Pixel Soundtracks

Exploring Video Game Music Through Twenty Games

By: Tim Summers

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Paperback | 20 August 2024

At a Glance

Paperback
248 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.9 x 15.0 x 1.6

Paperback

RRP $61.99

$54.95

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Tim Summers provides an engaging introduction to video game music aimed at game fans, music enthusiasts, budding composers, music professionals, and anyone with an interest in the topic. Based on the latest research, chapters explore a wide variety of topics, including:

the history and evolution of game music
technology
music composition
the role of music in games
inner workings
aesthetic considerations
musical genres
cultural importance

Filled with many case studies, the book is separated into five stages and a "final boss," and sections build off each other into increasingly broader topics. Starting with the specifics of computer chips, the book evolves, and at the end, questions of game music's engagement with identity are addressed. Along the way, Summers discusses many classic and beloved games such as Space Invaders, Super Mario Bros., BioShock Infinite, Dark Souls III, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda. The book's "final boss" brings together ideas presented throughout the book.

The book will allow readers to better understand the fantastic experiences and meanings that arise when games and music fuse together.

Industry Reviews

Drawing on the latest research and his flair for the literary, Tim Summers expertly guides the reader on a nostalgic, informative, and thoroughly enjoyable journey across the history of video game music. From experts to newcomers, anyone interested in games and their music will find something to love in this richly detailed but accessible book.

--William J. Gibbons, Dean of the Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam; author, Unlimited Replays: Video Games and Classical Music

Tim Summers is one of the world's leading scholars on the study of video game music. This volume reasserts his primacy with highly informed and acute analysis in this expert study of video game music across the years. Each section of this new book focuses on a single game, which is exciting for those who know the game and highly informative for those who might not, and the writing is never less than compelling.

--Kevin J. Donnelly, professor of film & film music, University of Southampton

With this book, Tim Summers provides an impressively comprehensive introduction to the many powers and puzzles of video game music. This is an accessible and extremely valuable resource for newcomers to this area of study. Experienced readers will also find many new examples and insights in these pages!

--Elizabeth Medina-Gray, associate professor of music theory, Ithaca College

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