Of Chalkboard Artists and Video Game Music Composers (or: two jobs I would rather be doing) April 16, 2008

My recent Ode to NPR could hardly do justice to the many intriguing stories I’ve heard during our whirlwind romance.  Sure, NPR and I have endured ups and downs in our relationship, but the positive moments stick with me forever.  For example, although it aired over one year ago, I still fondly remember the story NPR presented to me featuring grocery store chalkboard artists.  This was an entirely unnoticed art form in the prouduce section of my local market that I was missing out on every week! NPR you have really spoiled me this time. 

In all likelihood, the average Aldi’s probably won’t be debuting the next Picasso, but Whole Foods Markets employs a full-time artist at each of their 183 stores nationwide.  The on-air correspondent interviewed several grocery store artists, including Kate Lanciano, who started working at Whole Foods making smoothies at the juice bar while attending art school, and eventually began work as a chalkboard artist. She says, ”It’s like a revolving gallery. People get to see my artwork every day.”  I thought this story was fascinating.  However, it created one more job that I was otherwise unaware of that I would rather be doing than my current job.  But the next time you’re shopping, take time to enjoy the art work within your vegetable aisle.  You can listen to the full NPR story here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6520545

 

NPR spoiled me more recently with a story about, well, let me preview the first paragraph…

“In May 2004, a composer named Nobuo Uematsu joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic for a single performance of his most famous work. The show sold out in three days. In fact, there was almost a riot at the box office when people couldn’t get tickets.“

“What was the music? Uematsu’s soundtrack for the popular video game Final Fantasy.”

That’s right, video game music. I’m not much of a gamer, so this story caught me by surprise.  When I turned on the radio I actually thought it was classical music hour, which seemed a little odd for a weekend afternoon.  The music, however, sounded more contemporary and emotionally compelling like a movie soundtrack.  I decided to listen a little longer, and then realized it was a music clip from a video game after the NPR correspondent’s voice over began explaining this unknown world to me.  John Wall, one of today’s leading video game music composers, grew up playing PacMan and says, “Playing all those arcade games, I never even paid attention to the music. It just sounded like sounds to me. However, you know all the tunes. It’s so funny. The bleeps and bloops, they kind of invade your brain.”

What child of the 80s does not remember the classical Super Mario Brothers song? Doot Doot Doot do do do Doot…Here are two versions better than my humming: A Capella and Beatboxing Flute.  If you’d like to learn to play this 80s classic yourself, go here: http://gprime.net/images/mariopiano/

The memorable images and characters from the Nintendo Entertainment System have highly evolved, just like the music within the three-dimensional, virtual reality games themselves.  From the simple bleeps in Pong, to the Russian folk song featured in Tetris, to today’s full orchestra symphonies, video game music has been able to evolve as computer hardware technology advances.  Video game music composer Tommy Tallarico explains in the NPR piece that ”video game music isn’t a passive experience, but an integral part of the foreground.” He even believes that if Beethoven were alive today, he would be a video game composer. (An interview with a video game music composer, one who is still alive: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/apr08/6113)

The ‘Video Games Live’ concert  highlighted at the beginning of the NPR piece featured music from Final Fantasy, Halo, World of Warcraft, Tetris, The Legend of Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, and also included video footage from the games, synchronized to the music and projected on large screens at the performances.  The concert also had interactive elements where contestants came on stage to play Frogger And Space Invaders, while the orchestra played the music to the game to match contestants’ actions.

I think I’m truly beginning to appreciate art in all it’s many forms. From “The Lone Wolf” to this: Final Fantasy scores and grocery store chalkboards featuring broccoli in bountiful colors. Call me Mario, because NPR you’ve just 1-upp’d my life.