14 - Game – Music – Performance: Introducing a Ludomusicological Theory and Framework

Summary

Since the late 2000s, the distinct field of ludomusicology has gained momentum. Reportedly, the neologism ludomusicology was coined by Guillaume Laroche and his fellow student Nicholas Tam, with the prefix ‘ludo’ referring to ludology, the study of games.¹ In early 2008, Roger Moseley also used this term and introduced an additional dimension to the meaning:

Whereas Laroche’s deployment of the term has reflected a primary interest in music within games, I am more concerned with the extent to which music might be understood as a mode of gameplay. … Bringing music and play into contact in this way offers access to the undocumented means by which composers, designers, programmers, performers, players, and audiences interact with music, games, and one another.²

In this chapter, I will outline my approach towards a distinct ludomusicological theory that studies both games and music as playful performative practices and is based on that broader understanding. This approach is explicitly rooted both in performance theory and in the musicological discussion of music as performance.³ The basic idea is that with the help of a subject-specific performance concept, a framework can be developed which provides a concrete method of analysis. Applying this framework further allows us to study music games as well as music as a design element in games, and performances of game music beyond the games themselves. It is therefore possible to address all three ludomusicological subject areas within the frame of an overarching theory.