“If you ask any young person to hum you the Mario
Bros. theme, I bet nine times out of 10 they’ll hum it in a
second,” Tommy Tallarico says. “It’s just as known or noticeable as any
film score like Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost
Ark!”
True, but Tallarico—who has been composing music for
videogames for two decades—is well aware that not everyone
respects videogames and their music. That’s one of the reasons why,
four years ago, he and fellow composer Jack Wall created Video Games
Live, an internationally touring concert of videogame music. Tallarico
claims Video Games Live has helped videogames and their music garner
respect commensurate with their popularity. “Non-gamers out there might
think, ‘Oh, videogame music these days, it’s just a bunch of bleeps and
bloops, isn’t it?'” Tallarico says. “And then they hear Final
Fantasy and Halo and Warcraft and Metal Gear
Solid and God of War and Kingdom Hearts and all these
great, amazing scores. That’s where the respect comes in and they say,
‘Wow, I never knew.'”
This weekend’s concerts, performed by the Oregon Symphony, will
cover everything from that chirpy Mario theme to the choral
bombast of Halo and the haunting ambience of Mass Effect.
Hosted by Tallarico (who has scored Advent Rising, Earthworm
Jim 2, and, yes, Beavis and Butt-Head: Bunghole in One), and
conducted by Wall (Mass Effect, Jade Empire), Video Games
Live not only celebrates games’ diverse music but also gaming culture
as a whole: Videogame footage will backdrop the symphony, and Guitar
Hero contests will precede the concert.
“Unfortunately, a lot of times the concert halls aren’t sold out
every week for Stravinsky,” Tallarico says. “It’s a shame, but we’re a
very visceral, visual, interactive generation. We grew up on MTV, using
computers in our daily life, videogames—so I think the thought of
going to a symphony [is], ‘Oh, everyone’s wearing tuxedos and they kind
of golf-clap and everyone’s got to be quiet.’ I think younger people
look at that and say, ‘That’s not for me.’ What we’re doing is taking
all the things we grew up on—all the interactivity, and the
flashing lights and the video and the fun and the excitement of
it—and mixing it together.”
