Polygamer #99: Ludomusicologist Dr. Dana Plank

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Ken Gagne

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 iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spoke, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:21:13 — 38.0MB) | Embed

Recording setup

Part of what makes Polygamer podcast so much fun is its rotating guest seat. Each month, Ken invite a different member of the gaming community to further the discussion of equality and diversity in the industry.

To ensure a standard level of audio quality, all guests are required to record their own audio. We recommend Audacity, a free, open-source audio recording and editing program available for Mac, Windows, Linux, and other operating systems.

To use Audacity, you will need at a minimum a set of headphones or earbuds, and a computer with an inbuilt microphone. Without headphones, your microphone will pick up Ken’s audio coming out of your computer speakers, resulting in feedback. By using a headset, the only voice your microphone will record is your own.

If you have an external mic, you can plug it into the line-in jack or USB port on your computer and use that. You will want to specify the input source in Audacity’s preferences. Also choose to record only one mono channel.

The audio format and quality settings should be left at their defaults: 44100 Hz (44KHz), 32-bit float.

Recording with Audacity is as easy as pushing the red, round “Record” button in the upper-left. When you’re done, push the yellow, square “Stop” button. You can then save the file anywhere on your computer using the “Save Project As…” command under the “File” menu.

You’ll then find in your destination folder not only the .aup file you specified, but also a similarly named data folder. Please compress both into a single ZIP archive and provide it to Ken, though preferably not as an email attachment. If you FTP it to a server or use a file-sharing service such as iCloud, WeTransfer, or DropBox, you can then email the URL to the show’s host.

That’s recording — what about conversing? Once you have Audacity ready to record, you can connect with the show’s host via Skype, which is, like Audacity, free and available for multiple platforms. You will need a free account to use Skype, after which you can call "kgagne". Once we are connected, we will indicate to you when to start recording, after which we will synchronize our tracks then begin the show with your introduction (the "User Login" segment).

Skype

Be sure you are in a quiet room with the windows closed to minimize background noise. Turn off any noisy heating or air conditioning, and put your dog and relatives in the back yard. If you have a squeaky chair or a desktop computer with a loud fan, your mic may pick up those noises as well, so do what you can to minimize such interference.

We may ask you to test your recording setup to ensure you are able to record and play back your own audio. At no time during the recording of the show should you pause your recording, even if you step away from the machine. If you are using a laptop, ensure its battery is fully charged and/or that it is plugged in. A full recording session can last up an hour. We will send you an outline of topics at least 24 hours before the recording session, but please check your email regularly up until the session begins to keep abreast of any last-minute changes or additions. Please let us know of any topics you wish to add to the show outline.

Thank you for your cooperation. We look forward to speaking with you!

Polygamer show goes audio-only

Posted on September 23, 2014 by Ken Gagne

Thank you to everyone who’s been listening to Polygamer since the show launched in July! In less than three months, we’ve had guests on the podcast discussing feminism, cultural gatekeeping, LGBT issues, indie development, and gender-inclusive game design — and we’ve barely scratched the surface. In the coming months, I’ll be talking with industry and community leaders about mental health, ableism, imbuing games with social value, and cyberbullying.

To ensure Polygamer is accessible to as many guests and as wide an audience as possible, all future episodes will be available as audio only. If you’re already subscribed on iTunes or Stitcher, you don’t need to change a thing! The only difference is that there will no longer be YouTube videos accompanying each show. The video edition served primarily to market the show’s debut to my existing audience of 35,000+ YouTube subscribers. It did not add significant value to the Polygamer experience, and so, with it having served its purpose, I’m happy to retire it. Gamebits’ YouTube channel will continue to host my other podcast, IndieSider, as well as Let’s Plays and unboxings.

If you have any feedback about Polygamer — compliments or complaints, guest nominations or death threats — please fill out the contact form, or hit me up on Twitter. There are tons of great content and conversations coming, so stay tuned!