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Video game music differs in many ways from film music. While a film composer can follow the scenes from shot to shot, in video games, this is impossible since events occur in real time, generating quasi-randomly. (Except, of course, for pre-rendered frames.) This is why the background music for video games often consists of one or more loopable tracks for each mood, key moment, activity, etc. There are tracks specifically for battles, different locations, or rooms, often even a more dynamic combat music for boss fights, and the list could go on. These tracks reflect the mood and emotional scale of the respective situations. In this kind of music, it's essential for the finished track to be loopable, as it's unpredictable how long a battle will last or how long a player will stay in a certain location. I've just created loopable "combat music" for an action/adventure game, and I'll briefly introduce its steps. Basic Characteristics of the Music When composing music for any media product, it's always important to consider the emotions carried by the specific event, location, and characters, as well as the genre of the work itself. In relation to this, the following must be considered: orchestration (with particular attention to the number of instruments sounding simultaneously) tempo volume articulations (the manner in which instruments are played) melody/chords I've decided to use symphonic orchestral instruments with epic drums for the demonstration. For their sound, I've employed the following Native Instruments – Kontakt libraries (not paid promotion, I use these libraries regardless): Audiobro – Modern Scoring Strings Cinematic Studio Brass Orchestral Tools – Berlin Woodwinds Laboratory Audio – Strikeforce (epic drums) Keep Forest - Ferrum HybridTwo – Project Chaos Since our hypothetical game falls into the action/adventure genre, I thought that the grandeur of symphonic music would suit the display of the game's emotional/mood spectrum. Additionally, I used epic drums considering that this is combat music. The tempo is pretty high, it's 150 bpm. Strings The strings mostly play in staccato, while the violas, cellos, and double basses occasionally play in legato. Staccato, along with the tight rhythm, is suitable for creating tension, which is essential for this type of music. The string section can be heard here. (Unfortunately, I couldn't embed this track with a player, so click on the link, and it'll open in another tab. And of course, you don't have to purchase these tracks, I just didn't find another opportunity for some reason than bandcamp.) https://olivercomposer.bandcamp.com/track/action-adventure-game-strings Brass The trombones play during the introductory theme, while the horns play the main melody during the main theme. The dramatic sound of the brass instruments also enhances the mood. The trumpets play the main melody one octave higher than the trombones and also play chords. https://olivercomposer.bandcamp.com/track/action-adventure-game-brasses Woodwinds The woodwinds are present only as accompanying instruments. In most parts of the music, the first oboe and first clarinet play together with the strings. Additionally, the passage bridging the secondary theme and main theme is played by the flute and piccolo. The clarinet duplicates the secondary theme's trombone melody an octave higher. https://olivercomposer.bandcamp.com/track/action-adventure-game-woodwinds Drums Although this is combat music, it would be a mistake for all drums to play at all times. Therefore, in the secondary theme, only these hi-hat-like drums are heard. This amplifies the contrast between the main theme and secondary theme, highlighting the main theme. https://olivercomposer.bandcamp.com/track/action-adventure-game-drums Loopability As I mentioned earlier, loopability is crucial for most video game music. It's often not easy to solve this problem, but there are a couple of tricks that can make things easier. The first one is to use roughly the same instruments at the beginning and end of the music (in most cases, exactly the same). The other trick, as you can hear in my music, is that the first and last secondary themes complement each other; the first secondary theme (roughly the first six seconds) poses a musical question, and the last six seconds provide an answer. If you have the opportunity, import the file into a game engine (Unity, Unreal, etc.) and see for yourself! 😊 And now, all sections together Finally, the music is complete in its entirety. 😊 https://olivercomposer.bandcamp.com/track/action-adventure-game-full Possibilities for Further Development Video game music can build vertically and horizontally. Vertical building usually involves turning instrument tracks on and off. For instance, having the same music with drums and without drums. The developer decides which one to use in which situation. Horizontal development is excellently exemplified by concluding the music or carrying the variations of the musical theme into another related piece. By using these methods, the game developer can handle the auditory material of various in-game situations more flexibly. I plan to expand on this topic in another article. If you enjoyed the content of the article, please like, share, and feel free to provide feedback in the comments! Follow for similar content! You can download all of the wav files from here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-9UMuzjTp0GprPrpTvMiiunE4rJ0HM40?usp=sharing Have a great day!

