Music makes emotions?

 This is just a short(ish) blog post whilst I'm still working on two larger updates on my creative process as well as the final few stages of grief blog posts, and basically, a chance for me to quickly discuss an observation I've found of myself when sketching/thumbnailing and generally working on designs and research for this game. That is to say what I've been listening to when 'in the zone' or what gets me into a good state of workflow and inspires some of the decisions I make.

I would like to think we are all aware of how sounds can evoke emotions, it being one of the 5 senses, and we experience a variety of situations where music is a substantial influence on us as individuals. Gym-goers all have a specially mixed playlist for 'that pump' with high-energy tempos and invigorating vocals, funerals opt for a more somber tone of sound often hand-picked by either the deceased or their close family to share a special bond between them and the chosen song to those paying their respects. We all have a particular taste in music, some more eclectic than others, so it should come as no surprise that we have specific songs that can help us during grief, either to boost our mood or allow us to feel our emotions and come to terms with the affects the situation is having on us. Game developers are acutely aware of this and have specific sounds and scores produced to elevate the players' experience, for example, the choice of music played during a 'From Software' boss battle is deliberately made to raise the atmosphere present in the game allowing for the situation to stand out from general gameplay but also highlighting certain aspects of the boss design such as a tempo increase if the boss has a second stage during the battle where they become stronger, or melancholic stringed instruments during the 'Dancer of the Boreal Valley' a boss that has been forced to fight for the Pontiff Sulyvahn against her will and prevent the player from progressing forward in their quest.

Even though I'm not producing music (this is a game design course and I'm currently looking at concept and environmental art) I feel it is worth noting the effects that a different creative discipline can have during the creative process, looking at games like 'Gris' that deal with grief and utilize their music since the characters happiness or joy directly correlate to her ability to sing it makes sense that the choice of songs will have been discussed alongside the design process of the player character and the environments that represent each stage of grief. A slow, depressing, and cold soundtrack wouldn't have the desired effect if played during a fast-moving lava-based level. So I've started to pay more attention to what I listen to during my creative processes as well as hand picking and searching out songs that could emulate the sort of environments I'm designing as well as evoke an emotional response from me that I'd like the player to feel (though like all artistic outputs this is highly subjective and what one person feels from a song will differ from another).

Below are a series of both songs and works from artists I've found compelling during this endeavor, as well as youtube links to the music.

Balmorhea - The Winter

https://youtu.be/3hyBHO2xZ7c?si=gstpIUGyIph_ZsOR

I really, really like this song. A lot of the music in this list features strings and orchestral elements as I enjoy the delicate nature of their sounds and how sensitive they are to the players' actions. Really allowing you to feel the pressure applied to the keys of the piano or the strings of the violin in time with how your emotions swell. When listening to this song I always envision someone continuously attempting to overcome an obstacle to no avail in an almost Sisyphean nature, before looking at the obstacle from an alternate angle and overcoming it in the second half of the song only to find they are not the same individual who started this challenge.

Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata

https://youtu.be/4Tr0otuiQuU?si=RijtLhglI-5MUDqe

This was my first introduction to classical music and by one of the world's most renowned composers. This particular symphony has been used in games already, I first witnessed it in the Activision game 'Spider-man: Web of Shadows' during the opening cinematic. It is speculated to have been scored by Beethoven during a time of grief, with the song being dedicated to his pupil Julie Guicciardi with whom he was infatuated with, and upon learning these feelings were not reciprocated she was in fact to become engaged to Count Von Gallenberg. The turmoil can be felt especially during the first movement (Adagio Sostenuto), and this creative circle of grief creating a sound to then be used to evoke the same emotion in another art form is exactly the reasoning behind observing these musical tastes and preferences.

Clint Mansell - Lux Æterna 

https://youtu.be/aOHmfq2AUaU?si=-jj4I9uBUNmlK_s4

A modern English composer, Mansell has worked on both film and videogame soundtracks, with this his most well-known piece. Understanding the themes of a film and videogame that a soundtrack has been composed for and if it has similarities to what my own themes are can help in understanding what sounds can be beneficial to listen to during my own creative design processes. 'Requiem for a Dream' whilst on the surface is a breakdown of the negative effects of drugs both medicinal and recreational it holds deeper substance with ideas around loneliness and avoidance of reality, two states we can find ourselves in during the denial stage of grief. Hence why some individuals can turn to intoxicating substances during grief. Contrasting the strings used in this piece to previous music in the list and you can observe how much shorter strokes with elevated pitch adds a sense of tension, evocative of the increasing drama the further the story continues in the film.

