How do you put yourself out there in the game audio world?
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:01 am
Hello! I've introduced myself before but here I go again. My name is Cleveland and I go to Expression College in Emeryville, CA. It is a digital art school that does everything from motion graphics and visuals to sound arts. I'm in the sound arts program and I'm doing a research project on game audio.
This isn't a general research project, I'm trying to take it to another level, and I'm trying to get in depth on game audio. Our research project is supposed to get at a burning question in our field, and in our career. It is no longer acceptable to say "I want to put my music out there and be heard." Or "I'm going to get an interview with a company and get hired." Out of the thousands of interviewees and artists out there, how do you get heard? How do you STAND OUT?
So I'm saying this. Games are a HUGE part of the entertainment industry, is it not? Whether it is PC games (which is mainly what I am into), or the Xbox 360 or PS3... With the release of Halo 3 and upcoming titles like UnrealTournament3, of course you can say there is a demand for talented designers! In this case, if you know games, you know soundtracks, you know sounds. From the classics to modern games. But where does a game start?
I'm going to assume that a video game comes from a team of designers. Starting with concepts, ideas, visions. It does NOT stem from music. It may be inspired by music, which a lot of things are, but you can't really base a game off of music unless we are talking about DDR or Guitar Hero, but lets assume we're talking about a story based or at least action based game.
Where does the music come in? After the game is designed do people say, "oh, crap. someone hire a sound designer." Is it unimportant to the team where it becomes an afterthought? Or do they start right at the core of the concepts?
What I am getting at is the burning question for people who are interested in the game audio field. HOW do you get your music out there? A general rock song is different from an epic orchestral soundtrack. And while the consumer may love the soundtrack in game and while an average consumer may even appreciate a games sounds, they probably wouldn't listen to it outside of that. So how do you get heard? As an audio engineer or composer, how do you stand out among musicians and artists?
Remember, in todays digital age, it is no longer acceptable to say, "I'll put my music on myspace, add a bunch of companies that produce games and hope my music gets heard." Does getting a good career in game audio require you to go to conventions and make personal contacts and networks? Can it simply start from a team of talented programmers that you just happened to get together with? Can you draw a parallel between the game industry and the music industry where you can send in your "demo" to Epic Games and hope they pick it up and hire you for their next big game?
This is a question a lot of people want to know. I don't know the answer. It is NOT an easy question to answer. But I want to hear from YOU. What do YOU think people need to do? Have you tried doing this yourself? What have you seen or heard about game audio? How has "getting yourself out there" changed? Or how has the game industry changed the way people look for jobs?
I'd love to hear from anyone as it would greatly help me in my research project in which I will have to present what I've researched in the form of a 10 minute speech presentation. THANK YOU and I hope to hear from some people!
This isn't a general research project, I'm trying to take it to another level, and I'm trying to get in depth on game audio. Our research project is supposed to get at a burning question in our field, and in our career. It is no longer acceptable to say "I want to put my music out there and be heard." Or "I'm going to get an interview with a company and get hired." Out of the thousands of interviewees and artists out there, how do you get heard? How do you STAND OUT?
So I'm saying this. Games are a HUGE part of the entertainment industry, is it not? Whether it is PC games (which is mainly what I am into), or the Xbox 360 or PS3... With the release of Halo 3 and upcoming titles like UnrealTournament3, of course you can say there is a demand for talented designers! In this case, if you know games, you know soundtracks, you know sounds. From the classics to modern games. But where does a game start?
I'm going to assume that a video game comes from a team of designers. Starting with concepts, ideas, visions. It does NOT stem from music. It may be inspired by music, which a lot of things are, but you can't really base a game off of music unless we are talking about DDR or Guitar Hero, but lets assume we're talking about a story based or at least action based game.
Where does the music come in? After the game is designed do people say, "oh, crap. someone hire a sound designer." Is it unimportant to the team where it becomes an afterthought? Or do they start right at the core of the concepts?
What I am getting at is the burning question for people who are interested in the game audio field. HOW do you get your music out there? A general rock song is different from an epic orchestral soundtrack. And while the consumer may love the soundtrack in game and while an average consumer may even appreciate a games sounds, they probably wouldn't listen to it outside of that. So how do you get heard? As an audio engineer or composer, how do you stand out among musicians and artists?
Remember, in todays digital age, it is no longer acceptable to say, "I'll put my music on myspace, add a bunch of companies that produce games and hope my music gets heard." Does getting a good career in game audio require you to go to conventions and make personal contacts and networks? Can it simply start from a team of talented programmers that you just happened to get together with? Can you draw a parallel between the game industry and the music industry where you can send in your "demo" to Epic Games and hope they pick it up and hire you for their next big game?
This is a question a lot of people want to know. I don't know the answer. It is NOT an easy question to answer. But I want to hear from YOU. What do YOU think people need to do? Have you tried doing this yourself? What have you seen or heard about game audio? How has "getting yourself out there" changed? Or how has the game industry changed the way people look for jobs?
I'd love to hear from anyone as it would greatly help me in my research project in which I will have to present what I've researched in the form of a 10 minute speech presentation. THANK YOU and I hope to hear from some people!