Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Volume/dynamics
Volume or dynamics refers to how loud or soft a piece of music or a
passage of music is. Something as simple as turning up the volume can
make a huge dif erence.
Go to the main
classroom in the
App, and click on the
Videos screen and the
Audio Workl ow-old
school
example to
watch and hear all
about the i rst type of
musical workl ow in
games!
By varying these elements, a deft composer can foreshadow events and
alert the player both consciously and unconsciously to actions taking
place within the game. Some video game composers get their hands
dirty with the technology of the game platform; some have the luxury of
using commercially available DAWs and delivering their music the same
way they would any commercial production: by letting integrators take
care of the back-end technology.
The Music Team
For the most part, and especially for larger titles, writing music for games
is a team sport. Let's look at some of the players:
A
music director
oversees the creative direction of the music for a game.
He or she meets with composers, game designers, programmers, and all
other members of the production team to draft a creative vision for the
music. The music director keeps everyone happy, so the music remains
on schedule and on budget.
A
music producer
controls the creative vision of the musical recording
itself. A music producer works with all the members of the team to
hire the musicians and engineers and schedule the studios as needed.
A good music producer puts all the pieces in place to make the i nal
game score sound great.
A
composer
writes music, working in collaboration with the music
director and producer to match the creative vision of the game. To create
the score, the composer may use a computer-sequencing program such
as Pro Tools or Logic or even, in some cases, pen and paper. Yes, you read
that right: pen and paper!
An
orchestrator
takes the music from the composer and either makes
MIDI orchestrations or prepares parts and scores so that live humans can
play the music if need be. Orchestrators work with notation programs
such as Finale and Sibelius to get the music ready for recording.
A
recording engineer
deals with the nuts and bolts of recording the
music for a game. A recording engineer may record anything from
live instruments to singers and needs a good working knowledge of
recording studio technology and digital editing software.