M83 - Oblivion (soundtrack)

https://youtu.be/UjpbQ1OWMPE?si=VXwrT9egE0q1TiWY

M83 are more often known as a French electronic band but was chosen to produce the music for this films soundtrack (scored by Anthony Gonzalez and Joseph Trapanese) with vocals on this particular song by Susanne Sundfør. I looked at this soundtrack due to its themes of both Space/future with loneliness and isolation with the main character's main task to traverse the landscape alone checking data collecting machines for any anomalies. This setting of a futuristic Earth that's been abandoned is potentially why an electronic band with synth usage to emulate orchestral atmospheres was chosen. The background sounds give me a sense of 'twinkling' and I imagine looking up to the stars from an alien terrain and witnessing the beauty of a galaxy clear at night on a planet with no light pollution like our own, in part due to the bombastic scale of this score making one feel smaller in comparison but not insignificant, like how this image gives us a scale of ourselves in the grandeur of galactic comparison yet we are still a part that makes it up.

Clint Mansell - Moon OST

https://youtu.be/4pqxRCUp4r0?si=5kkKWHgB83TkpYYW

A soundtrack that I only started to listen to whilst making this blog post, a film on a list of ones to look at for their space-based aesthetic. It coincidently was produced by an artist already on this list, and again fits my own themes incredibly well with the protagonist being alone in space or so it seems. Although not a horror-themed movie primarily it does have a horrific situation the protagonist finds themselves in, and the long drawn out notes from the strings with short fast-paced (guitar?) notes overlapping them it does have a subtle sense of a horror soundtrack to it.

This definitely is tonally more in line with the darker side of space and isolation as opposed to the beauty of it found in other films/games/musical scores, and this itself shows how a score can be changed to match the separate stages of grief whilst maintaining similarities through instruments used or tempo or tone or particular sets of notes.

Really Slow Motion - Gender

https://youtu.be/QLrZh8PKS4I?si=TnUMI2PPUMYFdzis

If I'm to look and a grand scale of musical scores, nothing gets me more amped up than some of the studios that produce music solely for use in movie trailers, this one being produced by 'Really Slow motion' but others I listen to are; Secession Studios, X-Ray Dog, and Zack Hemsey to name a few. With such a short period of time to work with (the average length being two and a half minutes), the studios have to condense their sound whilst still representing the film and increasing audiences' anticipation for viewing it. This can often lead to a higher pace for the score (especially in action and horror films as it rarely contrasts the themes present) which can elevate the emotions of the audience. Just another example of how music can affect our emotions, but one to be aware of when using it as a component of artistic design processes - I don't want to rush designs nor do I want the player to rush through a game and miss the deeper message especially one of such a delicate subject matter.

Afternaut - Teslascope

https://youtu.be/6dnlErLLb1U?si=8jBmT0TLj-TsC1wJ

I am biased when it comes to this music as it is produced by my cousin, however, he has worked in the games design industry for several years whilst also producing his own music under the pseudonym of 'Afternaut'. His spotify information regarding his themes reads as follows;

"Afternaut is a musical odyssey crafted by Adam Rowley. With a background rooted in the intricate world of video game sound design, Adam emerges as a sonic architect, sculpting ethereal landscapes that blur the lines between past and future.

Drawing inspiration from the interplay between ambient tranquility and glitchy chaos, Afternaut's sound is a tapestry of intricate layers, weaving through epic soundscapes that border the psychedelic. Adam's experimentation with sound yields epic soundscapes tinged with psychedelic undertones, inviting listeners on an immersive journey through sonic dimensions.

Embracing a future-retro aesthetic infused with technical themes reminiscent of cyberpunk worlds, Afternaut reflects a fusion of nostalgia and innovation, inviting listeners to embark on a journey through a futuristic sonic landscape." 

I've highlighted several words and phrases within his blurb to demonstrate why this particular style of music fits so well with the sort of world and game I'm attempting to craft, with the music itself offering another angle as to why it could fit so well with the story of a hollow space suit attempting to find answers on a barren alien world.

Again even though I'm not on a music-producing course, nor am I producing music (I play no instruments anyway) I see this observation as an experimental form of the creative design process, similar to how we may create a mood board of images from Pinterest to get a sense of the direction we wish to pursue with our own designs. The fact that music can alter our moods and emotions makes this almost an audible mood board of sounds that influence my designs in a different way to images alone.