background objects:
Overworld, Dungeon, and Level 9. Analytically, the Game Over object could be understood as a
C-centric or G-centric key. However, in context with the Overworld and Dungeon objects, Game
Over can be heard as being primarily in G (especially considering all the modal borrowing
occurring in the Overworld object). This object also appears to have a G centricity due to the
initial pitch of G and the relationship between the final and first pitches (D to G, a dominant to
tonic motion). Remember, since this clip is looped (as indicated by the oval enclosure on the
score map in Figure 6.15), the last note is always followed immediately by the first note.
Provided that the player has been sufficiently exposed to the Game Over object, even in Level 9
its G-centric nature prevails, especially as a dominant related key instead of relative minor.
The Game Over object is associated with failure or defeat, being heard when the
players character dies. This object shares the same descending semitone motive that is found in
the Dungeon object, which is associated with evil and impending doom. It also shares the tonic
61
with the Dungeon object. The use of the motive and tonal language in both of these objects ties
them together in the game score as music objects conveying evil and death. However, at the
completion of the game, even the Game Over music is transformed into the C major End Game
object with the introduction of a C-centric bass line. With the addition of jazzy rhythms and
embellishments, the Dungeon chromatic motive is weakened, creating the End Game object.
The game either ends with the Game Over object or the End Game object, both sharing the
same phrase which can be understood as the end of the adventure signal.
The transformation of the Game Over melody into the triumphant End Game music is
symbolic of conquering death or defeating all evil. Along with the triumph of the Zelda Rescue
object over the Level 9 object, it creates an overall sense of triumph at the completion of the
game. Though the score is not linear, there is a clear overall progression from beginning to end
that enhances the narrative understanding of the game.
While it has little to do with the focus of this thesis, the triplet gesture in this score is a
very important one. An examination of the music shows that the triplet is always used during
moments of adventure and triumph. The Treasure, Triforce, and Overworld objects all contain a
triplet as its primary motive. Most of all, the Zelda Rescue object is nothing but a triplet. The
objects associated with evil, the Ganon and Underworld objects, both try to conquer the triplet.
The underworld object stretches it out into quarter-note triplets, while the Ganon object uses
eighth notes on the fourth beat, instead of triplets as one might expect (such as in the Treasure
object).
62
Analysis of Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy was video game publisher Squares final attempt at success in the video
game market. This title helped turn the company around, and the Final Fantasy franchise
continues to dominate the market. There are over twelve iterations in the Final Fantasy series,
as well as many spin-off series (including Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and Final Fantasy
Tactics), Japanese animated shows, and various feature films. Elements of Final Fantasy titles
can also be found in the Kingdom Hearts series, including music objects and characters. The
music of the game contributed to its success, with a simple melodic style that is very
memorable.
Designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi with music composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Final
Fantasy is a traditional turn-based role playing game. The player controls a character or party of
characters to explore a world, obtaining items in a quest to save the world from the impending
evil. In a turn-based system, battles do not occur in real time. Instead, you give a command to
each member of your party, then watch as the two sides exchange blows. This is repeated until
all the enemies are defeated. In Final Fantasy, you control a party of four characters of differing
character classes chosen by the player at the beginning of the game (fighter, black belt, thief,
and white, black or red mage). The player journeys from location to location on a large
Overworld map to acquire the four orbs that will save the world from destruction. At any time
on the field or in caves or dungeons, you can be thrown into a battle.
