Koji Kondo and GDC make beautiful music together
by Kyle Orland 
{ Mar 8th 2007 at 3:28AM }
The Game Developers Conference has been trying to get Koji Kondo to come speak about game audio for ten years, according to an introduction by Tommy Tallarico. The wait seemed well worth it, as the famed Nintendo composer's first public appearance in the United States drew a standing ovation from the hundreds-strong assembled crowd today.
Kondo, who has worked on the music for the Mario, Zelda and Star Fox series, among others, stressed three main points in making good game audio:
- Rhythm in game audio is not just having a catchy beat, but matching your beat to the animation and button presses in the game. "If the music doesn't reflect the rhythm of the game, it might as well be piped in from a source outside the room," Kondo said through a translator.
- Balance in game audio means not just balancing things like sound effect and music volume, but also bringing individual audio pieces in a game together as a single composition, with a defined introduction, bridge and ending. This is why Kondo always submits pieces to his director four or five at a time, so they won't be given equal weight but instead be balanced in the correct way.
- Interactivity in game music can be as overt as a faster tempo when time is running out in Super Mario Bros. or as subtle as slight phrasing changes in each trip through the overworld in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Kondo stressed that "this ability of the video game medium, which is not possible with CDs, movies etc., is a very interesting and unique feature."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Qweltol @ Mar 8th 2007 9:53AM
You lost me at "Tommy Tallarico."
hvnlysoldr @ Mar 8th 2007 11:55AM
Who is Tommy Tallarico. I liked what Kondo had to say.
Joshua @ Mar 8th 2007 11:56AM
You know, honestly, I've never really heard good music in an American game (since Tommy Tallarico was brought up) - nothing memorable, I mean.
On the other hand, Koji Kondo is by far the overlord of game music. In fact, Kondo's works are some of the best in ALL of music.
RoninSeraph @ Mar 8th 2007 1:09PM
Never heard good music from an American/in an American game?
Harry Gregson-Williasm and Metal Gear Solid ring a bell. Plus, I forgot the guy who did it, but the soundtrack for Psychonauts was awesome as well. Kevin Riepl is a personal favorite, who does music for the UT series. Plus the composers who did the soundtrack for God of War (Ron Rish, Mike Reagan, Gerard Marino, Winifred Philips).
Theres plenty of American games/composers that make memorible music.
FSK405K @ Mar 8th 2007 2:06PM
Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu, and the crew of Castlevania composers...video games would suck without you.
Rubang B @ Mar 8th 2007 4:09PM
@5, And when Spore comes out, we can add Brian Eno to that list.
Rubang B @ Mar 8th 2007 4:12PM
@5, and when Spore comes out we can add Brian Eno to that list.
FSK405K @ Mar 8th 2007 11:13PM
I doubt the music of one game (Spore) will make me go crazy humming melodies all day long like the others have, but we'll see.
Aktrez @ Mar 14th 2007 8:11PM
@3 So, Warcraft, God of War, Advent Rising, Earthworm Jim, Beyond Good and Evil, Halo ... none of these are good musical scores?