Are you a com-poseur?
by Matt Sayre · 06/23/2008 (12:44 pm) · 2 comments
Note: This is the latest post from my blog, The Game Composer's Blog (www.gamenotes.org). I'm posting it here to help kickstart that blog. And I think it is quite relevant to the GG community, of course.
I get asked from time to time how one gets started writing music for games. I am happy to give advice and say what's worked for me and other people. And in the near future I will write a blog that gives advice on how to go about successfully achieving your dream career. But before I do that, I'd like you prospective (or maybe even current) game music creators to just ask yourselves some questions, with the underlying question... Are you a composer ready to take your craft into the world of games or are you a com-poseur?
I apologize in advance if this isn't a feel-good post and it seems unduly negative, but my mission for this blog is to simply help games have better soundtracks. There are people out there who are capable of this. And there are some who aren't. If you aren't right now, it doesn't mean you never will be. It just means you need to take some time to work on your art. And it does take work. Just because you're a kid who has a music keyboard hooked up to your computer doesn't mean you're ready to list yourself as a content provider on Gamasutra. Anyway, consider these questions:
1) Are you proud of all the music you've ever created? Do you look back on your collected body of work and revel in all its genius? Well, unless you're Mozart, you probably have no reason to. I am embarrassed by almost all the music I wrote in my undergraduate college years, up until my thesis. I had so much to learn. At the time, I was kind of ok with some of it, but what kept me going were the flashes of potential that I had at times. My professors recognized that potential and nurtured it. But the music itself was secondary to learning the process of how you become a good composer and learning how other works achieved their musical success (and defining what constitutes musical success). This leads to the next question...
2) Are you proud of having no formal musical education? Ah yes, you are untainted by the bounds of a formal education. Well, maybe a bad formal education will force you to write like Brahms or Beethoven but a good education will help you develop your own voice. It will guide you to a mastery of your own language. Yes, sometimes composers with no formal training go on to have very successful careers. But it's just easier to have teachers there to help point the way for you. No force, just a friendly hand. You will learn things that will pay off in your career. Definitely a good investment in your future. There is no test you must pass before you go on to start your career, but having a formal education on your resume does show future employers that you probably have at least a solid foundation in your craft. They need to trust your skills. Having been through a musical education, you will be able to trust and have real and proven confidence in your skills once you're selling yourself. That's big.
3) Do you know what subito means? What's the highest safe couple of notes you should write for a (live) horn player? This is related to the last question. You don't necessarily need a formal education to know these things, but it helps. Regardless, how can you call yourself a composer if you don't know the basics of our musical language? Again, it's strange some people take such pride in the fact that they don't know these things. Oh, let the orchestrator deal with that? Well, orchestration is part of composition. A melody played by a muted trumpet will have a very different effect when played by a clarinet. You, as the composer, have complete control of what you want your piece to sound like. Why not learn as much as you can about the entire palette of sound and how to use it?
4) Do you have one or more pirated sample libraries? These libraries cost money to make. You're hurting the very people who are trying to help improve your craft. You're also hurting the entire legitimate composer community. If you can't afford the more expensive libraries, maybe you are not ready to make it in this industry yet. Start smaller. Buy what you can afford, work with smaller companies that are also starting out. Your talent and bank account will grow together.
5) Can you point out problems in even your most favorite game soundtracks? No soundtrack is perfect. If you can't identify problems in other people's works, you probably can't identify problems in your own works. We must always look for ways to improve. If you're completely happy with your composing skills, you're not doing something right. Know your weaknesses and work on them. I reviewed the Grim Fandango soundtrack a few days ago. I believe it's one of the best soundtracks ever made. One problem, though, is that its instrumentation is a little too homogeneous. I would have preferred just a few more tracks to have an instrument or two that come out of the blue and surprise us a bit. They actually did do that for a couple tracks and they could have utilized that more. A nitpick, but it's important to question everything in the quest for improvement.
6) Do you own and wear a powdered wig when you compose? Duh. The best composers all wear powdered wigs. Bathing monthly is optional.
I hope these questions get you to think a little bit about if you're truly ready to put your skills on the line in the fast-paced world of game audio. I may sound like a crotchety old man here, but I think not to ask prospective or current composers to ask these questions would be a disservice to everyone. Composers should be fluent and ready for anything. Developers should expect competent and confident composers.
