Gamemotifs
Recurring melodies and soundbites in games can gain a new second life in popular culture.
Ever wondered how video game music seeps into our culture? I'm about to explore how game soundbites and melodies create new pathways to an artist's market. Let's start with a game I know well - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Sit back and hey...listen
What on earth is a Gamemotif.
Soundbites & Melodies
Gamemotif’s in modern music
What this all means for artists
1. What On Earth is A ‘Gamemotif’
There is a collective understanding of the recurring melodies and soundbites within a game. In modern media, these are called ‘Leitmotifs’. Oxford Dictionary definition:
“A recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.”
…I’m going to extend this term and re-define it specifically for gaming. I’d call this a Gamemotif (Cheers Tim!):
"A recurrent theme throughout a gaming composition or recording, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation."
This SubStack is about how Gamemotifs transcend their original creation beyond their original video game creation, into music, and its impact. The best way to dig into this is to use a case study:
2. Soundbites & Melodies
To anyone who is reading this (likely the elder Gen Z’s and above) will recognise multiple melodies and soundbites from The Legend Of Zelda series, in particular from Ocarina Of Time. Despite this action-adventure game being released in 1998, it is still today consistently ranked as one of the greatest games of all time, and boasts the highest score on Metacritic (99/100).
It has a lifetime approximate sales of 14 million sales, however this likely doesn’t capture re-sales on the physical format, borrowing, as well as the ROM version being easily accessible for PC’s ever since the early 2000’s. My point here is sales can’t gauge the cultural reach of a game like this, especially when there were not as many gamers then, let alone competing titles to take your time away from games of this calibre.
In the game, the main character Link receives an Ocarina. By playing specific songs he learns throughout his journey, he can affect various aspects of the game - such as the Sun’s song, turning day to night.
Let’s go back to the point. I’ll split Ocarina Of Time’s music usages into two different types:
Soundbites - Soundbites are short, memorable audio clips tied to specific actions or moments. Examples in Ocarina Of Time include actions such as opening a chest containing an important item is a respite that follows a tricky puzzle or a difficult combat. The most popular of which is from your fairy, Navi, that follows you everywhere and gives you unsolitied advice and often shouts ‘Hey, Listen!’ when they want your attention - this is recognised by players (source)
Melodies - Melodies are longer, recurring musical themes that evoke emotional responses and nostalgia. Ocarina of Time features numerous iconic melodies that are instantly recognisable to fans. These melodies are often associated with specific actions or moments, such as playing the Song of Storms to make it rain (even indoors), or Epona's Song to summon your horse. One of the most beloved melodies is Zelda's Lullaby, which serves as a recurring theme throughout the game, symbolizing the bond between Link and Princess Zelda. These melodies are ingrained in the player's experience and the story’s narrative.
If you wish to have a deeper understanding on the impact of this game, this beautiful 33-minute video essay on the subtext behind Ocarina Of Time will show you why it deserves the top spot.
3. Gamemotif’s in modern music
Gamemotifs exist all over the place. In every game, probably. By virtue of being a repetitive thing they're more likely to be remembered.. but its more than just that. It likely has something more to do with how beloved the game was and the nostalgia. Gamemotifs have extended beyond their original use and now they are used in new & interesting ways - especially in new music.
Look what happens when these gamemotifs from an old, highly rated game are taken and used in front of the audience/demographic that played it back in the day - These are the unintended results beyond the initial purpose of the Gamemotif.
Melody Example. Here’s A L E X with the track ‘Zelda's Lullaby’. This track loops the main melody from Ocarina Of Time.
Here’s some of the YouTube comment section:
Soundbite Example. I regularly hear Ocarina Of Time soundbites used in the EDM community, with me recently spotting this in the first few seconds of Skrillex’s ‘Tears’ track.
Let me check the YouTube comment section real quick:
Mix Example. Let’s find one more, a Zelda-themed video of multiple remixes of a variety of melodies and soundbites from the game, titled Z E L D A W A V E (with a casual 6 million views)
Aaaaand let’s pull one of the many comments:
4. What this all means for artists.
Here’s a very high-quality MS paint diagram for you.
There are 3 categories of audiences when gameotifs are used in non-gaming songs.
Music Fans - These fans like an artists music, but have absolutely no idea of the origins of the gamemotif. This inclusion would have no impact other than sharing the artist inspiration or values through their creative musical expression. A big enough artist fan may be interested in exploring gaming if the artist encouraged this.
Gaming Fans - These fans recognise the game music, but have no idea about the artist or their music. They likely discovered this artist through the algorithm of their fellow gamers listening to this artist and finding shared values within the artist’s community.
Crossover - Someone who is a fan of an artist listens to their latest track and spots a gamemotif from their favourite game. The fan’s appreciation of the artist may well be reinforced given how there are two ways where the fan relates to the artist.
What should artists do with this info?
…probably not a lot. It’s tricky to measure the effect of an individual gamemotif when used out of context (without me just using YouTube comments to evidence this idea) but it does reveal an interesting theory. An artist may have fans that have played the same games as them, especially if an artist is a similar age to their core demographic. This could suggest that there are opportunities to use an artist’s own gaming interests to find common ground with their fans. Remember - there are many games and genres out there, just like with music.
You can end up reaching the same audience through different means. It doesn’t mean you have to be an artist that livestreams or play games to exist in this space, but it does present the importance of how fans have varied interests and values that go beyond the musical medium, just like how gamemotifs have extended beyond their original purpose.
But the artist has to genuinely be into it. You can’t just shoehorn in Mario saying ‘Letsago’ in a song to try and win over gamers, because:
So if you want to use a gamemotif - yeah why not, only if you want to. No strategy required. If you like a game, there’s probably fans out there that didn’t know you liked that game too.
TLDR:
A Gamemotif is a recurring soundbite/melody from a game. There are many examples of Gamemotifs being used in modern music, revealing a crossover of gaming and music fans and the links between them. Artists can express their values and interests through their music in many ways, such as using gaming as a medium (song inclusion in a game), or by using a Gamemotif, and many more - so being creative and authentic between these worlds can likely win a broader or reinforced audience.