Musicking in the cybermedia : digital games as musical venues

Abstract

What is the space devoted to music in contemporary digital games? This paper will explore the nature of digital games as venues for musical encounter, focusing on music and non-music games alike. Music forms an integral part of game engagement, with extensive compositions or sparse musical fragments being deployed in game environments through multiple modalities. While forms of mise-en-scène compatible with the filmic tradition remain, dynamic or generative musical systems are often used, determining different sonic juxtaposition for different play sessions. Digital games are objects capable of reconfiguring during use (Aarseth & Calleja 2015), and musical content is also involved in this process.