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Pop Polystylism
Is there a connection between John Cage and the role-palying game Arcanum? Seattle Weekly's Gavin Borchert offers another case of the link between avant-garde technique, technological change, and the pleasures of commercial culture.
Fifty years ago, avant-gardists like Earle Brown and John Cage were leaving the ordering of musical events up to the players. Now this once-arcane technique is being used by game composers for far more commercial purposes. Composers call it "branching music"�musical themes or tags linked to specific game events, designed so that any tag can lead un- jarringly to or from any other tag, creating a continuous flow, whatever the player's choices.
Thanks to Arts Journal.
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Sade|5.2.03 @ 1:58AM|#
I believe the first game to do this was Banjo-Kazooie for the Nintendo 64, which blended music from different areas along with approaching-enemy music, all dynamically.
|5.2.03 @ 9:16AM|#
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/science/nature/1846561.stm
http://ps2.ign.com/articles/166/166546p1.html
|5.2.03 @ 11:46AM|#
http://www.msnbc.com/news/905243.asp
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/02/international/worldspecial/02TERR.html
Davidov Veronica|9.10.04 @ 12:23AM|#
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DATE: 05/20/2004 03:34:33
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