Oftentimes, just getting started with researching any topic is the hardest part! With vast amounts of information at our fingertips, it is sometimes difficult to know where to begin.
For most research projects, librarians recommend starting with reference resources before narrowing down to a specific topic. We generally recommend starting with encyclopedia articles to get a broad understanding and background of the topic. Additionally, you start to glean who are some of the scholars in the field, what types of topics are being discussed, and the types of methodologies being applied to analyze video game music. Check the Bibliography for leads on more sources and to observe who the scholars are in the field. As you read, keep a list of questions that come into your head.
There are some great articles by the leading scholars in video game music research in the Oxford Music Online database available through the UNT Libraries.
Search for Video Game Music and you will find articles by leading researchers, like Dr. William Gibbons, Dr. Karen Collins, and and more, writing articles like "Ludomusicology," "Chiptunes," "Video games, music in," and "Karaoke Machine."
Find a direct link to Oxford Music Online below.
At the beginning of your research, this is also a great time to read books that broadly discuss video game music and sound. Access a variety of these books by going to the left-hand navigation pane of this guide and accessing the Scholarly Texts page.
Once you have some good background information, look through the list of questions you have kept along the way that have come from reading reference resources and general books about video game music. From these questions, start thinking about how your voice can add to the conversation. Building from existing research, what is the next step to explore on a particular topic? Perhaps you have an alternative view point from one posed by a researcher. Start exploring your questions deeper by searching through the UNT Libraries' collection of books and databases for specific chapters or articles that will help you pursue your ideas and questions. Also use the Discover Catalog to determine if the Music Library has a video game music recording for listening study. Enter the title and author in the search bar to find a specific recording or book title.
Use the Discover Catalog to type your search keywords, and use the options directly below the search bar to limit your search to music materials, or conduct an overall search and use the left-hand navigation pane to narrow your search. Check out the video below for a short tutorial on how to use facets to narrow your search in Discover.
Researchers can also search for articles in the Discover Catalog by using the Journals & Periodicals pre-filter. Type keywords related to your topic and select the pre-filter to find journal title that cover video game music topics. Please note, this will retrieve results of journal titles but not a list of articles. Select the linked journal title to search inside of the journal to find actual articles.
Alternatively, from the UNT Libraries Homepage, select Online Articles and enter keywords in the search portal to find articles.
Image above displays the Online Articles tab from the Start Your Research box found on the UNT Libraries homepage.
First, check out the short Introduction to Accessing Music Databases video tutorial to get started with browsing music databases.
Studying video game music is an interdisciplinary field. Researchers will likely have good luck finding articles by casting a wide net when searching in databases. From personal experience, the following databases have been useful for finding resources on video game music topics.
With video game music research some of your sources might come from unusual places compared to other research papers you have done in the past. Many video game music composers are alive and interacting with their fans on social media, like YouTube and Reddit. We have access to videos of composers and live performances. Visit the subpage on Citing Resources for some tips on referencing these sources in research papers.
