High Score: Montaigne, Amy McNickle & More On The Magic Of Music In Games

The High Score games and audio conference returns to the LCI art school in Melbourne/Naarm on Saturday, 5 October and Sunday, 6 October.

This year’s event, which is part of Melbourne International Games Week, boasts over 20 individual events, from panels and presentations to masterclasses and workshops covering all aspects of game music.

Presented by APRA AMCOS, in partnership with the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, and sponsored by Music Australia and FMOD, High Score’s two-day program is available to attend in-person or online. In-person tickets are $120, with livestream-only passes just $25.

High Score is where Australia’s game audio community gathers to learn, network, and celebrate the use of music and sound in video games. It’s open to music and sound creators of all levels and the games industry who want to explore the important role that music and audio play in game design and experience.

You can find all the ticketing information here.

To celebrate the upcoming program, five of this year’s speakers have shared their insights on game music in Australia for The Music.

What trends are you seeing regarding game music in Australia?

Jess Cerro (aka Montaigne) - closing keynote Branching Ballads: Lyrically driven narratives in Stray Gods

Someone else might have a different perspective on this, but I feel like it's hard, if not impossible, for things to "trend" in game music because games demand a bespoke score that suits the genre, aesthetic, or world of the game. I

f I think of the biggest games out of Australia in the last few years - Cult of the Lamb, Unpacking, Stray Gods, Untitled Goose Game, Hollow Knight - you've got highly melodic hip-hop-inspired spooky music, you've got cozy guitar music combined with game-y synths, musical theatre tracks, adaptive classical piano, and your standard video game orchestral fare. So, I'm not sure that you can really point to a repeating style. Perhaps within game genres, there might be "trends", but I wouldn't call myself an expert in any genre, so I couldn't really say.

Yon Hall - closing keynote Branching Ballads: Lyrically driven narratives in Stray Gods

I'm kind of an outsider here; Stray Gods is the first Aussie game I've worked on. And I've only played Fruit Ninja—shame on me. I will say that last year, I was involved in a concert with Orchestra Victoria celebrating Aussie game music, and it felt like a real movement; we filled Hamer Hall, and I was struck by how many composers attended the Q&A before the event.

I think it's a great sign for Aussie game music and just Aussie games that an event like that can feel so substantial. Everyone looked way cooler than I expected, which sounds like a backhanded compliment, but it's also a way of saying people who are into this stuff are approaching it as a proper art form. Look, that sounds shit too. Okay, everyone was way cooler than me, and I was trying to pretend that I belonged, and people were very nice about the fact that they were way cooler than me. How about this: It was cool.

Belinda Coomes - Panel: Know your worth, then add tax

Australian games music is definitely influenced by what is happening globally in the games industry, making it challenging to pinpoint specific trends unique to music in Australian games, however, from my perspective, here are a few trends I've noticed:

• Unique and Creative Soundscapes: Australia is somewhat known for producing creative, quirky, and irreverent video games. The distinctiveness of these games can also require a distinctive and imaginative game score, and, therefore, Australian game music can be recognised for its creativity.

• Rising Profiles for Games Composers: In recent years, numerous Australian-made indie games have gained global popularity. This success has helped raise the personal profile of the composer(s) involved in the project, which has led to them working on larger national and international projects. 

• Growing Demand for Game Music Content: There is a growing demand from gamers who want to consume the game music soundtrack outside the actual game. 

  As a result, there is a need to produce an accompanying OST (original soundtrack) bundled with the sale of a game and made available on video game digital distribution services (such as Steam), as well as making the OST available on digital streaming platforms (such as Spotify, YouTube, Bandcamp etc). 

  This trend is driving a growing commercial aspect, with game music becoming an increasingly significant revenue stream for games composers through OST sales, streaming royalties, and even sales from mechanical royalties such as vinyl records. 

  In addition, I am noticing more local live performances of video games music, online events showcasing games music, as well as radio stations playing games music. Whilst this definitely is a global trend, it is also evident within Australia, and therefore I believe it is worth including in answering this question. I have no doubt that the increasing commercial success of games soundtracks is linked to a significant portion of Australians playing video games, 81%, according to the Australia Plays 2023 report by Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA), with this number trending upwards.   

Narayana Johnson - Panel: Game music in the wild: from OSTs to orchestras

I notice composers also take on the role of implementing sound. It gives you more compositional control. If you understand what’s possible with implementing middleware, it influences choices during the compositional phase.

Amy McNickle, co-curator of High Score and panelist: How to speak dev and influence designers

I’m not seeing a trend specifically towards any one type of music or technique so much as I’m seeing a trend of developers looking for a unique sound that compliments the story or specific charm of their game. Australian developers make weird, quirky, cute, and unhinged games, and they need weird, quirky, cute, and unhinged soundtracks.

I don’t think there is as much of a push in the indie scene for the blockbuster, AAA, fully orchestral scores as there once was. It’s all about finding the right composer to compliment the protagonist, the narrative, or the unique visual identity of the game. Think Cult of the Lamb, Stray Gods, Gubbins, Diets & Deities, and even upcoming games like Copy Cat and Mystiques.

