If you enjoy video games like I do, you might notice the music in the background. Sometimes ambient, other times adaptive. Music in video games can be just as crucial for the experience as the game’s development. Whether you notice the music or not, it often times enhances the gameplay experience.
When adaptive music is referred to, it is often in the context of video games. In short, adaptive music is background music whose volume, rhythm, or tune changes in response to specific events in the game. This tactic is utilized in television and movies, though the audience is unable to dictate the music’s adapting, as it is embedded into the storyline and unchanging. In comparison, the player in the video game controls the adaptive music in a sense.
Adaptive music is often implemented for the player’s benefit, enhancing the gameplay experience through extra stimuli. Often, games utilize vertical techniques, changing mixes of the music’s loop in response to the player’s in-game experience. This is something that I had noticed, though not understood or paid attention to. I am very enamored by this subject and it is something that I will focus on as I continue to play video games.
A Community Audio Journal