Now in its third year, the Game Music Connect conference is an event celebrating and exploring the ever burgeoning industry of videogame music.
Rather than just being a poor relation to the screen composing worlds of TV and film, it’s an ever growing industry with spiralling budgets and plenty of opportunities available. Game Music Connect saw many of the industry’s key players including Chuck Doud, director of music for Sony Computer Entertainment America, organisers and composers James Hannigan and John Broomhall as well as Alien Isolation composers The Flight. Check out what we learned from the day…
Chuck Doud (CD) - For videogames, music has to share the stage with many other elements. It doesn’t mean its impact is diluted. It can maintain its impact and elevate everything else. It can make everything more real.
Darrell Alexander (DA), COOL Music founder - Composers need to have the courage to find out who you are, go with it, produce something viable, then have the personality to deliver.
CD - If you’re interested in creating music for games, study the games, know your medium, your art you’re writing music for. You don’t need to understand all the tech but you need to know what should happen with the integration.
CD - Ultimately, no matter how good the music is, if it’s not delivering in a way that’s emotionally compelling then it’s not doing its job. it means we’re missing an opportunity.
Simon Asby (SA), Audiokinetic - Games may last ten or 15 hours but there’s two hours of music so we need a variety of sounds to take from this. Time is not something we can control. It is controlled by the player and the music needs to adapt.
DA - As a creative, so many amazing composers have fallen by the wayside as they can’t work in a team. More modern composers are happier to collaborate in videogames while in TV and film you’re on your own.
CD - Videogame scores are at their most successful when they are identified as a critical part of the experience from early on by game developers.
Allan Wilson, videogames conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra - If you have the right budget, and a lot of games do, more than films, you come to London for your orchestras.
Nick Arundel, composer - One person needs to be in charge of a session and that person needs to have absolute authority.
SA - Avoid repetition as much as possible with tempo, rhythm patterns and time signatures. If you start scoring your first game, use odd time signatures to keep it unbalanced.
Read our previous news items on the importance of videogame scores and the secret to an effective score.
Rather than just being a poor relation to the screen composing worlds of TV and film, it’s an ever growing industry with spiralling budgets and plenty of opportunities available. Game Music Connect saw many of the industry’s key players including Chuck Doud, director of music for Sony Computer Entertainment America, organisers and composers James Hannigan and John Broomhall as well as Alien Isolation composers The Flight. Check out what we learned from the day…
An effective score brings a game to life
Chuck Doud (CD) - For videogames, music has to share the stage with many other elements. It doesn’t mean its impact is diluted. It can maintain its impact and elevate everything else. It can make everything more real.
Be courageous
Darrell Alexander (DA), COOL Music founder - Composers need to have the courage to find out who you are, go with it, produce something viable, then have the personality to deliver.
Know your art
CD - If you’re interested in creating music for games, study the games, know your medium, your art you’re writing music for. You don’t need to understand all the tech but you need to know what should happen with the integration.
Channel emotion
CD - Ultimately, no matter how good the music is, if it’s not delivering in a way that’s emotionally compelling then it’s not doing its job. it means we’re missing an opportunity.
Music needs to adapt
Simon Asby (SA), Audiokinetic - Games may last ten or 15 hours but there’s two hours of music so we need a variety of sounds to take from this. Time is not something we can control. It is controlled by the player and the music needs to adapt.
Be an effective collaborator
DA - As a creative, so many amazing composers have fallen by the wayside as they can’t work in a team. More modern composers are happier to collaborate in videogames while in TV and film you’re on your own.
Get in early on a project
CD - Videogame scores are at their most successful when they are identified as a critical part of the experience from early on by game developers.
London orchestras are the best
Allan Wilson, videogames conductor with the Philharmonia Orchestra - If you have the right budget, and a lot of games do, more than films, you come to London for your orchestras.
One leader per session
Nick Arundel, composer - One person needs to be in charge of a session and that person needs to have absolute authority.
Never repeat yourself
SA - Avoid repetition as much as possible with tempo, rhythm patterns and time signatures. If you start scoring your first game, use odd time signatures to keep it unbalanced.
Read our previous news items on the importance of videogame scores and the secret to an effective score.
