Different sources were helpful for this report and a useful division of the research can be made into academic, theory-based research (generative and aleatory music grouped under the meta-category of algorithmic music) and research focusing on media and publications that fit the form of the release version of The Aquatic Museum (TAM) app. The final form of the app will be a hand-drawn three-minute video clip with an evolving, changing title song, The Souvenir Shop.
Focusing solely on adaptive audio and music as used in the TAM video app could have filled this research (e.g. for an application of a game audio engine1 in theater), but I was more interested in exploring one of the trademarks of music found in video games: random, chance features also found in music-making software and apps—a characteristic I also explored in my teaching research in Part II on this website.
The TAM app is based on Astrid Rothaug’s original short animated film and follows a linear timeline with timed interactions that influence the music. It can also be tied to experiments in film (e.g. interactive Netflix shows). The TAM app is in fact only one element of the TAM album release—a three-minute teaser that provides insight into the creative process and offers different perspectives2 on the same song.
Swift, S. (2018). FMOD, an Audio Engine for Video Games, Adapted for Theater. The 59th Annual USITT Conference. ↩︎
for an original approach cf. Beck’s album in 2012 only released as sheet music and left to fans to perform. ↩︎