This article provides a detailed method for analyzing smoothness in the seams between musical modules in video games. Video game music is comprised of distinct modules that are triggered during gameplay to yield the real-time soundtracks that accompany players’ diverse experiences with a given game. Smoothness —a quality in which two convergent musical modules fit well together—as well as the opposite quality, disjunction, are integral products of modularity, and each quality can significantly contribute to a game. This article first highlights some modular music structures that are common in video games, and outlines the importance of smoothness and disjunction in video game music. Drawing from sources in the music theory, music perception, and video game music literature (including both scholarship and practical composition guides), this article then introduces a method for analyzing smoothness at modular seams through a particular focus on the musical aspects of meter, timbre, pitch, volume, and abruptness. The method allows for a comprehensive examination of smoothness in both sequential and simultaneous situations, and it includes a probabilistic approach so that an analyst can treat all of the many possible seams that might arise from a single modular system. Select analytical examples from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and Portal 2 provide a sampling of the various interpretive gains available through this method. Volume 25, Number 3, October 2019 Copyright © 2019 Society for Music Theory [1] Although video game music has attracted significant scholarly attention in recent years, methods specifically designed for analyzing video game music are as yet relatively sparse.(1) This scarcity of analytical methods is due not only to the newness of the field of video game music studies, but also to the many opaque and slippery aspects of this music. Among other challenging aspects, video game music’s source material is typically encoded, and notated scores often do not exist; moreover, because video games are interactive, their sonic output is flexible rather than fixed (Summers 2016a). The issue of interactivity is particularly crucial at this early stage in the field’s development, and it raises a pressing analytical question: in short, how do we analyze music that is interactive, flexible, and dependent on a player’s individualized actions?(2) [2] The analysts who have thus far approached game music’s interactivity and flexibility have done so in a variety of ways. Tim Summers, for example, has emphasized the importance of “analytical play” as a critical method of inquiry into a game’s music, and has demonstrated a method drawn from diagrammatic film music analysis for representing game music’s various interactive cues; Summers’ diagrams incorporate descriptions of the music’s content and interactive behavior along with interpretation of this music in the context of the game (Summers 2016a). In the course of examining certain video games through the lens of the music game genre, Steven Reale has raised the possibility that some games contain an “intended composition” or “ideal musical object,” which a player may realize through gameplay; one might, for instance, analyze a game’s musical methods of providing feedback to