The game consists of twenty-three separate sound objects. Four of these objects are
non-looping, occurring frequently at triggered events throughout the game. The other nineteen
objects are background objects for certain locations, events, or menus in the game. The sound
objects are listed and broken down in Table 6.1.
63
Table 6.1: Table of Music Objects found in Final Fantasy
Location Objects
Overworld
Town
Shop
Castle
Temple
Cave
Dungeon
Tunnel
Floating Castle
Chaos
At Sea
In the Air
Looping
Event Objects Menu Objects
Prologue
Menu
Battle
Prelude (Party Arrange)
Victory
Defeat
End Credits
Non Looping
Chest
Story
Progress
Heal
Inn Stay
In an effort to minimize the confusion introducing the complete RTGSG from the
beginning, I will address each of these four categories of sound objects individually, and
gradually incorporate them into the full score of the game. Figure 6.16 shows the location
objects only in a RTGSG.
Figure 6.16: RTGSG of Location Object in Final Fantasy
64
Like in many games, the location objects are a core component to the Final Fantasy
score. In Final Fantasy, all but two objects are directly connected to the Overworld object. As is
apparent from Figure 6.16, these objects form the basis of a centric form in Final Fantasy. When
the composer chooses or is required to have one music object for the Overworld, he is forced to
consider how each area is going to relate tonally to that object. One obvious solution is to use
the same tonal center, or to use parallel and dominant relationships to add variety, while
maintaining a sense of continuity throughout the score. However, Uematsu takes it one step
further to increase the tonal variety in this game, which ends up being quite a lengthy quest. He
also chooses some tonal centers that are less closely related to create a more dissonant
transition with some Event Objects.
The relationships that Uematsu explores between the location objects can be discussed
using transformational operations common to Neo-Riemannian theory.36 These transformations
are based on the retention of common tones and moving voices by steps in order to move from
one harmony to the next. A relative (R) transformation applied to a major chord transforms the
chord to its relative minor. Inversely, R applied to a minor chord goes to its relative major. A
Leading-Tone exchange (L) transformation applied to a major chord produces the minor chord a
major third higher (i.e. C major becomes e minor). This is also an inverse operation (L applied to
e minor becomes C major). The parallel (P) transformation alternates between major and minor
triads of the same root.
36
For more information on Neo-Riemannian theory, consult the Journal of Music Theory, volume 42
65
Figure 6.17: RTGSG of Location Objects: Keys and Neo-Riemannian Transformation Indicated
These transformations can then be extrapolated to a higher level to talk about keys that
are closely related as all their fundamental triads are related though these transformations.
Figure 6.17 adds key centers and transformational relationships to the RTGSG of the location
objects.
The closeness of all the keys to G Major is apparent in Figure 6.17, as no more than
three transformations are used to get to any key (ignore the F major objects for a moment). The
Tunnel and Dungeon objects can be understood as parallel minor versions of the dominant and
subdominant of the central key G major, and the Castle and Town objects are those dominant
and subdominant keys. The Temple and Cave objects are the closest to G major from a
transformational view point.
66
Figure 6.18: Keys from Figure 6.17 Mapped on Tonnetz
Neo-Riemannian theory has a tool called a Tonnetz, or tone net, to look at these kinds of
relationships graphically.37 Figure 6.18 uses this Tonnetz to show how closely related all the
keys are. Each side of the triangle represents a transformation: horizontal is P transformation,
South-West to North-East lines represent R transformation, and the remaining lines represent L
transformation. In this Tonnetz, the plus and minus indications represent major and minor
chords. In some sources, traditional Riemannian labeling is used where the minor chords are
spelled top-down (such that an A minor chord would be spelled A, F, D). However, this figure
retains conventional bottom-up spelling for both chord qualities. This figure, uses the star shape
to represent each location object being discussed here.
There are a few interesting aspects about this chart that I will point out. When
