Breaking into the videogame music industry?

[johnjohn320]

I'm a musician by trade, meaning people give me checks to play piano and various other instruments at times, whether it be for theatre, weddings, accompaniments, whatever... and occasionally have been commissioned to write some stuff, too.

I also have been a long-time fan of videogames. I haven't had the chance to play in awhile, but I've always noticed on these newer systems (playstation 1 and newer I mean), there's some excellent games with wonderful stories, that just don't have the soundtracks they deserve. I watched a "Making of Lunar: SSSC" video that came with the game, and I really dug how they put the music together, (even though the music in that game sucked if you ask me).

My soon-to-be major will probably be either piano pedagogy or music education, but I was curious as to how one might break into the videogame-music industry. I'd love to write and arrange music for videogames, or even just record them. It's an odd thing to request, but I've always thought that'd be cool.

Any knowledge to share with me?

 

[RGN]

I think MidiMan has done some vidgame work.

 

[johnjohn320]

MidiMan = a member here ??

 

[StevenYoo]

funny u should bring this up. i just did a paper on video game music and its immense growing popularity.

you should find video game companies and email their staff.

for example, I found the audio director of Irrational Games. they made the PC game Freedom Force (which is wonderful, btw).

Find american companies, like Grey Matter, or Irrational Games, or Raven Software, or 3DRealms, find their staff pages, and email their sound guys. I did that and asked them questions.

as long as you're courteous and ask them to answer your questions at their leisure, i'm sure you'll get some really helpful info out of them.

if you try to find console game music composers, most of them are in Japan, like Nobuo Uematsu (of Final Fantasy fame) and Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Chrono Chross, Xenogears, Xenosaga).

In any case, good luck on your search.

 

[MIDIman]

....did someone say my name? heya john 😉


I'm currently working on getting a contract with a local game company, Creative Edge Studios, makers of some really bad titles - I've seen the title they are working on, and its 'ok.' The tracks they accepted are MDK2 Reconstruction and Can't Stop, found here

Basically, it all started with seeing an ad for a company that was selling its services for making DVD home videos. I called them up saying I could master surround sound for them, and after a quick phone conversation, realized they were a game company, and he asked for me to drop by a demo. This case was a bit more annoying than usual tho - I basically gave hime free music on the spot, unliscensed, that he could've just stolen from me (and still could). The game is still in final production work (was supposed to be finished back in November), and last I talked to them, they had to cut 5 stages, and my music was on one of them...its currently up in the air whether I'll be in the game or not.

Morale of the story - liscense your work before sending out any demos...either in part or in full. Better yet, give them something they cant use and sign a contract before giving out any usable material. At the same time, I didn't spend more than a few hours on the tracks he has, so even if I did lose them, I could at least say my music was in a game 😉

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Another story - my sophmore year in college, I was sutdying game companies and found some strange group called "Blizzard Inc." They had just fired a music composer and were looking for a fast replacement. It was the first time I saw the requirements for a game musician, all of which I felt I had, so on a whim, I applied. Sure enough, they liked what they heard and without interview, was basically ready to hire upon moving to California (I live in Virginia)...happy to hear about it, but a little overwhelmed and wanting to finish my degree in Music & Technology, I chose the latter and stayed in school...bad move that I will FOREVER regret...darn drug ads 🙂 ...
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Unfortunately, when I got out of school, most of the game companies were not hiring audio people...game music is the last on most company's lists, much like movie music is as well. After 9-11 it became impossible to find anyone hiring, and I've since gotten a real job not in the industry, so my search is on hold for now. Its really all about who you know, and how good your current material is for their current needs - unfortunately, you don't know what any company's current needs will be, which means you have to be a jack-of-all-trades in order to get a foot in the door - either that, or really lucky.


So - if you are interested, make up a studio quality demo, a very nice professional resume, preferrably all on CD, then scour the net making links to every game company in your area. Get clips of your music online and ready to go if someone needs to hear it without waiting for a CD in the mail. If you want to be an in-house musician, be prepared to not do much but organize sound effects for quite some time instead of compose. If you want to be a contractor, be prepared for a bunch of headaches.

A few links to get you started:

http://www.gamedeveloper.com
http://www.gamedeveloper.com/galleries/audio/index.htm
http://www.gdconf.com <---(when you're ready, you HAVE to goto this to meet others)
http://www.audiogang.org <---(some incredible Flash work)
http://www.gamejobs.com
http://www.gamingforceaudio.com
http://www.mp3.com/midiman/ 😉

PS - glad to know that out of thousands of users my name was the first to come up concerning this topic...thanks for remembering me RGN!

 

[johnjohn320]

Wow, thanks very much for that MidiMan! 🙂