Here's a piece I wrote on my acoustic guitar. As the title states, it's a simple song. I know, I know, it needs a vocal. Enjoy. -Rick

A short little carousel thingy I made up in the Sonar piano roll. Horsey go round and round. Cotton candy optional. -Rick

Trying to channel my inner Bacharach. Made in the Sonar 8.5 piano roll. Enjoy. -Rick

UPDATED on 4/16/23c Here's a guitar thing in D minor with an arrangement. I'll UPDATE the mp3 as I improve on it with the posting date followed by a letter (as in a,b,c, etc... in the the event I post multiple improvements on the same day.) I've also included a version here with speaking parts. Enjoy. -Rick

This is a piece I wrote around 5 years ago when refugees on small boats in the Gulf of Mexico were fleeing their dangerous countries with the hope of starting a new life in my country (the United States). They risked everything. They did exactly what the heartless critics here the US would have done for their own families and themselves if they were in the same situation. Yet these sick and heartless critics in my country just wanted them to go away. Those refugees were fleeing for their very lives. Innocent, yet made to feel guilty. Sorry, but there is a large population of my country that have completely lost their moral compass. End of rant. Anyway, I found this instrumental piece in my bag of misfit music I've written and have never posted it. That whole refugee situation was breaking my heart and this piece, for me, brings back those sad memories. Composing music is my therapy. Enjoy. Rick

Here's a piano tune with arrangement I made in the Sonar 8.5 piano roll using my tried and true "same-y" sample libraries. As with most of my "pop" type stuff I usually use a flute-y instrument (usually a synth flute like with this) for the lead melody. Kind of as a place holder or guide for if I should ever include a vocal. This one is a heavily influenced Beatles sort of thing. The main chord progression might sound familiar because it's not terribly original on my part (though I don't think the Beatles ever used it). I'm always unconsciously running my internal musical blender on puree with bits and pieces of this or that song I've heard then stuffed away in my cranial filing cabinet. But it's seldom, if ever, deliberate. If I were a professional song writer I'd likely be spending most of my time in court for plagiarism *hehehe*. Enjoy. -Rick

I wrote this on my guitar. I'm a finger picker. The guitar part is very difficult to play in real life. I tried my best to transfer what my fingers were doing on the guitar into the Sonar 8.5 piano roll. I used an acoustic guitar virtual instrument but some of the velocities (basically volumes) on certain notes were a bit loud and I was faced with the choice of having some notes stand out or stepping down one velocity level where the note could barely be heard. I chose loud. Ahhh, the fun we have with sampled instruments. I searched the YC website to see if I posted it in the past and didn't find it, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it here. NOTE: Just for fun I also posted a stripped down version here with just guitar, bass, drums, and the sound fx at the end. Enjoy. -Rick

Here's one I like to imagine that Gilbert O'Sullivan might have tossed in his trash bin. It's an O'Sullivan type of choppy piano style. I love that uniquely original piano style/technique of his! The flute-y thing as usual with me is the lead melody for in case I ever add a vocal. People might not think it sounds sad but to me it is. I actually hopped to my upright piano right after watching the Disney/Pixar movie "Inside Out" and the chords and melody were almost there just waiting for me. It's not often that tunes come to me so effortlessly but this one did. Great movie BTW! I related to the blue "Sadness" character. It's a story with a universal message that sadness serves a purpose. It was done in the Sonar 8.5 piano roll. Enjoy! -Rick

Here's a tune I wrote on my ukulele. I'm a finger picker by nature on my guitar and found myself doing the same on my uke as you will notice. The uke on this is a virtual instrument. It started with simple uke chords and a melody. I then added the arrangement. I'm not real sure but I think the chord progression involves the so called "circle of fifths". That's about the only thing I remember from the one quarter college course that I took back in college. This piece was all made in the Sonar 8.5 piano roll using a mouse. I don't use a keyboard controller. Any comments would be appreciated. Enjoy! -Rick

Here's a pop tune I composed using the Sonar 8.5 piano roll (that's how I make all my stuff). It's inspired by the 1970's era of pop songs. I have 2 different endings which I'd like others opinion on as to which is better. I've posted both versions here; "where to begin" and "where to begin-v2". I'm leaning toward the "where to begin" ending (albeit maybe a bit over-the-top) as opposed to the other one which seems kind of boring. What do you think? Just type a 1 for "where to begin" or a 2 for "where to begin-v2". And of course any comments you might have too. Enjoy. -Rick

