Game music is music that accompanies computer games. Also known as game music, video game music (VGM), and game BGM. 

The word game music has only the meaning of music that accompanies the game, and the reality is very diverse. Like the soundtracks of drama accompaniment (animation music and movie music), it is sometimes grouped as a kind of music genre, but it is different from the music made for appreciation from the short melody made by the beep sound of the early days. not evaluate the obtained ones (Babaietsu of the song, etc.), those incorporating the existing music to the game (Tetris of Troika, etc.), changes in accordance with the play “interactive music”, until the automatic generation of music “procedural Music” included. 

History 

Due to the structure of game consoles, this music has been developed on the premise of a constrained budget and driving environment. From the 1980s to the early 1990s, audio processing chips (PSG, FM sound sources) used in PCs and game consoles. Waveform memory sound source, SID, etc.) were controlled and played. Around 1995, when PlayStation and Sega Saturn were released and CD-ROMs began to spread in home video games, the stream playback method using CD-DA and PCM became mainstream, but the budget was still restricted. Therefore, the use of MIDI sound sources was more active than the use of live musical instruments. As this situation continued, in the field of game music, techniques for making music that was audible even under strict restrictions developed. On the other hand, nowadays, with the improvement of the performance of game machines and the expansion of the development scale, there are works recorded in a large-scale organization like movie music. 

Musical works related to game music  

In relation to game music, music works produced and sold as media other than those built into the game are related to the soundtrack, the arranged (remixed) album in which the music in the game was arranged and played, and the content of the game itself. There are image songs, character songs, concerts, and completely different songs (sampling, covers) that incorporate the sounds of games. 

Soundtrack (Original Soundtrack)  

As listeners became attached to the game music itself, songs that were once composed as game music were released as records and CDs as the original sound itself (game music was resupplied as a soundtrack). 

Normally, BGM is recorded in about 1 to 2 loops, and it is often recorded in the form of fading out when entering the 2nd to 3rd loops, but the part that was not used in the game such as outro is recorded. There is also. In addition to BGM, sound effects (SE) and character voices may also be recorded, and unused songs and demo sound sources may be recorded as bonus tracks. In past arcade games, there are works with different sound sources for games and soundtracks due to the recording board for recording. 

Game music concert  

When the commercial and artistic value of game music was recognized, game music began to be played at concerts. From the 90’s to the present, many concerts specializing in game music such as “Game Music Festival” and “PRESS START” have been held, and they are performed in various forms such as rock, jazz, techno pop, club music, orchestra. In addition, it is often arranged in a large arrangement for performance or performed in a medley format with a plurality of songs. As for the performers, they may be performed by musicians, DJs, professional orchestras who are active outside the game music, or the staff such as composers may play the instruments. For popular works such as the Dragon Quest series, Final Fantasy series, and Monster Hunter series, concerts are held in which only the songs in the series are played. 

Game music is sometimes played at regular concerts, and at famous places, game music was played at the “Self-Defense Forces Music Festival” and the like. 

CDs and DVDs containing the video and audio of the concert will be released, but the scene may be cut due to copyright reasons. 

Works incorporating game music  

The Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO) has released songs “Circus Theme” and “Invader’s Theme” on their 1st album. Game Music specialty of the album is also of YMO Hooson and is produced, “from Namco game Devious “, ” Liable Rabble “, ” Galego was recorded sound, Even as of the beginning of the 21st century, there are Tanagra Kids ‘ “B-DASH” which sampled the songs of ” Super Mario Bros. ”