Hello! My name is Laney Sheehan, and I am a musicologist and educator based in the Detroit metropolitan area. I have a bachelor’s degree in music education from Bowling Green State University, and I expect to receive my master’s degree in music (with historical emphasis) from Wayne State University in May 2025. My musicological research focuses on the purpose and characteristics of non-diegetic music in video games. Additionally, I teach reading and writing at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan.
Intonations (Conference), University of Alberta, 2024
This paper investigates the musical characteristics of underworld biomes in sandbox-style indepen... more This paper investigates the musical characteristics of underworld biomes in sandbox-style independent video games, focusing particularly on how they affect players’ emotions and gameplay experiences. Ludomusicology, the academic study of video game music, has grown significantly in both scope and esteem since its inception in the early 2000s. Although ludomusicologists have written much about mainstream video game franchises, few have explored the “independent” or “indie” genre, which refers to games produced by small, self-contained development studios rather than large software companies. Much of the indie genre is dominated by “sandbox” games, which provide players with open-ended worlds they can explore freely. An important feature of sandbox-style indie games is the underworld, a hostile, subterranean biome filled with enemies and environmental obstacles that players must overcome to win the game. Underworlds’ nondiegetic soundtracks convey tension and mystery to players through three musical devices: synthesized electronic melodies, raspy and reedy timbres from woodwind instruments, and rhythmic ostinati featuring percussion. That music enhances the gameplay experience, as it elicits emotional responses from players that complement the dangerous nature of underworlds.
Three indie video games serve as appropriate case studies of the relationship between music, emotion, and the underworld: Mojang Studio’s Minecraft (2011), Re-Logic’s Terraria (2011), and Eric Barone’s Stardew Valley (2016). Using a music-theoretical framework consisting of harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and timbral analysis, the author examines each soundtrack and concludes that three musical elements—synthesized themes, raspy timbres, and percussive ostinati, as noted above—are designed to sonically represent the life-threatening conditions of the games’ underworlds. In addition, evidence from past studies in musical cognition are used to identify the specific feelings, including fear and depression, that players likely experience when exposed to that music during gameplay. The conclusions presented in this paper shed light on the relationship between music and emotion in indie sandbox games, a topic that has been overlooked for much of ludomusicological history.
This Honors Project examines the major characteristics of the nineteenth-century saxophone quarte... more This Honors Project examines the major characteristics of the nineteenth-century saxophone quartet and its repertoire through the lens of four musical works: Hector Berlioz’s Hymne (for six wind instruments of Adolphe Sax), Jean-Baptiste Singelée’s Premier Quatuor, Jérôme Savari’s Quatuor pour Saxophones, and Caryl Florio’s Quartette (Allegro de Concert).
Intonations (Conference), University of Alberta, 2024
This paper investigates the musical characteristics of underworld biomes in sandbox-style indepen... more This paper investigates the musical characteristics of underworld biomes in sandbox-style independent video games, focusing particularly on how they affect players’ emotions and gameplay experiences. Ludomusicology, the academic study of video game music, has grown significantly in both scope and esteem since its inception in the early 2000s. Although ludomusicologists have written much about mainstream video game franchises, few have explored the “independent” or “indie” genre, which refers to games produced by small, self-contained development studios rather than large software companies. Much of the indie genre is dominated by “sandbox” games, which provide players with open-ended worlds they can explore freely. An important feature of sandbox-style indie games is the underworld, a hostile, subterranean biome filled with enemies and environmental obstacles that players must overcome to win the game. Underworlds’ nondiegetic soundtracks convey tension and mystery to players through three musical devices: synthesized electronic melodies, raspy and reedy timbres from woodwind instruments, and rhythmic ostinati featuring percussion. That music enhances the gameplay experience, as it elicits emotional responses from players that complement the dangerous nature of underworlds.
Three indie video games serve as appropriate case studies of the relationship between music, emotion, and the underworld: Mojang Studio’s Minecraft (2011), Re-Logic’s Terraria (2011), and Eric Barone’s Stardew Valley (2016). Using a music-theoretical framework consisting of harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and timbral analysis, the author examines each soundtrack and concludes that three musical elements—synthesized themes, raspy timbres, and percussive ostinati, as noted above—are designed to sonically represent the life-threatening conditions of the games’ underworlds. In addition, evidence from past studies in musical cognition are used to identify the specific feelings, including fear and depression, that players likely experience when exposed to that music during gameplay. The conclusions presented in this paper shed light on the relationship between music and emotion in indie sandbox games, a topic that has been overlooked for much of ludomusicological history.
This Honors Project examines the major characteristics of the nineteenth-century saxophone quarte... more This Honors Project examines the major characteristics of the nineteenth-century saxophone quartet and its repertoire through the lens of four musical works: Hector Berlioz’s Hymne (for six wind instruments of Adolphe Sax), Jean-Baptiste Singelée’s Premier Quatuor, Jérôme Savari’s Quatuor pour Saxophones, and Caryl Florio’s Quartette (Allegro de Concert).
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Three indie video games serve as appropriate case studies of the relationship between music, emotion, and the underworld: Mojang Studio’s Minecraft (2011), Re-Logic’s Terraria (2011), and Eric Barone’s Stardew Valley (2016). Using a music-theoretical framework consisting of harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and timbral analysis, the author examines each soundtrack and concludes that three musical elements—synthesized themes, raspy timbres, and percussive ostinati, as noted above—are designed to sonically represent the life-threatening conditions of the games’ underworlds. In addition, evidence from past studies in musical cognition are used to identify the specific feelings, including fear and depression, that players likely experience when exposed to that music during gameplay. The conclusions presented in this paper shed light on the relationship between music and emotion in indie sandbox games, a topic that has been overlooked for much of ludomusicological history.
Three indie video games serve as appropriate case studies of the relationship between music, emotion, and the underworld: Mojang Studio’s Minecraft (2011), Re-Logic’s Terraria (2011), and Eric Barone’s Stardew Valley (2016). Using a music-theoretical framework consisting of harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and timbral analysis, the author examines each soundtrack and concludes that three musical elements—synthesized themes, raspy timbres, and percussive ostinati, as noted above—are designed to sonically represent the life-threatening conditions of the games’ underworlds. In addition, evidence from past studies in musical cognition are used to identify the specific feelings, including fear and depression, that players likely experience when exposed to that music during gameplay. The conclusions presented in this paper shed light on the relationship between music and emotion in indie sandbox games, a topic that has been overlooked for much of ludomusicological history.