Research Guides (LibGuides): Ludomusicology: Library Resources

Resources to Think About

If you're looking for a way to start thinking about your research, try reference! Encyclopedias, research guides, and annotated bibliographies are great ways to get an overview on academic sources in the field!

The resources below are guides and overviews that can point you toward resources,specialized vocabulary and current scholarly interests in the field of ludomusicology!

The "Video Game Music" Entry in "Oxford Bibliographies: Music" (2018)
Oxford Bibliographies provides a seamless pathway to reliable resources for a variety of academic topics. Written and reviewed by academic experts, every bibliographic entry is an authoritative guide to the current scholarship, containing original commentary and annotations. (Database access requires Butler credentials)

The Cambridge Companion to Video Game Music by Melanie Fritsch (Editor); Tim Summers (Editor)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781108609197
Publication Date: 2021
"This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date survey of video game music by a diverse group of scholars and industry professionals. The book also engages with other disciplines such as psychology, music analysis, business strategy and critical theory." -- excerpt from the publisher
Ludomusicology : approaches to video game music by Melanie Fritsch; Michiel Kamp (Editor); Tim Summers (Editor); Mark Sweeney (Editor)
Call Number: ML3540.7 .L83 2016
ISBN: 9781781791974
Publication Date: 2016
"In the course of developing ways of conceptualizing and analyzing game music this book explicitly considers other critical issues including the distinction between game play and music play, how notions of diegesis are complicated by video game interactivity, the importance of cinema aesthetics in game music, the technicalities of game music production and the relationships between game music and art music traditions." -- excerpt from the publisher
Understanding video game music by Tim Summers
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781108113892
Publication Date: 2016
"Music is a central component of video games. This book provides methods and concepts for understanding how game music works." -- from catalog summary
A Composer's Guide to Game Music by Winifred Phillips
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780262321334
Publication Date: 2014
"A comprehensive, practical guide to composing video game music, from acquiring the necessary skills to finding work in the field. Phillips offers detailed coverage of essential topics, including musicianship and composition experience; immersion; musical themes; music and game genres; workflow; working with a development team; linear music; interactive music, both rendered and generative; audio technology, from mixers and preamps to software; and running a business." -- from the publisher

Unlimited replays : video games and classical music by William Gibbons
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780190265274
Publication Date: 2018
"Classical music is everywhere in video games. Works by composers like Bach and Mozart fill the soundtracks of games ranging from arcade classics to indie titles, to major franchises like BioShock, Civilization, and Fallout. But what do such combinations of art and entertainment reveal about the cultural value we place on these media? This book offers a new perspective on the possibilities and challenges of trying to distinguish between art and pop culture in contemporary society." -- excerpted from the catalog summary
Nostalgia and videogame music : a primer of case studies, theories, and analyses for the player-academic by Can Aksoy, Sarah Pozderac-Chenevey, and Vincent E. Rone (Eds.)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 1789385520
Publication Date: 2002
"Informed by research on musicology and memory as well as practices of gaming culture the edited volume discusses different forms of nostalgia, how video games display their relation to those and in what ways theoretically self-conscious positions can be found in games." -- from the publisher's description
Music in the Role-Playing Game by William Gibbons (Editor); Steven Reale (Editor)
Call Number: ML3540.7 .M876 2020
ISBN: 9780815369042
Publication Date: 2019
Known for their narrative sophistication and long playtimes, RPGs have long been celebrated by players for the quality of their cinematic musical scores, which have taken on a life of their own, drawing large audiences to live orchestral performances. The contributors to these chapters apply a range of methodologies to the study of music in this genre, exploring topics such as genre conventions around music, differences between music in Japanese and Western role-playing games, cultural representation, nostalgia, and how music can shape deeply personal game experiences.
Playing with Sound by K. C. Collins
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 0262312298
Publication Date: 2013
"KC Collins explores the many ways that players interact with a game's sonic aspects--which include not only music but also sound effects, ambient sound, dialogue, and interface sounds--both within and outside of the game. She investigates the ways that meaning is found, embodied, created, evoked, hacked, remixed, negotiated, and renegotiated by players in the space of interactive sound in games. Drawing on disciplines that range from film studies and philosophy to psychology and computer science, Collins develops a theory of interactive sound experience that distinguishes between interacting with sound and simply listening without interacting." -- from the publisher
Music video games : performance, politics, and play by Michael Austin (Editor)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781501308499
Publication Date: 2016
Music Video Games takes a look (and listen) at the popular genre of music games - video games in which music is at the forefront of player interaction and gameplay. With chapters on a wide variety of music games, ranging from well-known console games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band to new, emerging games for smartphones and tablets, scholars from diverse disciplines and backgrounds discuss the history, development, and cultural impact of music games. Including a glossary and detailed indices, Austin and his team shine a much needed light on the often overlooked subject of music video games. -- from catalog summary
Game Sound by K. C. Collins
Call Number: eBook and in print (ML3540.7.C6623 G3 2008)
ISBN: 9780262270694
Publication Date: 2008
"An examination of the many complex aspects of game audio, from the perspectives of both sound design and music composition. Game Sound has two underlying themes: how and why games are different from or similar to film or other linear audiovisual media; and technology and the constraints it has placed on the production of game audio." -- from the publisher
The intersection of animation, video games, and music : making movement sing by Lisa Scroggin and Dana Planck (eds)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781032172231
Publication Date: 2023
"In both video games and animated films, worlds are constructed through a combination of animation, which defines what players see on the screen, and music and sound, which provide essential cues to action, emotion, and narrative. This book offers a rich exploration of the intersections between animation, video games, and music and sound, bringing together a range of multidisciplinary lenses." -- from the publisher
From Pac-Man to Pop Music by Karen Collins (Editor)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781409429036
Publication Date: 2008
"Digital interactive audio is the future of audio in media -- most notably video games, but also web pages, theme parks, museums, art installations and theatrical events. Karen Collins presents the work of academics, composers and sound programmers to introduce the topic from a variety of angles in order to provide a supplementary text for music and multimedia courses." -- from the publisher
Playing Along : Digital Games, YouTube, and Virtual Performance. by Kiri Miller
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 0199921245
Publication Date: 2011
This book is about play, performance, and participatory culture in the digital age. Miller shows how video games and social media are bridging virtual and visceral experience, creating dispersed communities who forge meaningful connections by "playing along" with popular culture. Playing Along reveals how digital media are brought to be.
Keys to Play by Roger Moseley
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9780520965096
Publication Date: 2016
A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program: www.luminosoa.org. "Drawing on theories of media, systems, and cultural techniques, Keys to Play spans Greek myth and contemporary Japanese digital games to chart a genealogy of musical play and its animation via improvisation, performance, and recreation. Remapping the keyboard's topography by way of Mozart and Super Mario, who head an expansive cast of historical and virtual actors, Keys to Play invites readers to unlock ludic dimensions of music that are at once old and new." -- from the publisher

