No Backup, But Restore
Some creative works—including film, theatrical productions, and even novels—fail at the first go, but are then reworked in new ways months, years, or even decades later, in hopes that they can find that missing spark. Consider the musical Ragtime as an example of this kind of rebuilding project, then explore the selections below. In which cases did the new version of a project succeed where the first hadn’t? Should the early incarnations of a piece be studied alongside those that succeeded later, or left in the dustbin of history?
Ragtime is a novel by E. L. Doctorow, first published in 1975. The iconic historical fiction captures the development of New York City between 1902 and 1915 with wealthy socialites, disgruntled workers, mob-like gangs, poor Eastern European immigrants, old Victorian society. It weaves real historical figures with passionate, interesting characters to make it a dreamy story about rebirth of Americans at the turn of the century. The famous novel has been made into several stage adaptations on Broadway and even an award-winning movie. Each time it infuses a new kind of spirit to the same mesmerizing story.
Nevertheless, not every rendition was met with applause and economic success. In 1998, the musical was a $10 million financial flop, a critical miss, and an awards-season also-ran — it had the misfortune to open a few months after The Lion King. The new version sets a different tune. It features music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and a book by Terrence McNally. More than a decade later, a leaner, less lavish, yet somehow even richer incarnation of the turn-of-the-20th-century-era musical has been neatly fitted into Broadway’s Neil Simon Theatre. But this is no penny-pinching, recession-era Ragtime but with more realistic view. It still features the three storylines and how they are interwoven together. Set in the early 20th century, the three narratives are: African Americans, represented by Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem musician; upper-class suburbanites, represented by Mother, the matriarch of a white upper-class family in New Rochelle, New York; and Eastern European immigrants, represented by Tateh, a Jewish immigrant from Latvia. Various headline-making historical figures pop in and out along the way: revolutionary Emma Goldman (Donna Migliaccio), ”vaudeville tart” Evelyn Nesbit (Savannah Wise), educator Booker T. Washington (Eric Jordan Young), banker J.P. Morgan (Michael X. Martin), industrialist Henry Ford (Aaron Galligan-Stierle), escape artist Harry Houdini (Jonathan Hammond).
Critics say the difference between the old and new Ragtime: edge. The opulent original production radiated an almost blinding streak of sun-soaked late-’90s optimism. This darker revival is by no means a bummer; it’s simply more grounded in reality. With its wonderful blend of nostalgia, anger, patriotism, and hard-won idealism, perhaps Ragtime is simply a better suited to 2009. Grade: A
For those studying theater, it would be interesting to study the previous versions of the show, not only for its set design, actors and music, but also how it interprets the American Dream. Audiences from different decades view the ideals wiht fresh take.
Wheels of a Dream (Jessye Norman Tribute) - Brian Stokes Mitchell - 1997 Kennedy Center Honors
They are both seasoned musicians and actors at their peak and performing together one of the hit songs of Ragtime. He plays Coalhouse Walker Jr. and she plays Sarah his wife. He polishes his Ford Model T and sings about their future as far away as California.
Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell re-unite to sing "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime
They have been singing together off and on for 27 years and they still sound wonderful. Many fans claim that they have not lost their magical stage presence with and superb singing. The re-unite shows them out of costume, but it still captures the same passion and sense of optimism.
Martin Guerre. a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the centre of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child and village, a man claiming to be him appeared. He lived with Guerre's wife and son for three years. It inspired the musical and also Americanized movie Sommersby.
Set in early modern France, the story follows Martin Guerre, forced into an arranged Catholic marriage with Bertrande de Rols to produce an heir. Unhappy and unable to consummate the union, Martin is beaten by priests and eventually abandons Bertrande to fight in the wars against the Protestant Huguenots. During battle, he befriends Arnaud du Thil and shares his life story before apparently dying.
Years later, Arnaud arrives in Martin’s village and is mistaken for him. Seeing an opportunity, he assumes Martin’s identity, and Bertrande—aware of the deception—chooses to play along, as the two develop genuine love. Meanwhile, Guillaume, Bertrande’s childhood admirer, grows suspicious and resentful. When he discovers Bertrande and Arnaud have converted to Protestantism, he incites a mob against them.
