Starting your career as a Composer-Sound Designer FAQ

Hey guys,

Here are some FAQs and my answers. I hope those interested in working in audio and media find this post helpful. I'll try to post more questions and answers as I get more time. Of course, I'll be more than happy to answer any questions posted in response to this thread. For those that don't know me: I'm Nathan.... and an alcoholic. :) Seriously, I'm a professional composer-sound designer who has worked in this industry for nearly 3 years now. My credits number 138 and include work on films, commercials, DVD menus, trailers (seen online, on TV and in theaters), stage productions (mostly choral based), Nintendo DS-Sony PSP-PC video games as well as websites. I've directed voice actors, produce voice overs and done some voice acting myself as well. I'm living proof that you can make the transition from amateur composer to free lancer and then finally full time professional. One the side I'm a published author, lecturer, moderator (another website) and have taught college audio courses. I also love to encourage, teach and help others chasing the same dream!

So here goes:

Are there any industry certifications, and if so, does any online training exist for one to go to learn how to write in this industry?

No, there isn't any required, official certification to work with audio. Sure, there are audio programs (2 and 4 years) but they're not required. Can it help you get your foot in the door? Sure! But I know plenty of other pros that don't have certificates or degrees from these kinds of schools or programs. I have a bachelors in music education with a minor in comp, then a masters in saxophone performance with an emphasis on composition. The main criteria is how good your audio work is.

What was your VERY FIRST step in getting into the business? Demo CD? Meeting someone? Buying equipment? What was the very first thing you did?

Well this is tricky because I took my first steps before I realized what I wanted to do. I got the equipment first, which is a logical step. Without the hardware and software- you can't really create digital audio. I started in college and just made stupid songs for my roommates (like "I've got to take a crap" and such). You know, real high brow stuff. It was just fun at first- but then I started getting better and better at it. My focus changed from just having fun and making songs to what is the best audio I can create. You must have the equipment first- but it doesn't have to be super high end. I had middle level stuff. For most, the high end stuff will just be too expensive at the start. Save that for later when you've built up some clients and funds. From there I would create a demo and put it online then begin to network. In this business you have to be able to show off actual work. Talk is extremely cheap and the experience vets can spot a big talker from a mile away. Let your work do the talking.

I know you can score for film and tv, songwriter, and self-produce your own albums. What else is out there? What am I missing?

Websites, corporate functions and media. Also stage productions (I've done two of them and they're pretty fun.) Podcasts and radio is also a possibility.

I have a degree in music composition. I've taken theory and I've written some concert works. Do I need to go back to school for more education or am I on the right track at all for a career in video games and films?

Having a degree in music will never hurt you! Trust me, it becomes highly apparent who has training and who doesn't when working with other composers. What I've seen is those that are better trained tend to work faster. It tends to take longer for those with less training to create a pro level sounding song. Is it possible? Sure! Is this true for everyone? Of course not. I've also met some highly talented (and rare) composers that have practically no training- just a severe level of talent. I kill them on sight. :) Only kidding! If you can write good music, then you don't need to go back to school. In fact even if you feel you're music should get better- I wouldn't go back for more musical training. You can improve yourself outside of school if your foundation is good enough. I would focus on learning about audio, mastering audio, working with virtual instruments, sound design and all of the ins and outs related to all of this. Depending on your aptitude, you can either do this on your own or back at school. I did it on my own- but started back in 2000 during college.

Are there actual contracts I could eventually expect with, say, a record label or production studio to be a professional songwriter or queue composer?

I know the record industry has composers on hand to write music- but I would imagine these are far and few. The competition to land something like this would be very, very high and I would imagine there is a large number of other composers already in line. Not to be discouraging, but the odds are hard for that kind of position. I would imagine the ones that land those kinds of positions already work as studio musicians on many professional CDs and begin to get to know the artists, producers and record execs. Something like that will take time.

Basically, if there's a good book I could buy that's worth a good read or a good place to go to fill in all the holes (think of my knowledge as like, SWISS CHEESE), that would be perfect. I've learned pieces of information over the years, but I've just never gotten a great overall picture of what's out there. I was too busy fighting the good fight in academia just to learn what I don't need to know so I can get down to learning what I DO need to know.

Yes, there are several books.

