Plan for John Seguin

Working with a composer: A Guide, Part II

This is part II of a guide that I am writing in serial about working with a composer and how to make this relationship successful for both parties. I will be discussing various issues and facets of this that hopefully many of you will find interesting. If you have any other questions regarding things posted here, please feel free to start a discussion below or send me an email directly. (jseguin@seguinsound.com)

First though, if you haven't read my first post on this issue, please take a look at it here.

As promised, today's big topics are placement and style.

Placement
When a movie is shot, many times the director has an idea in their head about where music should go. When they are shooting an action scene, they may have cool techno racing through the action ala Matrix, or a big orchestral score like in Star Wars. However, they typically might be thinking ahead -- for effect -- "hmm... it would be super cool if this was a sound fx ONLY shot..."

As a producer/director of a game, you may be doing the same thing. You may have a thought such as: "It would be great if there was music that started IMMEDIATELY" to set the mood of the game. (Such as in Pocket Watch Game's Wildlife Tycoon, which I worked on.) Because there are several "intro screens", such as for Garage Games, the company logo, etc., the music starting right away can set the mood of the action and feel for the game. This is usually a great place to put music in.

But where else? A lot of folks think a good place for music is during a "level" (if this applies to your style of game). Your character is running around some sort of map; sure, this is a great place for music. It can really help to immerse a player into the game. But what else could you do? Is there a loading screen? What about during a pause menu or configuration screen. Should this music be the same? Different?

Will your music be triggered by gameplay events? Perhaps your character is racing around the map and then suddenly starts to fight an evil doer. The music might change suddenly to reflect this change. If you've played the PS2 Baldur's Gate series, you have a good idea of how effectively this can be done. Good composers can design their music to accomodate for this, so that one track can easily slide into another without an abrupt switch in timbre and feel. However, it is very important to plan such things ahead of time as it is far more difficult for the composer to work this in at a later time, depending on what was written initially as the "main track".

Style
This is propably the most difficult part of the whole process of working with a composer. How do you communicate what you are looking for? Everyone is a know-it-all critic when it comes to music. However, it takes a far more skilled and patient person to describe why we don't like something in particular and communicate that to others. In order to do this, it is important to understand a few common music terms that your composer (if they are worthy of their profession...) will understand.

-Tempo-
aka. "speed". Should the piece be fast or slow? This will be largely determined by the pacing of your game. GOOD game composers will play an early demo of your game while listening back to their music to make sure it fits the pace of the action. You may disagree, and want a more "hurried" feel, which is pushed by the music. This is great for still scenes that generate a feel of urgency. Think of all the 007 movies where you just see James Bond looking a bit concerned as fast paced music fires up right before he gets in his car and the action catches up to the pace of the music.


(from Yahoo Movies)

These are important things to discuss with a composer when describing how you'd like the music to sound.

-Texture-
Texture refers to the resulting "sound" of all the instruments playing together. Textures can generally be thick or thin. Some use the term "fat" for a thick sound. An example might be a big band sound being "thick" versus a small Wynton Marsalis quartet being "thin". This applies to all forms of music, whether it be electronic, world, orchestral, jazz -- you name it!

In general, if you have lots of voice over going on, or many KEY sound effects (meaning the sound actually provides information and not just "extra noise"...) thinner texture works better and is less distracting. Big action sequences work well for bigger textures.

-Tone-
Is the tune you are looking for "inspiring"? "Fun"? "Sad?" "Silly?" These are all great descriptions for a composer to get a quick idea of what you are looking for. However, it should not be confused with...

-Genre-
Perhaps a rock ballad? Or a pop tune? Or an 18th century Mozartian waltz? You can easily combine these with your "tone" request. For instance, a "fun jazz quartet sound". Or a "swashbuckling (pirate-like) courageus orchestral piece that feels full and thick with lots of horns". You can also combine genres, of course. How about a jazzy orchestral waltz with an electronica beat underneath. Cool!

-Instrumentation-
Perhaps you have a favorite instrument that you think would fit well instead of something the composer picked. Choosing instrumentation up-front can constrain a composer's sonic pallette, so it is best to avoid dictating this, but it is helpful to say something like "I'd like this to be mostly percussion sounds -- I'm going for a very sparse feel" or "let's stick swith lots of strings" or "very electronic sounding". Also, in the review process (discussed next time) being able to say "I really don't like the beat the drums are playing -- it sounds too calypso and I was thinking more jazzy..." can really help your communication.

Conclusion
Hopefully, these various items can give you some verbage to use with your composer in describing what you are looking for. Next time, I will discuss the dangers and benefits of place holder music as well as possibly getting into the review process. Stay tuned!

-John Seguin
www.seguinsound.com
Seguin Sound's Game Music Demo Reel