Gaming music scores big

Mention video-game music, and most people probably think bleep, bloop and blah. But that game's over.

The genre has evolved from the monotone days of "Pong" and the 8-bit ditties of Mario to encompass rich symphonic scores recorded by a full orchestra and choir and music budgets that go north of $200,000. It's all a part of a multibillion-dollar video-game industry that brings in nearly twice as much annual revenue as Hollywood films at the box office.

And how's this for going legit? You can even hear video-game music now in concert halls, including Orchestra Hall, where the Minnesota Orchestra will present "Video Games Live" on Saturday night. The multimedia extravaganza has sold out venues worldwide -- and its Minneapolis stop is no exception -- while attracting an audience that cash-strapped orchestras covet: young listeners.

Minnesota Orchestra music director Osmo Vänskä said one of the attractions of booking "Video Games Live" for the orchestra's concert calendar was that "mostly young people are involved with video games. We want to show that video games and the music can be connected to the orchestra; that we are involved in your world and you are welcome to come and listen in the concert hall setting."

The esteemed conductor won't actually be on the podium for this show, though. Sharing the stage with the Minnesota Orchestra and a choir will be the co-creators of "Video Games Live," award-winning composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. And while they acknowledge that their show draws a young audience, they point out that parents also are key to their success.

"Parents love the fact that the kids are coming to the show to see a symphony," Wall said. "The parents are coming to the show to see the symphony, too, but they also love the music and they also get why their kids are so into video games.

"It's one of those 'cross-collateralizations,' if you will, between the generations," Wall continued. "Filling that gap is something we're really proud of."

Art and technology

The performance is more than just music from hit video games such as "Halo" and "Final Fantasy," as well as popular scores by its hosts, including Wall's music for "Mass Effect" and Tallarico's soundtrack for "Advent Rising."

"What really makes 'Video Games Live' special is that everything is completely synchronized to massive video screens, rock 'n' roll lighting, special effects, stage-show production, interactive elements with the crowd," said Tallarico, whom Wall calls the showman of the concert. "It's art and technology colliding."

At one point during the show, an audience member -- who scored the highest in a preconcert game of "Guitar Hero" in the lobby -- gets to go onstage and play the game on the mock-guitar controller. Then Tallarico jumps in on a real electric guitar while Wall, who serves as conductor, leads the orchestra in frenzied symphonic accompaniment.

That's not typical Orchestra Hall fare. And Wall and Tallarico admit that they sometimes meet resistance when working with classically trained musicians, as if the California-based impresarios are 21st-century Space Invaders slowly descending on Planet Stay-Off-Our-Podium. (When asked if he liked video-game music, the affable Vänskä said, "Often the music is written well.")

But, despite all the theatrics, Wall said it's the music that matters.

"The bottom line is the music is fantastic," he said. "When we show up, rehearse and do the show, I can't tell you how many of the musicians walk up to me and say, 'Wow, this is such a great show.' 'It's so much fun.' 'It's not at all what I thought it would be.'"

Soon, more listeners will get to hear and see what thousands of concertgoers in more than 20 countries have experienced in the five years since the first "Video Games Live" concert was performed. Last week, Tallarico and Wall's 150th concert, with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in New Orleans, was recorded for a PBS special that will air starting July 31.

That might be a consolation for Twin Cities fans who couldn't get tickets to Saturday's show.

"People are going to see video games for the first time in an entirely new light," Wall said about the PBS special. "Whether they like it or not, people still think of video games as bleeps and bloops back from the '80s, and this is really going to change the perception of that. "