Gamer Symphony Orchestra - Fall 2013 Concert

by Brannen

They say smell is the most profound memory trigger, and perhaps they’re right. I’m no psychological researcher. But I do know that, for me, music is the most powerful emotional memory trigger lodged in my brain. Hum two bars of Holst’s First Suite in E Flat and I’m suddenly a freshman in high school again, feeling smooth brass vibrate beneath my hands, feeling my body subtly shift and sway with the flow of the phrase. Play a certain early 90s female artist’s song and I’m suddenly feeling the heat of an unairconditioned house in a Virginia August, feeling the damp hair against my palm of someone I haven’t been involved with in forever. So when I was invited to attend and review the Fall concert of the Gamer Symphony Orchestra up at the University of Maryland, they weren't just tempting me with a musical performance. It was a walk down my memories.

For all that, I consider myself a table top geek at my core. There is a certain class of video games that I obsess over, that I revel in. I still get a shivering feeling in my core when the main theme from Planescape: Torment hits my ears. I still feel an aching yearning mixed with eager anticipating when I hear the soundtrack for the Howling Fjord pop up in my playlist. Games that I haven’t played in years, yet that devoured me heart and soul for a time. Music can be an amazing part of our video game experiences, and music is often what throws us right back into the moods we experienced when first playing. You should see my housemate glaze over and grin when Ocarina of Time tunes come through the playlist. This is the allure of the GSO – to make music, to hear music, live and new and amazingly familiar.

Bringing their passion of games and music together. (Image via GSO)

This isn't just the niche cultural event one might think. The performance hall was packed full. Literally. They were at capacity even on a bitingly cold Saturday afternoon. The audience itself wasn't the resentful music majors I expected either. It was full of students and people who were obviously not students, with ages ranging from six to somewhere north of sixty. And best of all (from an old musician’s standpoint) – the audience was really PRESENT, were really engaged with the music. After all, most of us already had an emotional investment.

The performance itself was very enjoyable, with just a few minor issues. The musical choices were a lot of fun, though not always in the way you might imagine. The most heart touching piece of the afternoon was a piano, oboe, and flute trio that wove in a minor theme from Skyrim, making it sound like a simple pastoral tune suddenly brought into the hall. The most out and out fun piece of the day was the Katamari suite, where the integration of a small choir along with the full orchestra was simply perfect. The shifting line up conductors also kept things interesting, their differing styles creating quite a different impression on the ensemble. Although the audience wasn't sure whether to laugh, or to feel quiet horror when it came out that for most of the pieces, the conductors had never played the games they came from.

There were some rough and raw places in the performance. A consequence, I believe, of the GSO as a sideline project. With finals on the horizon and the nature of the GSO, the need for more rehearsal time to apply that final polish was evident. Then again, this is a group providing music we love in a great venue for absolutely zero cost to the audience. While they get the occasional bit of money from the school, and the occasional sponsorship (let’s hear it for the awesome arts supporters at Looney Labs) they welcome and can use support from the gaming and music public that enjoy the art they gift to us.