Breaking Down Barriers: Vincent Diamante on video game music

Ahead of his appearance at the forthcoming Game Symposium 2.0, we spoke to music composer Vincent Diamante about the evolving world of video games and the music behind them

Feature by Natasha Bissett | 17 Jun 2014

“Music in video games has this very weird space that is simultaneously elevated as well as denigrated, and I would like to see that divide blurred into nothingness in the future. It’s all just video games.” It’s clear when talking to Vincent Diamante that video games and video game music are art just as much as film, music or paintings. This shouldn’t be a surprise from the composer who was embedded with the production team of Flower, which was recently re-released for PlayStation 4 and PS Vita five years after its original release on PlayStation 3. Flower combines music with the alternative gameplay of collecting flower petals around the world by riding the breeze. It’s like a relaxation CD you can play. What is surprising and refreshing when talking with Vincent is how passionate he is about treating video game music no differently than any other part of the video game development process.

When The Skinny asks Vincent about how he feels video game music, and games themselves, have developed throughout the past two decades, he replies: “There's definitely been this very slow and gradual respect for video game music over the years. The teenagers who grew up with video game music in the ‘80s and ‘90s are of course the 30 and 40 year old guys now, and they have their love for video games, or at least a respect for video games still in there, where it wasn’t in the generation previous. It’s really cool to see the soundtrack for Journey be nominated for a Grammy this year along with other music that comes from video games and video game musicians.” With that respect, he notes, comes greater allocation of resources to put more money into game music. What was once $5,000 is now $50,000 for big titles.

What worries him, and many other gamers, is the standardisation of video games. “There's a little bit of déjà vu when I play such and such game which is a mostly linear, narrative experience of this lone hero that has a particular reason for getting revenge on this particular system or antagonist. You can sort of predict the rollercoaster ride, as well as the various game play mechanics that all happen along with that, and the video game soundtrack that accompanies it.” 


“There's definitely been this very slow and gradual respect for video game music over the years. It’s really cool to see the soundtrack for Journey be nominated for a Grammy this year along with other music that comes from video games" – Natasha Bissett


It’s that kind of thinking, to look outside of the box and see what ideas are untapped, that Diamante tries to impart on his students too. His classes at the University of Southern California combine students from different degrees and year levels to work together to create video game projects. By working with others from different backgrounds, student teams can create unique concepts.

Beyond breaking down the barrier between music and other development aspects in games, his classes at USC examine the barriers between video game studies and other disciplines such as art, philosophy, business, psycho-acoustics (the study of sound perception), literature, and film. By considering different ideas and perspectives, students are encouraged to consider games and music beyond the mainstream, and develop the industry by merging and introducing new ideas.

Thatgamecompany, where Diamante is embedded, has a similar philosophy of building uniqueness and he works side-by-side with the mid-sized development team (about 15 people) from day-one of a project. It allows him to design the music for the game much more organically alongside the game’s development compared to if he was brought in at the end of the project. It also gives him the time to mull over the music and audio aspects for the game with a longer time span. A longer conceptualisation process gives him the opportunity to decide the best way to produce the music, whether it is using a real orchestra, acoustic instruments, or digital instruments and orchestras.

Thatgamecompany are working on a new project with Diamante, though he's shy on the details at present. What he will say is that the development team looks to what trends are in the game industry and tries to anticipate not what gamers are clamouring for, but what they need. He attributes the success and emotional resonance of Journey to this outlook. Journey was the game players needed to experience, but just didn’t know it. To do this, Thatgamecompany is “looking at the current population of game players and the current state of games and asking ourselves what we think would make things better, what do we really need as a medium, as an industry? Maybe when we put it [the new game] out there people will realise ‘Oh this is exactly what’s needed’. This was a game that they wanted but they didn’t even realise at the time.”

As for the Edinburgh Symposium 2.0, Vincent is looking forward to hanging out with other game composers and developers, and is flattered that he’s been invited to give a lecture about his work and ideas of game music compositions. He’s also looking forward to getting feedback from other composers and designers about his work with Thatgamecompany, be it technical or conceptual. Based on this conversation and his infectious passion for video game music and development, I am sure Vincent will be a big hit at the Symposium.

Vincent will be appearing as part of the Edinburgh Game Symposium 2.0 on 27 and 28 Jun. http://edingame.com/edinburgh-game-symposium-2-0/