Posted by IN.DO.GU.TSU on 8/10/2009, 12:34 am
In the Sunday, August 9, 2009 issue of the Miami Herald newspaper, freelance reporter Charles Greenfield interviewed jazz trombonist/producer Delfeayo Marsalis (whose family includes several other prominent jazz musicians) for the front page of the arts section. Jazz music has always been a personal passion of mine, so I read through the entire article and absorbed every word... until the penultimate question, which left me speechless.
Q: Music has lost much of its funding in the elementary schools compared to the opportunities offered to the previous generations. Why is a music education so important for kids?
A: Music aids in the direct development of discipline, emotional expression, decision-making, cognitive and interpretive skills. Producing a quality tone and fundamental technique requires commitment, responsibility and patience. Playing in ensembles develops listening and political skills, as well as sensitivity. There are so many benefits to students' playing music as a means of growing from adolescents into young adults that I can only conclude that the school systems must be in cahoots with the video-gaming industry.
That's it. No exposition, no research, just a blind unprovoked attack on the video game industry without reason. Like countless other professionals and academians before him, Marsalis has labeled video games as the enemy of education and learning, and an immaturity-prolonging agent. Likely due to intervention and indoctrination by his traditionalist meritocratic family, the veteran jazzman came to the conclusion that because games distract young students from their coursework, the practice of gaming is inherently wrong, and the games themselves are devoid of artistic merit and redeeming values.
Marsalis is not alone. Many parents would sooner die than allow video games into their households, since the media has done such a wonderful job type-casting all games as morally suspect (cf. Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto). Some toy stores, such as the now-defunct Zany Brainy, refuse to carry video games for this reason. To these parents and business owners, children's leisure activities must always be educational and life-affirming, without question. The Marsalis family likely subscribed to this philosophy as well; according to the Greenfield interview, young Delfeayo was almost always in training as a musician. He competed with his brothers in makeshift talent shows put on by his parents, who aimed to push their sons into professional performance from an early age.
But "old culture" and "new culture" shouldn't have to be at odds, Mr. Marsalis. The latter draws its creative impulse from the former while putting its own special spin on it. A fair number of video games should be commended for taking elements of old culture, and with some clever repackaging, successfully introducing them to newer generations. Tetris did this with Russian folk music, and that's only the beginning.
Koji Kondo, the musical director of such video game franchises as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, was strongly inspired by the bossa nova rhythms of Antonio Carlos Jobim and the swing-infused classic film scores of Henry Mancini. And for a more contemporary example of jazz-influenced game music, Masato Koda's "Nightless City Guara Bobelo" is one of the most thrilling, multifaceted, well-produced jazz pieces I have ever heard. Those who aren't familiar with Mr. Koda's work may be surprised to learn that this piece was originally composed for a video game (Wild Arms IV, first published in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 console).
People who play these games and are touched by their soundtracks may be spurred to find out more about the music producers and their influences, and seek new sources of musical enjoyment. That's how concert pianist/philanthropist Michael "Piano Squall" Gluck first discovered his true calling. Gluck has been a gamer since boyhood, and he particularly enjoyed the Final Fantasy series (with classical-inspired musical scores by Nobuo Uematsu and others). Uematsu's compositions also turned Gluck on to pieces from the Baroque and Romantic eras, and made him want to become a professional musician. Today, he travels the North American anime/fantasy/sci-fi convention circuit and performs solo piano arrangements of game and anime pieces (while in the costume of Squall Leonhart, the protagonist of Final Fantasy VIII). In addition, all of the money earned from sales of his music and merchandise goes to worthy charities.
So how about that, Mr. Marsalis? A passion for learning, music, and prosocial behavior -- all initiated via exposure to video games. Hard to imagine, isn't it?
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