At Arnaud’s trial for impersonation, the real Martin Guerre unexpectedly returns. Surprisingly, Martin forgives Arnaud, acknowledging his love for Bertrande. However, before Arnaud can escape with Bertrande, Guillaume fatally stabs him. As Arnaud dies in Bertrande’s arms, Martin and Bertrande mournfully part ways, leaving the town to reflect on their prejudice and violence.
When first approached by Schönberg and Boublil, Cameron Mackintosh, who had produced their earlier works, expressed little interest in producing the project as it existed. Only after several dramatic revisions to make Guerre more heroic and greater emphasis was placed on the theme of religious intolerance, did he become enthusiastic about its potential. Six years in the making, Mackintosh's $6 million West End production opened in 1996 (I think WSC got the year wrong), running for 2 years and 675 performances.
The North American premiere was at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on September 29, 1999, for an 8-week engagement. Martin Guerre was fine-tuned significantly for its first American audience. In this case, the melody is the same but the lyrics have been altered. Nevertheless, the feeling of passion and courage is still the same.
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The songs featured in the film were written by composer Matthew Wilder and lyricist David Zippel. Stephen Schwartz was originally commissioned to write the songs for the film. Schwartz was the man behind many notable music of Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Prince of Egypt, and Wicked. After Schwartz's departure, his three songs, "Written in Stone", "Destiny", and "China Doll", were dropped amid story and character changes by 1995. "Reflection" takes an introspective tone, and beautiful melody makes it one of the fan favorites. The English version was sung by pop singer Christina Aguilera and the Chinese version by Coco Lee.
"Written in Stone" was written by Stephen Swartz and performed by Lea Salonga auditioned for Mulan. The Chinese style sounds are based on his research trip to China where he collected native sounds instruments. As the opening number it "confirms the strict social environment that exists in China" and that "traditions have dictated Chinese behavior for centuries" "Written in Stone" has "surfaced over the years" in later reworkings of the original film. Schwartz described 'Written In Stone" as "one of my favorite songs I have ever written for an animated feature" Luckily, fans of Mulan can hear it in the stage versions of the story and also for Mulan Jr.
"Ironic" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette as the third single from her third album, Jagged Little Pill (1995). It was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard. The lyrics present several unfortunate situations that are described as "ironic"; this has led to debate as to whether any of these match the accepted meaning of irony. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, irony is "a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what was or might be expected; an outcome cruelly, humorously, or strangely at odds with assumptions or expectations". From a prescriptivist perspective, lyrics such as "It's a free ride when you've already paid" and "A traffic jam when you're already late" are thus not ironic.
James Corden welcomes Alanis Morissette to perform some updated lyrics to her 1995 hit "Ironic." Late night host James Corden is known for his duets with many artists and this one with Alanis gives her classic tune a fresh sense of humor that is very relatable to this generation. It mentions many of the common experiences of the 2020s such as Amazon, Snapchat and Uber. Wearing red caps and donning braided hair, their back and forth banter also makes fun at her original MV which features two of her. What is fun way to bring back a classic and introduce it to a new audience that shows Alanis's sense of quirkiness.
k. d. lang is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter known for her soulful voice. Another song, "Tomorrow Never Dies", written by the film Tomorrow Never Dies' composer David Arnold and performed by k.d. lang, was originally produced as the official theme tune. When Sheryl Crow's song became the official theme, the k.d. lang song was relegated to the end credits and renamed "Surrender". Many fans consider k. d. lang's song to be more powerful and suitable for the opening credits as it portrays a classic 007 vibes.
This was the opening theme song for 007's "Tomorrow Never Dies". Bond movies have become well-known for their iconic theatrical opening theme songs/video. Although a composer and producer had already been selected, MGM wanted a more popular artist, and invited various singers to write songs before one was picked through a competitive process. There were around twelve submissions, and Sheryl Crow's song won the bid. The critics were mixed on the song, some feel it was awful and brittle and other feel it offers the sexy rock vide. It was nominated for best music at the Oscars but lost to "My Heart Will Go On".
