What's your favorite tune of all time? I'll bet it has lyrics, and a DJ has probably played it on the radio at some point, somewhere in the world.
Many people, including most of those I know, would be likely to answer this question in the same way. Very few people, on the other hand, would answer as I would: My favorite tune of all time is the background music for Cyber City, the second stage of Air Zonk on the TurboGrafx-16.
While almost everyone on the planet listens to some form of music, a far lower percentage of people are capable of actually making it. In my family, though, it's a fairly common thing that we all seem to take for granted. On my father's side, almost everyone plays multiple instruments, though guitar seems to be the instrument of choice. I'm no exception to the general rule, but I ended up being a core percussionist instead. But then, my musical history is also quite a bit different than absolutely everyone in my family.
Looking at the type of music I've always seemed to enjoy most, it's easy to see how my personal style differs from people like my parents, who grew up in the '60s. Outside of the old-time hits of the '50s and one-hit wonders of the '80s that my parents listened to when I was younger, the bleeps and bloops of 8-bit games were the only music I was ever exposed to. I'm sure this is the genesis of how BGMs became my nearly exclusive ear-pollution of choice. Also, I've never cared as much for the lyrics in any song as I do for the music which they accompany.
But this is old news to anyone who's known me for any length of time. I've had video-game mix tapes since I was in elementary school. I got my first crack at composition with Mario Paint for the Super Nintendo, and I did extended mixes of the BGMs from Mega Man X using a dual tape deck and careful timing.
It's no small wonder that when I got a keyboard for Christmas one year, I started coming up with tunes that sounded remarkably like Japanese video games. Once I combined my new instrument with the experience I gained through the school band — which, at one point, did an arranged Nintendo medley that included Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong — it wasn't long before I was composing my own original pieces.
That's not to say that there weren't hurdles. Often, those listening would disregard my efforts with pithy dismissals like "Well, it sounds pretty good, but where are the words?" or "Yeah it's OK, but it's like something from a video game." At one point, someone even blatantly laughed at me when I played an early CD of original work and asked, "Did you honestly expect anyone to think video game music would be good to listen to?"
Thankfully the Internet disagreed with that rhetorical question. After a three-year musical renaissance of fearless experimentation from 2003 to 2006, I created several game-themed pieces used for various YouTube videos. I've also had work featured on many podcasts including Bitmob's own Mobcast. (I composed the outro, A Bit of a Mob, using a DS and a Game Boy Color.) Over time, more and more people started asking about how to get a hold of the mp3 files, so they could listen to them independent of their original purposes. It was at this point that I decided to work toward making an album of music inspired by the sounds of video games. The hope was to create something that both enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts could listen to and enjoy.
The result is Where the Air Is Thin, a collection of 10 tracks that try to tell a story using as few words as possible. Taking inspiration from Japanese role-playing games, shoot-em-ups, and the sounds of 8- and 16-bit hardware, Where the Air Is Thin is not only completely original, it also brings my love for video-game BGMs full circle.
I originally composed many of the tracks for a game I had intended to make. Instead, the album itself became my primary project, and I worked in it for two years under my pseudonym, Ser Flash. Soon after it released, one listener described it as "the best video game music you've never heard." While two years might not sound like a whole lot of time, for me it felt closer to a decade. In fact, one of the songs is a remix of a work that's more than 10 years old. Despite my early inexperience, that particular track withstood the test of time and garnered so much positive feedback that I had to ready it for a proper release.
I can honestly say that if it wasn't for the music of titles like Mega Man, Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Air Zonk, Gradius, U.N. Squadron, Persona, Valkyrie Profile, and many others, I would not have achieved the feats that I have so far. In fact, I don't think I would even be the same person. Genetic predisposition and talent can only bring someone so far, I think, and in my case, video games were the thing that truly made a musician out of me.
Want to check out Where the Air is Thin? Head over to http://smpmusicproductions.bandcamp.com.