players regarding their success or failure in realizing such an ideal object (Reale 2014). Elsewhere, I have promoted analytical attention to the separate components—modules—within video game soundtracks, along with the various ways in which these modules may sound together when triggered during interactive gameplay; I have also suggested that qualities of smoothness and disjunction in the seams between musical modules may serve as a productive analytical focus, and I have broadly examined these qualities in the course of analyzing music from select games (Medina-Gray 2014, 2016, 2017). While modularity and smoothness are closely entwined with issues of interactivity and flexibility in video game music, a rigorous and detailed method for analyzing smoothness at the many and varied seams between musical modules is as yet missing from the published literature. This article provides such a method, thereby laying one path by which analysts can approach video game music with its interactive and flexible qualities at the fore. [3] In this article, I first illustrate some common modular structures in video game music through examples from the game The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (hereafter “Wind Waker”), and I highlight the importance of smoothness (and disjunction) as an aesthetic and functional aspect of video game music. Next, I outline a detailed method for analyzing smoothness in the seams between sequential and simultaneous modules by focusing on meter, timbre, pitch, volume, and abruptness. The method allows, first, analysis of an individual sequential seam or an individual moment in a simultaneous seam, and second, analysis of all possible seams that might result from a given modular system. (I have found the music21 toolkit to be helpful in conducting this method’s lengthier calculations.(3)) Analyses of the earlier examples from Wind Waker serve as initial illustrations of the method. To close the article, I analyze two additional examples; these final two case studies demonstrate several ways in which close analysis of modular smoothness can deepen and inflect our understanding of games. An Introduction to Modular Structure and Smoothness [4] At a basic level, the music in video games is modular: distinct musical modules are stored in a game’s code along with rules for how those modules can be triggered and modified during gameplay. Following the programmed rules and responding to a player’s actions, the computer (that is, game console, personal computer, etc.) assembles the modules in real time—stringing them together and layering them on top of each other—into a soundtrack that accompanies a player’s individualized experience with the game (Medina-Gray 2016). Modularity, in short, allows game music to be dynamic, to change along with a game’s similarly flexible visuals and events, so that just as each player’s playthrough of a game is unique, no two real-time soundtracks for a given game will be the same. In other words, as with any indeterminate music, a single sounding result of a game’s modular music system is just one among other (sometimes many other) possible realizations of the same system.