considering transformational relationships, G Major is closely related to all keys it directly
transitions to except for F major, the key of the Sea and Airship objects (note that the Floating
Castle object is not in a key at all). Instead of looking at these objects transformationally, we
37
An introduction of the Tonnetz as it applies to Neo-Riemannian theory can be seen in Richard Cohn,
Introduction to Neo-Riemannian Theory: A Survey and a Historical Perspective, Journal of Music Theory
42, No. 2 (Autumn 1998): 167-180.
67
need to understand them in the context of the game play. The Sea and Airship objects are
played when your characters board a vehicle (boat or airship) to travel around the Overworld
map. In that respect, these objects occur in the same location as the Overworld Object, but
under different circumstances. However, due to game mechanics, these vehicles can only be
accessed on the Overworld and return to the Overworld.
In a sense, these two objects are embedded within the Overworld object and can be
interpreted as such. As we have seen frequently in the game music discussed here, we can
understand F as a bVII of G major, possessing a dominant relationship to the key of G. So
instead of arguing for a four-step transformation from G to F, it is best to understand the Sea
and Airship objects as in a dominant key of the Overworld object.
The Chaos object is the only location object in a key outside of the related keys to the
overworld. It is in G# minor, which is related to the E major it is connected to through a PR
transformation. However, it is outside the geometrical area in the Tonnetz that is outlined by
the other keys in the game. This will become more significant as we add more musical objects
to the graphs.
There are only five looping event objects, and three of them are linked throughout the
game. The other two, Prologue and End Credits, occur only once in the entire game. The
prologue occurs right after you complete your first goal, and is surrounded on both sides by the
Overworld object. It, like the Sea and Airship objects, is in F Major and can be understood as a
bVII dominant to the G Major Overworld object. The End Credits Object is in G major. This is
the last object heard in the game. It follows the final boss battle of the game and firmly
establishes G Major as the primary key of the Final Fantasy score.
68
The other three objects are linked together in the Battle Sequence. In Figure 6.18, we
see two keys that are not used in the location objects that, if used, would form a hexagon figure
with all keys related to the Overworld object, excluding the travel key. Those two keys are
found in the battle sequence, the most heard segments of music throughout the entire game,
shown in Figure 6.19.
Figure 6.19: RTGSG of the Battle Sequence from Final Fantasy
The Battle Object is in G minor, the parallel to the Overworld object. The Victory object
is in E-flat Major, an L transformation of G minor, and always follows a successful win over the
enemies. The use of the L transformation prevents any definitive close to the battle, as a
dominant-tonic relationship would. Instead, it propels the motion further with closely related
keys from a transformational standpoint. The Defeat object is in d minor, creating an overall
sense of irresolution, especially since the object lacks F sharp completely. On a large scale, the d
minor has no tendency to lead back to the home key of G major without the raised seventh
scale degree. It possesses the fifth relationship with the home key, as if you are in a position to
resolve, but no longer have the ability to do so. On a more localized level, the relationship
between the Battle object and the Defeat object can be viewed as a subdominant to tonic
relationship. Even though the Defeat object contains a strong perfect authentic cadence, this
relationship from G minor to D minor undermines the strength of the closure, further
emphasizing the irresolvable quality to this relationship.
69
Every location object can contain this battle sequence, except for the Airship object.
Adding this sequence, along with the Prologue and End Credits objects, our RTGSG is getting a
bit unwieldy (Figure 6.20). Note that the Battle Sequence indicator on the score refers to the
sequence in Figure 6.19.
8
(
5
2
8
Figure 6.20: RTGSG of Location and Looping Event Objects from Final Fantasy
To further our discussion of key relationships, it is important to begin to incorporate the