1) Aaron Marks: The Complete Guide to Game Audio

This book is a VERY good read and will teach you a great deal about the business side of game audio. (Rest assured many of the lessons and topics can carry over to film work as well as other contract work.) What this book will not teach you is a step by step method of working with a particular sound program. This makes sense because there are simply so many out there- it would make the book 10 times longer.

2) George "The Fatman" Sanger: The Fatman on Game Audio

This book is more fun than straight informative- but it still provides a good deal of insight into the industry and some of it's history. The Fatman provides some great advice on how to structure your studio and how to organize all of your files.

3) Bob Katz: Mastering Audio

This is a FANTASTIC book that will go very in-depth about audio. It will teach you about the CD production process (the Mother and Father discs, the clean room) as well as almost anything you could ever want to know about the nuts and bolts of audio production. It isn't the easiest read- simply because he uses a great deal of industry lingo without explaining some of it first. I'd often sit by the computer and google terms so I can fully understand what he meant.

Aside from books, getting your hands (and ears) dirty with the tools and practice of creating digital audio media is probably the most important step to growing and maturing into a professional composer-sound designer. I know that it is expensive, but I'd also recommend learning several programs instead of just one. The programs I use in my home and at work routinely are:

ProTools 7

Sonar Producer 7

Sound Forge 8 Pro

Digital Performer 5

Logic 8 Pro

Cool Edit Pro 2

Reason 4

Finale 2006

Various VSTi plugins

Various Audio Signal Processing plugins

Proficient on both Mac (OSX Leopard) and PC (Win XP) set ups

Knowing one or even two programs can limit how marketable you are to clients (especially those with in-house set ups).

Do I need to know much about sound design or just music composition?

Many composers get "pushed" into doing sound design if trying to work full time in the digital audio scene. Why? Because it adds another niche and slew of paying clients. I started with composing, but then eased into sound design work. When I took my first full time gig (at FUNimation Productions) I was exposed to a whole other level of sound design. It was there that I learned how deep it goes. We all can respect and understand how deep composition can go- well sound design goes just as deep. Many folks seem to short change sound design thinking it is just a matter of "inserting a gun shot here." That isn't sound design. Wait. Let me rephrase that: it's crappy sound design. Professional level sound design can involve a much deeper approach and really get into the nuts and bolts of audio physics and processing. It can also be a great deal of fun!

The best way to learn about sound design is to:

1) Read up on it with various books and articles.

2) Train your ear to be able to pick out what individual sounds were made to create a new sound effect. We train our ears to learn harmonic progressions, solfege and melodic dictation in music schools. Why not apply the same practices to sounds?

3) Try to make a sound out of other sounds completely unrelated to it. For example: make a car crash sound using no metal or smashing sounds at all. See how you can use various plugins and processing to create a synthetic sound that will sound like a car crash.

Sound design is an art that takes just as much attention, practice and focus as music composition does.

I hope that helps!

Thanks,

Nathan

Here is another question. Some of this may overlap with my previous answers, but I thought some of this might be helpful.

How did you get started when you were at the same stage as me? I'm finding it pretty hard at the mo. No freeware people will pay me for work and I can't find commercial people who are interested. And with the freeware stuff I find it hard to tell between the projects that are just for fun and the serious ones that will actually go somewhere!

Back in 2005 I was an elementary school music teacher. That was it. I had no contacts or ins with the video game industry. I also had no experience making games. What I did have was a severe passion for games and music. I had been creating music on the computer since 2000. I had been a part of performing groups (like choir, playing violin, recorder, band, jazz band and rock groups) since I was in first grade. When I first started out I read some books by composer-sound designers that I admired. This game me a good understanding of the process, the business side and where I could start finding clients. I started this search on gamedev.net (which was one of the sites listed in these books). After a while I extended my search to other websites and communities. Put yourself out there as much as possible!

At first I didn't land too many paying games. I was extremely lucky and did land a Nintendo DS project for my 3rd project and that was paying. I basically took on as much work as I could and did some PR and exposure-related stuff every day. Literally. I've been very lucky to get all of the clients I got. With my demo reel, I was able to impress paying clients and took on many projects that I found speckled all over the web.

My biggest break came when I was hired on at FUNimation Productions. I was a full time composer-sound designer for their trailer and promo dept. I was able to work on many A-list shows like Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Full Metal Alchemist and many others. I also learned a great deal about sound design and how to work on high-end equipment there. This also upped my industry standing and attracted even higher profile clients.

