I've received two questions this past week relating to musicians and the games industry.. Hopefully I can get them better answers here from you [:)]..
Q1: I was curious to know how does music get selected for video games. We Have access to many artists with great music that are interested in being part of the video game world. Thank you for your time.
Q2: G'day, I've been producing music for a while now and I'm wondering how I could branch out into doing music for/making available to game developers here and abroad.
1) You need some good material.
2) You need to be able to write any style
3) Able to create for multiple platforms. GBA, PDA, XBOX... etc
4) Know people in the industry (networking), make friends with programmers, artists.. anyone who works with companies already.
5) Be multi-talented. I have created Music as well as Sound Effects. Most companies (specially smaller ones) would prefer someone who can do a bit of both.
6) PERSISTANCE
7) PERSISTANCE
8) PERSISTANCE
9) PERSISTANCE
oh.. and PERSISTANCE..
I mean if you truly love what you do, you never give up.
Most game companies want someone who can deliver, on time and to specifications, and as z-girl says, they don't particularly like to use rookies who they don't know anything about. By practicing on startup non-commercial projects you get a feel for what developers are looking for and how to write to specifications.
I found that a good game company doesn't stick to just one audio person, and will use from a pool of 2-3 for different concurrent projects. Most have 2 audio guys, one for music and one for SFX, but usually both know a bit of both fields and can help out when it's crunch time.
Oh, and most game companies HATE agencies.
Good luck.
1) make a demo. 4 tracks. different styles.
2) offer to work for free (as anything)
- if you can get your name known by being keen, reliable, and yet being no cost to the company then you'll be the first to hear about up-comming music jobs. Employers would rather go with someone they've worked with before rather than get someone completely new.
3) after you have a few big names on your resume (doens't matter if you weren't paid for it) it looks rad + with your cd demo you'll be in a wickid position to get a job.
Some game companies contract out all the audio work (close to the completion of their title) to sound studios and contract composers.
But it's becoming more popular to have an "in-house" audio person that works along side all the other designers (this means the sound is usually closer to the asethtic + function of the game and therefor produces a better end result).
if you want to know more sign up to www.gamasutra.com and read the bios of the audio guys in there for more tips on how to break in as a composer/sound designer.
Em.
eridgway@pandemicstudios.com.au