R3 'Game' theory?

[Judith Robbyns]

Mr GongGong "I'm still puzzled by the objection to game music though

Mozart, John Zorn, David Bedford, Xenakis et al have ALL used games in composition
to my EARS it's very much what R3 is about

Some folks are simply closed minded snobs"

Ten replies but no one actually took up the suggestion ( Post 34) to give reasons for the opinions they already hold. That seems to me to be more disappointing than expressing a For/Against opinion: that is, it isn't to do with the music and its quality ('good/bad') but why an hour every week on Radio Three should be given up to playing it. Since it appears to be replacing Sound of Cinema and Sound of Dance it presumably (?) will not be a permanency. My argument would be that if it is a short series with a knowledgeable analytical approach, it could be interesting. If it's simply an excuse to play the music, why on Radio Three? There are heaps of opportunities for people to hear it, including the announced presenter on Youtube with her Classic FM talks.

[MrGongGong]

Sound of Dance.

Like this ?

[Bryn]

Like this ?

Or, indeed, this.

[MrGongGong]

Or, indeed, this.

Fantastic to see that again .... thank s

[LMcD]

Or, indeed, this.

I was expecting to see Morecambe and Wise!

[oddoneout]

One of the problems I had with Sound of Cinema was that the music didn't always 'stand alone'; without the visuals it either didn't seem that interesting or didn't convey whatever Mathew Sweet was describing, and since I don't watch films I couldn't 'fill in the gaps'. Is that also likely to be the case with game music I wonder? To me that is a more relevant consideration than what radio station this should be on - would this be better served on TV? Although I can see there is an argument for concentrating on listening rather than being distracted by visuals - but that element must surely creep in where familiarity with the visuals exists. I look forward with interest to the first programme; it may not stay on my listening schedule but it's something I wouldn't otherwise access.
Incidentally the comments BTL on the original Guardian article I found interesting; some touch on the R3 listener reaction...

[doversoul1]

More about the programme:
[...]
Each week internationally acclaimed composer Jessica Curry will interview special guests from the games industry, starting with British composer Grant Kirkhope, who has scored some of the best loved video games characters from Banjo-Kazooie to Mario alongside a catalogue of hit games that have sold over 30 million. Other guests in the first run include award winning American composer Lena Raine, best known for her work on the hugely popular platformer Celeste, and Olivier Deriviere – described as game music’s eclectic daredevil who’ll be talking about pushing the boundaries of the orchestra in his scores.
[...]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2019/bbc-radio-3-launches-sound-of-gaming

Let’s hope the guests will not be just talking about how exciting it all was etc.. I’d have thought a professional broadcaster would make a better interviewer than someone who is in the ‘business’ her/himself which could make it all like a backstage chat. I must say I find it hard to imagine how the talks can be ‘stand alone’ from the games that the guests provided the music with. So, as oddoneout says, if you are not familiar with games, let alone that particular game... well, we’ll see.

[Serial_Apologist]

Is anyone listening to this? The first item sounded derivative of Saint-Saens 3, most since of music for 1950s Ealing comedies by... whomever. Light music seems to have re-found a home, apart from TV ads and programme themes. A space has been provided on Radio 3's increasingly vacuous schedule.

Edit: The excerpt that was played a few minutes ago was proudly announced as getting you right into the age or something; in fact it could have been music for anything you wanted to name. I'm thinking: perhaps video games music should offer rewards and punishments for alternative directions if you don't follow the "script", like Snakes and Ladders: hit the wrong target and you go back 500 years to incarceration in a Mediaeval monastery cell, with an hour's compulsory digitally simulated plainchant.

[Judith Robbyns]

I'm listening and I don't have an idea what they're talking about - enthusiastically. The music is not interesting to me so I've turned the sound right down. It seems like a ploy (just turned it off completely) to get the Radio 1 age group to listen to Radio 3. Why? They could put it on Radio 1.

They seemed to be talking about games more than music.

