Diegetic Music - Game Sound Technology and Player Interaction: Concepts and Developments - page 60

Chapter 4
Diegetic Music:
New Interactive Experiences

Axel Berndt
Otto-von-Guericke University, Germany

AbstrAct

Music which is performed within the scene is called diegetic. In practical and theoretical literature on
music in audio-visual media, diegetic music is usually treated as a side issue, a sound effect-like occur-
rence, just a prop of the soundscape that sounds like music. A detailed consideration reveals a lot more.
The aim of this chapter is to uncover the abundance of diegetic occurrences of music, the variety of
functions they fulfill, and issues of their implementation. The role of diegetic music gains importance in
interactive media as the medium allows a nonlinearity and controllability as never before. As a diegetic
manifestation, music can be experienced in a way that was previously unthinkable except, perhaps, for
musicians.

INtrODUctION

scene, associates contextual information, and
thus enhances understanding (Wingstedt, 2008).
Comparatively little attention has been given to
diegetic music. As its source is part of the scene's
interior (for example, a performing musician, a
music box, a car radio), it is audible from within
the scene. Hence, it can exert an influence on the
plot and acting and is frequently even an inherent
part of the scenic action. In interactive media it
can even become an object the user might be able
to directly interact with.
This chapter addresses the practical and
aesthetic issues of diegetic music. It clarifies

Dealing with music in audio-visual media leads the
researcher traditionally to its non-diegetic occur-
rence first, that is offstage music. Its interplay with
the visuals and its special perceptual circumstances
have been largely discovered and analyzed by
practitioners, musicologists, and psychologists.
Its role is mostly an accompanying, annotating
one that emotionalises elements of the plot or