Keys to Play: Music as a Ludic Medium from Apollo to Nintendo

470 Pages·2016·10.23 MB·English

by  Roger Moseley

ROGER MOSELEY
Luminos is the open access monograph publishing program from
UC Press. Luminos provides a framework for preserving and
reinvigorating monograph publishing for the future and increases
the reach and visibility of important scholarly work. Titles
published in the UC Press Luminos model are published with
the same high standards for selection, peer review, production,
and marketing as those in our traditional program.
www.luminosoa.org

Keys to Play
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support of
the Hull Memorial Publication Fund of Cornell University, the
Cornell Open Access Publication Fund, and the AMS 75 PAYS
Endowment of the American Musicological Society, funded in
part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Keys to Play
Music as a Ludic Medium from Apollo to Nintendo
Roger Moseley
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advanc-
ing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic
contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information,
visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2016 by Roger Moseley
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND license.
To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses.
Suggested citation: Moseley, Roger. Keys to Play: Music as a Ludic Medium
from Apollo to Nintendo. Oakland: University of California Press, 2016.
doi: http://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.16
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Moseley, Roger, 1974- author.
Title: Keys to Play : Music as a Ludic Medium from Apollo to Nintendo / Roger
Moseley.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2016] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016013674 (print) | LCCN 2016015714 (ebook) | ISB
9780520291249 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520965096 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Music—Performance—History. | Keyboards (Music)—History. |
Play—Cross-cultural studies. | Electronic games.
Classification: LCC ML457 .M67 2016 (print) | LCC ML457 (ebook) | DD
786—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016013674
Manufactured in the United States of America
25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my family, with love and gratitude,
and for Verity, my song of songs.
keys to play:
music as a ludic medium
from apollo to nintendo
contents
Acknowledgments xi
Prelude: Press Any Key to Start 1
Part I. Fields and Interfaces of Musical Play
Key 1. Ludomusicality 15
1–1 Orders of Play 23
1–2 Beyond Work and Play 33
1–3 The Sound of Gunplay 43
1–4 Bits and Beats 49
1–5 Playing Undead 58
Key 2. Digital Analogies 67
2–1 Apollo 1, Marsyas 0 72
2–2 Notes on Keys 78
2–3 Interface Values 90
2–4 (Key)board Games and Temperamental Tactics 99
2–5 Tristan’s Chord, Schoenberg’s Voice 109
Part II. P lay by Play:
Improvisation, Performance, Recreation
Key 3. The Emergence of Musical Play 121
3–1 Unforeheard Circumstances 127
3–2 Pantomimes and Partimenti 140
3–3 From Black Box to Glassy Shell 151
3–4 The Case of Winkel’s Componium 159
3–5 The Invisible Thumb on the Scale 167
Key 4. High Scores: WAM vs. LVB 178
4–1 Unsettled Scores 181
4–2 Mozart’s Two-Player Games 188
4–3 Concerted Action 200
4–4 Mozart and Mario Play the Field 212
4–5 Beethoven’s Recursive Feedback Loops 219
Key 5. Play Again? 236
5–1 Nintendo’s Brand of Ludomusicality 243
5–2 Analogous Digitalities 250
5–3 The Ludomusical Emergence of Toshio Iwai 258
5–4 High Scores: Nodame Cantabile 263
5–5 Replay: A Cento 271
Notes 275
Bibliography 365
Ludography 419
Index 423