MUCH 443 - Music Sound and Video Games

3 Credit(s)

This course explores the relationships between music, sound, and video games through an examination of how the concepts of play and gaming have changed over time and an analysis of the intellectual, didactic, physical, and emotional roles of music in video games. Using foundational writings by play theorists, game scholars, musicologists, and ethnomusicologists, we investigate how music structures games, particularly in terms of participation/interactivity/adaptivity, non-linearity, genre, musical style, and intersections with technology. We will also focus on issues of spectatorship, competition, and racial, class, national, and gender identities. Coursework and assignments include reading and discussion, gameplay response assignments, and a semester-length project (which may incorporate performance or composition). Numeric

Prerequisite(s): MUCH 201 with a 2.0 or higher AND MUCH 202 with a 2.0 or higher.