The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, and Game Developers

332 Pages·2013·5.3 MB·English

by  Marks

T H E C O M P L E T E G U I D E
T O G A M E A U D I O
For Composers, Musicians,
Sound Designers, and Game Developers
Aaron Marks
CMP BOOKS
Lawrence, Kansas 66046
CMP Books
CMP Media LLC
1601 West 23rd Street, Suite 200
Lawrence, Kansas 66046
USA
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respective holders.
Copyright © 2001 by CMP Media LLC, except where noted otherwise. Published by CMP Books,
CMP Media LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publi-
cation may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or
retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher; with the exception that the
program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer system, but they may not be
reproduced for publication.
The programs in this book are presented for instructional value. The programs have been carefully
tested, but are not guaranteed for any particular purpose. The publisher does not offer any warran-
ties and does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information herein and
is not responsible for any errors or omissions. The publisher assumes no liability for damages result-
ing from the use of the information in this book or for any infringement of the intellectual property
rights of third parties that would result from the use of this information.
Editor: Michelle O’Neal
Layout Design & Production: Michelle O’Neal
Cover Art Design: Michael Striler
Cover Layout Design: Damien Castaneda
Distributed in the U.S. and Canada by:
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ISBN: 1-57820-083-0
“Aspiring sound designers and composers regularly ask me what it takes to break into this indus-
try. Now I can say read The Complete Guide to Game Audio!”
—Darryl S. Duncan, President & CEO, GameBeat, Inc.
“An exhaustive and indispensable resource for game audio from initial concept to cashing the
royalty checks.”
—Jennifer Olsen, Senior Editor, Game Developer magazine
“A fountainhead of valuable insight, this book thoroughly demystifies the art of game music and
sound like no other.”
—Jon Holland, game composer and sound designer
“Finally, a comprehensive guide for anyone interested in game audio!”
—Mark Temple, game producer and President, Enemy Technology
“Aaron is truly a game audio expert and a great teacher. This book will help anyone aspiring to
succeed in the biz.”
—Jack Buser, Computer and Game Initiative Engineer, Dolby Laboratories
“This impressive guide is a great resource for anyone just starting out in the business, as well as
professionals already working in the industry.”
—Keith Arem, game composer, sound designer and President, PCB Productions
“If you’re considering game audio creation as a profession, or just curious about how it’s done...
BUY THIS BOOK NOW!”
—Tommy Tallarico, game composer and President, Tommy Tallarico Studios
“Aaron Marks’ experience and insight into the inner workings of the game audio world make
this book an invaluable resource.”
—Greg O’Conner Read, founder and editor, Music4Games.net
“A ‘must have’ book for anyone considering a career in game audio.”
— Will Davis, game composer, sound designer, and President, Audio-Development Ltd.,
United Kingdom
“This will surely become the bible of any up and coming sound designer or composer wanting
to work on video games.”
—Joey Kuras, sound designer, Tommy Tallarico Studios
“Kudos to Marks for his candid look into the industry, and the processes behind technique and
creativity behind new digital media.”
—Tim Rideout, musician/composer, Canada
“Somebody gag this guy! He’s giving away all our secrets!”
—Chance Thomas, game composer and President, HUGEsound
Dedicated with love and affection to
my wife, Cynthia, and daughter, Kristina;
the two greatest girls in the world.
Without their generosity and understanding,
this book could not have been written.
T C
ABLE OF ONTENTS
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
The Industry Now. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvi
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
CHAPTER 1: An Introduction to Game Audio . . . 1
1.1 Insert Quarter Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 The Bleeps and Bloops of Yesteryear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Where Sound is Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Where Sound is Going . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 Chances of Finding Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.6 The Rewards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6.1 Fame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6.2 Fortune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.7 Let’s Go Get ‘em . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
CHAPTER 2: Essential Skill Sets and Tools . . . . 13
2.1 Important Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.1 Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.1.2 Business Sense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.1.3 Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.1.4 Music Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.1.5 Computer Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
vii
viii — TABLE OF CONTENTS
2.1.6 Sound Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.7 Voice-Overs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1.8 Industry Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.2 Tools of the Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.2.1 Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2.2 Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2.3 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2.4 Sequencers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2.5 Multi-track Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.2.6 Sound Editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.7 Mastering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.2.8 Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.2.9 Loop Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.2.10 Sound Modules/Keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2.11 Other Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.2.12 Remote Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.13 Sound Effects Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.14 Development Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3 Preparing your Studio for Surround Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.3.1 Equipment and Placement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.3.2 Studio Set-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3.3 Surround Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3.4 Dolby Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
CHAPTER 3: Getting Organized and Ready for
Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.1 Understanding the Business of Game Composing . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.1.1 Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.1.2 Reasonable Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
3.1.3 Flavor of the Month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
3.2 Composing vs. Sound Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.3 In-house Audio vs. Independent Contractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
3.3.1 In-house Composing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.3.2 Independent Contractors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.4 Audio Demo Reel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4.1 Putting Your Demo Together; The First Step . . . . . . . . . 57
3.4.2 Demo Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.4.3 How Long is Yours? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.4.4 Demo Chic — Types of Demos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.4.5 The Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.4.6 What Format is Best? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.4.7 Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.4.8 Follow-ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.4.9 Some Final Demo Reel Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
TABLE OF CONTENTS — ix
3.5 Determining Your Costs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.5.1 Types of Fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.5.2 Rate Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