"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a song written by American musician Billy Joel. It is also covered in the "Things Really Do Catch Fire" section of the curriculum. The song was released as a single on September 18, 1989, and part of Joel's album Storm Front. A list song, its fast-paced lyrics include a series of brief references to 119 significant political, cultural, scientific, and sporting events between 1949 (the year of Joel's birth) and 1989, in mainly chronological order. Although it has been noted as one of his not so great hits, it is catchy and fun, and for history buffs, it's great.
Apparently, not everyone hated the original song. Fall Out Boy, a heavy metal and punk band from Chicago area decided to do a cover of the song. It was included in the eighth studio album, So Much (for) Stardust. "I thought about this song a lot when I was younger. All these important people and events- some that disappeared into the sands of time- others that changed the world forever. So much has happened in the span of the last 34 years- we felt like a little system update might be fun. Hope you like our take on it…" Critics reacted negatively to the song, panning the tone and content of its updated lyrics. It was not in chronological order and some really big events like Covid were missing.
“Liberally mix major and minor scales and lydian mode,” one blogger advises anyone on a (five-or-more-minute) mission to write music with a science fiction flavor. What do these terms mean, and Is there such a thing as a “future” riff—a musical shortcut that helps to set a time and place, but in this case for a time and place that haven’t happened yet? Be sure to consider the song “A TV Show Called Earth” and to discuss with your team: does the songwriter choose to make it sound alien or futuristic—and, if so, how?
Heather Fenoughty is a composer for film, TV, theatre, adverts, games and online media with experience producing for BBC, Sky and ITV features, specials and documentaries. Here is her personal shortcut recipe for writing sci-fi tunes:
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Liberally mix major and minor scales and lydian mode up in your sequencer, using strings and/or pads for your harmonies.
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Sprinkle in relationships of the tritone – use them in your suspensions instead of whatever otherwise fits with the key.
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Build major chords on every note of your melody and use that for your harmony, a la Williams. (this refers to Star Wars composer John Williams)
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Go to new, unrelated keys regularly – flat or minor 6th relationships especially. Don’t bother modulating.
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Bring out the trumpets! All the brass deserve massive fanfares suggestive of ‘coming to the rescue’. (Also sprach Zarathustra)
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Soaring french horns. (Star Wars Again)
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Extreme contrasts of dynamics – subito fff and ppp are de rigeur for adjacent passages.
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Use ‘acousmetre’ for anything vaguely alien or otherworldly. Originally describing the voice, this term describes any sound that the audience has no idea of how it was created, and so will get uncomfortable, uncertain, apprehensive, a little bit scared. Think: weird sounds. Electroacoustic stuff. Spooky sound design.
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Get mechanical and repetitive in your counterpoint, especially when describing futuristic or alien technologies.
major or minor: The hallmark that distinguishes major keys from minor is whether the third scale degree is major or minor.
Lydian mode: often described as the scale that begins on the fourth scale degree of the major scale, or alternatively, as the major scale with the fourth scale degree raised half a step. It can be written as (W-W-W-H-W-W-H)
tritone: musical interval spanning three adjacent whole tones (six semitones).For example, three adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B.
dynamics: variation in loudness between notes or phrases. From ppp to fff abruptly
Acousmêtre - a kind of voice-character specific to cinema that derives mysterious powers from being heard and not seen.
counterpoint: the relationship of 2+ simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour.
This is an interesting song written from the perspective of aliens watching and spying on earth as if humanity was an interesting TV show, like an alien version of the Truman Show. They describe how humanity had some touching parts, but there were some rather disappointing, irrational plot lines, such as climate change vs profit, diversity vs black and white, and war and poverty. It mocks humanity's assumption of being an unique lifeform in the universe
and that from an alien's perspective our "interesting history" is just a "decent 7 out of 10." The song has a science fiction theme, yet the music is very harmonious and light, unlike the recipe provided by Heather Fenoughty to use dramatic tones, instruments and accousmetre.
