Music Beyond Looping

Questions, skill improvement, and respectful critique involving music, sound, and movies.
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Diatonicnerds
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Music Beyond Looping

#1 Post by Diatonicnerds »

A huge pet peeve of mine is that a lot of people have this misconception that music in a visual novel needs to just be an endlessly looping bed. Other game types have long ago figured out dynamic music techniques that just don't seem to be as prevalent in this medium. That is why I decided to give a talk on the subject and give examples of VNs that I think did something interesting with the music.

So I was hoping that people could give me examples I could use. Whether it's something you made or something you just played. Whether it's a some elaborate vertical layering system or its as simple as a clever use of silence. Any and all use of music that goes beyond looping endlessly and switching between pieces occassionally.

Thanks for any help!

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LeetMusic
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Re: Music Beyond Looping

#2 Post by LeetMusic »

I have some clients that wants songs to have an "ending" rather than loop if that's what you mean. You could also do more with interactivity by adding and removing stems in a mix through using (or creating) some audio middleware, which is what lots of AAA games are using though. Be prepared to invest the time or money in creating a technical system that does this, or paying somebody to implement using a tool like Wwise or FMOD.

For my personal tastes lots of AAA game music has become tuneless and boring beds though. Interactivity often sacrifices a lot in terms of melody and being memorable. You get the same war drums, the same little violin riffs, the same synth pads, etc. in every project. One of the things I like about this genre is the demand for memorable tunes and not just background sound. But to each their own.

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