Concerto Ludus for Piano and Gameboy
Composed 2022-2023
Dr. Matthew Thompson, Piano

February 4, 2023
The North American Conference on Video Game Music 10
Stetson University

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The best music can transport the hearer's imagination to another time, another place, another world. Video games possess the same potential – and their musical soundtracks are key to immersing players deeply in the gameworld. Concerto Ludus for Piano and Gameboy is an homage to the style and soundtracks of 'retro' video game music, drawing all its electronic sound sources from the sound card of the original Nintendo Gameboy – a console that defines many of my childhood musical memories.

I composed Concerto Ludus following nearly three years of writing no new music. There were many reasons for this hiatus – a global pandemic, burnout from finishing grad school, mental health struggles, starting a new teaching job – but I yearned for my creative energies to flow once more. When I conceived this piece, the prospect of
composing for solo piano – that well-trodden medium of countless composers before me – was daunting, spurring me back to my roots. The sounds I knew best, drawn from deep within my musical soul, form this piece's immersive musical journey: a recapitulation and revisitation of the soundworlds that first set me on the path of a composer.

All electronic sounds produced using SocaLabs' plugin Nintendo Gameboy PAPU, an emulator of the original Nintendo Gameboy's sound card. Learn more about SocaLabs' plugins at https://socalabs.com.

Concerto Ludus for Piano and Gameboy

Odometer

Some composers found their love of music at the symphony hearing Brahms or Beethoven—Thomas discovered his from the 8-bit beeps and boops of the family Super Nintendo. Though his musical adventures have since broadened from slaying virtual dragons, he has carried the music's power of narrative with him ever since. Whether exploring what outer space might sound like, depicting the Hero's Journey with the colors of the orchestra, or fighting against genocide with the song of the mythological Leviathan, Thomas strives to connect with listeners' hearts through musical storytelling. In addition to composing, he reads and listens to analytic philosophy (often at the same time!) and can frequently be found cooking restaurant-worthy cuisine with his wife Tori. He dreams of collecting all the world's pens that have unconventional features—though he frequently has to start from square one when they fall out of his pockets.

Concerto Ludus for Piano and Gameboy

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