MORG of Final Fantasy into the discussion. Using the RTGSG, we can create a MORG of Final
Fantasy to show exactly how the objects relate to each other without looking at so many
repetitions of the same thing. This is shown in Figure 6.21.
70
Figure 6.21: MORG of Location and Looping Event Objects from Final Fantasy
Now the key relations become really interesting. All location objects, except for Chaos,
relate back to the Overworld object, and all location objects also relate to the Battle Sequence.
Going to the battle sequence is not difficult to explain. Since the Battle Sequence begins in G
minor, a P transformation can be applied to whatever transformation sequence relates locations
back to the Overworld Object. What is more interesting, and more difficult to relate, is the
Victory Object in Eb returning to the battle locations key.
In Figure 6.22, the squares represent the objects from the Battle Sequence. We could
posit a number of different explanations for each key relation of the Battle Sequence to the
Location objects, from secondary bVII chords to a string of common tone key relationships.
However, it is worth noting here all the different key transitions that take place, and how tightly
71
centered all the keys are within the Tonnetz. Even though it sticks out above the graph
seemingly out of place, the g# minor Chaos object, through enharmonic respelling, can function
as the resolution of the Eb Victory object when the Victory object transitions to the Chaos
object. Victory object to Chaos objects is a simple fifth relationship.
Figure 6.22: Keys of Objects from Figure 6.21 Mapped on a Tonnetz
Figure 6.23: General RTGSG for Most Location Objects in Final Fantasy
There are only two looping menu objects to add to our score. Both are in Bb, and
interestingly enough, both can occur within any location object. The Menu object occurs when
you press the start button and the Party Arrange or Select object occurs when you press the
select button. The Select Object also occurs when you turn on the game, before entering the
72
Overworld for the first time. Figure 6.23 shows how these objects, along with the battle
sequence, relate to many of the location objects (represented by an asterisk) in Final Fantasy.
The MORG would show the Menu and Select objects linking to all the same objects that
the Victory object does. Since these two keys lie opposite one another on the central G axis of
the Tonnetz, this would create a mirror image of all the connections from the Victory object to
the location objects.
Final Fantasy also has four non-looping objects that are all triggered by events. The
Chest object occurs any time you open a chest and find something useful inside. It is an
ascending Eb Augmented arpeggio. By moving a pitch of the Eb Augmented triad by a half step
or two, you can form the primary triad of many of the objects that this object connects to. For
example, you can lower the B to Bb to get Eb Major, or raise the Eb to E and get E minor. The
Story Progress object occurs any time you gain an important item in the quest or complete a
quest objective. This object is a G-major fanfare that relates to all objects just like the
Overworld object does. Both of these objects are connected to all location objects except the
Overworld, Sea, or Airship objects. The Heal object is heard whenever the players character
uses a spell that recovers health, occurring within a battle or in the menu only. It is a quick Bb
Major flurry, the same key as the Menu object. Shown connected to the Battle object, it is
understood as the relative major, indicating a good action within the confines of the g minor
battle.
Finally, the Inn Stay object occurs whenever the player is in the inn (which plays the
Shop object) and selects to stay at the inn. It also occurs when the player uses a heathrestoring-game-saving object in the Menu (such as a tent). This object has interesting tonal
relationships that deserve extra examination. This object is in the distant key of A major. This is
73
distant from our home key of G major, but just an LP transformation from the C major shop
object. When considering the relationship with the menu object, a very interesting voiceleading situation occurs, making the A Major object transition to the Bb Major smoothly. Since
this object is non-looping, we know that the object has a clear ending and will be followed by
the beginning of the object it is connected to. 38 Though the Inn Stay object is in A-Major, only
the first and final chords are native to the key. The other chords are F and G Major, or bVI and
bVII in A. The Inn Stay objects outer voices can be heard to resolve to the Bb at the beginning
of the Menu object. Figure 6.24 shows the two-bar Inn Stay object followed by the first
measure of the Menu object, with a harmonic analysis and the voice leading highlighted.
Figure 6.24: Inn Stay Object and First Measure of Menu Object from Final Fantasy
38
This is true for this game, and many games on earlier systems. Since then, it is common for non-looping
objects to just interrupt on top of the looping object it is connected to, returning to the looping object
where it left off or at a point that makes it seem as if the looping object never stopped.
74
+ :
:
5
39
7 2:
!
;
:
8
( .
Figure 6.25: Complete RTGSG of Final Fantasy
The number of objects in Final Fantasy is quite limited compared to games from later
generations, but it can still produce a number of interesting relationships. Figure 6.25 shows us
the entire RTGSG of Final Fantasy. This clearly shows, even without reduction, how most
objects in this game stem from the Overworld object. This graph is useful if we wanted to
examine particular game areas, such as the interaction of objects with the Town object, or the
distance in game time from one object to another. For example, this RTGSG shows how distant
in time the End Credits object is from other objects, such as the Tunnel. Even though they are
related closely in key, the number of objects apart is apparent in this diagram. When looking at
75
a MORG of this game, that distance is not as pronounced. Since the Battle Sequence is attached
to so many objects, it would seem as if the End Credits were just as close those objects as the
Battle Sequence. That is why having both the RTGSG and the MORG of a game is useful in
analysis, as they allow different kinds of relationships to be uncovered. In contrast to the
