Who We Are:
The Game Music @ Queen’s Research Group
Team Lead
Stephanie Lind
Dr. Stephanie Lind is an Associate Professor of Music Theory and Analysis at the Dan School of Drama and Music, Queen’s University, where she teaches a variety of courses in music theory and musicology. Her research interests include video game music, transformational theory, and contemporary Canadian art music. She is currently also the President of the Canadian University Music Society.
An active presenter at conferences including the North American Conference on Video Game Music and Congress, her research touches on immersion, diegetic sound, and popular culture references in video game music. Unlike much research in ludomusicology, her work, as a music theorist, focuses strongly on musical structure and its impact on player experience.
Dr. Lind’s current research is a SSHRC-funded research project on tropes in the music of video games.
For more information on Dr. Lind and her research, please visit: https://drstephanielind.com
Student Research Assistants
Elizabeth Baxter
Elizabeth Baxter is currently in her third year of the Bachelor of Music program at the Queen’s University Dan School of Drama and Music.
Studying cello with Wolf Tormann, she joined Dr. Lind’s research team in the spring of 2019. Elizabeth is particularly interested in sandbox- and open-world-style games but is just as happy playing other genres. Elizabeth is eager to work on the Video Game Music at Queen’s project because it combines two of her major interests (music and games) and provides an opportunity to dig deeper into how the two interact.
Musically, Elizabeth is most proud of her work at National Music Camp, where she has been a counsellor and has assisted the cello faculty, working with kids from ages 9 to 19 for the last three years. In addition to playing in the Queen’s University Symphony Orchestra, and the Cello Orchestra, she has played for the Kingston Chamber Choir and as a solo musician for various private events.
Andrew Bennett
Andrew Bennett is currently completing his degree in Education at Queen’s University after graduating from the Dan School of Drama and Music with his Bachelors of Music in 2019.
During his undergraduate degree he loved singing in choral ensemble and found the sound of the human voice to be remarkably unique in the way it creates music. This lead to his game interest, as he love games that feature scores that highlight the voice as the focal point of the music. Recently he had the opportunity to share his research on the concept of “epic” in the music of video games, and presented his paper at the 2019 North American Conference on Video Game Music (NACVGM) and the 2019 Canadian University Music Society (MusCan) Conference. First-Person Shooters are the genre that pique his interest, and he finds himself often going back to one of the first games he ever played: Call of Duty: World at War.
When he is not inside playing video games or researching for the team’s next podcast, Andrew can generally be found outside hiking, listening to the music created by nature.
Brooke Spencer
Brooke Spencer is a recent graduate from the Queen’s University Dan School of Drama and Music. She holds her Bachelor of Music degree and is currently completing her degree in Education at Queen’s University as well.
Brooke’s passion for playing video games (particularly the Super Nintendo) began at a very young age in her Nana’s house. This hobby motivated her to take one of Dr. Lind’s courses on music and video games at the Dan School, which would also lead Brooke to the research team. Some of her favourite types of video games include platformers, open world-adventure, and combat-style games. Brooke has also taken a direct study under the instruction of Dr. Lind, which has helped her further develop her skills in music theory analysis, and writing.
Brooke’s recent research paper was inspired by one of the first video games she ever played: Donkey Kong Country (1994): “The Use of Progressive Rock in David Wise’s Soundtrack for Donkey Kong Country and the Advancement of Video Game Music”. Brooke has presented her research on Donkey Kong Country at both the Inquiry at Queens Undergraduate Research Conference (2019), and at MusCan, Canadian University Music Society Annual Conference (2019) at University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC.
Student Media Assistant
Michelle Kasaboski
Michelle Kasaboski is currently completing her fourth year as a Voice Performance student at the Dan School of Drama and Music. In addition to her Bachelor of Music studies at Queen’s University, Michelle also holds a BA in Music (’13) from Queen’s, and a Diploma in Business Administration, Human Resources (’16) from St. Lawrence College.
Michelle joined the Game Music research team in January of 2019 as a media host for the project’s “Game Music 101” podcast and combines her background in performance and business in her role as researcher and administrator on the team. Michelle’s personal video game playing experience is within the Nintendo world with some of her favourite games being Top Gear and Super Mario Brothers on the Nintendo 64, Pokemon for Gameboy, and Animal Farm and Beach Spikers on the Gamecube. Michelle also fought with her sisters for a coveted spot at the family computer to play Frogger and Sims growing up.
Michelle is pursuing a professional career in performance and can be found singing regularly in the Kingston music scene and beyond.
www.michellekasaboski.com