Rule of Rose: Needs More Glissandi

Rhythmroo ♦ May 19, 2010 ♦ Leave a Comment

Continuing in Horror games we have Rule of Rose. A very interesting method of creating Rule of Rose’s soundtrack is that it consist primarily of strings music. Yutaka Minobe, composer of Skies of Arcadia, took the helm as composer and wrote us a pretty chilling work of art.

Throughout the game your ears bask in a wave of warmth and uncertainty as you travel around the orphanage/airship. The same manner of how you, as well your character,  feel is reflected immensely through the strings. Soft and lulling to shrilling and anxious, the music allows not too long a moment of comfort. When encountering a foe, the track transitions into a erratically moving piece that signifies danger and uncertainty.

When I heard this track while watching a walk-through of the game on Youtube, I immediately thought of early 20th-century music like that of Schoenberg and Berg, composers whom worked with the 12-tone technique. Unfortunately I do not have anything from their repertoire, but I do have Gunther Schuller‘s 3rd String Quartet! I trust you can pick out the techniques and rapid dynamic changes that is found in both pieces of music.

Pleasant music, right? I don’t blame you if you disagree, but this genre of music gives the composer plenty of freedom to express their emotions better than anything. I believe this genre speaks for itself… maybe. I’m not here to give you a lecture though, maybe I’ll come back to the genre and video game music later on this year.

But do you hear the anxiousness in both Minobe’s and Schuller’s track? Great stuff, not necessarily toe-tapping music. I like hearing various genres of music in video games, especially pointing them out. I believe that listening to a game’s soundtrack while focusing in the third plane of listening should be the eventual aim for anyone who considers themselves a “true” listener of game music. There’s just so much going on that goes unnoticed. Heck, I’m not saying I can hear everything, but it will always be a work in progress. Then again, half the fun is the mystery of what the composer is thinking while writing their pieces.

EDIT: I completely forgot to mention that I will explain the planes of listening in another post, maybe not even here, and will direct you to it when it is uploaded. The statement I made above in regards to “True listener of Game Music” is not to be confused with listening game music out of the pleasure of listening. After all, video game music is background music, more than enough it needn’t be listened to in depth, but there are pieces of game music that should receive the treatment of third plane listening. Again, I’ll explain it in another post, possibly in an essay. Be sure to look out for it this summer!