RTGSG, the MORG is wonderful for looking at key relationships over the entire game. The
complete MORG for Final Fantasy is presented in Figure 6.26.
39
:
7 2:
2
!
:
;
( .
+ :
Figure 6.26: Complete MORG of Final Fantasy
By presenting each object only once in this graph, we can see the various relationships
more clearly, especially in the objects that happen more than once throughout the game.
Continuing our use of the Tonnetz, Figure 6.27 presents all the keys found in Final Fantasy
mapped out, with the exception of objects based on non-tonal harmonies (such as the Eb
76
Augmented Chest object). Stars represent the locations objects, squares the event triggered
loops, circles are the menu objects, and diamonds represent the non-looping objects. This
shows a solid core foundation centered on G throughout the objects, with three keys outside
this key cluster, each one having a different reason for existing in the tonal landscape of Final
Fantasy, which has been explored previously.
Figure 6.27: Complete Tonnetz of Keys in Final Fantasy
The RTGSG showed us clearly that this score is not linear; however, there is a linear path
that emerges in the analysis of this game, when the game is thought of from the start of the
story to the end. The game begins with the opening menu in Bb, which serves as an
introduction or pick-up object into the game proper, beginning in the Overworld. Throughout
the game you visit each location in some order, always returning to the Overworld object before
going to the next object. It is as if the entire game could be reduced down to the Overworld
object, since the player is always returning to it.
77
Figure 6.28: Graph of Final Fantasy Tonal Path
Eventually you end up in the final level, the final departure from the Overworld object,
going from G Major, to the e minor Temple object, then quickly to the g# minor Chaos object.
The next step in the game is to engage in the final battle sequence, where we hear the g minor
Battle Music and the Eb Major victory fanfare. This all ends in the G major End Credits object.
This prose reduction can be charted as it is in Figure 6.28.
The B in the soprano is our constant pitch throughout the game, while the bass is
defined by a movement up a half step and down a half step. This underscores the half-step
transformations from one key to another through this game. Taking this one step further, the
g# minor can be understood as a tritone substitution for D Major, the dominant of G Major, a
common jazz technique. The overall motion in this game, embellished with modal inflections, is
Tonic-Dominant-Tonic.
Through analysis of Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy, I have
shown three different ways of approaching video game analysis. Mario showed how an objectby-object analysis can reveal interesting harmonic similarities through a game. The RTGSG and
MORG for Mario helped us understand the possible paths each of the objects can take and their
limitations. This uncovered some unique and direct relationships between objects. Zelda
showed how key relationships can mirror and enhance the narrative understanding of the game,
by showing the overall progression of keys from the beginning to the end of the game. This
78
narrative reading of the game score also uncovered interesting motivic relationships that have
explanations within the story of the game. These relationships were much easier to depict with
the RTGSG. Lastly, Final Fantasy showed how more complex games have a vast array of keys
and relationships that can be explored. Final Fantasy demonstrated the need for both the
RTGSG and MORG as tools for game score analysis, and also demonstrated various
understandings of a games form on various structural levels.
The analysis of video games can take place in many different ways, depending on what
the goal of the analysis is. Though three separate games were explored here, they demonstrate
different levels of analysis that can be considered when approaching a video game score. Mario
is the first stage, a simple surface level, object by object analysis discovering the basic structure
of a game and its objects relationships. Zelda is the next step, incorporating non-musical
information into the analysis, such as the games narrative content. Final Fantasy touches the
surface of a deeper analysis of a games score by exploring the ideas of an overall key for a
piece. Final Fantasy takes a look at structural levels in a video game score, and uncovers the
background representation of the games music. These ideas are just some of the starting
points for analyzing a video game score.
79
Chapter VII
Suggestions for Further Research
The beginning of chapter four quoted Alex Stockburger definition of a video game score.
He defines the score as a number of sound objects that belong to the non-diegetic part of the
game environment.39 Early on in this thesis, I explored the idea that a video game score
consists of all music objects within a game. By the end of this thesis, I have expanded the
definition to not only include all the music objects, but to incorporate the arrangement of the
music objects within the game.
Due to the non-linear nature of video game music, game music analysis requires extra
theoretical tools to fully understand a games score. It was necessary to explore the creation of
game score graphs, reflecting both real-time action and the general relationships of musical
objects. This developed into the RTGSG and MORG presented in this thesis. These graphs are
then applied to various video games in order to explore the concept of form in video game
music. Using the RTGSG and MORG, along with some existing theoretical ideas, three video
games were analyzed in detail, reflecting three different ways, or three different stages of game
score analysis. Video game score analysis reveals many interesting aspects of video game
construction, tonal relationships, and narrative impact. There is much more that video game
analysis can contribute to the understanding of design, structure, and narrative in video games.
I will just explore a few different possibilities for further research in video game music theory.
The interaction of music and narrative is a largely untapped area of game music theory
that needs to be explored. Most games have narrative qualities, whether it is an epic story line
39

