Addressing Select Cultural Theory Terminology and Their Possible Applications to Video Game Music (Continued)
Some contemporary academic scholarship concerning music composition has concentrated on the effects of privilege and applying non-Western sounds and instruments to expand artistic creativity. Much of that academic literature, such as the research presented by composers and educators like Nicolas Lel Benavides (2020) and Alex Temple (2014), examines the creative and ethical problems associated liberally incorporating “foreign” music into a new musical score. They focus primarily on providing guidance to composers based mainly in Europe and the United States on how to use non-Western musical materials while still establishing cultural respect and common sense through extensive preliminary ethnographic research.
How does any of this information relate to video game music? Recall from my earlier blog posts that many video game score composers from Japan incorporate musical genres and sonic textures largely from the Spanish, Portuguese, and (sometimes) British areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Reasons for including these musical materials often do not involve “cultural theft,” as some would claim. Rather, the creative process involves active listening, learning from the music cultures in question, and absorbing the music while still maintaining cultural respect.
Koji Kondo (b. 1960) has adhered to this process when scoring music for video games. As a composer, sound designer, and music supervisor for Nintendo, he has served as the man behind the musical scores for the Super Mario Bros. (1985-Present) and The Legend of Zelda (1986-Present) series. Several official soundtracks for the games within these respective series are currently available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers via the Nintendo Music: a smartphone application that I previously mentioned in "Part 1" of this blog series. Latin American and Caribbean musical genres and instruments figure prominently into the video game soundtracks by Koji Kondo. He has repeatedly confirmed this aspect in interviews with Japanese media conducted in the 2000s. He includes Latin American music because it serves as one of the many genres and subgenres of music that he enjoys listening to it in his spare time (Kondo 2001).
Kondo approaches video game music scoring like film scoring, albeit with one exception: the interactivity associated with video games. He would often play through certain sections of a game undergoing production to try and get a sense of the kind of music that would match the setting and gameplay. His choice for Latin American and Caribbean music in Super Mario Bros., for instance, depended on several factors. Kondo considered the mood and rhythmic flow for sections of the game. In explaining how he composed the “Overworld/Above Ground Theme,” he wanted to create happy and energetic music that complemented the fast pacing in the game. He also incorporated elements of Portuguese folk music with Latin jazz and Japanese popular music at the time (Kondo 2001).
Some have pointed out that the musical tracks to Super Mario Bros. bear striking similarities to other instrumental works, with online discourse divided on whether the similarities signify inspiration or plagiarism. That discussion proves irrelevant and distracting for the purpose of my research and deserves attention elsewhere. Besides. Koji Kondo is not the only composer to draw influences from popular music for VGM soundtracks. I have encountered similar situations with other video game music, like the "Cappricio for Lute" by Yoko Kanno from Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (1994)--which sounds melodically similar to the song "Allentown" by Billy Joel--and the percussive influences from the song "In the Air Tonight" by British rock and pop artist Phil Collins in "Bayou Boogie" by David Wise from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995).
Other instances of etic interpretations of cultures from outside Japan can present problematic depictions. The Street Fighter series provides a fitting example. The games that comprise the Street Fighter games (1987-Present) concentrate heavily on portraying different characters as fighters from around the world. Most of the games feature soundtracks that try to capture and complement the stylistic musical atmospheres of the different geographical locations, which also feature areas from Iberia, Latin America, and the Caribbean: areas like Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and Jamaica. However, researchers in ludomusicology must consider whether these characters and their corresponding musical themes demonstrate cultural respect or stereotyping.
Available visual evidence proves the latter. The documentary film Here Comes a New Challenger (2023), which is currently accessible on the Tubi video streaming service, chronicles the history behind the Street Fighter series: from its arcade origins in the 1980s, to the live action film and anime adaptations in the 1990s. In the documentary the series creator, Akira Yasuda, indicates that that cultural stereotyping played a key role in the character depictions for each represented country, specifically with games like Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991) VGM composer, Yoko Shimomura, has also provided her input in the documentary and in other video interviews regarding her approach to the character themes in Street Fighter II. She attempted to match the music to each character and their respective country based on what the developers at Capcom wanted.
Exoticism in VGM can also complicate matters when a video game attempts to portray historical time periods, situations, or themes involving elements related to Latin America and the Caribbean. I have encountered myriad games that include themes that certain audiences could polarize audiences:
- European Colonialism in the New World, albeit as a romanticized interpretation (the Uncharted Waters series)
- Constructing worlds via dictatorships (The Tropico series)
- Military involvement from the United States or elsewhere (Call of Duty, Metal Gear Solid, etc.)
