(07-16-2010, 06:00 PM)TheDragoon Wrote: I do think that, at some level, game music has certainly become mainstream. (...) We, in the trombone section, had one of the more popular instrument demos: a 4 part trombone choir arrangement of the Super Mario Brothers theme songs.
Super Mario Bros. has crossed the meme threshold. The two themes (the main theme and the "underground" theme) are very widely recognized, and beloved. Knock it out on a piano, and everyone gets it instantly. Whether it goes much beyond Mario, I don't know. Maybe Tetris, or Zelda. Most else, I think you have to be at a crowd specifically assembled for that purpose - like PAX, or one of the video game music tours.
Of course, I'm the kind of nerd who sings along with the Filmore theme from ActRaiser, or Colour of the Summer Sky. And has there really yet been a piece of in-game music quite as evocative of setting as good old Tristram? There's at least one video of that one done live at PAX...
-Jester