What if aliens are real, and they live a trillion years
And they've watched every single one of us since birth
What if aliens exist, as an endless consciousness
And for fun they watch a tv show called Earth
There's a bunch of different storylines, the moral isn't clear
And it feels like the writing's gone downhill in the last year
And everyone's a hero painted in the proper light
And the show's in multicolor though it acts so black and white
In its hundred-millionth season for what it's worth
A tv show called Earth
As we gaze out into space, they're a few feet from our face
Eating popcorn drinking soda with their friends
Though to us it might seem cruel, how they keep a betting pool
On the way the human storyline will end
And everyone's a villain who just looks out for their own
And be careful picking favorites, 'cause they all end up as bones
And the ensemble is pretty good, the leads all mostly suck
And recently they've trashed the set to make a couple bucks
And a plot like that has not been seen before
They might only have a couple seasons more
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
And when the show is done, by war or storm or sun
I wonder if they'd want to watch again
Or grow bored with what what we do, and move on to something new
Saying "Earth was decent, seven out of ten" "
I liked the dancing and the music and and the sea foam on the shore
I wish the writers had been kind enough to sprinkle that in more '
Cause the war bits and the poverty, I wasn't a fan of
But I really dug on all the parts where humans fell in love"
See they've watched us from our primordial dawn
Until the very last one of us was gone
And one turns to the other with the clicker in his hand and says "
That was fun, let's see what else is on"
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah
Blocks fall from above in various configurations as this iconic music plays: the Japanese composer Hirokazu Tanaka’s original soundtrack for Tetris is a classic of the genre. Discuss with your team: should we be creating more of this chiptune music today? Continue your exploration of the history of video game music, then discuss with your team: is video game music a legitimate form of art? And would music, and literature and art in general, benefit from more limitations such as those imposed by low-powered processors and audio capabilities on early video games—or from fewer?
The original composition that the main theme of Tetris is based on is the Russian folk song "Korobeiniki", which is a musical recreation of a poem by Russian poet Nikolay Nekrasov. The song used in the original black and white Game Boy version of Tetris (titled A-Type) was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka. "Korobeiniki" ('The Peddlers') is a nineteenth-century Russian folk song that tells the story of a meeting between a korobeinik (peddler) and a girl, describing their haggling over goods in a metaphor for seduction.
Its increasing tempo and the dance style led to it quickly becoming a popular Russian folk song. Later, in 1992, Andrew Lloyd Webber (Broadway super producer) and Nigel Wright collaborated under the name Doctor Spin to record and release a Eurodance version of Tanaka's arrangement.
Chiptune is a unique retro/technology genre that is often referred to as 8-bit music or chip music. It originated in the 1980s at the early days of video games and emulates the sound of vintage computers and gaming consoles. Once a technology limitation, it has transformed into an artform.
This article by Dan Schwebel goes into the history, culture, characteristics and sub-genres, key artists of chiptune music, particularly the Little Sound DJ (LSDJ) - a Game Boy sequencer that has become synonymous with chiptune creation.
Chiptune began because of technology limitations: small storage space + rudimentary sound chips. In the 1980s, computers such as Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, the Amiga and game consoles including NES and Game Boy grew in popularity. During that time, the most influential platform for chiptune music was demoscene, where programmers and artists and musicians collaborated to create complex audio-visual presentation with coding and creativity. This unique musical form spread to other musical production with the advent of digital audio workstations (DAWs) and software synthesizers. With the LSDJ, a sequencer software on Game Boy, artists began creating more complex music.
8-bit music soon developed into 16-bit and 32-bit but it is all still referred to as chiptune music. The key characteristics are:
1) Limited polyphony - limited number of simultaneous noes, usually 3-5. Sounds thin and distinctive.
2) simplistic waveform: sound chips produced simple wave forms like square, triangle, and noise waves, for a distinctively raw and lo-fi tone.
3) techniques: arpeggiation (rapid sequence to simulate chords) are signature chiptune elements.
From these simple or not so simple notes, many flourish global communities developed.
1) chipmusic.org - hub for creators to share their work and discuss production and hardware modification.
2) bandcamp: artists sell and share their music on the platform. Has a easy to browse tag-based system.
3) Soundcloud: active community that hosts competitions and projects to inspire new work.
Chiptune even has music festivals to showcase new artists and works and are often paired with visual art.
1) Blip Festival - NYC event that concluded in 2012, but had a significant impact on popularizing the genre.
2) Square Sounds Festival: Takes places in multiple cities around the world, reflecting chiptune's international appeal
Chiptune artists!
