Retro game music with a baroque twist - played on the lute by Chris Hirst

Описание: #retrogaming #retrogames #80sarcadegamemusic #lute
Retro game music with a baroque twist - classic 80s arcade games influenced by baroque music played on the lute (mandora) by Chris Hirst. Space Invaders came out in 1978, and the following ten years or so were a golden age of coin operated arcade games. Many new games were produced to cash in on the massive popularity of arcades and the technology developed very rapidly, from the simplistic graphics and game play of Pac Man in 1980 to the sophisticated 3D perspective, multiple worlds and moving cabinet of Space Harrier only 5 years later.

Music was used on title screens and often during the game play, and had to be catchy. Due to the limitations of the technology, music also had to be fairly short (often looping) and in the early 80s could only have 3 single-line voices at once. This led several game composers to look towards baroque music for inspiration, as the 3-part counterpoint approach worked well. Numerous games had theme or game play music with a baroque influence, I present here the music from 3 classic games (some of my favourites), plus a bonus track. The arcade game is shown together with the music played on a mandora, a type of lute. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to the channel and help us to make more videos like this one.

Donkey Kong (1981)
Many early 80s games were made with a 'platform' format consisting of ladders and horizonal platforms. Donkey Kong was a great success for Nintendo and became the highest grossing arcade game of 1981 and 1982. It also introduced the character of Mario for the first time, who has to dodge barrels thrown by the angry Kong at the top and work his way up to rescue his sweetheart. The title music features 3 parts and some baroque sequences and simple counterpoint.

Burger Time (1982)
One of my favourite games at the time, another platform game but this time you control a chef who is being chased by murderous hot dogs, eggs and pickles. You must make burgers by walking over the ingredients which then drop down, When all the burgers are complete at the bottom then you have completed the level. It is quite an annoyingly difficult game! The music is a simple but unusual 7 bar loop in 2-part counterpoint with chromatic notes (apart from the short intro which is heard at the start of a new level, in 3 parts).

Gauntlet (1985)
Quite a big jump in technology in only 3 years, Gauntlet was a fantasy game were you could play as one of 4 characters - warrier, wizard, valkyrie or elf. Each character had its strengths and weaknesses, and you could play with up to 4 people on one machine which was unusual at the time. You had to negotiate a series of mazes, finding keys, potions, food and other items and battling against numerous evil characters like ghosts, grunts, demons and sorcerers. The music has a strong baroque influence, with sequences and counterpoint which is varied on repeats. The music is quite fast and difficult to play!

Bonus game: Space Harrier (1985)
I have such fond memories of this game that I had to include it, even if the music has less of a baroque influence. The 3D perspective in the graphics and fast paced action alone made it an instant classic, but some machines also had a moving seat which followed the movements on the screen which really took it to another level. You have to pass through a number of worlds, shooting what you can and avoiding obstacles. At the end of each level you have a one to one battle with a different monster. The music capabilities had also improved drastically by 1985 and the Space Harrier theme uses more realistic instruments including drums and bass. The melody is very catchy and at the end of this version there are 4 mandora parts playing.

By the end of the 1980s, home computers and gaming systems were much more common and becoming more and more sophisticated. All the classic games above were also made available on the various home platforms. This ultimately led to the demise of the coin operated arcade game, but there was nothing like the atmosphere, lights and sounds of an arcade and the buzz of trying to get as far as you could with your friends clustered around the cabinet!

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