80
or simple victory condition. Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, professional game designers and
scholars, stress the primacy of a games goal to its development, by saying One fundamental
building block of a narrative game design is the goal of a game. Goals not only help players
judge their progress through a game (how close are they to winning), but also guide players in
understanding the significance of their action within a narrative context.40 Games with
narrative goals can exist with any of the game score forms I have discussed in this thesis, and
likely others as well; however, there is a quality of beginning and ending inherent in any game
with a narrative goal. Games can contain a single goal or multiple goals, usually leading to the
final goal of the game. Some games will not have a final goal, such as World of Warcraft
(Blizzard, 2004), but consist of various goals throughout the play of the game.
Having a final conclusive goal can influence the analysis of the game. While the games
form may be centric or branching, a conclusive goal may indicate a fundamentally linear
structure to the game. To help demonstrate this idea, I will refer back to Figure 5.5, the
background score for Pokmon (reproduced in Figure 7.1). This branching form shows the
player traveling through various areas to complete the goal, but eventually returning back to the
first town of the game. The progression of the game from an overall goal standpoint is from the
beginning in Pallet Town, through Viridian City, then throughout the rest of the game, eventually
returning to Pallet Town. From here the character proceeds through the final sequence to
complete the game. From a narrative standpoint, the games overall music progress is as in
Figure 7.2.
40
Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2004), 385.
81
0- ,
!"!
# %
& '
(
..
'
* +
Figure 7.1: Reproduction of Figure 5.5
Figure 7.2: Linear Narrative in Pokmon
82
- %
The graph in Figure 7.2 is similar to taking the reduction principles discussed at the
beginning of Chapter 5 and applying them to Figure 7.1, ridding the graph of all music objects
that are sandwiched between the same object. This can be used to look at the overall
progression from beginning to end of a game, to see how the music has changed over the
course of the narrative, or how the music enhanced the progress of the narrative throughout.
Looking at the objects as the progress towards the narrative conclusion of a game will
frequently reduce a centric score down to just the main map object before the final sequence.
In the Link to the Past example (Figure 5.8), the Light World Object and Dark World object would
both remain in a reduced graph before the final music sequence occurs.
Video games are typically categorized by genres, such as adventure games, puzzle
games, and first-person shooters. What is common among the games in a particular genre? Is
there a type of form that is most prevalent, or a certain distribution of musical objects? Analysis
of game scores across a genre could yield some interesting results that would give the analyst a
general sense of the genre, and what games that blend genres might look like.
Video games across a series are yet another interesting avenue for further exploration.
This thesis has explored three games in the Super Mario Bros. series. Super Mario Bros.
consisted of a linear form, while Mario 3 combined linear and centric forms. Super Mario
Galaxy is a true centric form piece, which might hint at a progression in forms across the series.
We can also explore the objects within the series to see where the Leitmotifs are through a set
of video games, or how the style changes or stays the same, regardless of the composer.
There are many other avenues of exploration that video game music theory can pursue.
This thesis has developed the tools to make that pursuit, and provided a springboard for further
exploration of the rich variety of music found in video games, however these tools can have
83
applications outside of video game music. All forms of interactive music can be examined with
these models, not just video games. Web sites, presentations, and other activities that require
user interaction can all have music that is examinable with this theoretical tool kit.
For art music, these graphs can be used to look at similarly formed compositions, such
as polyvalent formation or compositions with movable parts. Instead of focusing on a single
performance of the piece and analyzing its overall form and structure, the numerous
possibilities of such as piece could be mapped out with RTGSGs. Composers could use these
tools to write pieces with movable sections, providing a framework or outline for the
composition.
The doorway is now open in to the realm of video game analysis. As video games
become a larger part of our culture, the study of video games (their structure and history)
becomes a larger part of academic research. With the increase in collegiate programs, research,
and museums dedicated to video games, it is important that the music in video games not get
left behind. Game music analysis can contribute to the larger understanding of video game
design and help understand the development of this medium in our society.
84
Works Cited
Belinkie, Matthew. Video game music: not just kid stuff.
http://www.vgmusic.com/vgpaper.shtml. December 15, 1999 (accessed June 20, 2008).
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http://www.tagg.org/others/bjbgeol.html (accessed August 2, 2009).
Capacchione, Tristan. Musical Gamescapes: A Study of Unity in Arcanum: Of Steamworks and
Magick Obscura. http://www.gamessound.com/Arcanum.pdf (accessed June 20, 2008).
Cohn, Richard. As Wonderful as Star Clusters: Instruments for Gazing at Tonality in Schubert.
19th-Century Music 22, No. 3 (Spring, 1999): 213-232.
------------. Introduction to Neo-Riemannian Theory: A Survey and a Historical Perspective.
Journal of Music Theory 42, No. 2 (Autumn 1998): 167-180.
Collins, Karen. Flat Twos and the Musical Aesthetic of the Atari VCS. Popular Musicology
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Everett, Walter. Making Sense of Rocks Tonal Systems. Music Theory Online 10, No. 4
(December 2004),
http://mto.societymusictheory.org/issues/mto.04.10.4/mto.04.10.4.w_everett.html.
Hedges, Stephen A. Dice Music in the Eighteenth Century. Music & Letters 59, No. 2 (April
1978): 180-187.
Heikinheimo, Seppo. Electronic Music of Karlheinz Stockhausen: Studies on the Esthetical and
Formal Problems of its First Phase. Translated by Brad Absetz. Acta Musicologica
Fennica 6. Helsinki: Musicological Society of Finland, 1972.
Kramer, Jonathan D. Moment Form in Twentieth Century Music. The Musical Quarterly 64, No.
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------------. Multiple and Non-Linear Time in Beethovens Opus 135. Perspectives of New Music
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------------. The Time of Music: New Meanings, New Temporalities, New Listening Strategies. New
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Lewin, David. A Formal Theory of Generalized Tonal Functions. Journal of Music Theory 26,
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Maconie, Robin. Other Planets. Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, 2005.
Ratner, Leonard G. Ars Combinatoria: Chance and Choice in Eighteenth-Century Music. In
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Salen, Katie and Eric Zimmerman. Rules of Play. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2004.
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Stockburger, Alex. The Game Environment from an Auditive Perspective.

