Press Start to Swing: Arrangering av tv-spelsmusik för olika typer av jazzensembler
2026 (Swedish)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts), 180 HE credits
Student thesis [Artistic work]
Abstract [en]
The purpose of the project has been to arrange music from video games and see how it can be reshaped to work in different jazz contexts. With inspiration from other arrangers, this project dives into the world of video game music, how it started, early influences and its connection to jazz music. Furthermore, the project focuses on the creation of new arrangements of classic video game songs, but in a jazz setting. It explores what the key elements of this music are, which of these are necessary to keep as is, and which of these can be altered, to merge the two genres without losing the recognizability of the original songs. It also investigates advantages and disadvantages with the similarities of the genres, for these types of arrangements. The project led up to a live concert at The Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where five arrangements were presented – “Delfino Plaza”, “Wii Shop Channel Theme”, “Wii Sports Theme”, “Kakariko Village” and “Super Mario Bros. Main Theme”. The project states that the most efficient way of keeping the core of the original songs intact is to alter the melody as little as possible, and instead merge the genres, especially via reharmonization. It therefore concludes that harmonic and rhythmic elements, form and orchestration can be changed drastically from the original song, without losing its recognizability, and that those factors are key to merging the genres.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026. , p. 41
Keywords [en]
video game music, jazz, big band, arranging, Nintendo
National Category
Music
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kmh:diva-6370OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kmh-6370DiVA, id: diva2:2063027
Educational program
Kandidatprogram musiker
Presentation
2026-03-31, Kungl. Musikhögskolan, Kungasalen, Valhallavägen 105, 115 15, Stockholm, 18:00 (Swedish)
Supervisors
Examiners
Note
Musik:
Delfino Plaza – Koji Kondo, Shinobu Tanaka
Wii Shop Channel Theme – Kazumi Totaka
Wii Sports Theme – Kazumi Totaka
Kakariko Village – Koji Kondo
Super Mario Bros. Main Theme – Koji Kondo
Medverkande musiker:
Carl Lovar – altsax, tenorsax, tvärflöjt
Joel Westerling – altsax
Charlie Sandström – tenorsax
Tyko Ruin – tenorsax
Ludvig Broman – barytonsax
Toste Solum – trumpet
Alvin Jonsson – trumpet, flygelhorn
Benjamin Sällström – trumpet
Markus Borell – trumpet
Hjalmar Nordkvist – trombon
Alexander Harnesk – trombon
Klara Tapper – trombon
Alexander Bjurström – bastrombon
Elia Tellström – gitarr
Olle Wikström – piano, orgel
Lukas Bergstrand – kontrabas
Gustav Lind – trummor
2026-05-282026-05-272026-05-28Bibliographically approved