1) Anamanaguchi - Well-known American band that blends punk rock and pop with 8-bit sounds. Energetic and catchy and even featured in video games "Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The Game".
2) Chipzel: Niamh Houston, aka Chipzel is based in North Ireland and makes dynamic compositions with Game Boys, including soundtrack for indi-game“Super Hexagon”
3) Sabrepulse: Ashley Charles from the UK is one of the pioneers and she incorporates breakbeats in her work.
4) Bit Shifter: Operating almost exclusively with a pair of Game Boys, New York-based Bit Shifter explores high-energy, low-bit music composed within severe hardware constraints.
Trash80: As the moniker for Timothy Lamb, Trash80 is known for his music that fuses vintage game consoles' sounds with modern electronic music elements.
If you are interested in composing some chiptune, you will need the following:
1) Game Boy
2) NES
3) Commodore 64
4) Pocket Operators: handheld battery-powered synthesizers.
For software:
1) LSDJ - goes perfectly withe Game Boy
2) Famitracker - Windows tracker software made for composing music for NES
3) Deflemask - multi-system tracker, composing on a variety of system including NES, Commodore 64, Sega Genesis
4) Nanoloo - originally a Game Boy cartridge, it is now available on iOs and Android
If you are interested to get started, the article offers a more step by step guide to create your own Chiptune.
Back in 1978, the classic game Space Invaders was introduced to arcades worldwide. While earlier consoles could produce sound in one way or another, Space Invaders was the first video game with a continuous “soundtrack,” which was groundbreaking then.
Early games like Space Invaders used the Texas Instruments SN76477 complex sound generator. The SN76477 was a noise-generator chip that consisted of a noise generator, VCO, super-low-frequency oscillator (SLF oscillator), a mixer, noise filter, A/D circuitry, audio amplifier, and control circuitry. Someone could use all this to create noise, sounds, tones, or a combination. Programmers used this chip in many arcade games and clocks. And, with some circuitry knowledge, you could (and still can) even create a synthesizer!
Generation 1: While Space Invaders has the title of the first continuous “soundtrack,” the distinction is continuous sound — not music. Rally-X, an arcade game released in 1980, holds the distinction of the first continuous melodic soundtrack. Rally-X was the first known game to use a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to produce sampled tones.
Generation 2 NES (Nintendo): Fast forward and in 1985 arguably the most iconic music on a console game was released: Super Mario Bros. Nintendo used a Ricoh 2A03 (NTSC version)/Ricoh 2A07 (PAL version) for creating music. The 2A03 consisted of five mono channels that could only produce the following sounds: two pulse waves, one triangle wave, one noise generator, and one DPCM channel, which was allocated to samples but was very rarely used. Due to Ricoh’s restrictions, programmers were stuck with those five sounds.
Generation 3 Commodore 64: The Commodore 64 (C64) used the MOS 6581 SID (sound interface device) chip. Although it only had three mono audio channels, each channel could produce a triangle, pulse, sawtooth, or noise waveform or any variation of the four waveforms.
Generation: 4: commonly known as the 16-bit era with multidimensional music. Out comes Super Nintendo with the new S-SMP Sony Sound and Music Processor with consisted of the SPC-700 and 64KB of static RAM. The S-SMP combo had 8 channels and was sample based. The limitation of only 64KB for songs and all sound effects was a challenge. The video with the sound capabilities of SNES is truly awesome. Composer David Wise took inspiration from the Korg Wavestate and recorded one waveform at many different frequencies, inputting each into a program by using a HEX code. His most recognized example is Aquatic Ambiance from the original Donkey Kong Country soundtrack.
The Rise of the Synth: In the 80s FM synths took the world by storm with Yamaha. As they became more available commercially, large sound chips meant for full-size synth keyboards could be miniaturized to fit onto a console’s circuit. Sega used the YM2151 for games such as Marble Madness and arcade games from Konami. The most recognized synth ever is probably the Yamaha DX7 released in 1983. Sega and Nintendo used different technology and also had different composers.
In the mid-’90s, disc-based consoles became more popular, particularly the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation. Memory limitation was no longer an issue. The big different was PlayStation and Saturn using CDs and Nintendo 64 had no sound chip, so all audio was played by the console's 64-bit processor. With only 64 MB of data including graphics, composers got creative with compressing MIDI files and used sound fonts. Check out how different Sega sounded compared to cartridge-based N64.
