Game Design in Composition
- Submitting institution
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University of Wolverhampton
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 1690
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
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- Brief description of type
- A collection of creative and critical work that addresses different aspects of a creative research project from 2016-2018 exploring ensemble interaction through the application of game mechanics in composition.
- Open access status
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- Month
- October
- Year
- 2018
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This multi-component output traces the development of a creative research project from 2016-2018 exploring ensemble interaction through the application of game mechanics in composition. Outputs include:
- Build-a-Chord Workshop premiered by the Manon string quartet at St James’ Church, Islington in May 2017.
- Disruptions and Blends, premiered at Post-Paradise, Birmingham in May 2018.
- Glover, R. (2018) Interaction and Game Design in Build-a-Chord Workshop. in Glover, R. and Redhead, L. (eds.) Collaborative and Distributed Processes in Contemporary Music-Making. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, pp.42-58.
The research dimensions to the project were:
- facilitating musicians’ ability to track their own decision-making in performance, and that of others.
- the exploration of clear performance communication and synchronicity within decentralised ensemble environments.
- developing appropriate strategies for notational and verbal instruction which are simple to implement in performance yet provide a necessary level of specificity to achieve the end goals of the game mechanics.
The creative process was informed by extensive research into game design theory, and
began with the development of play-oriented frameworks for performers to develop heterogenous sonic textures through a series of decision-making procedures. These frameworks were trialled in performance workshops, where modes of communication were developed to facilitate interaction and gameplay within the composition.
The project yielded insights relating to future foci and strategies for compositional exploration:
- the importance of all players to discern both the consequences of their own decision-making, and those made by other players relative to their own.
- foregrounding task mastery of game mechanisms, in order for the players to develop specific skills within an interactive gaming framework. These could be instrument- or music-training-specific criteria, or aspects such as cooperative, perceptual, or imaginative capabilities.
- opportunities for greater aesthetic and emotional stylisation of design mechanisms to prompt further investment in specific performance approaches.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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