While music for video games is a popular, emerging field within Game Studies, Musicology, and New Media Studies, few have written on the genre of music video games. The gameplay in music games is mostly concentrated around the player’s interaction with some element(s) of music (i.e. rhythm, pitch, volume, etc.). The most popular music games fall within the sub-genre of “rhythm games;” game such as “Dance Dance Revolution,” “Guitar Hero,” and others, require players to perform a particular interaction or task in rhythm with the music provided. Games such as “Karaoke Revolution” test a player’s pitch accuracy as they sing along to popular songs. Other games, such as “Wii Music,” require players to control the volume of the music through gestural control of the remote, or allow players to create music of their own, functioning as a free-form music game. Further, there are musical games that are modified for artistic purposes or are created to serve as a musical instrument for concert performances or that allow users to perform telematically with players across the globe; other serious music games teach users to play real musical instruments or demonstrate concepts in music theory, aural skills and singing, etc.
Proposal Submission Deadline: February 15, 2014
Working Title: Maestros, Musicians, and Multiplayers: Music Video Games
Editor: Michael Austin (Howard University)
Potential Publisher: Bloomsbury Press, in their “Approaches to Digital Game Studies” Series
Series Editors: Gerald Voorhees (University of Waterloo), Josh Call (Grandview University), Katie Whitlock (California State University, Chico)
For this volume, I am looking for approximately 10-15 chapters that examine music video games and their social significance. Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
• Rhythm games (such as Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution)
• Pitch games (ex. Karaoke-type games)
• Volume games (ex. Wii Music)
• Music Memory/Eidetic games
• Social music games (such as Song Pop or Turntable.fm)
• Quest-based music games (such as The Sixty One)
• Mobile music games
• Collaborative music games (such as JAM with Chrome)
• Adapting non-music games for musical purposes (performing concerts in Second Life, for example)
• Serious music games
Authors are invited to submit their proposal that should include:
1. The names and contact information for all authors (please identify a main contact)
2. A brief abstract (300-500 words) describing your potential chapter (please include a proposed chapter title).
3. Information about the author(s) demonstrating his/her qualifications for writing a chapter; this should be submitted in the form of a brief C.V. or short biographical statement.
Submission Procedure: Please submit these materials as a Word Document or PDF file by Feb. 15, 2014.
Authors of accepted proposals will be notified around March 1, 2014. If the book proposal is accepted, each chapter (of around 6,000-8,000 words) will likely be due sometime in mid-to-late 2014.
Inquiries and Submissions can be emailed to:
Michael Austin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Media, Journalism, and Film
Howard University, Washington, D.C.