DAW - As a Video Game? If you didn’t have a computer or audio-recording gear or you were just a gamer who wanted to create some music, then Sony released a DAW video game that anyone could use to create their music! Music 2000 was a step-sequenced-based DAW with plenty of sounds and instruments to choose from. Interestingly, there’s still a community that writes music with Music 2000.
For the longest time, PCs used a small beeper speaker controlled by the computer’s CPU to produce sound. And, while the mid-’80s had the PCJr and Tandy 1000, they only made three-voice sounds. In 1987, a PC sound card would be released that changed the future of video game audio: the AdLib music synthesizer.
The AdLib used a Yamaha YM3812, an 11-channel FM-based sound chip that could play 11 continuous sounds or six channels of sound with five percussive instruments, which meant video game composers and programmers could get creative.
For a short while, the AdLib was the popular choice in PC gaming. However, Creative Labs would build the game-changing audio card that would become the industry standard. That audio card was called the Sound Blaster. It utilized DSP, or what Creative Labs called Digital Sound Processor (NOT to be confused with digital signal processor). While external audio interfaces are very popular among gamers, Sound Blaster remains the de facto standard for gaming audio.
In just over 40 years, we’ve come from beeps and boops to crystal-clear digitally recorded audio. For example, Inon Zur worked with live symphony orchestras for games like Syberia and the highly anticipated release of Starfield. Meanwhile, indie video game composers like Darren Korb and Jacob Foxe connect gear to a four-channel audio interface and press the record button in a DAW.
Orchestras and choirs are prevalent in video game soundtracks nowadays. There’s nothing like a dynamic orchestral piece, particularly for main themes and boss battles, but not every game requires an orchestral soundtrack. However, it doesn’t always have to be the case. For example, if you listen to the soundtrack from the video game Rocket League, it’s all EDM. Why? Because it fits the style of the game. If you had a 100-piece orchestra, then it would have a completely different vibe and may not make the game as enjoyable as it is. Even heavy metal has become commonplace!
Some people’s fingers whirl across the screen tapping and flicking with uncanny efficiency; others hesitate, or aim and miss, or fire at things that aren’t there. Rhythm games are a great source of entertainment, but they can also help people with injuries—or even brain damage—rebuild their motor and mental skills. Consider their broader history of rhythm games, learn more about (and hopefully play!) the examples below, and then discuss with your team: how could rhythm games be used in schools for educational purposes? What kind of rhythm game would you design if you wanted to create a popular product? And could rhythm games be changing how future music is composed and appreciated?
Rhythm comes naturally to most people and this involves synchronization which is sustained by a complex neuronal network. This research by Begel, Di Loreto, Seilles adn Bella, reserachers in France and Canada, reviews how games can help improve motor performance as will as cognitive and language skills and reviews the games in the market. According to their research, none of the existing games provide sufficient temporal precision in stimulus presentation and/or data acquisition because they do not train selectively rhythmic skills.
One category of games is called Exergaming, which aims to rehabilitate physically impaired people, such as Wii or Kinect, which have been sued to help patients with Parkinson's disease. Games that involve full body movements recorded via an External interface is mostly referred to as dance games. They can be helpful for patients with spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury and stroke. However, they focus more on exercise and not rhythmic precision.
Games that involve rhythmic finger tapping on a tablet include Beat Sneak Bandit. Here, the player has to tap precisely to the beat in order to make the character progress, avoid the enemies and so forth. One major drawback of these games is that the timing precision of the software is very poor. The time window in which a response is considered as good is very wide (up to several hundreds of milliseconds).
For computer or console games that Involve finger tapping on keys, played on a keyboard, using a joystick, or on special devices, the most famous is Guitar Hero. In this game the player plays on a guitar replica with five keys, and has to push the keys in correspondence of images presented on a screen. While most games don't satisfy the criteria for rhythmic training, they are advancing the potential in this direction.
