How To Become A Video Game Music Composer
Meet Brian Schmidt, Video Game Music Composer
You’d be hard pressed to find a more accomplished composer in the history of the video game industry, than Brian Schmidt. Brian has been making game audio for nearly 30 years, and his credits include music, audio, and sound effects for well over a hundred shipped titles. He’s worked on top franchises like The Walking Dead, Madden NFL, BattleTech and more.
As if that didn’t keep him busy enough, he also runs a premier annual game music and sound design conference, GameSoundCon, and has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Game Audio Network Guild.
You can learn from this guy. We’re speaking with Brian today to find out how he got into games, what he does at his job, and which skills and talents it takes to succeed as a video game music composer.
What exactly do you do every day as a Video Game Music Composer?
It really depends on what stage I’m at in the project. On any given day I might be doing some of these activities:
- “Spotting” a game. Going through the game spec and determining what music should be where. A game composer needs to be a good game ‘spotter.’ That is, someone who can play a game in development or look at a game spec and figure out what music should be where.
- Playing the game. Game music isn’t like film music – the music has to be properly integrated into the game, and things can and do go wrong. Your music may be playing in the wrong place. Or it may conflict with sound effects more than you thought because they added a lot of enemies to a certain section.
- Composing. That includes not just composing, but also sequencing, orchestrating, and mixing. Of course you have to block out “composing” time: no email, ignore the phone. Forget about Facebook. Just a no-distractions block of time to write and orchestrate.
- Research. This is either playing other games, or looking at what new music tools and technologies are out there. Game audio is an ever-changing landscape.
- Integrating. This is the act of getting your music into the game itself. This can involve using sophisticated game audio tools to create highly interactive versions of your music for the programmer to place in the game, or it may include using the game’s own level editor or scripting language to do it yourself.
How did you originally get the job?
At my job interview, I was asked if I wanted to play an unreleased game (in this case a pinball machine). Since I’d loved playing pinball my whole life, I jumped at the chance. I later found out that the fact I was a really good player was part of the reason I got the job.
People who make games want to work with people who love games. I love games, I love music, I love music technology. It’s pretty simple.
What’s your favorite part? What’s your least favorite?
There are a lot of great parts! Being able to wake up and be excited to get to work and start composing. Seeing something you’ve worked on on the store shelves. The community in game audio is also great, I’ve made lifelong friends.
It’s the nature of music for hire. You definitely need a thick skin.
My least favorite is probably the nature of “music for hire.” You are writing music to please someone else, and sometimes you’ll really love a cue you wrote only to be told, “Eh… not really the direction we were thinking. Can you try something different?” You definitely need a thick skin.
What aspects of game music composition would people find surprising?
Game music and sound are incredibly technical. It is much more complicated than music for more traditional media like film or TV. That’s because you’re taking an inherently linear medium (music) and trying to map it onto an inherently non-linear medium (games).
Over the years, a number of tools and techniques have evolved; it’s not nearly as simple as just composing a few good cues and putting them on Dropbox for the game developer to pick up.
What talents and personality are needed to succeed as a game music composer?
You need to be curious. Curious about games. Curious about the latest tools and tech. Curious about music and orchestration and what else is out there.
And since a lot of game music work is freelance, you can’t be an introvert. Networking is incredibly important. This is all presuming you’ve got great composition, orchestrating, mixing and production skills, of course.
What advice would you give to students thinking about game music composition as a career?
Remember that a career is a long journey. Don’t get discouraged if you aren’t asked to score the next Halo right out of school. Make sure you have your compositional and production skills down cold, and then find something to differentiate yourself from others.
Don’t get discouraged if you aren’t asked to score the next Halo right out of school.
Getting technical can help. If all you can do is create a cue and put it onto an FTP site, you’ll be incredibly replaceable. If, however, you can compose interactively, integrate, help define the audio spec and maybe even do some scripting, you will immediately stand out.
What would you recommend for education to start down the composer career path?
Conferences are a great way to learn and to network with other audio people. Game Developer Conference (GDC), GameSoundCon, and Audio Engineering Society (AES) conferences are all excellent events.
