Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Video Game Music—NES, SNES, Covers Culture, Nobuo Uematsu, Final Fantasy

Hello, I'd like to talk about video game music (VGM) for a minute—focusing (1st on how Eighties and Nineties gaming shaped, and was shaped, by popular culture and the technology of the time, and (2nd veering into how fans took VGM and, with advances in home recording technology and social media, created myriad covers of those songs, launching them into the stratosphere by, in some cases, arguably making them better than they were originally, creating a new musical culture, bringing fans of music and video games together.

The VGM cover market is a unique one in this respect. You can check out OverClocked Remix, a community of game music remixers and reshapers that post everything for free and downloadable. Here's a Wiki for VGM cover artists.

Now, you have to keep in mind, this wealth of material is not all gold—far from it. Made by individuals with no restrictions, filters, or people like record producers, for instance, helping, lending a second ear, and giving advice and recommendations, what you've got is a sea of material, often requiring much wading and fishing to find something you'll really enjoy.

The problem I have, personally, with most VGM covers is that they're too synthetic—programmed, exactly on time and in tune, without a trace of humanity.

I've done a few myself (2006 recordings). Being a live instrument kind of guy, I played everything on guitars and keyboard to click tracks. Disregard the "Arm Extending" track, it has nothing to do with VGM. It's me trying to be Skinny Puppy. The other three tracks are covers from Final Fantasy VI.

In the Eighties, video game music composers had little precedent from which to draw. Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games had on average passable music, but much of it was annoying. I remember Ghouls and Ghosts had good music, and the Double Dragon games, and River City Ransom. But those games were also products of their times—the Eighties, when movies like Roadhouse and actors like Jean-Claude Van Damme were hecka popular. It just explains the wealth of beat-em-up games from that era—mindlessly glorifying necessarily-disbelief-suspending violence, with high-energy soundtracks to match.

I'm not saying that they had negative effects the kids playing them, I'm just saying they were one-dimensional, not-great games. Sadly, since they were all we had, we played them constantly. Those games sold, so that's where the big money went, sacrificing the overall quality of other genres, like RPGs. But I was a kid then, and I was so into those games. I would play-fight with my brother all the time when it was time to turn off the TV. I had action figure toys. Then, when more advanced titles were released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)—Final Fight, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat, Legend of the Mystical Ninja (I know, right?)—we were psyched about them too.

Now, Mystical Ninja wasn't nearly as violent as the titles I mentioned directly previous, but it was still a game where you run around, beat people and monsters up, take their money, and buy stuff with it. That's it. The music, however, was amazing. Comedian Brent Weinbach has a love for that game's music, which is no surprise to me, as that game's music is easily one of its best features.

What I most enjoy are covers from the Final Fantasy series. Most of those games feature music written by Nobuo Uematsu, a master composer and one of my favorites. His music helped propel all those Final Fantasy games into something greater. He composed from the heart, and translated it to the limited musical capacity of the gaming console.

I have a feeling he keeps storyline at heart when composing for these games, because in every single one featuring Uematsu's music, every piece, grande or relaxed, in all the towns, overworlds, dungeons, and battles—standard, boss, and final—the music fits the bill. Perfectly. He made the emotional content real, beyond what the graphics could show, beyond the primitive audio capacities of the NES and SNES, beyond the oft-flawed Japanese-to-English translations in the dialogue.

For me, the music of the Final Fantasy series is the best part. As such, video game music covers hit a special place in my heart. It should surprise no one that Final Fantasy / Uematsu covers abound, with the quality of songwriting that guy produces. He even started his own band, brilliantly named The Black Mages, made an album around 2007, and went on tour with them.




Today, I found a great VGM cover piece on Spotify. I'd like to share it with you.

Two violins. That's it. And it's beautiful, but tense. Here, we have the battle theme from Final Fantasy VI (FF3 in America). I've never heard of Nielle dAGh before, but she plays that thing like a riot. I love the slight out-of-tune-ness of her playing, and how it's totally on time, as if she played to a metronome.



This is what I expect from VGM cover music—dedication to the craft of one's instrument, and a reimagining, a re-exploring of songs, songs that didn't have a chance to be great before VGM covers culture became a thing, songs composed in brilliance, but broken down into primitive, synthetic versions of themselves. It's like taking a chained melody and breaking those chains, with your own body, your own mind, your musical talent. You make it fly when you cover a VGM piece (well). It's a really beautiful thing.

Again, the nostalgia factor here is a big one. I don't imagine anyone who hasn't played these games will geek out about this like I do.

Classical music purists may also find satisfaction in this dAGh piece.

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