When editing my scores, I enjoy listening to music. One of my favorite genres is the great repertoire of video game music. If a deadline looms near, I choose the rich sub-genre of boss battle music—the music the player encounters when faced with a particularly fierce adversary.
Boss battle music in video games invokes a heightened sense of urgency, allowing the composer to incorporate fast tempos, syncopated rhythms, mixed-meter, disorienting harmonies, and extreme melodic range into the score. One of my favorite themes is “Battle with Ganon” by Koji Kondo from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. The tune features the insane time signature of 23/16 (or 13/16+5/8). I highly recommend giving that one a listen. Some personal favorite canonical composers include Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda), Junichi Masuda (Pokémon), Gō Ichinose (Pokémon), Hirokazu Ando (Super Smash Bros.), Mahito Yokota (Super Mario Galaxy), and several others.