There are a number of great books on game audio as well as online courses such as those at SoundLibrarian.
Brian’s List: Best Video Game Audio Books
The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, Game Developers
by Aaron Marks
Turn your musical passion into a profitable career with this exhaustive, indispensable resource for game audio.
A Composer’s Guide to Game Music
by Winifred Phillips
A comprehensive, practical guide that leads an aspiring video game composer from acquiring the necessary creative skills to understanding the function of music in games to finding work in the field.
Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design
by Karen Collins
This book introduces readers to the many complex aspects of game audio, from its development in early games to theoretical discussions of immersion and realism.
Writing Interactive Music for Video Games: A Composer’s Guide
by Michael Sweet
This guide covers everything professional composers and music students need to know about composing interactive music for video games, and contains exclusive tools for interactive scoring.
You can reach Brian via his GamesSoundCon website. If this article was helpful, please spread the love by clicking a share button below.
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Hello, I would like to know what schools, and people I should ve connected with. I am currently an airman in the navy but when I get out I would like to fulfill my dream of becoming a sound producer for a video game company.
I don’t know of any schools that are specific for video game audio, I think any audio school should teach you the skills you need to eventually work in video games. Since most game audio people are freelancers, it’s important that you start building your professional network – for example, start linking with people on LinkedIn and attending game audio conventions when you can.
dBs Music University has a course especially for music for games
Hi Edwina, thanks for stopping by to let us know about dBs music programs (https://www.dbsmusic.co.uk/bristol). Let me know if you’d ever like to do an interview so my readers can learn more.
There are a couple different paths to take there..
The last few years have seen various colleges and universities beginning to offer “game scoring” programs.
Berklee School of music offers a program in game scoring
DigiPen Institute of Technology offers a 4-year “Bachelors of Arts in Music and Sound Design” for video games.
And there are shorter programs as well (Vancouver Film School, Full Sail, etc).
As Jason points out, you can also go the more traditional route; — i.e. USC has an excellent film scoring program, and they do touch a bit on games. While general audio knowledge is necessary, though, there are definitely additional skills that game companies look for (above and beyond just composing or sound design skills) when hiring.
There are also a couple of organizations you might want to look at:
Game Audio Network Guild (www.audiogang.org) is the largest organization of professional (and aspiring) game composers and sound designers
IGDA (International Game Development Association..www.igda.org) is a great organization as well.
And DEFINITELY, follow Jason’s advice on connecting with people. Linked in, Facebook and in-person events like GDC, GameSoundCon, etc. It’s at these ‘in person’ events that most people find a way to find a crack into the industry.
Awesome advice as always, Brian. Thank you!
Jasons “contavt me” form doesnt work so I cant reach him. If he or you get this message, please aleret him to the glitch in his “contavt me” form. Thank you
Hi Boon, thank you so much for the heads up – I’ve fixed the form!
Great advice, thank you so much for sharing! I am working on getting a foot in the door for this area.
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I have recently been introduced to an amazing band who I feel would transfer very well to video game composing. Their name is “In The Presence of Wolves”. How could I introduce the industry to them? Thank you!
Hi Helen, I hadn’t heard of In The Presence of Wolves, but I’m listening to them right now, they’re really good! Music composers don’t often work with rock bands, so I don’t know of a way to introduce these guys to the game industry. But if they’re interested in doing games, and if they get famous enough, I think they would be able to get a gig. Thank you for sharing!
I’ve read a lot of articles looking for advice on how to get into game music and I can say that your information seems to come from actual work experience. It feels a lot more relatable and real than most other articles. Thank you for the opinions!
Thank you for the kind words, Stef. I’m glad this was helpful!
After many, many years of composing and becoming locally known as a great composer and excellent musician in my small hometown. I decided to go back to school with an unsusual approach of learning the graphics and coding side to hopefully become a bigger asset to companies, rather than only Music. It didnt seem like the affordable schools’ music department had any connections to substantial work in or out of the industry either. Sadly, all of the endless amount of Music I have created seems to fall on deaf ears as many dont want to take the time to listen to someone who doesnt have a huge audience base or connections. Those who have listened love it and enjoy the unique experience. But Nowadays, popularity seems to to speak far louder than skill/talent. Wish I would of spent my time forging relationships/connections instead of countless hours and years spending practicing, performing, recording, and composing.