My second big break came with NetDevil hired me as their lead audio composer-sound designer. Now I'm working on Lego Universe, Jumpgate Evolution and other triple A titles.

It can be very, very hard to find work (especially paying work) when just started out. My best advice to you is to continue pushing forward. There were times I felt I'd never make it to a full time gig. However, the more projects I took on and the more pros that I networked with, the easier it became. Another great thing is if you can find a job that gives you a steady income while chasing this dream job on the side. Teaching did that for me (especially during the summers). While I didn't love teaching that much, it gave me the flexibility to continue to freelance and eventually make it into the full time work.

Now to your question about how do you know if a game is going to be going somewhere or not. This can be hard to tell. Here are some things I pay attention to:

*Team structure: How organized are they? What role(s) do the management play?

*Prior experience: Do they have a proven record? Have they completed any games before? What kind(s) of education do they have?

*Any funding: Having secured funding can always help, but I've also run into teams that mismanaged money very badly. Ask to see a business plan, if they have one drafted up.

*Pictures or Concepts: If they have a decent amount of great looking concepts and pictures, this is always very encouraging. If they have noting to show you, then at look over their design doc. If they don't have that either.... then they're probably not ready to recruit freelancers.

*Contracts: If a team is structured enough to have set up contracts and NDA forms, then this shows a level of seriousness and planning.

Even the most structured teams that have all of these assets can fall apart. Heck, it even happens to studios with 10 published games and large budgets. This is an important lesson for everyone to learn. This business is very up and down. A studio that is top dog for years can fall flat on it's face, then be back on top several years later. Try your best to get to know the people behind the team. Some folks are really big talkers, so if you can learn to spot these folks then it can save you some trouble. Some folks get way to excited and exaggerate how things are progressing. Early on I learned to not get excited about something until I had a signed contract in my hand and a check (that didn't bounce from a client.)

Thanks,

Nathan

This is wonderful information, Nathan. Very helpful and very applicable for many of us here - thanks a bunch for sharing and keep posting if you've got more of this kind of insight. :)

Wonderful information for a wannabe media composer/sound engineer/voice actor like me.

Thanks Nathan!

Hey Nigel, glad to hear you enjoyed this! I hope it is helpful to you!

Marius- thanks for the support! :)

Here is another section on relationships with your director and/or crew. Many times young(er) composers have a hard time when getting negative or constructive feedback from crew members. Consider this:

taken from my response on The Dark Knight thread

I've heard from several composers on here that they hate writing for film (or any other kind of media) and will never do it. That is fine. It really isn't for anyone. While writing a full work on your own is no small feat and should demand respect (if it is any good ) there is something to be said about the composers that can work with a team and meet a collaborative goal. I have to do this daily and it takes a certain personality to be able to pull it off and be successful. Maybe I'm judging too strongly- but I feel some composers turn away from this career because they never want to have someone else control their art. They don't want to have to consider other people's opinions, agendas and goals. That is understandable, because it does make the job much harder. However, I applaud those composers that can solve this puzzle, working with teams and know how to take constructive feedback (from a director or project lead or other) and then make it work musically. Many younger composers I've met couldn't do this. They don't have the heart, mind or patience to do so. They can learn it however!

I learned early on to not take it personally. I've written plenty of music that worked perfectly on the first attempt and I've also written music that missed the mark. As long as the criticism is done in a professional manner then there is no reason for you to react in anger. I've seen some young composers do this. Big mistake. They're not criticizing you. They're criticizing the work. My director (or boss or crew member) informed me of how and why they felt it missed the mark and then I made revisions. Note: I don't simply take one person's opinion and then start redrafting. I test it on a wide range of folks involved in the project. If the majority feel I missed the mark- I go back and try again.

I'm getting a little long winded but my point is: these composers that work in films and video games have a goal to meet. If the music doesn't meet that goal- the project doesn't use it. Likewise, it takes a very talented and smart person to be able to work with crew members that often times SUCK at talking about music. They don't know the terms or the specifics but they can hear when the music doesn't fit the vision as well as it could. So to those composers that do not want this type of career, give some respect. I think some composers shy away from this challenge and also don't have the ability to take criticism from someone about their work- especially if it is a non-musician. However, these many of these people have valuable things to say many times and finally it is mostly non-musicians that buy symphony tickets and support some composers while leaving others to out to dry.