And now, since we're all ready to enter into the game industry with our powdered wigs, diplomas, and legal sample libraries, I will soon post a helpful guide to getting your first gigs which lead, I hope, to a long and successful career.
www.gamenotes.org
I get asked from time to time how one gets started writing music for games. I am happy to give advice and say what's worked for me and other people. And in the near future I will write a blog that gives advice on how to go about successfully achieving your dream career. But before I do that, I'd like you prospective (or maybe even current) game music creators to just ask yourselves some questions, with the underlying question... Are you a composer ready to take your craft into the world of games or are you a com-poseur?
I apologize in advance if this isn't a feel-good post and it seems unduly negative, but my mission for this blog is to simply help games have better soundtracks. There are people out there who are capable of this. And there are some who aren't. If you aren't right now, it doesn't mean you never will be. It just means you need to take some time to work on your art. And it does take work. Just because you're a kid who has a music keyboard hooked up to your computer doesn't mean you're ready to list yourself as a content provider on Gamasutra. Anyway, consider these questions:
1) Are you proud of all the music you've ever created? Do you look back on your collected body of work and revel in all its genius? Well, unless you're Mozart, you probably have no reason to. I am embarrassed by almost all the music I wrote in my undergraduate college years, up until my thesis. I had so much to learn. At the time, I was kind of ok with some of it, but what kept me going were the flashes of potential that I had at times. My professors recognized that potential and nurtured it. But the music itself was secondary to learning the process of how you become a good composer and learning how other works achieved their musical success (and defining what constitutes musical success). This leads to the next question...
2) Are you proud of having no formal musical education? Ah yes, you are untainted by the bounds of a formal education. Well, maybe a bad formal education will force you to write like Brahms or Beethoven but a good education will help you develop your own voice. It will guide you to a mastery of your own language. Yes, sometimes composers with no formal training go on to have very successful careers. But it's just easier to have teachers there to help point the way for you. No force, just a friendly hand. You will learn things that will pay off in your career. Definitely a good investment in your future. There is no test you must pass before you go on to start your career, but having a formal education on your resume does show future employers that you probably have at least a solid foundation in your craft. They need to trust your skills. Having been through a musical education, you will be able to trust and have real and proven confidence in your skills once you're selling yourself. That's big.
3) Do you know what subito means? What's the highest safe couple of notes you should write for a (live) horn player? This is related to the last question. You don't necessarily need a formal education to know these things, but it helps. Regardless, how can you call yourself a composer if you don't know the basics of our musical language? Again, it's strange some people take such pride in the fact that they don't know these things. Oh, let the orchestrator deal with that? Well, orchestration is part of composition. A melody played by a muted trumpet will have a very different effect when played by a clarinet. You, as the composer, have complete control of what you want your piece to sound like. Why not learn as much as you can about the entire palette of sound and how to use it?
4) Do you have one or more pirated sample libraries? These libraries cost money to make. You're hurting the very people who are trying to help improve your craft. You're also hurting the entire legitimate composer community. If you can't afford the more expensive libraries, maybe you are not ready to make it in this industry yet. Start smaller. Buy what you can afford, work with smaller companies that are also starting out. Your talent and bank account will grow together.
5) Can you point out problems in even your most favorite game soundtracks? No soundtrack is perfect. If you can't identify problems in other people's works, you probably can't identify problems in your own works. We must always look for ways to improve. If you're completely happy with your composing skills, you're not doing something right. Know your weaknesses and work on them. I reviewed the Grim Fandango soundtrack a few days ago. I believe it's one of the best soundtracks ever made. One problem, though, is that its instrumentation is a little too homogeneous. I would have preferred just a few more tracks to have an instrument or two that come out of the blue and surprise us a bit. They actually did do that for a couple tracks and they could have utilized that more. A nitpick, but it's important to question everything in the quest for improvement.
6) Do you own and wear a powdered wig when you compose? Duh. The best composers all wear powdered wigs. Bathing monthly is optional.
I hope these questions get you to think a little bit about if you're truly ready to put your skills on the line in the fast-paced world of game audio. I may sound like a crotchety old man here, but I think not to ask prospective or current composers to ask these questions would be a disservice to everyone. Composers should be fluent and ready for anything. Developers should expect competent and confident composers.
And now, since we're all ready to enter into the game industry with our powdered wigs, diplomas, and legal sample libraries, I will soon post a helpful guide to getting your first gigs which lead, I hope, to a long and successful career.
www.gamenotes.org
About the author
Associate Tom Eastman (Eastbeast314)