Osu! is a freeware rhythm game originally created and self-published by Australian developer Dean Herbert. It was released for Microsoft Windows in 2007, with later versions for MacOS and Android and iOS. Osu!'s gameplay, based on the Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan series of rhythm games, primarily involves clicking notes, which appear as circles, using the cursor. Since the game's release, three other game modes have been added, taking inspiration from Taiko no Tatsujin and Beatmania. Unlike many rhythm games, levels in osu! are created and uploaded by users, increasing the range and volume of the song library, which is a factor contributing to the game's popularity.
Beat Saber is a virtual reality rhythm game developed by Ján Ilavský, Vladimír Hrinčár, and Peter Hrinčár. The game was published by Czech game developer Beat Games and was later obtained by Oculus Studios. It takes place in many different surrealistic neon environments and features the player slicing blocks representing musical beats with a pair of brightly-colored sabers.
Dance Dance Revolution is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance genre in video games. Players stand on a "dance platform" or stage and hit colored arrows laid out in a cross with their feet to musical and visual cues. Players are judged by how well they time their dance to the patterns presented to them and are allowed to choose more music to play to if they receive a passing score.
Dance Dance Revolution is iconic for originality and stamina in the video game market, as well as popularizing the use of videogames as a medium for fitness and exercise. There have been dozens of arcade-based releases across several countries and hundreds of home video game console releases, promoting a music library of original songs produced by Konami's in-house artists and an eclectic set of licensed music from many different genres.
Guitar Hero is a series of rhythm games first released in 2005, in which players use a guitar-shaped game controller to simulate playing primarily lead, bass, and rhythm guitar across numerous songs. Players match notes that scroll on-screen to colored fret buttons on the controller, strumming the controller in time to the music in order to score points, and keep the virtual audience excited. While Dance Dance Revolution is fast on your feet, Guitar Hero is fast with your fingers. It has brought a revival to many rock song and the expert level is seriously challenging.
maimai is an arcade rhythm game series developed and distributed by Sega, in which the player interacts with objects on a touchscreen and executes dance-like movements. The defining feature of maimai's arcade cabinet is its striking resemblance to a front-loading washing machine. The game supports both single-player and multiplayer gameplay with up to 2 players per cab. The game is mainly available in Japan and Asia.
Beatmania is a rhythm video game developed and distributed by Japanese game developer Konami and first released in December 1997. It contributed largely to the boom of music games in 1998, and the series expanded not only with arcade sequels, but also moved to home consoles and other portable devices, achieving a million unit sales The player is a club DJ who must manipulate the controls according to the instructions on the screen to win the praise of the audience. Each game consists of a set number of songs of various difficulties, and each song must attain a certain degree of satisfaction from the audience in order to progress to the next.
The core gameplay of Deemo is a score-based music video game. Each playable song features three main levels, namely Easy, Normal, Hard, each given a difficulty rating measured in a 'Level' scale. In each level, a black line is affixed at the bottom of the screen, and horizontal bars known as "notes" approach the line at a perspective from background to foreground. The player must tap on the notes when they reach the bottom line in time with the music, resembling playing on a piano. Black notes require the player to tap
each individually, while yellow notes allow the player to slide across in a chain. Black notes with a white interior are the same as normal black notes, only representing non-piano sounds, but otherwise the same gameplay-wise. The player's performance is judged by the accuracy at which each note is hit, where a "Charming" hit is more accurate than a normal hit. "Charming" hits are subdivided into two types, "True Charming" and "Regular Charming", where "True Charming" means hitting exactly at the bottom line.
Just Dance is a rhythm game series developed and published by Ubisoft, beginning with the original game in 2009. The games feature of a variety of songs that are accompanied with choreography performed by on-screen dancers. Players physically mimic the dance routine shown on screen and are scored based on how accurately they followed. The series has attracted popularity among a wide age range and dance skill level, and has been played in various contexts, such as entertainment, fitness and education.
Tap Tap Revenge (also known as Tap Tap Revenge Classic) is a game where players use their fingers to tap colored balls when they reach the bottom of the screen. The goal is to hit the balls at the correct time (as dictated by the beat of the song), and thus gain points. "Shakes", represented as on-screen arrows follow the same pattern as the colored balls, but player input is recognized from a physical shake of the device in the proper direction (right, left, or back). Following the end of a song, the point scores is recorded by the game, and the user has the ability to upload and compare their score online with other players.