I think this is a reasonable topic to discuss. More and more musicians are growing up in an age in which such forms of entertainment as video games and computer games dominate childhood culture. As such, the majority of the music they hear is no longer the progressive rock that many here grew up with; instead, they're becoming familiar with a form of music that I think relates closely to progressive rock but really isn't. It seems that many younger musicians nowadays are in one way or another able to relate to music from video games; the influence that these compositions have had is growing on a constant basis and I feel as though it will have an impact on prog artists of the future. I think there are similarities between the progressive rock we listen to and the video game music that kids these days are hearing. In fact, I'm sure prog had a strong influence on the composers of many video game soundtracks. They are, after all, soundtracks, and many try to adhere to a story; while many recent soundtracks have attempted to be very score-like and have abandoned rock arrangements for orchestrated arrangements, a lot of earlier material gravitated towards rock, pop and electronic genres, generally featuring synthesizers in some capacity as well. I think younger listeners are able to take video game music quite seriously. A few well-respected musicians have composed soundtracks for video games: Stewart Copeland, for example, composed the soundtrack for Spyro the Dragon. Nile Rodgers overlooked the Halo 2 soundtrack (which Steve Vai and Incubus also play on). Video game soundtracks are music, and they can span any genre.
My question is whether our community members feel the same way about video game soundtracks? They are, above all, real compositions; is there a stigma attached to music of this form or do you feel differently?
Here are some examples.
From AllMusic about Halo 2's soundtrack:
http://www.allmusic.com/album/halo-2...k-mw0000633408
Producer Nile Rodgers steps in to give the soundtrack to the video game phenomenon's sequel some extra commercial appeal. Halo 2, Vol. 1 builds off of the themes created by composers Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori by adding remixes and alternative metal to the stew, resulting in a -- better than it should be -- collection of mood pieces and art rock excess that's likely to please both geeks and mainstream, twentysomething males alike. Steve Vai capably shreds through the newly updated theme before passing the torch to Pennsylvanian alt-rockers Breaking Benjamin, who manage to escape the "music inspired by" abyss by producing a pretty memorable slice of apocalyptic angst. Halo however really belongs to Incubus. Their four-movement suite, "The Odyssey," is so steeped in Dark Side of the Moon-era Pink Floyd that it's effectively jarring when the nu-metal guitars come roaring in, making this second installment, despite a truly wretched and useless offering from Hoobastank, one of the first fully realized soundtracks in the growing video game genre.
Tangerine Dream helped compose the music for the Grand Theft Auto V soundtrack.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mus...d_Theft_Auto_V
Grand Theft Auto V is the first entry in its series to make use of an original score.[3] Music supervisor Ivan Pavlovich noted that creating original score for the game was "daunting" given that it would be a first for the series.[4] Like previous entries in the series, the game also contains licensed music tracks provided by an in-game radio. Pavlovich noted that the team did not want the original music to detract from the use of licensed music as well, but rather to accompany it.[5] He further considered that the team had to balance the "ambient subtext and tension" of the score with onscreen action in the game.[6] To work on the score, Rockstar brought The Alchemist, Oh No and Tangerine Dream on board with Woody Jackson, who had collaborated with the team on three previous projects, Red Dead Redemption (2010), L.A. Noire (2011) and Max Payne 3 (2012).[7] In collaboration with each other, the team of producers composed twenty hours of music which scores the game's missions.[8] In addition, music plays dynamically throughout the game in both the single-player and multiplayer modes.[9]
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