I composed this in the Sonar 8.5 piano roll using some older sample libraries that I've had for many years. Composing music is just therapy for me and if others like my tunes that's just icing on the cake... mmm.. cake yum, yum. Don't be put off by the title "Mental Suicide" it was just a working title that sort of stuck. What can I say? Other than I have Asperger's and a stinking case of OCD. This piece started with a virtual acoustic guitar. I actually play guitar but was challenging myself to compose a piece without actually picking up my guitar. I laid out the guitar part while wrestling with a few melodies all the while trying to determine whether the guitar fingering was even possible. My conclusion? I have no idea if it's possible to play this guitar part. Then I added all the other stuff and hoped for the best. I just let the piano roll guide me along chord by chord, note by note. Sounds tedious huh? Yep, it was. But I love micro-managing every note. I always tense up when recording an actual mic-ed up performance. Having Asperger's has it's advantages like the laser-like focus on stuff one is interested in. In my case, music and art. With all the music rattling around in my skull I prefer working alone rather than butting heads with other musicians. Been there, done that, don't enjoy it a bit. But that's just me. If anyone wants to comment on this piece, feel free. I'm of course always interested in whether people like my stuff. But at the same time I'm always wondering if the mix sounds alright on other peoples' systems.. stuff like EQ, and especially the bottom end. I'm no audio engineer and that's for sure. Enjoy, Rick

This is a ukulele instrumental thing I wrote with a melody and an arrangement. I hope the bass isn’t too muddy sounding. It’s kind of an important element in the piece but I always have trouble keeping the bass in my stuff from over-powering everything in my mixes. Made in the Sonar 8.5 piano roll. Enjoy! -Rick

This is a song I wrote and want to put a vocal on but I hate my singing. It’s primarily an acoustic guitar song. I’d like to know what people think of the melody and arrangement. Please feel free to comment. It’s a virtual guitar that I painstakingly transferred over from my fingering on my real guitar. I prefer virtual instruments over real instruments for my recordings because I have more control over them. This was done in the Sonar 8.5 piano roll as I do all my stuff. Thanks for listening. -Rick

Original Themes/OST by Toby Fox. Arrangement by TCGFerrum. Howdy, it's me again. I've been very inspired by the OST of Deltarune Chapter 1 and kinda want to make a piano concerto arrangement for some reason, so here's the first draft of it. I don't even know if piano concerto is the correct term to use. The orchestra part is almost equal to the piano part, but the piano part is a little bit more prominent. So I'm kinda conflicted on that one. I do develop some of the motifs and themes to make transitions to the next track/theme, reharmonization and stuff, so hopefully it doesn't sound too simple and cheesy. It kinda has a structure, but it may change as I planned to add more track to the piece. No, I haven't made a score yet. Too busy. Honestly a little bit nervous to upload this draft, but we'll see how it goes. Feel free to leave a feedback down below. Enjoy!

This one is different, combining some eastern Japanese/Chinese elements with western stuff.. Could've been some sort of Japanese film/serious soundtrack maybe some anime stuff 😄 There is a good drive on this one, leaded by the Hang Drum.. Have fun 🙂

Hey guys! This is a piece I've been working on for a little while now. I think it's got a Mega Man feel to it, like something you'd expect to hear in the final levels of a retro video game. My goal was to make an exciting intro and just up the ante from there, to just raise the stakes with every measure. Let me know what you guys think!

This is a little melody I've been sitting on for a while, it's incredibly short but I think it'd be fitting for a title theme. I used a xylophone to lighten the foreboding mood, but still tried to keep it sounding adventurous. Let me know what you guys think!

Hello everyone! This is a piece I composed for the Pixel Federation Company to their online strategy/fantasy game "Emporea:Realms of war&magic" and It's also included in my debut EP album. There are four races in the game: Elves,Dwarves,Orcs and Undead and this track has been composed for the Elvish race.I hope I did well for them! Let me see what you guys this!

Hey guys! I made this little diddy in Famitracker, I wanted to have it sound as faithful to the NES/Famicom as possible. Please let me know what you think! In my opinion, I'd like to have a little more original material after that second section before the intro theme reprises.

Hi, I wrote these a few days and I was hoping for some feedback on them. The two pieces are themed around a small friendly town and both of them uses a similar melody and backing but are played in different instruments to give a feeling of night and day.

Greetings all, been a long time since I've come to this site. I thought I would share some music that I've been working on for my game called Tellurica (looking for another c# programmer with Unity experience and possibly a texture artist, if anyone is interested in working on it with me). To provide some context, the game is a fantasy/scifi game that takes place on an alien planet. It is a combatless survival RPG based around horticulture, exploration, and narrative. I'm particularly interested in what people think could be added or done to the piece called Misting, but really just any and/or all of them. The soundtrack can be found here Good fortune in your endeavors, Alex

Hey guys! This is a little something I've been sitting on for a while. I used a Nintendo 64 soundfont for it, and I think it has an old school RPG-esque feel. The only bit I don't particularly care for is the very end when I switch back to G major, it feels a little forced. But please let me know what you think!