"Maestro, music!": How to get a job of a sound designer in the game room
The gaming industry for many years is considered the same art as cinema or music. At the same time on large-scale marketing campaigns, the amount of money invested in promo, and sales revenue, some publishers can even with the coolest movie bestsellers. For example, in just three days after the release of GTA V from the Rockstar Games studio, it earned $ 1 billion, whereas, for example, Avatar, the highest-grossing Hollywood blockbuster, collected a little less than three billion over the entire rental period.
A good game should have a thoughtful plot, nice graphics (avid gamers here can disagree and will be right), high optimization indicators. However, it consolidates the success of the digital product and extols it to the top of the sales chart as nothing more than musical accompaniment ( musicfrom undertale).
Most recently, we figured out how to create sound for cinema , and in this article we decided to touch on the theme of music in games and job search for a novice sound designer in the game industry. Photo of Vancouver Film School / CC
"Absolutely," says Will Morton, who has been writing music for the gaming industry for more than a dozen years. Experts like Will, in their own experience, prove the fact that working in the field of musical design is not only profitable, but also very interesting. The game market is constantly growing, and there are many more opportunities to write music. And it is not surprising that some companies offer a salary of $ 30 thousand per 30 minutes of the soundtrack.
However, it should be remembered that this is not the easiest career path. With the development of the industry, the requirements for sound designers are also increasing. According to Will, not everyone can become a sought-after professional, because customer requirements can be very different, for example, a person needs a specialist who will write mariachi music to play.
Requirements for sound designers and working conditions in different companies, of course, vary. Firstly, you can work as a freelancer: take on one project, execute it and get remuneration (thus, you can work with several projects or companies).
Secondly, there is the option of working in the office: standard working day from 9 am to 6 pm from Monday to Friday. However, it is necessary to undertake not only projects that you like, but also those that the employer gives. Of course, there is a compromise option - a temporary contract, when the designer works as part of a team at the company's headquarters, but only for a certain amount of time, such as a year.
Most often, companies are looking for a person to become an audio programmer or audio designer. The work of an audio programmer (audio programmer) is associated with the performance of several tasks: audio coding, working with DSP, creating utilities for audio designers (post audio tools programmer), etc. These functions can be performed by one person or the whole team.
At the same time, some audio programmers are engaged in introducing music into the game or solving issues of playback logic. Now many audio engines, such as FMOD and Wwise, simplify the execution of these tasks. It turns out that if you are applying for a position called an audio programmer or a sound programmer, then you should be ready to write code.
As for the audio designer (audio designer), he performs a large number of tasks: he creates sounds, records them, mixes, masters, edits dialogs, and he also introduces and tests sounds. And writing music for the game.
This is very often given to freelancers who like to sit in a cozy studio and create “cool sound sets” or search for new sounds. Moreover, large companies often hire a specialist to create a specific sound, for example, to work on the sounds of an explosion.
An office audio designer is a bit different. As a rule, in this case you will have to do several tasks at the same time. For example, Will, while working on GTA Vice City, edited and mixed dialogues and created some sound effects. Therefore, before agreeing to a job offer, it is better to read the requirements for the applicant and find out what will be included in the terms of reference.
As a rule, a diploma in this area does not solve anything. Upon admission to the company, the employer will look at the background (what projects did the applicant work on). It is desirable, of course, to “build up” communications in a professional environment, make friends and work with music designers, composers, look like courses for game developers, look at the work of film and television producers. All this will help to get a general idea of how work is being done on projects that require the skills of a sound designer.
The second important point is demo recording. “In the field of music design, the demo is a must,” says Will. “She should be ready in advance, even before you start looking for work.” It is necessary to be ready to send a test recording at any time, and the applicant for the post of sound designer without a demo-recording looks unprofessional.
Moreover, a pair of tracks of his own composition in a separate folder is not a portfolio yet. It is nice to call all the files: it is best to use your name in the title (not track_01.mp3), and write all the data in the file labels. If it is convenient for the employer to view and listen to the portfolio, then the chances of the applicant increase.
“When we were looking for our own sound designer, we received dozens of letters a day,” notesCorey Warning from Jumpdrive Studios. - A good half of them sent links to an incomprehensible folder in the cloud, in which it was almost impossible to find anything. Such applications were immediately put aside. ”
At the same time, it should be approximately understood what type of employee the company needs. That is, if the developers are going to release the game in the FPS genre, then it is unlikely that they will benefit from a person who writes country music. However, this does not mean that you do not need to send a demo to this company. Suddenly they decide to make a FPS about the Wild West? It is best to invest in the portfolio a variety of examples of their work, and focus on those that are relevant to the hiring studio.
In conclusion, I would like to cite the words of Jan Stoker (Ian Stocker), an indie developer who worked for 8 years under a contract as a composer of music for games. He notes that ten specialists apply for one project, therefore the main task of any applicant is to attract attention.
“Be brief and offer the employer something that he cannot ignore, such as a remix of the soundtrack from the company's latest game,” says Yang. “Then you can try to sell yourself by talking about your skills.” After talking with you and viewing the portfolio, the employer should say: “Yes, this person can solve our problems.”