(4) [5] For instance, Example 1 maps out a small selection of musical modules and their corresponding triggers in Wind Waker (click on a module to bring up its transcribed musical score) that will serve as raw material for the bulk of this article’s analyses. Each of these modules is defined by the music’s behavior during gameplay—for example, if, without any other input, particular music plays and then returns to its beginning and repeats the same material exactly, that music makes up a looping module. Before I provide the larger context for the game and gameplay of which this music is a part (a critical consideration for any eventual multimedia analysis), and before I explain the details of the modular structure that Example 1 represents, consider first how even a small portion of this example raises analytical challenges. Video Example 1 shows two separate clips of recorded gameplay during which the music shifts from the stacked “Ocean” modules to the “Outset Island” module. (In this and other videos in this article, the recorded gameplay appears on the left-hand side of the window, and annotation illustrating the modules and their triggers as they occur appears on the right.) Although both gameplay clips in Video Example 1 involve the same modules, the timing for the switch between modules depends on an individual player’s actions, and so the precise seam between the modules—the precise musical content—in these two clips is quite different. In both clips, “Outset Island” enters with bass instruments that bounce among D and A pitches, but in Clip A this module begins after the “Ocean” modules execute a functional predominant–dominant progression in the key of D major (m. 16 in the “Ocean” score), while in Clip B the “Ocean” modules are in the process of an extended VI (B major) harmony (m. 71) when “Outset Island” enters. Both clips represent equally valid realizations of this modular music system, and both soundtracks are relevant at least for that individual player’s experience during those moments of gameplay. A full analysis of this modular music system should thus equally account for both of these realizations, along with all other possible realizations of the system. This challenge to incorporate a wide purview in analysis of modular game music forms a core charge for the work I do here. Another challenge lies in the question of what musical content to examine when analyzing multiple modules, and how to examine that content. I highlighted harmonic content in the descriptions above because tonal harmony is a familiar music-theoretical focus, but many other aspects of this music bear consideration as well; whatever analytical focus we choose should be relevant to video game music and the questions we want to ask of it. [6] With its diverse and detailed—but not overly convoluted—modular music structures, Wind Waker provides ample material with which to demonstrate some common modular structures in video game music, as well as to illustrate this article’s main analytical questions and method. Wind Waker is a highly acclaimed entry in the long-running Legend of Zelda series. This game was developed by Nintendo—with music composed by Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, Toru Minegishi, and Koji Kondo—and was released on the Nintendo GameCube console in 2002.(5) In Wind Waker, as in other Legend of Zelda games, players play as the young hero Link on a quest to save the world. Video Example 2 shows a sample of recorded gameplay from the middle portion of the game, where players are encouraged

