Noah
Music For Games
Music For Games
I would like to write music for video games, but it's not an industry I know much about. I have a degree in music from a reputable place, keyboard, guitar, trumpet and voice proficiency. I'm also pretty good with Ableton and Reason. This summer I wrote music for a Yoga video, which I learned a lot from. Has anyone out there ever worked in the industry? What's a good first step? Thanks.
Noah
Noah
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rbmonosylabik
- Posts: 2659
- Joined: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:27 am
Here are some links you might find useful.
http://www.moddb.com/ - Game Modding community
http://www.idevgames.com/ - Mac Games development community
http://www.audiogang.org/ - haven't tried this one (mostly because it requieres $$), but it looks like a very useful resource.
http://www.moddb.com/ - Game Modding community
http://www.idevgames.com/ - Mac Games development community
http://www.audiogang.org/ - haven't tried this one (mostly because it requieres $$), but it looks like a very useful resource.
MBP 2.3 GHz i5, Live 9.6.1, Push, MPD32, Rane SL2
Grab some screencaps of some games from different genres, write some few-minute music of your taste for those graphics and send your screen-captures with the music you wrote to as many small game companies you can find. If they like your style and they have some current project, maybe they have some work for you. If you have nothing to show of the genre, it's probably less likely to get any work. Write something you would write when actually working for a game company, employ yourself to imaginery game assignments so you'll get some sample work.
Juhana Lehtiniemi - Film composer with Ableton Live
If your main focus is music and don't want to get involved in the SFX design/dialog world/implementation. This may not be the best book for ya.3dot... wrote:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... R&v=glance
Another thing is that if you don't PLAY games as much as you play or listen to music. Forget about making music for games.
I'd like to chime in and say kaffein and possu are correct, except don't worry about playing games... if your tunes are good and you can get in the mindset of 'layers' you'll be fine. For instance, read articles about producers working on games. they talk about stuff like making sure the song doesn't get too repetitive. For one game recently the producer had light ambient stuff, then a layer of more percussion, then beats, then lots of FX. Each layer got more intense. in the game you had one layer for wandering around, and more if you encounter something suspicious or dangerous. You definitely want to read up on some gamer mags or websites > paying strict attention to the music portions.
Junkie XL has a bunch of tracks in games, same with Deepsky and I've never read anything about them being gamers.
those guys are both techno type sounding dudes. I believe most games are 40% techno, 40% classical, and the other 20% rap and rock.
You could also use something like an online portfolio. I've got a friend on another forum that has done lots of work for gaming. I asked him how he got started, he said it was through a friend of a friend. He lives in the Bay Area, CA. Living in CA will certainly help. I'd like to get into it myself, but the market is over-saturated. Lots of times they want to 'feature' an artist, thus they'll want you more if you have some name recognition.
However, cranking out examples of what you can do and aggressively marketing yourself to the right companies seems like a tried and true method. And don't just go for the big guys, kids are graduating schools every month for game design. As a matter of fact I have an old friend whos working on a game and I was asked by them for some tunes.
If you work up a nice site for yourself you can do commercials, games, movies, TV, etc.
I wish there was a database of where to send your demo work; emails/addresses... it's not quite like record labels, submission info is rarely posted online. But you could always just call up each company directly. Don't give up. The gaming industry dwarfs the audio/video industry combined in profit.
-Wesley D.
Junkie XL has a bunch of tracks in games, same with Deepsky and I've never read anything about them being gamers.
those guys are both techno type sounding dudes. I believe most games are 40% techno, 40% classical, and the other 20% rap and rock.
You could also use something like an online portfolio. I've got a friend on another forum that has done lots of work for gaming. I asked him how he got started, he said it was through a friend of a friend. He lives in the Bay Area, CA. Living in CA will certainly help. I'd like to get into it myself, but the market is over-saturated. Lots of times they want to 'feature' an artist, thus they'll want you more if you have some name recognition.
However, cranking out examples of what you can do and aggressively marketing yourself to the right companies seems like a tried and true method. And don't just go for the big guys, kids are graduating schools every month for game design. As a matter of fact I have an old friend whos working on a game and I was asked by them for some tunes.
If you work up a nice site for yourself you can do commercials, games, movies, TV, etc.
I wish there was a database of where to send your demo work; emails/addresses... it's not quite like record labels, submission info is rarely posted online. But you could always just call up each company directly. Don't give up. The gaming industry dwarfs the audio/video industry combined in profit.
-Wesley D.
The games industry does dwarf the music industry - the figures are there. But I always wonder, do they compensate for the higher cost of games compared to albums? Or does that matter. If someone is spending £30-40 on a game, they are still spending £30-40!
Most music for games seems to be freelance. Very few in-house positions.
Most music for games seems to be freelance. Very few in-house positions.
in my experience, studios like composers that can make many different styles (and fairly quickly)...my coworkers are regularly asked to do a style, listen to a buncha tracks in it for weeks then compose something like it..ya never know what the demands are. while i agree specializing will lead to a better final product when fit, i don't really see that as a positive asset in getting your first gig in the game industry yet, (unless you're Nobuo Uematsu good, lucky or have connections). that said, classical western, rock and idm seem to be the styles many game composers i see are strongest in, while they're very capable of emulating other genres.
another good website to peep is www.gameaudioforum.com. make a demo reel and you'll get plenty of constructive feedback there. be nice as the vets tend to get annoyed by the large amount of "noobs trying to break in".
it'd be worth your time to look into basic game audio implementation as then you'd be prepared to deliver in the formats required (though that's more important for sound design). it will also help you organize your workflow to compose for games as generative/dynamic scores become more common.
in-house is harder to find but they're out there for sure...i hear Grin is building an in-house orchestra! it's a pretty small and competitive community so networking is pretty important..keep your options open and you'll find gigs big and small! goodluck!
peace
another good website to peep is www.gameaudioforum.com. make a demo reel and you'll get plenty of constructive feedback there. be nice as the vets tend to get annoyed by the large amount of "noobs trying to break in".
it'd be worth your time to look into basic game audio implementation as then you'd be prepared to deliver in the formats required (though that's more important for sound design). it will also help you organize your workflow to compose for games as generative/dynamic scores become more common.
in-house is harder to find but they're out there for sure...i hear Grin is building an in-house orchestra! it's a pretty small and competitive community so networking is pretty important..keep your options open and you'll find gigs big and small! goodluck!
peace