PS Our Audio Digest # 8 : Music Tips, Do It Yourself and Audio Technology Reviews.
A good game should have a thoughtful plot, nice graphics (avid gamers here can disagree and will be right), high optimization indicators. However, it consolidates the success of the digital product and extols it to the top of the sales chart as nothing more than musical accompaniment ( musicfrom undertale).
Most recently, we figured out how to create sound for cinema , and in this article we decided to touch on the theme of music in games and job search for a novice sound designer in the game industry. Photo of Vancouver Film School / CC
"Absolutely," says Will Morton, who has been writing music for the gaming industry for more than a dozen years. Experts like Will, in their own experience, prove the fact that working in the field of musical design is not only profitable, but also very interesting. The game market is constantly growing, and there are many more opportunities to write music. And it is not surprising that some companies offer a salary of $ 30 thousand per 30 minutes of the soundtrack.
However, it should be remembered that this is not the easiest career path. With the development of the industry, the requirements for sound designers are also increasing. According to Will, not everyone can become a sought-after professional, because customer requirements can be very different, for example, a person needs a specialist who will write mariachi music to play.
The work of the sound designer
Requirements for sound designers and working conditions in different companies, of course, vary. Firstly, you can work as a freelancer: take on one project, execute it and get remuneration (thus, you can work with several projects or companies).
Secondly, there is the option of working in the office: standard working day from 9 am to 6 pm from Monday to Friday. However, it is necessary to undertake not only projects that you like, but also those that the employer gives. Of course, there is a compromise option - a temporary contract, when the designer works as part of a team at the company's headquarters, but only for a certain amount of time, such as a year.
Most often, companies are looking for a person to become an audio programmer or audio designer. The work of an audio programmer (audio programmer) is associated with the performance of several tasks: audio coding, working with DSP, creating utilities for audio designers (post audio tools programmer), etc. These functions can be performed by one person or the whole team.
At the same time, some audio programmers are engaged in introducing music into the game or solving issues of playback logic. Now many audio engines, such as FMOD and Wwise, simplify the execution of these tasks. It turns out that if you are applying for a position called an audio programmer or a sound programmer, then you should be ready to write code.
As for the audio designer (audio designer), he performs a large number of tasks: he creates sounds, records them, mixes, masters, edits dialogs, and he also introduces and tests sounds. And writing music for the game.
This is very often given to freelancers who like to sit in a cozy studio and create “cool sound sets” or search for new sounds. Moreover, large companies often hire a specialist to create a specific sound, for example, to work on the sounds of an explosion.
An office audio designer is a bit different. As a rule, in this case you will have to do several tasks at the same time. For example, Will, while working on GTA Vice City, edited and mixed dialogues and created some sound effects. Therefore, before agreeing to a job offer, it is better to read the requirements for the applicant and find out what will be included in the terms of reference.
About qualifications
As a rule, a diploma in this area does not solve anything. Upon admission to the company, the employer will look at the background (what projects did the applicant work on). It is desirable, of course, to “build up” communications in a professional environment, make friends and work with music designers, composers, look like courses for game developers, look at the work of film and television producers. All this will help to get a general idea of how work is being done on projects that require the skills of a sound designer.
The second important point is demo recording. “In the field of music design, the demo is a must,” says Will. “She should be ready in advance, even before you start looking for work.” It is necessary to be ready to send a test recording at any time, and the applicant for the post of sound designer without a demo-recording looks unprofessional.
Moreover, a pair of tracks of his own composition in a separate folder is not a portfolio yet. It is nice to call all the files: it is best to use your name in the title (not track_01.mp3), and write all the data in the file labels. If it is convenient for the employer to view and listen to the portfolio, then the chances of the applicant increase.
“When we were looking for our own sound designer, we received dozens of letters a day,” notesCorey Warning from Jumpdrive Studios. - A good half of them sent links to an incomprehensible folder in the cloud, in which it was almost impossible to find anything. Such applications were immediately put aside. ”
At the same time, it should be approximately understood what type of employee the company needs. That is, if the developers are going to release the game in the FPS genre, then it is unlikely that they will benefit from a person who writes country music. However, this does not mean that you do not need to send a demo to this company. Suddenly they decide to make a FPS about the Wild West? It is best to invest in the portfolio a variety of examples of their work, and focus on those that are relevant to the hiring studio.
In conclusion, I would like to cite the words of Jan Stoker (Ian Stocker), an indie developer who worked for 8 years under a contract as a composer of music for games. He notes that ten specialists apply for one project, therefore the main task of any applicant is to attract attention.
“Be brief and offer the employer something that he cannot ignore, such as a remix of the soundtrack from the company's latest game,” says Yang. “Then you can try to sell yourself by talking about your skills.” After talking with you and viewing the portfolio, the employer should say: “Yes, this person can solve our problems.”
PS Our Audio Digest # 8 : Music Tips, Do It Yourself and Audio Technology Reviews.