Finally a good director will trust his composer and a good composer will trust the director. John Williams had to convince Spielberg that the Jaws theme would work. As the story goes, Spielberg felt it was too simple but once it was in the film- it was magic! Strive for a relationship where the director can give you feedback but will also respect your specialty: music. Likewise, don't be so egotistic to think that everything you craft is God's gift to ears. Be understanding that you may miss the mark at times and focus and fixing it. If you can do this- oh yeah and write great music- then you can have a bright future as a composer for video games and films.

Temporarily removed for reasons I'll explain in a bit. Trust me on this. :)

Temporarily removed for reasons I'll explain in a bit. Trust me on this. :)

Here's a good follow up question:

I checked your demoreel. Generally, it is around -6db, and its sound quality and loudness dont decrease at stereo system. Did you use hardware to get the sound for that or other processing methods? Recently, I have this problem... even though my songs mixes are good, mastering is a hassle.

Hey,

I worked on each song at different times, then when I wanted to create a new, updated demo reel I put all of the songs in one session. Then I checked the balance from tune to tune making sure nothing was too drastically different volume-wise. Then I selected the segments I wanted to feature, cued up the cross fades and presto!

Mixing can be tricky but I don't rely too much on plug-ins for that. I find too many folks simply use various plug-ins (or presets of plug-ins) instead of using the most important tool: your ears. I just listen on a variety of speaker set ups and really try to make the sound as clear as possible.

Thanks!

Nathan

I would like to ask during what conditions the game industry guys are listening to the reels? Are they sitting by the computer with small nasty speakers, or in a conference room with a nice speaker system?

This is a great question!

Unfortunately the listener usually has way too much power over what the audio set up is like. So you can never really ensure a perfect listening session 100% of the time. Even with nice speakers and a quiet room, some folks may choose to have the sub turned to 11 which would effectively change the overall mix and delivery of your audio.

Some of this you have to just accept since almost every stereo system available today has some kind of EQ interface set up. Some of this you can prepare for. When I'm creating new audio I listen to it on a variety of set ups. The initial set up I use is my studio one. This is the highest quality in a nice, quiet room. I have the EQ set to normal and speakers set up correctly. Here's where the creation happens and this is where you need to have the highest quality speakers and equipment you can afford. From there I test the audio on:

*my iPod

*my laptop

*my car

*other stereo systems

*other computers

Testing on other computers is especially vital if you're making video game content. The trick to all of this is two fold:

1) Realize that each set up is going to change your sound somewhat. Nearly nothing sounds as pristine and good on laptop speakers vs. studio monitors. They just don't. Laptop speakers are generally too narrow in output and quality.

2) Instead of trying to make the audio sound perfect on each and every device you test, try to reach a good average. Understand how each system is going to limit certain things about your audio output, and focus on what is maintained. Try to make your audio sound decent to good on crappy set ups and very good on high quality set ups.

After testing on a bunch of set ups, make any changes that are needed and then put it out there.

As far as how folks are listening in the game industry: it varies greatly. When I was back at FUNimation, we were listening on mid-range speakers attached to a computer. They were decent speakers and got the job done. If it was specifically an audio based demo, we'd sometimes go into my office and use my equipment to listen. Sometimes not. In my current job, I listen to all audio-based portfolios in my studio. From there, I select the ones that I feel make the cut and then pass them off to my management for further review. From there some use headphones, others use conference rooms set ups. It just varies person to person and day to day.

Finally, I believe that good musical writing or good sound design creation will come out even on bad speaker set ups. Is the sound somewhat inhibited? Sure. But if you have a great demo reel that has variety and solid content- that will show through. Another thing to consider: if someone has their stereo set up all messed up, then they're hearing ALL of their audio output that way. Maybe they prefer nothing but bass. Maybe they like hearing only the highs and none of the mids or lows. :) Rest assured, none of the audio folks I've known or work with are like this. Now other depts (like HR, art or programming) are another story sometimes!

I hope that helps!

Nathan

Hi Nate,

I've been meaning to ask you (and I could've done this privately but I figure others might find your expertise here useful): do you have any experience mixing in 5.1 surround?

The reason I ask is because I've recently been experimenting with some 5.1 mixing and mastering to make sure that I have at least a working understanding of how to do it in case it ever comes up as an asset for a project (unlikely for now, but you never know — I like to be prepared).

