• Mike Worth, Game Music, Inc.

Game Music’s Uniqueness• Evolved from Film Music.

o Epic, Emotional, drives the experience.• Uniquely different from Film Music.

o Adaptive rather than Linearo Promotes Gameplay Excitement, rather than Narrative

Cohesion.o Designed to support the Game Experience and

Immersion, rather than support the Story.o Is often Assembled in real time, rather than Constructed

before delivery.

What Game Music Is, Part 1• Game music is not Film Music!

o Great film music reacts to and supports the narrative story. Designed to follow and support dramatic beats.

What Game Music is, Part 2 • Game music enhances the emotion and fun of

game play.o It can be thematic and support the story…o But it’s primary goal is to enhance the game play

Game Music Vs. Film MusicMovie/TV/Linear Game/Adaptive

Came from a merge of 19th Century Romantic music and 20th Century jazz

Came from a merge of film music and synth and progressive rock

Designed to support linear narrative Designed to support the gameplay and game state

Easier to write, often looped Harder to write, often branched, conditional, and combinatorial

Does not react or adapt to changing game states

Is adaptive, responding in real time to the gamer’s play

Is often what uneducated game composers write

Is often what true game composers write, but requires implementation skills as well

Less expensive, and takes less time More expensive, and takes more time

Mapping Out Your Cues

• Like a movie has a timing sheet,o Game scores have a “Game State” matrix spreadsheet.o Example: list of cues

Outdoor exploration, outdoor battle, outdoor victory Indoor exploration, indoor battle indoor victory Player Game State, Injured, Triumphant, Powered Up Composer must be able to have the above pieces link and

flow to one another!

A Typical Adaptive Structure

Exploration State

Possible Enemy Discovered

COMBAT!

You are Winning!

You are Really Winning!

Victory!

You are Losing!You are About To Die!

Defeat/Reload

The Game Audio Team• Composer, Sound Designer

o Creates music and SFX assets.• Implementor / Integrator

o Gets music and sound effects into the game.• Editor

o Loops, tweaks, cuts and arranges music. • Programmer

o Most likely not a musician. o Works on the audio engine or middleware code directly, not

assets.• Music Supervisor - Like TV/film, seeks existing songs to license.• Audio Lead / Director

o Manages the staff, deals with budget, scheduling, interfaces with rest of team.

Who Hires the Game Composer?

• It depends:o Small, “indie” games (iPhone, Flash)

Lead Game Designer, Owner of Studio Probably one guy.

o Mid-level, “work-for-hire” titles (Nintendo DS, games for a large portal) Game Producer, Lead Game Designer, Audio Lead/Director

o Big-time, “Sky’s the Limit” title (Xbox 360, AAA title) Game Producer and Audio Director and Lead Game

Designer

Finding Work• Person-to-person

o Big Game Cities (LA, San Fran, Austin, Seattle, Boston, Atlanta)

o Conferences (GDC, E3 Expo)• Trade Associations

o IGDA (International Developer’s Association)o Game Audio Network Guild (GANG)

• Online forumso Gamasutra, Gamedev.net, GarageGames.com

• Good old fashioned Word-Of-Mouth!

Demo Reel• Know your Audience!

o All rules of Demo Reels applyo It’s not film music!o Know your game music history, reproduce ito Different platforms, different music needso Different genres, different music needso 8-12 tracks, each 90 seconds to 3 minuteso Montage Style: 3-5 minutes, showcase

• Zen Paradox of Game Music Demoso Demonstrate a versatility of styleso Demonstrate a defining voice through the variety

Getting Hired• Understand the other roles of a studio team

o Game Programmers, Game Designers, Producers• Learn the Audio Technology• Make the Client’s life Easy

o Good Communicationo Clear Milestones and Deliverableso Understand FTP and SVN

• Connect on more than just the job.o Find Common Ground.o Find people you want to work with.

The Art of Writing Game Music• Map out your cues

o Discuss game levels with your producer/audio directoro Reference other gameso Create an Audio Design Document!

• Play similar games to get ideaso Shamelessly lift concepts and strategies

• Decide on a sonic paletteo Orchestral, World, Electronica, Hybrid, etc.

• Decide the emotions you want to conveyo It’s not always adrenalized excitement!

Textbook Adaptive Music

The Craft of Writing Game Music

• Map out How Your Music “cells” flow between one anothero “Composing with Legos”

• Use your Audio Design Document• Reduce, re-use, recycle

o Audio requires memoryo Re-use sections of music, cut down loops, re-

combine

Textbook “Well-Crafted” Game Music

The “Tech” of Writing Game Music

• Audio Implementation:o “Middleware” app that allows game code variables to

trigger sound effects and music. Player Game State (Injured, Discovered) Level State (Boss Level, Discovery Zone) Narration Point (Key Item Discovered, Puzzle Solved) Real Time DSP to Morph Environmental Audio

Textbook “Well-Implemented” Game Music

Common Applications to Implement Your Audio

• FMODo www.fmod.como Industry Standard – ports to most common platforms:

Xbox 360, PS 3, PC, Wii…o Been around for ages

• Wwiseo http://www.audiokinetic.como New kid on the block – amazing GUI.

• Xacto Xbox Live XNA Audio Implementation App

Sooo nice and friendly (C# compiler) Only exports to XBLA format/XNA format

Wwise in Action

Things to Think About When Implementing Audio

• How much memory is the producer giving you?o Disk Space, RAM

• Preloaded or Streaming Sounds?• Mixing sounds on the fly, or premade textures?• Running effects on the fly (DSP), or pre-done

effects?• Number of simultaneous channels of audio?• Budget and Time Constraints?• Are you capturing the feel of the gameplay?• Are you supporting the game designer’s vision?

How to find out what to charge?

• Researcho Game Career Guide, G.A.N.G.

• Ask!o Discuss with the producer or audio lead

• Industry Rates, as of 2009o Ultra-low budget (Flash, XBIG): $0 - $200 per minute o Low-Budget, “indie”: 400-700$ per minute o Mid-budget: $700-$1200 per minuteo “AAA” Budget: $1500-$2500 per minute (high-end)

Back End and Royalties?• Game music is generally a BUYOUT deal• Bonus Structures:

o Every “X” Thousand Games Shipped = “Y” bonuso Port to new Platform = “Y” bonus

• Ancillary Rightso Ancillary usage (eg. soundtrack release), profits are split

with the studio.• “Performance Rights”?

o Ehhh, not really. Covered in the bonus structure and Ancillary structure.