Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

An Introduction to Procedural Music in Video Games

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 28; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07494460802663983

1477-2256

Karen Collins,

Neuroscience and Music Perception

Abstract This article outlines some of the procedural music techniques that have been used, are being used, and may be used in the future in video games. The author examines different approaches to procedural composition and the control logics that have been used in the past, using a distinction between transformational and generative algorithms, and discusses reasons for the adoption of these techniques in games. She then examines why procedural music has not been more widely used by game composers and sound designers, and explores potential future directions in the area. Keywords: GamesAlgorithmicGenerativeProceduralInteractiveAdaptiveDynamic Notes [1] I define procedural music as composition that evolves in real time according to a specific set of rules or control logics. As shown, this can take the form of generative composition or transformational composition, the line between which can be somewhat indistinct. [2] While sound effects can be generated or procedurally altered (synthesized or altered in real time) in some way using a variety of synthesis methods, these techniques are outside the scope of this article. See Paul (2008 Paul, L. 2008. "An introduction to granular synthesis in video games". In From Pac-Man to pop music: Interactive audio in games and new media, Edited by: Collins, K. 135–149. Aldershot: Ashgate. [Google Scholar]) for an introduction to granular synthesis as it may be applied specifically in games. [3] A similar use of quantized notes created by player-controlled projectiles was used in the game Rez (created by Tetsuya Mixuguchi in 2001/2002 on the PlayStation 2). [4] There are now software engines that combine music information retrieval techniques to incorporate user-generated playlists into games. See, for instance, the Echo Nest Analyze API (http://the.echonest.com/analyze.html). [5] Aaron McLeran, 'Procedural Music in Spore' presentation at the Game Developer's Conference, San Francisco, February 2008. [6] For a breakdown of obstructions to the implementation of procedural sound effects, see Farnell, 2007. [7] There has been considerable work done in the area of affect, semiotics and mood-tagging. See, for instance, Birchfield, 2003 Birchfield, D. 2003. "Generative model for the creation of musical emotion, meaning, and form". In ACM SIGMM Workshop on Experiential Telepresence, 99–104. New York: ACM Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Eladhari et al., 2006 Eladhari, M., Nieuwdorp, R. and Fridenfalk, M. 2006. "The soundtrack of your mind: Mind music—adaptive audio for game characters". In Proceedings of the 2006 ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, New York: ACM. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Livingstone & Brown, 2005.