What’s something that a lot of people wouldn’t think about when it comes to games music?

Cerro: I think most people don't think about the business side of games music. I myself was kind of surprised to learn that a lot of composers don't really know how to protect their rights going to the table with big dev studios which ends up meaning that they can't distribute their work without the full oversight/control of the studio or they can't profit from the royalties that streamable music might generate among other things.

I really thought it would be a given that the composer would be able to own and license their work to the studio and at least be able to get a cut from their streaming royalties but I guess that wouldn't be a particularly profitable model for some of your more extractive companies.

Hall: I guess maybe people don't realise just how interactive the music is in a lot of games. Many game composers use really novel ways to make the music follow the action, at the same time making it sound like a good piece that flows in a musical way, it's part art, part programming. Although I'm sure someone reading this will say programming is an art, and of course they're right, but you get my point.

Coomes: The Size and Impact of the Industry: Many people still don’t realise how massive the gaming industry is or just how many people actually play video games and regularly listen to game music. Video game soundtracks have become highly popular with many gamers listening to game soundtracks as they would their favourite band. Gamers can become massive fans of the music and the associated composer(s) with some game music composers achieving a rock star-like status within the industry. 

Evolving Music Styles and Gamer Demographics: Video games have matured significantly in content as well as genre over the years, and so has the music within them. There is still a misconception that video game music is limited to electronic bleeps and blops, music that is typically associated with early games from the 80s and 90s. 

This viewpoint is often paired with the misconception that gamers are predominantly kids or teenage boys. However, the reality is quite different.

In Australia, the average gamer is 35 years old, and almost half of gamers are female, according to the Australia Plays 2023 report by the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA). As the gaming audience has grown up with games and matured, so too has the content within games which now often features mature themes and complex storytelling. 

The music in modern games reflects this maturity through complex musical storytelling and a wide range of musical styles. Today’s video game music is as varied as the games themselves and the musical styles range from full live orchestral recording to contemporary electronic EDM, traditional ethnic music to delicate and emotional piano etudes, 1940s jazz to experimental music that blur the edges between sound design and composition. 

The vast array of games being created today demands an equally broad musical palette, requiring video game composers to work across many different styles and genres.

Johnson: The implementation side is a huge task. It’s one thing to write the music but it’s another to have it react to the players actions in a musical way. Something as simple as a boss being killed halfway through a musical phrase poses interesting questions. If a player opens a chest and a sting plays, will that clash with the music? If certain SFX have a tonality to them and you want them in key, what music will said SFX need to work over? There’s lots of little puzzles you start to see when you decide to implement a given sound or track.

McNickle: Pacing. Music marks time, and as games are an interactive medium, the player is (generally) in charge of how they spend their time in game. They choose how they move through this new world, developing an affinity with the characters and environment along the way.

Music, with its ability to leave a mark on time, presents an interesting narrative proposition. What a composer, or sound designer, decides to write and produce can have behavioural impacts on how quickly, abruptly, smoothly, slowly, etc. a player chooses to move through an environment.

Game audio has a unique ability to influence the pace of a game, which is a really fascinating storytelling aspect of this discipline. Pacing is separate from the usual setting of overall tone, emotion, and vibe, which pose equally important narrative and design considerations for game audio, but one that I think is talked about more often.

What are you looking forward to most about High Score?

Cerro: I'm looking forward to attending the expert panels and hearing from some really cool and established industry people! I'm still an industry baby and have a lot to learn so it'll be cool to hear about their experiences. I'm keen for the Speedruns panel especially, it'll be cool to hear some pointers in that way.

Hall: I'm looking forward to hearing people talk about how they make their stuff - there are so many different scales and ways of working, I like the idea that folks will be talking about really specific stuff to people who understand what the hell they're talking about.

Coomes: I’m a massive fan of High Score as it is how I found my way into the local games scene and began composing music for games. Each year, the event continues to improve and always offers thoughtfully curated content and valuable insights into current local game audio projects, as well as information about how to become a game composer.

The presentations by industry peers are particularly inspiring as they delve into the technical and creative aspects of game audio, providing a “look under the hood” at how things are done. Additionally, High Score usually features an international special guest and it’s always fascinating to hear their personal process when working on games. From a personal perspective, I always enjoy catching up with industry peers who I may not have seen all year as well as chatting with other High Score participants. 

Johnson: It’s such a great place to connect with other composers. Composing is often a solitary job, especially in indie games. Meeting other people doing similar things is a great burst of energy and motivator. Also, I always leave High Score with a bunch of new ideas to try.

McNickle: I’m personally looking forward to speaking with attendees and hearing about what they learn from our sessions this year. We have amazing talks that are all about the craft, with deep dives into composition, sound design, and tech. We also have game audio-specific business discussions, and there aren’t too many places where game audio professionals can gather and have these nuanced conversations specific to the work we do.

There are parallels between both game audio and the music industry, and game audio and the games industry, but there are very niche, specific aspects to this profession that can sometimes get overlooked in those more broad contexts. I’m confident our program this year will facilitate opportunities for unique networking and upskilling, and I’m looking forward to hearing about how High Score benefits different aspects of our attendees careers this year.