Still looking for those right pair of ears to hear my unique voice and voracious work ethic. Maybe someone here has some advice for a person who doesnt know alot of people but can contribute immensely to the game industry??
Hi Aaron, it’s never too late to start making connections. Be active on message boards, attend conferences if possible, and work with indies in your community to grow your portfolio of shipped games. For more advice from pro music/audio people, check out the articles with the game audio tag.
Hello,
I have been making music since I was 12 (now 30) and I have always been told that my music sounds like it should be used in a video game or a movie. I own a DJ company and also compose music. I would be interested in submitting musical compositions to companies interested in finding new and unique music for their gaming tiles. I have no idea where to start. If you have a second, maybe check out my unique style of music and any advise you have would be appreciated. You may find several compositions on Sound Cloud under DJ Ear-Addict (also on my website). Thank you!
Hi Joshua, I’d recommend trying all of these ideas: 1) contact stock music companies to see if they’d relicense your music; 2) contact indie game developers to offer inexpensive scoring to get some game titles onto your resume; 3) make some music collection packages suitable for games, and sell them on digital stores such as Unity’s Asset Store and the UE4 Marketplace; 4) do some networking with other composers and audio engineers, to help identify potential upcoming opportunities. I wish you luck!
Hey guys…..I’m still a kid but I love composing music and look forward to become a music composer and work with big gaming companies and would like to know what I should do to excel in this field so as to achieve my dream.Thank you!
Hi Parth, the best way to learn how to compose music is to start doing it! If you have a computer, then you can start practicing now. Search the web for “free music editors” and you’ll find some that work for your computer.
Hi Jason,
My son who is 23 and just graduated from Mechanical Engineering with a 3.92 GPA has confided in his best friend that he would love to get into composing music for video games.
His best friend told me (off the record)that he’s passionate about music and feels guilty about not having the passion to peruse a career in engineering.
Briefly, my son studied classical piano from age of 5 -18. Then continued playing as a hobby.
Any advise? Should he take the chance and go the video game route? I
He has no idea I’m reaching out for advise.
Thanks,
Maria
Hi Maria! To be completely frank, game music composing is a hard job to get, so I wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending your son to pick that career exclusively unless he already has connections in the game industry. There’s a middle ground you two could also consider: Get a stable job as a mechanical engineer (he clearly has some talent there with a 3.92 GPA), and do game music as a hobby until he can grow it into a new career over time.
I work with information technology, and in my spare time I like to compose songs and I have always liked games, I have the desire to contribute composing songs for games, as a child, I began to pay more attention when listening to Turok 2 soundtrack while playing with my Nintendo 64 , I started my band Project Jotun in 2010, I loved Xenoblade Chronicles soundtrack, and this gave me reason to research how I could work with this, this is a example of my work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAS35b3rxzg&list=PLgrgfJLYXz-2lFHobx1NqGJOnpErB_wx0
Hi Leonardo, I like your music! It reminds me a bit of my favorite metal bands such as In Flames. I’ve always wondered if one of the reasons I like metal is from growing up to NES soundtracks by composers who were influenced by hard rock. Keep it up!
Hi there.
I have not idea about music, but video games music composer is something I’m really interested in.
Is it too hard to become one of them without any previous music skills? Is it worthy?
Jorge
Hi Jorge, you’ll definitely need to learn how to compose music in order to become a video game music composer. You could start by learning an instrument, or by watching free how-to videos and experimenting with free music software such as Garage Band. If you find that you enjoy composing music, then it might be a good career for you to consider.
