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[amzrigh]

Okay, just copy/pasting this from an e-mail I just received:

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
Saturday January 19, 2008 8 p.m.
Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Conductor

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony features award-winning music from titles such as Final Fantasy ®, Silent Hill ®, Battlefield 1942 ™, World of Warcraft ® and The Elder

Comments

[phoenix_seraph]

 
People
          pay
              for video game music???

*whimper*

the horror, the horror, the horror . . .
 

[amzrigh]

It's a live, orchestral performance of video game music. I went to the Dear Friends Final Fantasy concert when it came to Bass Hall a couple years ago, and it was amazing.

[phoenix_seraph]

 
I can see it now: a not-too-distant future when all of Mozart's works are burned and banned because "if he had been any good, he would have written for a computer game and not wasted his talent on art."

*dramatic hand to forehead, neck and back arched, violin music playing in the background*   Oh, the horror indeed!

; )
 

[phoenix_seraph]

 
In all seriousness, I realize you are not limited to game music but also appreciate, say, The Four Seasons.   I often listen on my computer to a mix of classical, video game, and film music myself

[amzrigh]

Then flip back a few years through my LJ, and you'll find me very excited about the performance of the New Centry Orchestra or whatever it was called that I saw. :P

But really, something like this is more exciting because it's less common. A person can see a live performance of classical music almost anytime they want. But live performances of video game music? Since even live recordings are hard to come by, performances are just that much more amazing. For similar reasons, I'm trying to organize a small ensemble to play game and anime music for fun. As much as I love listening to music, I love playing it even more.

[phoenix_seraph]

 
How odd.   I've encountered a number of live performances of video game music -- specifically given because it was believed that young people lacked both the sophistication and the willingness to listen to classical music or other real music.   In other words, the powers that be gave video game music concerts as a form of pandering.

Finding a live performance of classical music has always been far more difficult.   I have begun to despair that Vivaldi will be forgotten in my life while every orchestra was busy playing "The Suite from Princess Yum Yum".

This must be a difference between Oklahoma and other states.
 

[afe_coda]

I'm a musician. I appreciate music for music's sake. And if the Boston Pops were to come around here I'd be there in a heartbeat.

Video game music concerts generate excitement because you're getting to witness a live performance of the music that you've already come to love. It's just like how rock concerts with well-known bands do better than those starring only local hits, because people know the music and want to experience it up close.

There's also another point: Video game music gets seriously underappreciated. Even movie soundtracks get more attention -- and I'm NOT talking about musicals, either. So when you get a serious group of performers putting the focus on it, that is, in itself, awesome.

[phoenix_seraph]

 
A lot of video game music doesn't deserve any appreciation at all.

I've met too many freshman students who genuinely believe that the one-and-only test of whether or not Beethoven was a proper composer is whether or not he has been used in video games.   Aesthetics, harmony, timbre, et al. mean absolutely nothing to them: the tinny glamour of video games is all they will let themselves know or understand.

I'm not a snob -- I adore kaiju films and Shakespearean plays both, for example.   But I worry that as a culture we are losing our ability to enjoy anything which calls to more than the surface of our souls and which does not placate our comfort zones.   The best classical music gets under your skin to your very soul, and it challenges you, whereas much video music never gets past your surface and does nothing but coddle your comfort zone.
 

[afe_coda]

A lot of video game music doesn't deserve any appreciation at all.Not disagreeing with THAT point in the slightest. There's a lot of crap and even more kitsch. My point, though, is that's true in the modern music industry in general -- video games aren't special in that regard

[phoenix_seraph]

It is a relief that you are not disagreeing with me on that point in the slightest

[afe_coda]

You haven't offended me at all, and I hope I haven't offended you, either. I've found this to be an interesting discussion. (I also apologize for having done most of this without my glasses, so I did miss a couple points along the way.) Overall I think we essentially agree

[phoenix_seraph]

 
If I understand the research correctly, yes, video games are more harmful than television in most cases.

It's not the medium but the cultural treatment surrounding it.   Historically, television has been a social medium.   Especially when there were only three networks, people watched television in part to give them something to discuss with neighbors, fellow students, co-workers, etc.   Furthermore, even now, significant percentages of adolescents watch televsion in groups rather than alone.   Thus, despite the seeming passivity of television, it has helped individuals develop the social skills necessary for both a functioning society and for an ability to appreciate artistic commentary on human nature.

In addition to that, certain forms of television actually motivate viewers to look beneath the surface, rewarding them with an increased enjoyment of the storyline (this was one of the appeals of the geek favorite Babylon 5).   For example, psychologists have found that requiring patients to watch certain soap operas has actually

[phoenix_seraph]

On the other hand, video games are not a social medium.   In general, a person plays a video game alone, and there are such a wide number that most video games fail to function as social lubricants.   Even in MMORPGs, until recently the communication was textual, which does nothing whatsoever to help people develop their talents at interacting with other human beings

[amzrigh]

(Really, FFXI isn't so absorbing that I can't both AIM and play it at the same time...I frequently do. But when there's a lot of downtime between each response, I'll forget that AIM's even there. >.> That's why I'd invite you over even if I was playing it -- I enjoy our conversations, and it's a lot easier to talk with someone right in front of you than across a digital plane when you're playing a game. Heck, it's frequently easier, period.)

Some of the old "interactive movie" games were right on the ball with body-language communication -- the good ones, at least -- because they had real actors in all the roles. For a good example of this, you should check out the last three games in the old Tex Murphy game series. They even had famous actors in them, though none in recurring roles: Under A Killing Moon had Margot Kidder, Russel Means and James Earl Jones; The Pandora Directive had Barry Corbin and Kevin McCarthy; Overseer had Michael York. They also had a lot of actors who most people wouldn't know by name, but have been in so

[phoenix_seraph]

 
I actually thought about including references to some of the games involving live action segments with real actors.   However, in explaining my position, I'm trying to write about general trends across the nation, and according to what I've read, those games with live action are just too uncommon and have too little cultural influence to make a significant dent in the national statistics.

A very recent game would be too recent for study, by the way, so it's unlikely I would find much on it in the research literature.

The problem with video geek game discussions is that they tend to be cliquish.   As an example, look at you and me.   You and I have both played video games, yet we had to struggle to find any we had both played.

More importantly, video game discussions reinforce cliquishness.   Television discussions used to cut across social boundaries and social divides.   A rich man, a poor man, and a middle class man could all bond by way of discussing their favorite television program.   A caucasian, an African-American, and an

[phoenix_seraph]

 
On a personal level, I often wonder about how I can share my love of popular music, whether early Green Day or some of the Final Fantasy remixes, without accidentally contributing to that cultural decay.   I wonder if my cheering for a game music concert is also my contributing to the decimation of classical music concerts in my nation