Simone Ulanowski 

This project aimed to determine how music and audio can effectively support the emotions and narrative themes of a visual novel. In order to investigate this, a practical approach was taken. This involved the creation of a visual novel from scratch, the direct application of a music and audio production methodology, and subsequent playtesting by third parties for feedback. The research discovered the importance of ambience in a visual novel, and that the focus of music should be to express and elicit specific emotions and highlight narrative points which the other elements of a visual novel cannot express on their own. The research refined the understanding of the purpose of audio in a visual novel, and as a result informs how audio should be created and implemented more effectively and efficiently.