‘Mario,’ ‘Pong’ game music comes of age
PARIS — The electronic bleeps and squawks of “Tetris,” “Donkey Kong” and other generation-shaping games that you might never have thought of as musical could be playing at a concert hall near you.
From the “ping ... ping” of Atari’s 1972 ground-breaking paddle game “Pong” to fully formed orchestral scores, gaming music has evolved into a unique universe.
With its own culture, subcultures and fans, game music now thrives alone, free from the consoles whence it came.
“When you're playing a game, you are living that music every day, and it just gets into your DNA,” said Eimear Noone, the conductor of a weekend concert at the Philharmonie de Paris that featured 17 titles, including “Zelda,” ''Tomb Raider” and ''Medal of Honor.”
“When people hear those themes, they are right back there. And people get really emotional about it. I mean
emotional. It's incredible.”
Dating the birth of game music depends on how one defines music. Game-music scholars — yes, they exist — point to key milestones on the path to the surround-sound extravaganzas of games today.
The heartbeatlike bass thump of Taito's “Space Invaders” in 1978, which got ever faster as the aliens descended, caused sweaty palms and was habit-forming.
Namco's “Pac-Man,” two years later, whetted appetites with an opening musical chirp.
By 1985, the can'tnot-tap-along-to-this theme of “Super Mario Bros.,” the classic adventure of plumber Mario and his brother Luigi, was bringing fame for composer Koji Kondo, also known for his work on “Legend of Zelda.”
Noone, known herself for musical work on “World of Warcraft,” ''Overwatch” and other games, said the technological limitations of early consoles — tiny memories, rudimentary chips, crude sounds — forced composers “to distill their melodies down to the absolute kernels of what melodic content can be because they had to program it note by note.”
But simple often also means memorable. Think — the opening of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.
“That is part of the reason why this music has a place in people's hearts and has survived,” Noone said of game tunes. “It speaks to people.”
She still sometimes encounters snobbism from orchestras: “They saw 'Pong' once and that's video-game music to them, you know?”
But “halfway through, the first rehearsal, their attitude has changed,” she said. “And then when they walk out onstage and the audience treats them like they're the Rolling Stones.”
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first game-music concert: The Tokyo Strings Ensemble performed “Dragon Quest” at Tokyo's Suntory Hall in August 1987. Now there are six touring shows of symphonic game music, Noone said.
“This is just the best way, the most fun way, to introduce kids to the instruments of the orchestra,” she said. “It may be the first time ever they are that close to a cellist, and that's really exciting for me.”