Books on specific game franchises:

Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. Soundtrack by Andrew Schartmann
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 1628928549
Publication Date: 2015
"Koji Kondo's Super Mario Bros. (1985) score redefined video game music. With under three minutes of music, Kondo put to rest an era of bleeps and bloops-the sterile products of a lab environment-replacing it with one in which game sounds constituted a legitimate form of artistic expression. Andrew Schartmann takes us through the various external factors that coalesced into a ripe environment in which Kondo's musical experiments could thrive. He then delves into the music itself, searching for reasons why our hearts still dance to the "primitive" 8-bit tunes of a bygone era." -- from the publisher
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time : A Game Music Companion by Tim Summers
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 1789382289
Publication Date: 2021
"The most extensive investigation into the music of a single game yet undertaken, this book serves three important primary purposes: first, it provides a historical-critical account of the music of an important video game text; second, it uses this investigation to explore wider issues in music and media studies (including interactivity, fan cultures, and music and technology); and third, it serves as a model for future in-depth studies of video game music." -- from the publisher
The music of Nobuo Uematsu in the Final fantasy series by Richard Anatone (ed)
Call Number: eBook
ISBN: 9781789385564
Publication Date: 2022
This is the first book-length study of the music of Nobuo Uematsu, and focuses on his Final Fantasy soundtracks, exploring the dynamic relationship between the music and the stories behind the beloved video game series.

Journal of sound and music in games.
Call Number: eJournal
ISBN: 2578-3432
Publication Date: 2020-
The Journal of Sound and Music in Games (JSMG) is a peer-reviewed journal that presents high-quality research concerning all areas of music and/or sound in games. It serves a diverse community of readers and authors, encompassing industry practitioners alongside scholars from disciplinary perspectives including anthropology, computer science, media/game studies, philosophy, psychology and sociology, as well as musicology. JSMG is the only journal exclusively dedicated to this subject and provides a meeting point for professionals and academics from any tradition to advance knowledge of music and sound in this important medium.
Music, sound and the moving image
Call Number: eJournal
ISBN: 1753-0776
Publication Date: 2007-
Music, Sound, and the Moving Image is the first international scholarly journal devoted to the study of the interaction between music and sound with the entirety of moving image media – film, television, music video, advertising, computer games, mixed-media installation, digital art, live cinema, et alia.

Because ludomusicology is a new field, much of what can be found is either published chapters in larger anthologies or (more frequently) articles in journals that are broader than the subdiscipline. It isn't a bad idea to explore music databases, like RILM or the Music Periodicals Database, with keywords like "video games" to find music-focused articles about video games. Likewise, searching JSTOR or Project Muse (general humanities databases) for "video games" AND "music" will help you find articles published across the academy in subjects such as anthropology, sociology, game studies, and media studies that can also inform your research.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR provides access to full-text academic electronic journals in various disciplines including economics and finance, political science, history, literature, anthropology, mathematics, sociology, statistics, and education.
Music Periodicals Database (ProQuest) [Formerly IIMP-Full Text] This link opens in a new window
A music journal resource with more than half a million indexed articles from over 430 journals, plus detailed abstracts and full text from 1874 to current, covering the scholarly to the popular.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Covers literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, etc. Contains current full text scholarly journals which cover these fields and a significant collection of recent scholarly books.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window
Provides article citations and abstracts from 3500 international music journals and other scholarly works including books, dissertations, bibliographies, concert reviews, critical commentaries, videos and films, etc.

Ludomusicology

Related Guides

Resources to Think About

If you're looking for a way to start thinking about your research, try reference! Encyclopedias, research guides, and annotated bibliographies are great ways to get an overview on academic sources in the field!

Books on specific game franchises:

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