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Music: Difference between revisions
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'''Music''' in the [[Pikmin series|''Pikmin'' series]] accompanies every part of each game, from ambient music during gameplay and [[menu]]s, to pre-rendered cutscene scores, to minor jingles for small events. The style is quite unique and extremely varied across the games, featuring many different instruments and textures that reflect the game environments on [[PNF-404]] and beyond. Most notably, much of the music is dynamic: gameplay events and parameters can add or subtract elements from the music. For example, entering [[combat]] will bring a new intense percussion track into the mix, and the passage of [[Day#Sunset|sunset]] thins the music down to a quiet, peaceful rendition. [[Boss]]es in the games have their own themes, and [[Canon|non-canonical]] game modes (such as [[Challenge Mode (Pikmin)|Challenge Mode]] or [[Bingo Battle]]) have a different, less serious compositional style, to reflect the different structures and styles of gameplay. Overall, music gives the games more character and interest, and can even help direct the player's attention to important in-game elements. | '''Music''' in the [[Pikmin series|''Pikmin'' series]] accompanies every part of each game, from ambient music during gameplay and [[menu]]s, to pre-rendered cutscene scores, to minor jingles for small events. The style is quite unique and extremely varied across the games, featuring many different instruments and textures that reflect the game environments on [[PNF-404]] and beyond. Most notably, much of the music is dynamic: gameplay events and parameters can add or subtract elements from the music. For example, entering [[combat]] will bring a new intense percussion track into the mix, and the passage of [[Day#Sunset|sunset]] thins the music down to a quiet, peaceful rendition. [[Boss]]es in the games have their own themes, and [[Canon|non-canonical]] game modes (such as [[Challenge Mode (Pikmin)|Challenge Mode]] or [[Bingo Battle]]) have a different, less serious compositional style, to reflect the different structures and styles of gameplay. Overall, music gives the games more character and interest, and can even help direct the player's attention to important in-game elements. | ||
The music in the series is | The music in the series is often synthetic, using either samples of real instruments or synthesizers mimicking them and producing other sounds. The games feature the work of several different composers: | ||
*''[[Pikmin (game)|Pikmin]]'', composed by Hajime Wakai. | *''[[Pikmin (game)|Pikmin]]'', composed by Hajime Wakai. | ||
*''[[Pikmin 2]]'', composed by Hajime Wakai and Kazumi Totaka. | *''[[Pikmin 2]]'', composed by Hajime Wakai and Kazumi Totaka. | ||
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==General information== | ==General information== | ||
The music that accompanies gameplay in the main games is dynamic, meaning that certain conditions of the game can add or subtract elements from the music. Most commonly | The music that accompanies gameplay in the main games is dynamic, meaning that certain conditions of the game can add or subtract elements from the music. Most commonly, if an [[enemy]] is near or combating the leaders and Pikmin, the music will add an intense track of percussion and other instruments to its mix, further engaging the player in the combat. At [[Day#Sunset|sunset]], the music will subtract elements to become higher in register, thinner in texture, and calmer in mood, suggesting the approaching end of the day's events and complexity. As the games progress, this dynamism in the music becomes more and more a part of gameplay; after [[Pikmin (game)|''Pikmin'']], new mixes are added when Pikmin are carrying spoils (a high-register accompaniment suggesting success) and performing tasks like removing [[obstacles]]. While still an aesthetic addition, a beneficial consequence of this dynamic music is its ability to organize the psychology of gameplay. It can not only adjust the mood of a theme to reflect the efficiency and intensity of a day, but even direct the player's attention to something, and help categorize the many actions that Pikmin perform over the course of a day. | ||
Generally, the gameplay music of the ''Pikmin'' series has quite an avant-garde style, with many non-tonal progressions and harmonies that make themes more complicated and interesting. At times, a theme may be intended to be so complex that its streams of information cannot all be followed at once, directing the player's attention completely to gameplay rather than scenery. At other times, the music stands aside for gameplay by being serene or simple, playing more of an ambience to the environment than a theme to Pikmin's actions. | Generally, the gameplay music of the ''Pikmin'' series has quite an avant-garde style, with many non-tonal progressions and harmonies that make themes more complicated and interesting. At times, a theme may be intended to be so complex that its streams of information cannot all be followed at once, directing the player's attention completely to gameplay rather than scenery. At other times, the music stands aside for gameplay by being serene or simple, playing more of an ambience to the environment than a theme to Pikmin's actions. | ||
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==''Pikmin 4''== | ==''Pikmin 4''== | ||
{{see|Music in Pikmin 4|t1=Music in ''Pikmin 4''}} | {{see|Music in Pikmin 4|t1=Music in ''Pikmin 4''}} | ||
''[[Pikmin 4]]''{{'s}} soundtrack is highly ambient, much more so than any other game in the series. Its main area themes in particular feature music that is very fragmented and sparse in melodic information, though the themes for cutscenes, [[bosses]], and side modes are more in spirit to what is heard in previous games. Every single type of enemy will now bring about a unique dynamic change to the music; each will add an instrument that is characteristic of the creature, possible in part by the soundtrack's more minimalistic approach. Motifs established in ''Pikmin 2'' also reappear in some cutscenes, further tying in the many returning features from that game, such as the reintroduction of multi-floored [[caves]]. | ''[[Pikmin 4]]''{{'s}} soundtrack is highly ambient, much more so than any other game in the series. Its main area themes in particular feature music that is very fragmented and sparse in melodic information, though the themes for cutscenes, [[bosses]], and side modes are more in spirit to what is heard in previous games. Every single type of enemy will now bring about a unique dynamic change to the music when nearby; each will add an instrument that is characteristic of the creature, possible in part by the soundtrack's more minimalistic approach. Motifs established in ''Pikmin 2'' also reappear in some cutscenes, further tying in the many returning features from that game, such as the reintroduction of multi-floored [[caves]]. | ||
==''Hey! Pikmin''== | ==''Hey! Pikmin''== | ||