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Date of Graduation
5-6-2021
Semester of Graduation
Spring
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Music (MM)
Department
School of Music
Advisor(s)
William M. Dabback
Bryce Hayes
Brian Cockburn
Abstract
Synergizing fields such as music theory, computing, musicology, cognition, and psychology, scholars and practitioners have approached game music from many directions. However, research on pedagogical usages of game music is still emerging. While many education scholars have researched game-based-learning (Bourgonjon et al, 2013; Simões, Redondo, & Vilas, 2013; Beavis, Muspratt, & Thompson, 2015; Hamari et al, 2016), music education authors have largely remained distant from ludomusicology (the study of music as it relates to play). I intend to bridge that gap by examining the intersections of game music and sound, player interaction, and learning. My research synthesizes the work of Naxer (2020) and Grasso (2020), as the latter has studied affective player experience regarding music and the former has considered the pedagogical implications of game elements in a music learning environment. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore experiences related to learning and sound in video games. I sought to answer the following research questions: How do players construct meaning from game sound? What are the educational spaces created by the interaction of game sound and players? Participants (N = 9) engaged in a virtual focus group interview designed around the popular model of Twitch streaming, as well as subsequent individual virtual interviews. I used an iterative coding process to analyze interview transcripts and Zoom chat text, through which themes of kinesonority and affect emerged.
Recommended Citation
Grasso, Leonard, "Video game sound as educational space" (2021). Masters Theses, 2020-current. 93.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/masters202029/93
