Plunderphonics or plagiarism?
In March of 1994, Richard D. James put forth Selected Ambient Works II, the sequel to what had first put his mark on ambient and electronic music. Although it would sell some sixty thousand copies outside the United States by the end of the year, few people realize it went on to sell practically as many copies in 1997 — but without the artist’s permission.
Well, allegedly. And although online forums are a poor source for these claim’s credibility, upon further listening, there’s at least some apparent inspiration in Mark Morgan’s score for Fallout (1997), a post-apocalyptic adventure game.
Music sampling generates constant controversy, but in terms of prevalence alone, strong arguments have been made for its value. However, this comes at the cost of more rampant plagiarism, and distinguishing between the two can be problematic. What’s the difference between a cover and a remix? Sampling or stealing?
Mark Morgan explains of his work’s likeness to James’:
When Interplay was thinking of using me for the game, they sent over some music that they liked and wanted me to do something similar as a demo. The CD they sent me had no titles or artists’ names, just a few pieces of unidentified music. I gave Interplay what they wanted and I think they must have used some of my demo in the final game. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with the work of Aphex Twin [Richard D. James].
While this story is not an unbelievable one, as products in the games industry are quickly rushed out the door in final months of production, problems start to arise when comparing Morgan’s work on Fallout to another ambient musician’s — Brian Eno.
Beyond ambient, Eno is considered a musical tour de force whose influence and interest in genres is far reaching. Bowie, Devo, and U2 all sought his guidance. Mark Morgan is no slouch either, having graduated from Berklee College of Music, later playing keyboard for Starship (the continuation of Jefferson Starship).
However, Morgan’s claim of ignorance is complicated when many musicians are already so familiar with Eno’s work. And, when they’re not, how many of them would heavily borrow from a mysterious CD when credibility is so essential to their career? Surely, Morgan could have asked for a tracklist.
In contrast, on his work for Planescape Torment (1999), Morgan proves he’s capable of delivering an original and distinctive score — quickly:
Planescape: Torment was a quick turnaround as you suggest. I did it in about 2 weeks . . . On Fallout they had another composer to begin with, but for unknown reasons, Charles Deenen called me to work on it and it too was a fast turnaround. Composing time for Fallout 2 was also truncated. I believe the game was essentially complete by the time I became involved and they were in a hurry to get it out.
So why is it that there’s such a difference in method behind these two scores? Both games were produced by the same group, Black Isle Studios, and Morgan had been pressed for time each go-round. Perhaps, the best explanation that can be found is the special thanks to Eno in the credits to Fallout:
Good artists copy; great artists steal. For what criticism Morgan might receive, Fallout, including its score, has been met with such accolade that, maybe, Morgan was willing to risk credibility for something he felt was more important. Or that there was simply too much pressure to emulate something the team of Fallout took so much inspiration from. Or that, in reality, he had too little time to do his research.
In any case, the gloomy, uncomfortable score succeeds in setting the tone to an unforgiving wasteland. One that, likely, requires some scavenging.
References
- Pride, Dominic. “Euro Subculture Offers Ambience With Attitude.” Billboard, vol. 106, no. 30, 23 July 1994, books.google.hr/books?id=YAgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=aphex+twin+album+sales&source=gbs_navlinks_spp. 1–135.
- Staff. “How Did the PCG Award Winners Fare?” PC Gamer US, Apr. 1998, p. 45.
- Morgan, Mark, and Michael Naumenko. “Mark Morgan Interview: The Maestro Behind the Fallout Scores.” Game-OST, Elvista Media Solutions Corp., Feb. 2008, www.game-ost.com/articles.php?id=24&action=view. Accessed 4 Dec. 2017.
