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Polygamer #99: Ludomusicologist Dr. Dana Plank

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Ken Gagne
Dr. Dana Plank

Dr. Dana Plank is a ludomusicologist, devoted to the study of video game music and sound. She has researched how game audio is used to represent disability, sensuality, gender, and exoticism, and she has been interviewed for books, podcasts, and MAGFest panels about games including Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario Bros. 3, and Super Mario RPG. Her current studies include Celeste; That Dragon, Cancer; and Untitled Goose Game. She is also a co-organizer of the North American Conference On Video Game Music 2020, scheduled to be held online this April 4–5.

In this interview, Dr. Plank and I explore the origin of ludomusicology, and what it is that ludomusicologists do; the academic route that led her to study ludomusicology and 8/16-bit games in particular; how technological constraints breed creativity, and how the interactivity of modern soundtracks distinguish them from cinematic scores; how silence can be a powerful indicator that something has gone wrong; how to use video games as a music-teaching tool; how COVID-19 has affected NACVGM; and what books she recommends in this academic field of study.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Links mentioned in this episode:

  • Dr. Dana Plank
    • Twitter
    • Twitch
    • BardicKnowledge (streaming every Thursday, 9 PM ET)
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps and its soundtrack
  • How Q*bert got his swear
  • North American Conference On Video Game Music
  • Ludo2020 conference
  • Mr. Holland’s Opus
  • Recommended reading
    • Boss Fight Books’ Super Mario Bros. 3 by Alyse Knorr
    • From Pac-Man to Pop Music (edited by Karen Collins)
    • Racing the Beam by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost
    • Music in the Role-Playing Game: Heroes & Harmonies by William Gibbons
  • Dr. Plank’s previous interviews
    • Into the Score: Interview with Dana Plank and Ryan Thompson
    • MAGFest 2019: Ludomusicology – The Scholarly Study of Video Game Music
  • Related Polygamers
    • Episode #11: Ryan Green & Josh Larson of That Dragon, Cancer
    • Episode #34: Violinist Taylor Davis
    • Episode #95: Dr. Jessica Hebert of the PDX Broadsides
  • Interviews with composers
    • IndieSider #34: Dangerous Dave with Dren McDonald
    • IndieSider #53: Owlboy with Jonathan Geer
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Related

Posted in Podcast | Tags: audio, Dana Plank, ludomusicologist, ludomusicology, music, musicologess, musicologist, musicology, NACVGM, PhD, soundtrack |
« Polygamer #98: Nic Tompkins-Hughes
Polygamer #100: Voice actor Sarah Elmaleh »

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