From concert to console: How musicians are making melodies for video games

Nikhil Rao, Indian Ocean guitarist, worked on the music for Detective Dotson, an upcoming narrative adventure title from Masala Games. Greek musician and prog metal fan Linos Tzelos scored the mythology-based, action-adventure Raji: An Ancient Epic (Nodding Heads Games, 2020). A number of established musicians have been taking their work from the concert to the console. It’s as much learning as unlearning, they say.

Ready Player One

In 2021, when he was asked to compose the score for the upcoming Indus Battle Royale, musician Neelabh Pandey had a somewhat unusual brief from developer SuperGaming. They wanted “something Indofuturistic,” he recalls. “I went on the internet and typed the word out, and there wasn’t much. So, the first thing I had to do was define the term for myself and the team.” They worked one out together. It’s what you get when you imagine “the Indus Valley Civilisation advanced to the space age”, much like Wakanda’s Africa-but-make-it-sci-fi look in Black Panther (2018). Pandey’s music followed the same view. “There’s a section in which the electric guitar is playing a riff, and along with it, the sarod and sitar are also playing a riff,” he says. The three sounds, which are typically deployed as leads, cohesively shine as rhythm instruments.

For Greek musician Tzelos, scoring a local video game wasn’t on the cards when he visited India in 2014. He was here on an eight-month trip simply to learn about our music and explore collaborations. He loved the sounds of Rajasthan, and learnt to play the ravanahatha, a stringed instrument often considered the ancestor of the violin. Four years later, he met Avichal Singh (who would go on to co-found Nodding Heads Games). “He had a plan for a game and wanted it scored by someone who knew Western music but also understood the culture that the game would portray,” says Tzelos. The game, Raji: An Ancient Epic contains elements from Indian mythology and is set in Rajasthan. To gamers, Tzelos’s original music feels both Indian and global, there are plaintive strains of the ravanahatha, peppy tunes for fights and dramatic choruses.

Levelling up

Creating soundscapes for video games is different from scoring for cinema. “Films are a linear form. Once you move from one scene, you may not hear that exact music again — it might repeat in a different form or arrangement,” says Srikant Krishna, music composer for The Palace on the Hill. “In a game, characters move back and forth and replay levels. If you compose five minutes of music, it can repeat any number of times depending on the gameplay.” For one scene, where players explore a palace, he “used a bit of veena and sitar to give it a more royal Indian touch”.

Those who get the chills when they hear the main motif from Halo or the Final Fantasy franchise know exactly how music feels more intimate and personal in a video game. Sushant Kulkarni, who composed for the upcoming FAU-G: Domination (Dot9 Games), a first-person team deathmatch game, was tasked with creating something cinematic. It was a big-budget, big-action project. The music needed to be larger-than-life and aggressive. “With a film, there are multiple layers of sound built together. With a game, we focus on individual bits of sound and put it together like a jigsaw puzzle.” Like American games, he incorporates the sound of gunfire into the special effects so it sounds richer, more immersive.

As with films, each musician takes their own approach. “Before I put down any music, I watch some gameplay to understand the tempo at which the game is being played,” says Kulkarni. Krishna did the opposite – he worked off the concept: “Maybe boating or a night scene or something.” He experimented with the flute and tabla to imagine the Indian countryside in The Palace on the Hill. Rao looks for an entry point. “You need something: A single line, word, phrase, motif, chord progression, hook, riff, thought, idea, argument, philosophy…,” he says, “Once it is there, you start building a foundation.”

With games there’s room to experiment. Kulkarni hopes listeners hear the sitar, as more than a soft, emotional instrument, on FAU-G: “For one section, I’ve used it instead of a distorted electric guitar.” But with games, there’s also the temptation to overuse a catchy tune. “Curbing one’s instincts is the most challenging aspect of composing for a game,” admits Rao, “You get a little greedy, but the music is there to address the visual and the plot. That’s the master you have to serve,” says.

Raji: An Ancient Epic is available on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and iOS. The Palace on the Hill is available on Android, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X|S and MacOS

From HT Brunch, September 07, 2024

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