Video Games Live

By Richard Brewer 

A useless fact that you may or may not want to know about me is that I always read the Metro on my way to work in the morning. The majority of this paper is fairly useless information that will make no difference to the way I live my life. Sometimes, however, there a couple of little gems. 

On Wednesday, in the section called Scene (Music, Film, TV and Comedy), there was an article titled “Video games set to thrill harmonic”. Despite the rather cheesy title, the article actually describes a new event which fuses video gaming and a live orchestra. As a fan of both entities, this is an extremely exciting venture. A great deal of music written for video games is fantastic, and even warrants CD releases as its own entity (the LSO actually recently recorded the soundtrack to The Final Fantasy series for symphony orchestra). 

 

Video Games Live will hit the UK this week before headlining none other than the Royal Albert Hall next year. It is labelled as an “immersive concert of scores from classic games, performed by a live orchestra”. The orchestra will simply play one big medley of soundtracks from a variety of different games, satisfying all types of gamers. It won't just be a standard concert, though; Video Games Live will use a huge LED display snowing sections of the games as the medley moves through the different soundtracks. The show even boasts the opportunity for one lucky participant to play a game live on stage, whilst the orchestra will follow their movements in real time. For a gaming enthusiast, this will be an absolutely exhilarating experience; logistically, it could be slightly challenging for the orchestra and conductor. But that's not for us to worry about anyway.

In my opinion, the most important aspect of this scheme is the attraction it will hold towards the younger generation. Music education is, as ever, a huge problem; initiatives such as the BBC's “Ten Pieces” are attacking this problem, with the majority of their efforts concentrated on primary school education. An area that is perhaps slightly neglected though is 14-19 year olds. A project such as Video Games Live is arguably a perfect solution for a great number of those in this age bracket. The vast majority of teenagers use video games, spending hours playing them, and in turn listening to the music. Without them knowing, they have become fans of the music; with Video Games Live, perhaps they will see classical music in a better light than before! 

 

With the ongoing battle with music education, initiatives such as Video Games Live will no doubt make a difference. Granted, it isn't Mozart and Beethoven, but it's a start; it's within the classical music genre and could even inspire audience members to pick up the Violin. We must continue to challenge the limits of classical concerts, without challenge, who knows what could happen. 

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