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Is a CS Deg Needed to Make Game Soundtracks?

Posted by Cliff on from the unnecessary-education dept.

Kurtiz666 asks: "A good friend of mine has his bachelor's in music composition - he wants to score game soundtracks for a living. He's a very good composer but has had difficulty breaking into the industry, doing only occasional work like soundtracks for plays and such. He thinks getting a CS degree will help him and is making plans to go back to school, but I'm not entirely convinced he needs this degree. I don't want to sound like his mother or anything, but I also don't want him to waste 2 years on school if he doesn't have to. So, how do you break into the game soundtrack field? Are there any software skills you recommend, and is a CS degree really necessary?"

2 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. Better places to ask: by dcapel · · Score: 4, Informative

    ocremix.org
    vgmix.com
    etc?

    Seems they would know better than /. :)

    --
    DYWYPI?
  2. As a musician... by gothzilla · · Score: 3, Informative

    Writing music is an art, whether it's for top 40 radio, games, or theater. Most of the time you don't get hired to write music as a permanent job, though there are a few out there. If you want to get into the industry, start writing music and TONS of it. Get some games and re-write the music for them. Make some videos showing the game with your music behind it. Offer to write music for free for ANYONE who is willing. The best way to make money writing music for games is to get known as a game musician.

    Another thing to do is learn how to write music on as many different audio apps as possible, as well as with physical instruments like guitar, keyboard, drums, etc. If someone asks you to come in and write music using a Jeskola Buzz Machine http://www.buzzmachines.com/, you need to already know how. You also need to understand mixing and mastering and need to know how to use analog and digital recording equipment. Mixing isn't too difficult but mastering really takes talent and skill.

    Basically, he needs to shell out some cash on music equipment and software instead of on a degree. If he insists on going to school, he needs to go to a school like Full Sail http://www.fullsail.com/ that actually offers courses that would be relevant to the field.