3.6 Organization is Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
CHAPTER 4: Finding and Getting the Jobs . . . . 75
4.1 Marketing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.1.1 Tell Everyone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.1.2 Look Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.1.3 Industry Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.1.4 Basic Marketing Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.1.5 Other Resources for Marketing Success . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.2 Where to Look for Clients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.2.1 Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.2.2 Industry Magazines and Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
4.2.3 Telephone Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.2.4 Store Shelves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.2.5 Game Developer Headhunters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.2.6 Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4.3 Finding Your Niche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4.3.1 Stay Educated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.3.2 Start Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.3.3 Start Locally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.3.4 Getting the Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.4 Networking Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.4.1 Industry Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
4.4.2 Make Yourself Available. Make Yourself Known. . . . . . . 96
CHAPTER 5: The Bidding Process . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.1 How Much Do You Charge? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
5.2 Let’s Play 20 Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.2.1 Details, Details, Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.3 Asking the Right Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
5.4 Pre-Production Made Simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
5.5 Contract Payment Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
5.6 Speculative Demos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
5.6.1 Covering Your Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
5.6.2 Words of Caution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.7 The Bid Submission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5.7.1 The Bid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
5.8 There is Still More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
x — TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 6: Making the Deals . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.1 Understanding Industry Contracts and Terminology. . . . . . . . . . 118
6.1.1 Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
6.1.2 Work for Hire Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6.1.3 Copyrights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
6.1.4 Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
6.1.5 Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
6.1.6 SKUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
6.1.7 Ancillary Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
6.1.8 Bonuses and Royalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
6.1.9 Property Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6.1.10 Talent Releases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
6.2 Negotiable Contract Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
6.3 Navigating Negotiations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.3.1 A Real World Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.3.2 Negotiation Pointers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
6.4 Change Orders and Reworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6.5 Sample Agreements and Contracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6.5.1 Sample Non-Disclosure Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
6.5.2 Sample Talent Release . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
6.5.3 Sample Contracts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
6.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
CHAPTER 7: Setting the Stage . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7.1 Company Liaisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7.1.1 Executive Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
7.1.2 Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
7.1.3 Creative Directors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
7.2 Meetings with the Game Development Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
7.2.1 Details to Discuss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
7.3 Pre-compositional Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
7.3.1 Sound Quality vs. File Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
7.3.2 Setting Up Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
7.4 ‘Gotchas’ and Other Things to Watch Out For . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
7.4.1 Placeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
7.4.2 A Developer’s Listening Preference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
7.4.3 Endless Reworks and Change Orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
7.4.4 Communication Breakdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
7.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
TABLE OF CONTENTS — xi
CHAPTER 8: Creating Music for Games . . . . . 187
8.1 Game Music Varieties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
8.1.1 Intro, Closing, and Credit Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
8.1.2 Cinematic Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
8.1.3 Menu Screen Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
8.1.4 Game Play Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
8.1.5 Plot Advancement Music, Cut Scenes, and Tie-Ins . . . . . 190
8.1.6 “Win” and “Lose” Finale Cues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
8.1.7 Interactive Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
8.1.8 Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
8.1.9 Ambient Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
8.2 Exercises to Create Fitting Game Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
8.2.1 Watch and Listen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
8.2.2 Create in Different Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
8.2.3 Try Something New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
8.2.4 Practice Makes Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
8.3 Some Technical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.3.1 Which Platform Is the Game Being Developed For? . . . . 199
8.3.2 What is the Playback and Delivery Format? . . . . . . . . 199
8.3.3 Is a Preset Sound Bank Available? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8.3.4 What Memory Parameters Will You Have to Work Within? 201
8.3.5 Technical Wrap-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.4 Musical Details to Reconsider. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
8.5 Compositional Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
8.5.1 Determine Your Best Personal Methods . . . . . . . . . . . 206
8.5.2 Choosing the Best Palette of Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
8.5.3 Stay Within the Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
8.5.4 Immersion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
8.5.5 Compose While Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
8.5.6 Using Loops as a Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
8.5.7 Experimentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
8.6 Recording Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
8.6.1 Traditional Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
8.6.2 Progressive Recording Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
8.6.3 Other Music Making Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
8.6.4 Streamline to the Final Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
8.7 Editing Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
8.7.1 Audio Editing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
8.8 Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219