Level Up.pdf

396 LEVEL 15 Some Notes on Music
Here are a few musical terms that I have found useful to know:
• Accent: to place emphasis on a beat to make it louder or longer. As in,
“ that beat could use a little more accent. ”
• Beat: the “ pulse ” of the music. Music is measured in beats. Music can
have fast beats or slow beats.
• Chord: three or more tones that create a harmony.
• Instrument: an object that produces music. Synthesized music
replicates the sounds instruments make. The instrument used can
greatly change the theme and mood of a piece.
• Mood: the “ feel ” or theme of a musical piece. The mood of a musical
piece can be based on emotion (fear, excitement), action (sneaky,
combat) or even location (tropical, Russian). Mood is created by
instruments and changes in tempo and beat.
• Octave: this is the interval between one musical pitch and another with
half or double its frequency; one octave up has twice the pitch. One
octave down has half the pitch. Usually, I find that you will be telling the
composer to bring something “ up an octave ” or “ down an octave ” to
make it sound higher or lower pitched.
• Pitch: the highness or lowness of a tone. A tone ’ s pitch can be adjusted
either higher (to sound like the Chipmunks) or lower (to sound demonic).
A tone ’ s frequency is adjusted to add variety into game sounds without
creating new sounds, for example a sword clanging on metal can have
its frequency changed so the player doesn ’ t have to hear the same
sound over and over.
• Rhythm: the controlled movement of music in time. Ravel ’ s Bolero
builds in rhythm to a frantic conclusion.
• Tempo: the rate of speed of the music, which can range from very very
slow to very very very fast. There ’ s even a specific tempo for walking
speed called andante!
• Theme: the “ heart ” of the musical composition. Usually a composer will
come up with the theme first and then “ flesh it out ” to fit the length
required. For example, John Williams ’ Raiders of the Lost Ark March was
created when Steven Spielberg couldn ’ t decide between which of two
themes he liked better … so he had Williams combine them together!
• Tone: the sound or characteristic of a particular voice or instrument.
• Upbeat: refers to the last beat of a measure, but can be used to refer to
making the music sound happier, friendlier, or faster.
• Volume: referring to the softness or loudness of the music.
Now that you can communicate with your music director, you need to
consider the genre of your game. What style of music do you want for your