Theme Music & Sound FX's in Games
Super Mario Bro's, Theme Tune: The theme tune to Mario is an upbeat melody of different sounds coming together as one to create a catchy tune that is instantly recognizable. The song itself starts upbeat, with some more mysterious sounds in the middle before becoming even more upbeat than when it started. The music sets the mood to be a happy sort of environment but with the heir of mystery surrounding it.
The theme tune also has various sound effects throughout the track. These being the ding of coin collection, 1up or the jump and boing of Mario. These add to the upbeat side of the song and create a good atmosphere. The producer, Koji Kondo, wrote six pieces to fit in with the game series... I, however, am talking about the most recognizable one.
This piece of music was used in a very fitting way, it sets the mood and tells a story without even looking at what is going on in the game... If I were to write the music for Mario I wouldn't change it at all, its an instantly recognized tune that has been around for many years. I think Kondo got it spot on!
Pacman, Sound FX: Pacman uses many different sound effects, all of which work in a very effective way. On the clip below there are multiple different sound fx you would hear whilst playing Pacman. Sounds such as dying, chasing blue ghosts, been chased by colored ghosts, coin/pill collection. The sounds all fit in with the game adding to the atmosphere of a retro maze game.
The Legend of Zelda; The Windwaker, Theme Tune: The theme tune to this game is very upbeat. It almost sounds like there is a group of Scottish men, or women, playing the bagpipes in your ear. There is an heir of mystery within the music... It starts of very jolly, then gets slightly more tense picking the jolliness up towards the end again. It's almost explaining what happens in the game... having come close to completing this myself the music that you hear before you press start almost tells the story for you. Again this was composed by Koji Kondo, with both the Zelda and Mario games being from Nintendo this came as no surprise.
Assassin's Creed, Soundtrack (Entering Jerusalem): The soundtrack, Entering Jerusalem, starts off very slow and mysterious. Sounds of choir singers and wind set the atmosphere to be delicate but important. It then kicks in with what sounds like a man singing in a language that sounds like it could be Latin. The mood that this song sets is that there is a mission and you must complete it, almost like it's a matter of life or death.
Halo 3, Soundtrack (One Final Effort): One Final Effort starts, like the others, very slow and gloomy but builds into a grand orchestra of mysteriousness. Towards the middle the sounds gain more upbeatness to them, then to drop back down to slow piano keys and violins. Having only played this game a handful of times I can still tell you that this fits in well with the game and what is asked of you.
Why is Music and Sound FX so important within Games Development?
It goes without saying that to really set the mood within a game you need music, or at least sound effects. Many games developers research for weeks or months good sounds to add to their game. These sounds must fit with the game and the atmosphere you are trying to set. There is no point having a fighting game and playing sounds that you would find in a game such as Hello Kitty, it just doesn't work.
Some games require few sounds as the scene may set itself, however sounds always help to get the atmosphere and the motive of the game across to the player.
What is Waveform?
Wavelength; A wavelength is the distance between two waves of energy.
Amplitude; The amplitude is the distance between the top and bottom of a wave. Frequency; Frequency is the number of times a sound wave is produced within a short period of time, often a second.
Pitch; The pitch of a sound is how high or low the sound is, for example a piano has heavier keys and lighter keys, each key has a different pitch.
It goes without saying that to really set the mood within a game you need music, or at least sound effects. Many games developers research for weeks or months good sounds to add to their game. These sounds must fit with the game and the atmosphere you are trying to set. There is no point having a fighting game and playing sounds that you would find in a game such as Hello Kitty, it just doesn't work.
Some games require few sounds as the scene may set itself, however sounds always help to get the atmosphere and the motive of the game across to the player.
What is Waveform?
Wavelength; A wavelength is the distance between two waves of energy.
Amplitude; The amplitude is the distance between the top and bottom of a wave. Frequency; Frequency is the number of times a sound wave is produced within a short period of time, often a second.
Pitch; The pitch of a sound is how high or low the sound is, for example a piano has heavier keys and lighter keys, each key has a different pitch.
Hertz (Hz); Hz is a unit for measuring a cycle of sounds within a second.
Decibel Level (dB); A decibel is how loud a noise is, again a unit of measurement.
Sound Generator (Loudspeaker); A sound generator is a piece of equipment that changes electrical signals into sounds.
Decibel Level (dB); A decibel is how loud a noise is, again a unit of measurement.
Sound Generator (Loudspeaker); A sound generator is a piece of equipment that changes electrical signals into sounds.
What is Foley?
Foley is the use of sound FX, often recorded separately and added into a video or a game. For example, if there was to be a sound of someone being punched it may be done by punching a slab of meat and then being edited into the game or video.
What is Timbre?
Timbre is a quality of sound that makes musical sounds or voices sound different from each other. Timbre can mean even similar sounds come across as completely different but still distinctive.
Games/Films That Use Sound For Information
Games/Films That Use Sound For Information
The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker
The Pirate Charm allows Link to communicate with Tetra whilst she is elsewhere on the Pirate ship, it is a heavily modified Gossip Stone. This is used to give Link useful information. It is activated by a sound that is pretty hard to explain, it's almost like a cry or wail. To hear what Tetra has to say you press the 'A' button, which will be flashing when active. It is used also by the King of Red Lions. When you have pressed 'A' Tetra doesn't talk to you, she makes noises in some parts but it is mostly dialog.
The Pirate Charm allows Link to communicate with Tetra whilst she is elsewhere on the Pirate ship, it is a heavily modified Gossip Stone. This is used to give Link useful information. It is activated by a sound that is pretty hard to explain, it's almost like a cry or wail. To hear what Tetra has to say you press the 'A' button, which will be flashing when active. It is used also by the King of Red Lions. When you have pressed 'A' Tetra doesn't talk to you, she makes noises in some parts but it is mostly dialog.
The Pirate Charm is shown within the first 37 seconds of the video, the rest is irrelevant... unless you want to watch how to do this part of the game.
The Legend of Zelda, The Wind Waker (again...)
Opening a chest within the wind waker is an exciting thing. This is amplified by the noise. This also uses good lighting to identify something important. It symbolizes you finding something that is going to help you, whether or not it seems pointless at that point.
The sound that you have opened a chest with something inside.
The Karate Kid
Now, I am in agreement with the vast majority of people that the original Karate Kid movie is better than the more recent version starring Jaden Smith.
However, this clip shows how the music intensifies within the final fight.
This is using sound to inform the viewers of what is going on.
It symbolizes the danger as well as the importance of the fight through sound.
This is using sound to inform the viewers of what is going on.
It symbolizes the danger as well as the importance of the fight through sound.
The final fight scene in Karate Kid (2010)
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