http://www.audiogames.net/pics/upload/gameenvironment.htm (accessed June 20,
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Video Games Referenced

Final Fantasy. Nintendo Game Cartridge. Nintendo, 1987.
Guitar Hero. Playstation 2 CD-ROM. Activision, 2005.
The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo Game Cartridge. Nintendo, 1986.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Super Nintendo Game Cartridge. Nintendo, 1991.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Nintendo 64 Game Cartridge. Nintendo, 1998.
Pokmon. Nintendo Game Boy Cartridge. Nintendo, 1996.
Sonic the Hedgehog. Sega Game Cartridge. Sega, 1991.
Space Invaders. Video Arcade Machine. Midway, 1978
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Super Mario Bros. Nintendo Game Cartridge. Nintendo, 1985.
87
Super Mario Galaxy. Nintendo Wii Game Disk. Nintendo, 2007.

Tennis for Two. Analog Computer System. Unpublished, 1958.
World of Warcraft. CD-ROM. Blizzard, 2004.
88

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Examining Non-Linear Forms:

Techniques for the Analysis of Scores Found in Video Games

Dr. Matthew Santa

Dr. Peter Martens

Copyright 2009, Jason Brame

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Background Matter ............................................................................................................... 3

Form of Game Music .......................................................................................................... 32

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

6.10: Invincibility Object from Super Mario Bros........................................................................ 54

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Beeps and Blips of Yesteryear: Where is the Music?

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Game Music Takes Form

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

State of the Discipline

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Collins, Flat Twos

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Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Collins, Game Sound, 125-127.

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

century practice of dice music compositions and Stockhausens twentieth-century concept of

Eighteenth-Century Dice Music

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

dominant harmonies.12 He maintains a coherent tonal relationship from measure one to

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

characteristic(s) of music in accordance with implications that arise from principles or

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Figure 3.2: Structure of Moments from Momente.23

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Kramer, The Time of Music, 50.

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Alex Stockburger, The Game Environment From an Auditive Perspective,

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

William Drabkin, "Motif," In Grove Music Online, Oxford Music Online,

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Representing a Games Score

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Real-Time Game Score Graph

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Music Object Relation Graph

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Figure 4.2: Music Object Relation Score Graph of Figure 4.1

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Texas Tech University, Jason Brame, December 2009

Reduction in Real-Time Game Score Graphs