Future music

Ultimately, how is it possible for composers and musicians to redress the balance? Technology has exploded beyond recognition in the last four years, but the advent of features such as 3D sound won't magically transform the face of videogame music unless they are properly utilized.

There are definite niches for different composition styles; sequenced/chip music has an important place on the N64, while the PlayStation has the luxury of CD audio. With an almost complete shift towards CD, and more recently DVD, streamed audio will soon become standard. PlayStation 2 will support 3D sound, with 48 channels and better-than-CD-quality samples. This technology needs to be exploited to its fullest potential, and then some.

Ultimately, a game's soundtrack is only one part of the whole experience, working alongside other elements such as visual cues and suspense-building set-pieces. It's more of an integral component than it ever was, but designers and programmers will have to forge closer links with musicians in order to deliver the best possible results.

Perhaps, one day, audio will become as much a core part of the project as code and graphics, rather than a secondary, post-production consideration.

Many thanks to erstwhile C64 musicians Rob Hubbard, Mark Cooksey, Ben Daglish, Fred Gray, Ash Hogg, and Tim Wright for their invaluable contributions to this feature.


Useful websites:

HighTechnology Music Ltd.
http://www.c64audio.com/

Binary Zone Interactive
http://www.bzpd.freeserve.co.uk/

The High Voltage SID Collection
http://users.dhp.com/~shark/c64music/hv_sids/

The Best Game Music in the World... Ever!
http://gamemusic.siliconcircus.co.uk/

The SidStation Homepage
http://www.sidstation.com/