ODE TO JOYSTICKS ORCHESTRA TO PLAY VIDEO-GAME SCORES.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

You've come a long way, beepy.

When Pac-Man munched his way through glowing dots and the Mario Bros. bounced off to rescue a princess, their background music was at times little more than electronic noise. A video game's soundtrack was barely considered, often tacked on by a programmer rather than a composer. Their sonic palette was limited to bleeps and whines, rather than instruments and voices.

Twenty years ago, the term video-game soundtrack seemed to be a stretch, while the idea of a video-game composer was outright crazy.

But today, they're an indispensable part of a multibillion-dollar industry - and even have earned a coming-out party of sorts at the Hollywood Bowl, which will play host to the Video Games Live tour Wednesday.

``I couldn't have predicted this,'' said Mike Reagan, a Saugus-based musician who's scored more than 60 games. ``It's always been an afterthought, but I always hoped it wouldn't be. I never thought it would be catapulted forward like this.''

Though he also does film and television work, Reagan counts video games as the mainstay of his income in recent years, working as a composer for high-profile projects such as ``God of War,'' ``Hellgate London'' and ``Spider-Man 2.'' He's part of a flourishing, rapidly growing industry, one growing in economic and artistic significance.

Game publishers spend tens of thousands of dollars on soundtracks, employing full orchestras and choirs to bring rich scores to life. A good musician can earn up to $1,500 per minute of music, blending the roles of composer and technical consultant at the same time.

``It's become artistic now, but it wasn't always like that,'' said Jack Wall, a composer who's done music for the ``Myst'' series and ``Jade Empire.'' ``Half the themes were written by programmers before, where they just programmed the sound chip to make noise at certain times. Now, it's on par with film music.''

In a measure of the cultural relevance game scores have picked up, the Video Games Live tour will debut at the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday. Conceived by Wall and Tommy Tallarico, who co-founded the nonprofit group Game Audio Network Guild with Wall to promote the art, the tour uses tuxedoed orchestras to play tunes from everything from ``Donkey Kong'' to ``Tomb Raider.''

It's not a huge stretch from film scores to the sweeping sounds that drive video-game action, but there's a key difference in the way they're composed. Top film composers such as John Williams or Hans Zimmer get their hands on a print of the film when it's nearly done, then adapt the music to the mood of the on-screen action. A game composer gets assigned to a project at the beginning, then has to figure out ways to quickly adapt it to whatever action the player cooks up.

``How do I know when the person's going to die or the enemy's going to attack?'' said Tallarico, who has worked on projects such as ``Advent Rising'' and ``Earthworm Jim.'' ``As composers, we have to be aware that at any time, the score may have to branch in any other direction. And if it does, where's it going to go, what key should it be in, what percussion should I use?''

That also presents some challenges for the programmer. When the soundtrack's cruising along, playing the hero's upbeat motif, it could have to shift suddenly into a sad minor key if he accidentally falls off a cliff. Integrating the music smoothly into the game proves just as crucial as synchronizing dialogue to an actor's lips in a movie.

When picking the drum- and bass-heavy mood for the galactic adventure ``Ratchet & Clank: Deadlocked,'' Burbank-based Insomniac Games pulled together a committee of its top executives before it even contacted a composer. Once the musical footprint was worked out, designers labored to make it an integral part of the game play.

``We're trying to bring a theme out when we know something's going to happen,'' said Paul Mudra, Insomniac's audio director. ``If a player's getting to a more mysterious area or there's an ambush about to happen, we can trigger the music through the game maps so it cross-fades in better.''

It's not just art for art's sake, either. As gaming systems become more advanced, plugging into surround-sound speakers and high-definition televisions, games have to be increasingly impressive to keep players' focus.

``What gamers used to do was mute the volume and play something else in the background,'' said Tom Stratton, global manager of media relations for Calabasas-based publisher THQ Inc. ``Now, this allows them to really focus their attention on the game itself. The Xbox allowed you to burn your own music onto the hard drive, which has really driven publishers to introduce something that will completely interest people.''

To do so for its retro-theme summer release ``Destroy All Humans,'' THQ both hired composer Garry Schyman to do the in-game score and contracted KCRW disc jockey Jason Bentley to produce a bonus disc of remixed classic songs that comes with the game. If gamers want a modern twist, rather than Schyman's '50s-influenced title music, they can pop in The Crew Cuts' ``Sh-Boom'' as reworked by DJ Junkie XL or The Chordettes ``Lollipop'' done over by Ursula 1000.

``Video games are the radio of the 21st century,'' said Tallarico, who's lobbying to add a Grammy Award specifically for video games. ``That's where people are hearing the music for the first time. No one's getting their new music on MTV, they don't listen to the radio the way they used to. But they're playing video games.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO

Video Games Live

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 6

Where: Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave.

Prices: $4 to $92

Information: [phone]

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Photo:

(color) Mike Reagan, a composer who works on video-game scores as well as other music, works in his home studio on ``Hellgate London.''

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

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IF YOU GO (see text)