[gradus]

I enjoyed the programme. The music was extremely varied and much of it attractive and I certainly didn't find that they talked more about the games than the music. I'm not a games player so was almost completely unaware that the Games Industry offered so much work to musicians.

[oddoneout]

I enjoyed the programme. The music was extremely varied and much of it attractive and I certainly didn't find that they talked more about the games than the music. I'm not a games player so was almost completely unaware that the Games Industry offered so much work to musicians.

This is broadly my take on it. I had some problems with the talking bit, but was rather expecting that(and not primarily because of manner, content etc,) so not a major issue.
What did strike me was that here, potentially, is an opportunity to introduce a different audience to some R3 output. If there are gamers listening to this for instance

Andrea Boccadoro
John Whitgift (Astrologaster)
Lyricist: Katharine Neil. Singer: Emily Dickens. Singer: Ruth Kiang. Singer: Benedict Hymas. Singer: Robin Bailey. Singer: Jimmy Holiday. Singer: Christopher Webb. Singer: Benjamin Woodgates.
DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. AIR-EDEL RECORDS. 8.

then I would suggest there is possibly quite a bit of 'proper' music they might like as well? Although it might not always be as well and entertainingly performed...

Apparently the game is entertaining https://www.theguardian.com/games/20...ac-pc-nyamnyam
I'll be listening in next week - it might be more of a challenge than today's episode -

from tender chamber music to full on electronic freak outs

[Judith Robbyns]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. By 'talking about the music' I meant discussing it in musical terms not just giving details of what game it was composed for or who the composer was. The first pieces could have been ordinary orchestral film music but then they played a piece by Todd Baker that wasn't, but there was no reference to the music itself.

Then it was two minutes of talking followed by four minutes of music. If someone enjoys that kind of music programme they may well enjoy this. But there was a lot of 'the most famous', 'the best ever' and so on, which conveyed knowledge and enthusiasm for the gaming industry but didn't enthuse me. I was expecting something different on Radio Three.

[oddoneout]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. By 'talking about the music' I meant discussing it in musical terms not just giving details of what game it was composed for or who the composer was. The first pieces could have been ordinary orchestral film music but then they played a piece by Todd Baker that wasn't, but there was no reference to the music itself.

Then it was two minutes of talking followed by four minutes of music. If someone enjoys that kind of music programme they may well enjoy this. But there was a lot of 'the most famous', 'the best ever' and so on, which conveyed knowledge and enthusiasm for the gaming industry but didn't enthuse me. I was expecting something different on Radio Three.

I tend to hope rather than expect these days...
On the plus side I heard music I wouldn't have otherwise and, by looking up one of the items, found out things I wouldn't otherwise, so not completely non-R3 remit. And the talk didn't put me off the whole thing, unlike This Classical Life earlier which I just can't listen to at all.
I don't know what kind of musical terms you had in mind but I suspect such an approach might not be seen as a good thing by those who have a particular audience(young and not into R3) in mind?

[Judith Robbyns]

"I don't know what kind of musical terms you had in mind but I suspect such an approach might not be seen as a good thing by those who have a particular audience(young and not into R3) in mind? "

That's probably right. Though having listened to This Classical Life (part of), which was a 20 year old presenter and a 28 year old guest talking abut their favourite music, followed by a 25 year old guest presenting his favourite music, followed by two gaming enthusiasts (most active single age group for gaming 15-24), and all five professional musicians, I did think more emphasis would be on the music itself, technical, interpretation and so on, rather than on personal tastes and peripheral discussion about the people themselves. But if you didn't want or expect that you might have been more interested than I was.

[MrGongGong]

Perhaps I wasn't clear. By 'talking about the music' I meant discussing it in musical terms not just giving details of what game it was composed for or who the composer was. The first pieces could have been ordinary orchestral film music but then they played a piece by Todd Baker that wasn't, but there was no reference to the music itself.

I don't really know of any radio stations that discuss music in this way ?
Maybe some things on Resonance FM