12 The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays: Playing with Medieval Sonic Histories
-
Mariana López
Abstract
The York Mystery Plays are a series of plays that were performed from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century in the streets of York (UK) using wagons specifically constructed for the occasion. The “sound” of the York Mystery Plays is as crucial to their history as the visual aspects linked to staging. However, aspects on acoustics and soundscapes are often difficult to convey to nonspecialist audiences. The present chapter discusses how strategies found in digital games and simulations have been combined with specialist knowledge on acoustical heritage, soundscape recreation, and medieval drama to create the online interface The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays. Users are able to combine dialogue and music with acoustical data as well as add sound effects linked to the history of the medieval city of York to create their own experience of the plays, allowing them to listen to what the plays could have sounded like, while also assessing how those experiences are still relevant to modern organizers and performers by accessing bespoke interviews. The interface also explores how digital gaming and simulation experiences can help overcome the ethical challenges of presenting one version of the sounds of the past, by introducing multiple possible acoustical experiences, which present the rich array of possible sonic histories linked to the York Mystery Plays.
Abstract
The York Mystery Plays are a series of plays that were performed from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century in the streets of York (UK) using wagons specifically constructed for the occasion. The “sound” of the York Mystery Plays is as crucial to their history as the visual aspects linked to staging. However, aspects on acoustics and soundscapes are often difficult to convey to nonspecialist audiences. The present chapter discusses how strategies found in digital games and simulations have been combined with specialist knowledge on acoustical heritage, soundscape recreation, and medieval drama to create the online interface The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays. Users are able to combine dialogue and music with acoustical data as well as add sound effects linked to the history of the medieval city of York to create their own experience of the plays, allowing them to listen to what the plays could have sounded like, while also assessing how those experiences are still relevant to modern organizers and performers by accessing bespoke interviews. The interface also explores how digital gaming and simulation experiences can help overcome the ethical challenges of presenting one version of the sounds of the past, by introducing multiple possible acoustical experiences, which present the rich array of possible sonic histories linked to the York Mystery Plays.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- 1 Introduction: Teaching the Middle Ages through Modern Games 1
-
Part I: The Educational Impact of Games
- 2 Learning About the Past Through Digital Play: History Students and Video Games 29
-
Part II: Teaching through Commercial Games
- 3 Historicising Assassin’s Creed (2007): Crusader Medievalism, Historiography, and Digital Games for the Classroom 47
- 4 Declaiming Dragons: Empathy Learning and The Elder Scrolls in Teaching Medieval Rhetorical Schemes 69
- 5 “What if you are a Medieval Monarch?”: A Crusader Kings III Experience to Learn Medieval History 87
-
Part III: Creating Educational Games
- 6 A Video Game for Byzantine History – Akritas: Playing at the Byzantine Borders 113
- 7 Collaborative Constructions: Designing High School History Curriculum with the Lost & Found Game Series 131
- 8 The Renaissance Marriage Game: A Simulation Game for Large Classes 155
-
Part IV: User Modification as Learning Practice
- 9 Alchemy and Archives, Swords, Spells, and Castles: Medieval-modding Skyrim 175
- 10 Playing the Investiture Contest: Modding as Historical Debate in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Classroom 201
- 11 Game Development in a Senior Seminar 229
-
Part V: Games beyond the Classroom
- 12 The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays: Playing with Medieval Sonic Histories 249
- 13 Beyond Education and Impact: Games as Research Tools and Outputs 279
- List of Contributors 299
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- 1 Introduction: Teaching the Middle Ages through Modern Games 1
-
Part I: The Educational Impact of Games
- 2 Learning About the Past Through Digital Play: History Students and Video Games 29
-
Part II: Teaching through Commercial Games
- 3 Historicising Assassin’s Creed (2007): Crusader Medievalism, Historiography, and Digital Games for the Classroom 47
- 4 Declaiming Dragons: Empathy Learning and The Elder Scrolls in Teaching Medieval Rhetorical Schemes 69
- 5 “What if you are a Medieval Monarch?”: A Crusader Kings III Experience to Learn Medieval History 87
-
Part III: Creating Educational Games
- 6 A Video Game for Byzantine History – Akritas: Playing at the Byzantine Borders 113
- 7 Collaborative Constructions: Designing High School History Curriculum with the Lost & Found Game Series 131
- 8 The Renaissance Marriage Game: A Simulation Game for Large Classes 155
-
Part IV: User Modification as Learning Practice
- 9 Alchemy and Archives, Swords, Spells, and Castles: Medieval-modding Skyrim 175
- 10 Playing the Investiture Contest: Modding as Historical Debate in the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Classroom 201
- 11 Game Development in a Senior Seminar 229
-
Part V: Games beyond the Classroom
- 12 The Soundscapes of the York Mystery Plays: Playing with Medieval Sonic Histories 249
- 13 Beyond Education and Impact: Games as Research Tools and Outputs 279
- List of Contributors 299
- Index 303