Hi Jason, great write-up and it’s really nice that you take the time to interact with the readers. I’m a pianist by trade, and have a B.Mus and M.Mus in piano performance from the Sydney Con and Royal College of Music in London respectively. I’m looking at a bit of a career shift after 10 years of teaching/accompanying/performing mostly freelance and would love to get into video game composing as both games and music are a passion of mine. I have a good foundation in music theory and composition, but the problem is, I know literally nothing of the tech side of music, which seems like a pretty big hurdle. Any advice on where to start and how to proceed? Thanks a lot, Evan
Hi Evan! The good news is, you’ve already learned the hard stuff (music theory, composition, performance, etc.). Learning the software tools might seem daunting at first, but there are plenty of tutorials for any given software package, and anyone can learn. I’d recommend you start by reaching out to a few professional game music composers (search Google and LinkedIn) for a phone call or coffee — tell them you’re thinking about a career change and would like some advice. They’ll be happy to point you in the right direction and make additional introductions. Also consider attending industry conventions like GameSoundCon (mentioned in the post) if you’re able to do so, you’ll meet a lot of great people and start learning the ropes. I wish you the best with your career change!
Hi, i am thinking about a career as a video game music composer but I am an electronic music producer producing mainly trance but also like house and techno. It seems that video games these days have a lot of orchestral music. Is it possible to have a career composing video game music by making just electronic music? Or do you recommend i learn how to make other styles as well? If so what styles would i need to learn?
Hi Adam! In general, it’s almost always better to be more versatile, because the more styles you can compose, the more jobs that will be open to you. Don’t let that stop you from trying to find work right now — but I do recommend stretching your creative muscles by doing some demo tracks in other styles/genres. Maybe take a look at the top 50 games and see what styles they use, and try your hand at some of those. Have fun!
Thank you for the info!!! (;
My pleasure, I hope it was helpful!
Hey my names Vinny and I’m a self taught composer on keyboards! A lot of people always told me my music sounds like it could be in movies or video games. Now I’m a big fan of movies but also a bigger fan in video games. Now although I’m a cop in NYC, music is my passion. I have four solo albums on SoundCloud if you’d want to check them out! But recently I’ve been interested in becoming a video game composer so I just want to know what the next step would be! Thank you!
Hi Vinny, I’m listening to your Soundcloud right now, good stuff! 🙂 Game music composition is a tough gig to get full time. I’d recommend you start by reaching out to hobbyist and indie game devs to contribute to their projects. That will get you some experience doing actual game music, build your portfolio, and grow your skill set with game engines and game audio tech. Then take it from there!
Hey Jason,
I’m a third year music production student based in the UK. Like most people here I’m very interested in game audio and of course, would love to one day reach the title of video game composer. I don’t have a lot of knowledge of music theory and I don’t play any instruments at a professional level, which I feel would be quite the setback in the music industry.
I know you’ve stated above already, but as someone who produces solely through VI’s is there any hope to find my way into the industry without having a further understanding of music theory and performance?
I’ve also added my SoundCloud if you’d take the time to listen and give some honest feedback. Thank you very much!
Hi Dominic, I’m listening to your SoundCloud right now — I’m not a professional composer so my opinion might not count for much, but I like the tracks I’ve heard so far!
I don’t think a lack of music theory and live performance skills would be a deal-breaker in the game industry. It’s more important that you have a strong portfolio, can work in a variety of styles, and that you can work quickly. You may become a more diverse composer if you learn more music theory, but that can come with time. For now, work on 1) building your portfolio, and 2) making personal connections in the game music industry. Those two efforts will give your career a good start!
Hi Jason I’m 64 retired and disabled. I have a degree in music therapy from Loyola in New Orleans. I’ve been a professional musician in New Orleans for the last 40 years. I am interested and getting into video game music business. Do you have any suggestions for me? Thank you. Malcolm Lanius
Hi Malcolm, actually this article is some of the best advice I’ve seen on how to get into the game music business, so be sure to read it and consider Mr. Schmidt’s advice. In addition, you’ll want to start building your online portfolio to showcase your talents to potential employers.
Brian Schmidt here.
Since this article appeared, one thing that has happened is a number of schools have started offering courses and even degree programs in video game music (or sound design).
I hope you find it a useful resource!
https://www.gamesoundcon.com/post/video-game-music-and-sound-design-schools
Awesome, thanks for the link, Brian. It’s good to hear from you!