Both music and video game fans from the UK have an event to look forward to next year as the UK’s National Video Game Arcade in Nottingham will include a two-day celebration of video game music. It will take place on January 19-20, 2018 and is called ‘All Your Bass’.
The celebration will consist of a wide range of performances. There will also be Q&A events that will feature a selection of industry composers. One of the composers in attendance is Masaya Matsuura who is known as the composer of the music for ‘Vib-Ribbon’ and ‘Parappa the Rapper’. Matsuura is a Japanese video game designer and musician. He is credited with developing and popularizing rhythm-based music in video games. He works from his studio in NanaOn-Sha. One of his current projects is writing music for the video game ‘Project Rap Rabbit’ but a date for the release of this is not yet confirmed. At the festival, he will use a combination of music and talks to represent the contributions he has made to the rhythm action genre.
Also at the event is Rob Hubbard who originally made his name with some memorable Commodore 64 tunes. This British composer studied music at college and played in bands during the 1970a before establishing himself as a composer for computer games. In recent years he has ventured into composing music for mobile phone games and television documentaries. He received an honorary degree from Abertay University in 2016 for his contributions to the video game music industry during the 1980s. At ‘All Your Bass’, Hubbard will give a director’s commentary and discuss compositional techniques, musical influences, and different technologies used in computer game music composition.
Another feature of the weekend is a playthrough of ‘Dear Esther’. Jessica Curry is the game’s composer and she will narrate the playthrough. Curry is a composer and radio presenter. She is also the former co-head of ‘The Chinese Room’, a British video game development studio. One of her most famous works was the score for ‘Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’. It was for this video game that she won a BAFTA Award in 2016. Curry will be accompanied by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Many other acts and guests are set to attend the event, but these will be announced closer to the time.
To gain a new perspective on current video game music trends, attendees might like to listen to the collaboration between classical music composer Maria Kallionpää and the University of Nottingham’s Mixed Reality Lab. They have composed a virtuoso piece for Live Pianist, Disklavier, and Interactive System called ‘Climb!’. This has been described as an interactive musical experience that allows listeners to see how video game music has influenced the composition of modern classical music.
The video game music event is taking place at a variety of locations across Nottingham. Some of the venues where guests can enjoy talks, concerts, and more include the National Video Game Arcade, Antenna, and Nottingham Royal Concert Hall. Further details about the acts will follow at a later date.
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