More specifically, how does one set up the sound field for an orchestra ensemble, for example? Do you maintain the audience's general perspective as being in the stands listening from a distance or do you make use of the full 5.1 to have them sitting on the woodwind section or something like that?

I suppose this will ultimately depend on the project itself and its needs, especially if they want to use the 5.1 sound field for specific effects, but I'm wondering if you have any general pointers, since we're talking mixing?

And, on a related note (if you happen to know), how do current games with 5.1-mixed sound engines handle music? Is the stereo mix of the music just plugged into the 5.1 soundscape or is it "cheated" to 5.1? And if the music itself is mixed in 5.1 as well as all the sound effects and such, then how do they account for the fact that most general gamers will be accessing the audio via a stereo setup anyway?

Anyway, just some random things I wonder in my spare time. If you've got any insight, I'd appreciate it. :happy:

I'll answer this in more depth later when I have more time but there is one point I can answer now shortly:

How do current games with 5.1-mixed sound engines handle music?

It really depends on the audio engine being used. Open AL simulated 5.1 surround sound but all assets created for it (at least with the project I was on) was in either mono or stereo. Mono was used for objects that would be rendered in 3D while stereo was used for assets that wouldn't be rendered in 3D (like music and certain other assets).

Other audio engines, like Fmod and Miles, do support 5.1 surround mixing.

I'll get back to you later in more detail.

Nate

Awesome, thanks! :) No rush.

Okay, so how do I mix in 5.1 surround?

It's pretty close to mixing in stereo with a few exceptions.

You create five tracks and position them to where you have a center, left front, right front, left rear and right rear. This can be done several ways. Most DAWs will have some kind of interface set up to allow you to set each track up. Reference this picture of a 7.1 pan interface in Sonar 4.

Here's Logic 8's version:

Here's a plug-in available for Pro Tools:

All of these basically let you do the same thing: set up where you want your speakers to be with regard to your track's panning and other parameters. From there you need to have:

1) a 5.1 surround sound speaker system hooked up to your DAW (or 7.1 if you're going that route)

2) Have each speaker an equal distance from where you'll be testing the audio. True, most home stereo systems are not set up this way, but for mixing purposes we want to have equal distance from each speaker. This way we can really tell when we pan a bullet swish from track to track adding a cool whip around effect. A side not about these speakers: have them all be the same brand and quality. It would actually hurt your efforts if you had a mixture of high quality and low quality speakers in your surround set up. How can you trust that all 5 parts are truly representing your audio? You can't. Fortunately this isn't too much of an issue since most surround systems have options that can fit almost any budget.

3) Once the set up is in place, you'll do your mixing as you would normally. Bumping up sections that are too soft, lowering other sections that loud and panning effectively from speaker (or track) to track. This may take some time depending on your project. While you're creating your content make sure your set up is always set within normal parameters. You never want to create audio on a system that has custom settings (sub woofer turned up really hot, all of the highs turned down) because then the audio will sound odd or not as you intended on other set ups. Remember, the customer has plenty of power over your audio as is (with all of the EQ settings built into stereos these days) and they also have the ability to total screw up the physical placement of the speakers too. Don't add to that by creating content on a stereo with parameters you prefer.

Perfect real life example: I had a friend come by and show me his laser SFX he'd been working on. He was really pumped. He played them for me and was horrified! They had virtually no bass to them and the end result was very tinny and hollow.

"They sound better and more deep on my system!"

I asked him if he was using a sub woofer and he was. Turns out it was cranked up really hot and he thought he was creating audio that had some serious punch and depth to it. He wasn't- his system was simulating that for him. He went back, turned down the sub woofer, made the needed changes and then his laser sounds were great! Remember this!

4) From there you'll bounce out each channel by itself and then load it into your engine or playback format. This can vary depending on what media you're working for or what audio engine you're using so I'll not go into specifics here.

5) Once the audio is in-game or on the DVD in the right format spend some time testing it on various surround sound set ups: high range, mid range and low range. Also try several different rooms. You'll probably not be able to make it sound perfect on every set up or environment but work for a great audio experience overall. See if you like how everything works. If not, go back and fix what went wrong. Rinse. Repeat.

:) I hope that helps!

Nathan

Neat, thanks for the step-by-step illustration! I'm sure it'll be helpful for my own reference but also for some others'! :)