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Is a CS Deg Needed to Make Game Soundtracks?
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?"
I haven't done large scale soundtracks for games, only smaller stuff (and not on anything that became a big completed product), but based on my experience, and what I've seen in the industry, he's on the right track with just doing plays and whatever he can. I've done scores for a couple theatrical productions, and having that on your resume will prove your ability to write music to supplement drama and action better than a CS degree.
My advise: don't get the CS degree. Keep doing music. Participate in small projects on the side of your regular occupation.
I've also heard that starting out just running mail and doing intern work is a great way to get your foot in the door at game dev shops.
"Better to be vulgar than non-existent" -Bev Henson
I may make some suggestions here that seem obvious, but if they're obvious to you, just ignore them.
I've been working in computers since 1986, in computer audio since 1993, and I know a fair number of people in the game industry.
In my experience, I have never gotten a job that was worth a damn without having contacts on the inside. Never. I have had crummy jobs that I applied for randomly, and I have had cool jobs that I got because I knew someone. Maybe this makes me lame, but I suspect it makes me typical.
Make friends in the game industry, or at least also trying to get in to the game industry. You don't even need to know them in person; this is the era of the Internet. The goal is that sooner or later they'll be in the meeting where the project manager at their game company says "Okay we're shipping in two weeks; it's time to add the music", they'll be able to say "I know this guy..."
They don't even need to be high up in their company. I started at Creative Labs working tech support. Within a few years, I had moved around in the company to marketing, and I was in the meeting where my boss said "We need someone to compose some music for our web site." We hired Paul Godwin because someone in that meeting knew him.
You have a web page up with at least snippets of some of your compositions up, right? If you can't find an open source game to help out with, turn off your PC speakers and compose some music for a game that already exists! Put 'em on your site arranged by genre: fps, rts, driving, puzzle, whatever.
In addition to a sharp looking site, you need to have some demo CDs. I bet you can make even the little business-card CDs in redbook format. I'd make 'em redbook with small song segments since you will be limited to 8-10 minutes of music. You can make them mixed-mode if you feel like, but I bet redbook with a nice printed label with your name and URL would suffice. You don't need to press them on everyone you meet, but keep them around.
If you don't already, spend some time learning about how the industry works. It may be boring and/or trite, but consider this: You meet someone who works for a publisher, and says "yeah we don't actually make any of the games ourselves." Dead end? Hardly! Maybe they don't make the games themselves, but they work with dozens of small software houses, each of which does need composers. "What titles are you publishing right now? Really, who is that by? Are you going to publish any future releases from them? You know I'd love to get in touch with someone there about composing some music for one of their titles."
Are you ready to be self-employed? Lots of small-time game operations are run on a shoestring. They're not going to need a properly-paid composer full time on staff. Get your state business license, come up with a nice looking invoice, learn how consulting contracts work.
And last, save your nickels and dimes, because next March 20-24, no matter what, you need to be here.
Best of luck.
Chris O
San Carlos, California
I know this was only posted an hour and a half ago, but there have been some damn good suggestions here, so I wanted to say thank you for your replies (negative and positive).
I'm not the one trying to break into the gaming industry...I'm a graphic designer. Ask me anything about QuarkXpress and I'm probably able to answer it - kerning, tracking, tabs, keylines, all that geeky gd stuff. You don't have to believe me, that's fine. But thanks anyway, and thanks in advance to anyone posting advice after this.
This kid really needs a nudge in the right direction, and judging by the replies I've seen, he should have a good idea of where to go from here. You very well may have changed someone's life (for the better). Whether or not he appreciates my going behind his back to ask career advice is another story....but it's worth the risk in trying to help a friend, right?
Anyway, thanks a lot, Slashdotters.
Kurt