- Fighting gangs or drug lords in parts of Central or South America (Far Cry 6, Max Payne 3, Chili con Carnage)
- Treasure hunting games that involve surviving in jungles or solving puzzles (the Pitfall series, Tomb Raider games except for Angel of Darkness, the Uncharted series, etc.)
- Games that demonstrate cultural confusion through homogeneity by mixing Iberian or Latin American customs and assuming that they are all the same (the Street Fighter series, Samba de Amigo)
More About Video Game Audio
Another significant factor in composing video game music depends on the available hardware at a given point in time and working around its limitations to produce the final product. Koji Kondo started writing video game music in the early 1980s and had to compose with video game audio technology that gradually evolved as the years and decades progressed. The release of a new console or feature usually means learning and adapting to the new hardware. Kondo has been actively composing and co-composing music for Nintendo consoles for decades from the Family Computer (Famicom) (1983-2003) to the Switch (2017-Present).
Kondo composed the music to Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom in Japan. Western releases in the United States and Europe saw the game as the launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Regions that adhered to the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) television standards for video games and media, like Europe, ran the game at a slower refresh rate (50 Hz versus 60 Hz in North America) while also increasing the tempo of the music. Both the Famicom and NES feature an Audio Processing Unit (APU) integrated with the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the respective consoles. The APU consists of five audio channels, which have specific functions: two pulse wave channels, one triangle wave channel, one noise channel, and one Delta Modulation Channel (DCM, sometimes referred to as DPCM for “Delta Pulse Code Modulation) for instances when a game required instrumental or vocal sampling. Kondo used three audio channels to create the music for Super Mario Bros. (the two Pulse channels and the ttriangle channel) and the fourth Noise channel to create sound effects, like the iconic “jumping,” “coin collect,” and “Power-Up” sounds.” Kondo would eventually use the DCM channel several years later to created more pronounced and realistic-sounding drum patterns for Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo 1988, 1990; Kondo 2001).
I am currently listing the VGM tracks that I have found for my research. Some of my progress is currently available via a new page entitled, Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean Elements in Video Game Music on this website. Visitors can also access the page under "Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean VGM" in the "Works" section on the website. I will discuss more at a later time.
Some contemporary academic scholarship concerning music composition has concentrated on the effects of privilege and applying non-Western sounds and instruments to expand artistic creativity. Much of that academic literature, such as the research presented by composers and educators like Nicolas Lel Benavides (2020) and Alex Temple (2014), examines the creative and ethical problems associated liberally incorporating “foreign” music into a new musical score. They focus primarily on providing guidance to composers based mainly in Europe and the United States on how to use non-Western musical materials while still establishing cultural respect and common sense through extensive preliminary ethnographic research.
How does any of this information relate to video game music? Recall from my earlier blog posts that many video game score composers from Japan incorporate musical genres and sonic textures largely from the Spanish, Portuguese, and (sometimes) British areas of Latin America and the Caribbean. Reasons for including these musical materials often do not involve “cultural theft,” as some would claim. Rather, the creative process involves active listening, learning from the music cultures in question, and absorbing the music while still maintaining cultural respect.
Koji Kondo (b. 1960) has adhered to this process when scoring music for video games. As a composer, sound designer, and music supervisor for Nintendo, he has served as the man behind the musical scores for the Super Mario Bros. (1985-Present) and The Legend of Zelda (1986-Present) series. Several official soundtracks for the games within these respective series are currently available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers via the Nintendo Music: a smartphone application that I previously mentioned in "Part 1" of this blog series. Latin American and Caribbean musical genres and instruments figure prominently into the video game soundtracks by Koji Kondo. He has repeatedly confirmed this aspect in interviews with Japanese media conducted in the 2000s. He includes Latin American music because it serves as one of the many genres and subgenres of music that he enjoys listening to it in his spare time (Kondo 2001).
Kondo approaches video game music scoring like film scoring, albeit with one exception: the interactivity associated with video games. He would often play through certain sections of a game undergoing production to try and get a sense of the kind of music that would match the setting and gameplay. His choice for Latin American and Caribbean music in Super Mario Bros., for instance, depended on several factors. Kondo considered the mood and rhythmic flow for sections of the game. In explaining how he composed the “Overworld/Above Ground Theme,” he wanted to create happy and energetic music that complemented the fast pacing in the game. He also incorporated elements of Portuguese folk music with Latin jazz and Japanese popular music at the time (Kondo 2001).
