Project 04 - Interactive Music
Duration: March 25 - April 19, 2024
Description
For our fourth project we’ll compose interactive music for the same indie game we designed sound effects for in the previous project. We’ll explore interactive music systems and compositional approaches for games.
The music has to do more than set a mood: it must respond to the player’s score and health as the game’s intensity ramps. Every deliverable in this project is an FMOD project, not a bounced file, so composition and implementation are inseparable from the first sketch.
Phases
Phase 1: Assessment (Week 10)
Interactive music systems and compositional approaches (horizontal re-sequencing, vertical layering, parameter-driven mixes). Composing and implementing a ~30-second opening that establishes the game’s identity and shows how intensity can grow with the score.
Phase 2: Iteration (Week 11)
Review and revision of music sketches with the developer’s notes; extending the system.
Phase 3: Implementation (Week 12)
Final delivery of the interactive music system, integrated with the Unity project and play-tested in class: a clear musical identity, intensity driven by score and health, and seamless transitions between states.
Skills & Standards
- Composing in layers and sections that can be recombined at runtime
- FMOD parameters, transitions, and logic markers driven by game state
- Presenting work-in-progress that sounds finished
- Integrating an FMOD project with a Unity build