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The Guitar Hero's Performance

Roesner, David P. (2011) The Guitar Hero's Performance. Contemporary Theatre Review, 21 (3). pp. 276-285. ISSN 1048-6801. (doi:10.1080/10486801.2011.585646) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:30253)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10486801.2011.585646

Abstract

In this article the author argues that the kind of experience that music oriented videogames, such as Guitar Hero or Rock Band, affords brings about a number of shifts in our understanding in the act of music as performance in general.

In order to understand and read the act of playing these music games as performing music and not merely as a low grade simulation – many musicians have vocally dismissed it as just that – one needs to embrace a number of shifts of emphasis in what constitutes making music: the article argues that music-oriented videogames extend certain habits and conventions with regard to the interplay of acoustic and visual aspects of both performing and perceiving music; that they add layers to both our notions of performers and performance material; that they draw our attention to how integral ‘paratexts’ are to the performance of rock music by making them the key creative outlet of the game; and that they question the assumption that the ‘parasitic’ performances in Guitar Hero could not still be serious and forceful performative acts, but that instead they are a different but not ‘lesser’ form of music making. By looking at these re-negotiations in more detail the author argues that “real” and “virtual” ways of making music are connected in an iterative loop of mutual influence and inspiration and that the perceived static opposition between the two is a problematic construction that needs further interrogation and perspective.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/10486801.2011.585646
Uncontrolled keywords: Gaming, Music games, Guitar Hero, Musicking, Performance
Subjects: M Music and Books on Music > M Music
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN2000 Dramatic representation. The theatre
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of Arts
Depositing User: David Roesner
Date Deposited: 28 Aug 2012 12:44 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:08 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/30253 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Roesner, David P..

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