Musical Contexts - Computer and Video Game Music Quiz

Early computer and video game music consisted mainly of SOUND EFFECTS. Which of the statements below best describes early computer and video game sound effects?

• The technique of digitally encoding music or sound and reusing it as part of a composition or recording
• The music heard over a computer or video game's main title or main menu
• A realistic sound, often performed and recorded by an orchestra which can then be released for digital download
• An artificially created or enhanced sound used to emphasise certain actions within computer and video games

Computer and video game music often uses melodies and bass lines that ascend (go up) or descend (go down) by SEMITONES. What is the name of music based on this type of musical SCALE? (it uses all of the white and black notes on a piano or keyboard)

• Chromatic
• Diatonic
• Disjunct
• Pentatonic

The image below shows four different types of musical SCALE. Choose the correct one which matches your answer to the previous question, used frequently for melodies and bass lines in computer and video game music.

• A
• B
• C
• D

Characters within a computer or video game can also have their own CHARACTER THEME. What musical device, used in Film Music, is a CHARACTER THEME similar to?

• Leitmotif
• Mickey-Mousing
• Ostinato
• Pedal

A CHARACTER THEME can be altered and changed musically, depending on the character's situation or different places they travel to within a computer or video game. One of the ways a composer can do this is to change the ORCHESTRATION. What does the word ORCHESTRATION mean?

• The act of changing an orchestra to digital or electronic musical instruments to save in cost and money
• The act of arranging a piece of music for an orchestra and assigning parts to the different musical instruments
• The act of an orchestra playing without a conductor
• The act of hiring or recruiting more members to an orchestra

What is the name of this musical instrument, used in early computer and video game music?

• Piano
• Keyboard
• Organ
• Synthesiser

Computer and video game music composers often use 'jumpy' or 'bouncy' rhythms in their music, accenting the weaker beats of a bar (or offbeats) as shown in the image. What is the name of this rhythmic musical device, often using a half-beat followed by a full beat?

• Abbreviation
• Segmentation
• Animation
• Syncopation

In what ways has video game music become popular in the 21st Century?

• Video game music is now sold commercially as digital download collections
• Video game music is now often performed in concerts by orchestras e.g. The Proms
• Video game music is featured on some radio stations with some shows dedicated to video game music
• All of the above

Music within computer and video games is often used to know when a significant event or action is about to occur, like Lara Croft from Tombraider crossing a dangerous gap in the image. What is the name for these points in the game?

• Cues
• Choose
• Blues
• Views

What TWO early styles of electronic music were used in early computer and video game music which used simple melodies made for Programmable Sound Generator (PSG) sound chips in vintage computers, consoles and arcade machines? (select TWO answers here)

• Chiptunes
• 8-Bit Music
• Fishtunes
• 2-Bit Music
• Peatunes