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分析视频游戏音乐中的模块化平滑度

本文提供了一种分析视频游戏中音乐模块之间接缝平滑度的详细方法。视频游戏音乐由不同的模块组成，这些模块在游戏过程中被触发，以产生伴随玩家对特定游戏的不同体验的实时配乐。流畅性——两个融合的音乐模块很好地结合在一起的质量——以及相反的质量，分离，是模块化的整体产品，每种质量都可以对游戏做出重大贡献。本文首先重点介绍了视频游戏中常见的一些模块化音乐结构，并概述了流畅度和分离度在视频游戏音乐中的重要性。取材于音乐理论、音乐感知和视频游戏音乐文献（包括学术和实用作曲指南），然后，本文介绍了一种分析模块化接缝平滑度的方法，特别关注音乐方面的节拍、音色、音高、音量和突变度。该方法允许对连续和同时情况下的平滑度进行全面检查，并且它包括一种概率方法，以便分析师可以处理可能由单个模块化系统产生的所有可能的接缝。从塞尔达传说：风之杖和传送门 2 中选择分析示例提供了通过这种方法可获得的各种解释收益的样本。第 25 卷第 3 期，2019 年 10 月 版权所有 © 2019 音乐理论学会 [1] 尽管近年来电子游戏音乐引起了学术界的广泛关注，专门为分析电子游戏音乐而设计的方法还相对较少。 (1) 分析方法的缺乏不仅是由于电子游戏音乐研究领域的新，而且还因为该音乐的许多不透明和滑溜的方面. 在其他具有挑战性的方面，视频游戏音乐的源材料通常是经过编码的，并且通常不存在标记乐谱；此外，因为视频游戏是交互式的，它们的声音输出是灵活的而不是固定的（Summers 2016a）。交互性问题在该领域发展的早期阶段尤为重要，它提出了一个紧迫的分析问题：简而言之，我们如何分析具有交互性、灵活性、并依赖于玩家的个性化行为？(2) [2] 迄今为止，研究游戏音乐交互性和灵活性的分析师已经通过多种方式进行了研究。例如，Tim Summers 强调了“分析游戏”作为探究游戏音乐的一种批判方法的重要性，并展示了一种从图解电影音乐分析中提取的方法，用于表示游戏音乐的各种互动线索；Summers 的图表包含对音乐内容和交互行为的描述，以及在游戏环境中对音乐的解释（Summers 2016a）。在通过音乐游戏类型的镜头检查某些视频游戏的过程中，Steven Reale 提出了一些游戏包含“预期作品”或“理想音乐对象”的可能性，” 玩家可以通过游戏来实现；例如，人们可能会分析游戏的音乐方法，向玩家提供有关他们实现这种理想对象的成功或失败的反馈（Reale 2014）。在其他地方，我促进了对视频游戏原声带中的独立组件（模块）的分析注意力，以及这些模块在互动游戏过程中触发时可能一起发声的各种方式；我还建议音乐模块之间接缝中的平滑度和分离度可以作为一个富有成效的分析重点，并且我在分析精选游戏的音乐的过程中广泛地研究了这些品质（Medina-Gray 2014、2016、2017） . 虽然模块化和流畅性与视频游戏音乐的交互性和灵活性问题密切相关，已发表的文献中还没有一种严格而详细的方法来分析音乐模块之间许多不同接缝处的平滑度。本文提供了这样一种方法，从而奠定了分析人员可以通过其具有交互性和灵活性的优势来处理视频游戏音乐的途径。[3] 在这篇文章中，我首先通过游戏《塞尔达传说：风之杖》（以下简称“风之杖”）中的例子来说明电子游戏音乐中一些常见的模块化结构，并强调流畅（和分离）的重要性作为视频游戏音乐的美学和功能方面。接下来，我概述了一种详细的方法，通过关注仪表、音色、音高、音量和突变来分析顺序和同步模块之间接缝的平滑度。该方法允许，首先，分析单个连续接缝或同时接缝中的单个时刻，其次，分析可能由给定模块化系统产生的所有可能接缝。（我发现music21 工具包有助于进行这种方法的冗长计算。(3)）对Wind Waker 早期示例的分析可作为该方法的初步说明。为了结束这篇文章，我分析了另外两个例子；最后两个案例研究展示了对模块化平滑度的仔细分析可以加深和影响我们对游戏的理解的几种方式。模块化结构和流畅性简介 [4] 在基本层面上，视频游戏中的音乐是模块化的：不同的音乐模块以及在游戏过程中如何触发和修改这些模块的规则存储在游戏代码中。计算机（即游戏机、个人计算机等）按照编程规则并响应玩家的动作，实时组装模块——将它们串在一起并相互叠加——成为伴随着的配乐。玩家对游戏的个性化体验（Medina-Gray 2016）。简而言之，模块化允许游戏音乐是动态的，随着游戏同样灵活的视觉效果和事件而变化，因此正如每个玩家对游戏的体验都是独一无二的一样，给定游戏的两个实时配乐不会是唯一的相同的。换句话说，与任何不确定的音乐一样，游戏模块化音乐系统的单个声音结果只是同一系统的其他（有时是许多其他）可能实现中的一个。 (4) [5] 例如，示例 1 在 Wind Waker 中绘制了一小部分音乐模块及其相应的触发器（单击模块以显示其转录的乐谱），这些将作为本文大部分分析的原材料。这些模块中的每一个都由游戏过程中的音乐行为定义——例如，如果在没有任何其他输入的情况下，特定音乐播放然后返回到它的开头并完全重复相同的材料，则该音乐构成一个循环模块。在我为音乐所属的游戏和游戏玩法提供更大的背景之前（任何最终多媒体分析的关键考虑因素），在我解释示例 1 所代表的模块化结构的细节之前，首先考虑如何即使是一个小的这个例子的一部分提出了分析挑战。视频示例 1 显示了录制的游戏玩法的两个单独剪辑，在此期间，音乐从堆叠的“海洋”模块切换到“出发岛”模块。（在此视频和本文的其他视频中，录制的游戏玩法出现在窗口的左侧，说明模块及其发生时的触发器的注释出现在右侧。）尽管视频示例 1 中的两个游戏玩法剪辑都涉及相同的模块，模块之间切换的时机取决于个人玩家的动作，因此这两个片段中模块之间的精确接缝——精确的音乐内容——有很大不同。在这两个片段中，“Outset Island”以在 D 和 A 音高之间弹跳的低音乐器进入，但在剪辑 A 中，该模块在“海洋”模块在 D 大调（“海洋”总谱中的第 16 分钟）中执行功能性主导-主导进行之后开始，而在剪辑 B 中，“海洋”模块在当“Outset Island”进入时，扩展VI（B大调）和声（m. 71）的过程。两个剪辑都代表了这种模块化音乐系统的同样有效的实现，并且两个配乐至少与那些游戏时刻中的个别玩家的体验相关。因此，对该模块化音乐系统的全面分析应同等考虑这两种实现方式，以及该系统的所有其他可能实现方式。这种在模块化游戏音乐分析中融入广泛范围的挑战构成了我在这里所做工作的核心任务。另一个挑战在于分析多个模块时要检查哪些音乐内容以及如何检查该内容的问题。我在上面的描述中强调了和声内容，因为音调和声是一个熟悉的音乐理论焦点，但这种音乐的许多其他方面也需要考虑；我们选择的任何分析重点都应该与视频游戏音乐以及我们想要提出的问题相关。[6] Wind Waker 凭借其多样化和详细（但不过分复杂）的模块化音乐结构，提供了充足的材料来演示视频游戏音乐中的一些常见模块化结构，并说明本文的主要分析问题和方法。Wind Waker 是长期运行的塞尔达传说系列中备受赞誉的条目。这款游戏由任天堂开发——由永田健太、若井始、峰岸彻和近藤浩二作曲——并于 2002 年在任天堂 GameCube 控制台上发布。 (5) 在 Wind Waker 中，与其他塞尔达传说游戏一样，玩家扮演年轻的英雄林克去拯救世界。视频示例 2 显示了游戏中间部分记录的游戏玩法示例，其中鼓励玩家