#12 | Start — Pac-Man (Arcade, 1980)

The game music missing link

Composers: Shigeichi Ishimura/Toshio Kai
Developer: Namco
Track Type: 1-shot
Placement: Gameplay intro
Key: C (+Voice leading)
Chord progression: ǁC|Db|C|G Cǁ
Functional map: ǁI|bII|I|V Iǁ
Time Signature: 2/4
Tempo: 112BPM (Allegro)
Scale: Arpeggios (+Chromaticism)
Instrumentation: Chiptune (Organ)
Lenght: 0:04 (4 bars)
Structure: "Charge" Theme, "Charge" Theme', "Charge" Theme, Coda

In 1980 game music still had a long way to go becoming an entirely new beast of its own kind--past noise for rudimentar sound effects like shots, explosions or simply any "impact" in a broader sense, that is; but maybe Michiyuki Kamei's Space Invaders (1978) was on to something with its dynamic take on Jaws--tying sfx to the gameplay's pace on the fly (no pun intended).

Namco's sound designers Shigeichi Ishimura and Toshio Kai came up with a very interesting solution sound-wise (coupled with some quite conscious design decisions by Pac-Man's creator/director Toru Iwatani) for the project's thematic aesthetic--even in the physical, real world product level: put the machine to work as a focal point of a given venue well beyond its (then silent, as it used to be) "attract mode" idle state.

The "Start" fanfare at first sounds like a funfair/carnival's reminiscence with its fat organ-like Major chords skipping arpeggios--triggering both a nostalgia kick and a "toy" (not a "hardcore" specialist mechanism) feel. But nudging the theme half a step up makes it for a subtle nod to baseball "charge" tunes, bringing the game-y component to the table--together with a call-for-attention "pleasant breaking news" jingle (if such a thing existed outside sports). The simple 4-bar theme is a winner exactly for packing that amount of information in such a short span while taking the current trends a step further. A "classic" by definition.

Take a listen to the original theme. Pro users will be able to access sheet music for this theme plus a link for its interactive sheet at Soundslice. See ya next week!