Some have pointed out that the musical tracks to Super Mario Bros. bear striking similarities to other instrumental works, with online discourse divided on whether the similarities signify inspiration or plagiarism. That discussion proves irrelevant and distracting for the purpose of my research and deserves attention elsewhere. Besides. Koji Kondo is not the only composer to draw influences from popular music for VGM soundtracks. I have encountered similar situations with other video game music, like the "Cappricio for Lute" by Yoko Kanno from Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (1994)--which sounds melodically similar to the song "Allentown" by Billy Joel--and the percussive influences from the song "In the Air Tonight" by British rock and pop artist Phil Collins in "Bayou Boogie" by David Wise from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995).
Other instances of etic interpretations of cultures from outside Japan can present problematic depictions. The Street Fighter series provides a fitting example. The games that comprise the Street Fighter games (1987-Present) concentrate heavily on portraying different characters as fighters from around the world. Most of the games feature soundtracks that try to capture and complement the stylistic musical atmospheres of the different geographical locations, which also feature areas from Iberia, Latin America, and the Caribbean: areas like Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and Jamaica. However, researchers in ludomusicology must consider whether these characters and their corresponding musical themes demonstrate cultural respect or stereotyping.
Available visual evidence proves the latter. The documentary film Here Comes a New Challenger (2023), which is currently accessible on the Tubi video streaming service, chronicles the history behind the Street Fighter series: from its arcade origins in the 1980s, to the live action film and anime adaptations in the 1990s. In the documentary the series creator, Akira Yasuda, indicates that that cultural stereotyping played a key role in the character depictions for each represented country, specifically with games like Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (1991) VGM composer, Yoko Shimomura, has also provided her input in the documentary and in other video interviews regarding her approach to the character themes in Street Fighter II. She attempted to match the music to each character and their respective country based on what the developers at Capcom wanted.
Exoticism in VGM can also complicate matters when a video game attempts to portray historical time periods, situations, or themes involving elements related to Latin America and the Caribbean. I have encountered myriad games that include themes that certain audiences could polarize audiences:
- European Colonialism in the New World, albeit as a romanticized interpretation (the Uncharted Waters series)
- Constructing worlds via dictatorships (The Tropico series)
- Military involvement from the United States or elsewhere (Call of Duty, Metal Gear Solid, etc.)
- Fighting gangs or drug lords in parts of Central or South America (Far Cry 6, Max Payne 3, Chili con Carnage)
- Treasure hunting games that involve surviving in jungles or solving puzzles (the Pitfall series, Tomb Raider games except for Angel of Darkness, the Uncharted series, etc.)
- Games that demonstrate cultural confusion through homogeneity by mixing Iberian or Latin American customs and assuming that they are all the same (the Street Fighter series, Samba de Amigo)
More About Video Game Audio
Another significant factor in composing video game music depends on the available hardware at a given point in time and working around its limitations to produce the final product. Koji Kondo started writing video game music in the early 1980s and had to compose with video game audio technology that gradually evolved as the years and decades progressed. The release of a new console or feature usually means learning and adapting to the new hardware. Kondo has been actively composing and co-composing music for Nintendo consoles for decades from the Family Computer (Famicom) (1983-2003) to the Switch (2017-Present).
Kondo composed the music to Super Mario Bros. for the Famicom in Japan. Western releases in the United States and Europe saw the game as the launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Regions that adhered to the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) television standards for video games and media, like Europe, ran the game at a slower refresh rate (50 Hz versus 60 Hz in North America) while also increasing the tempo of the music. Both the Famicom and NES feature an Audio Processing Unit (APU) integrated with the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the respective consoles. The APU consists of five audio channels, which have specific functions: two pulse wave channels, one triangle wave channel, one noise channel, and one Delta Modulation Channel (DCM, sometimes referred to as DPCM for “Delta Pulse Code Modulation) for instances when a game required instrumental or vocal sampling. Kondo used three audio channels to create the music for Super Mario Bros. (the two Pulse channels and the ttriangle channel) and the fourth Noise channel to create sound effects, like the iconic “jumping,” “coin collect,” and “Power-Up” sounds.” Kondo would eventually use the DCM channel several years later to created more pronounced and realistic-sounding drum patterns for Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo 1988, 1990; Kondo 2001).
I am currently listing the VGM tracks that I have found for my research. Some of my progress is currently available via a new page entitled, Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean Elements in Video Game Music on this website. Visitors can also access the page under "Iberian, Latin American, and Caribbean VGM" in the "Works" section on the website. I will discuss more at a later time.
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