How to Write Music for Video Games
In this video, we'll show you the three essential techniques for anyone wanting to write music for video games. We'll discuss how to create loops, how to score using horizontal interactive techniques, and using verticle interactivity. Composer Guy Michelmore will be giving you examples of how this works in practice. By the end of this video, you will have everything you need to start exploring this exciting new world.
Want to take this further and look into becoming a professional video games composer or sound designer? Check out our fully accredited online master's degrees taught by award-winning games composers and sound designers and awarded by the University of Chichester.
thinkspaceeducation.com/
00:00. Start
00:20 Why games are different
02:00 Creating seamless music loops
07:45 Horizontal interactivity
09:15 Branching music: Success
10:15 Implementing music using middleware like WWise
12:25 Vertical interactivity - using dynamic layers
14:30 Dynamic battle sequence
17:10 The death sting
18:25 Next steps in composing for games
Пікірлер: 285
Check it out our new course right here - here: thinkspace.ac.uk/courses/how-to-write-video-game-music/ How To Write Video Game Music is our brand new course and we are super excited about it! If you ever wanted to get started in video game music or you are looking for a new musical challenge this course will give you the essential skills every video games composer needs. The course includes our new interactive video technology, MinusONE scoring projects and a vibrant and supportive Discord Community where you can share your work and get feedback from your peers.
@ohmygod3390
3 ай бұрын
this is so amazing.....I will sign up...quick questions...do you guys teach how to use Wwise as well in this course?
"You're writing the music for a scene that hasn't been directed yet" is a great way to encapsulate the challenge and the potential in game music
@chro.
Жыл бұрын
that’s from c418 who made the minecraft soundtrack
I appreciate Guy Michelmore and what he does for the music community so much, and intros like this remind me of why I originally subscribed all those years ago. ❤️
@Darqice
Жыл бұрын
Ditto.
The amount of work this man puts into describing specific musical concepts for free is mind boggling! Thank you so much for making these amazing videos!
This was super creative! I loved every minute of this. 😊
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
Thank you
I've been doing this for 20 years, not professionally, but I'll still watch this because you're so informative
7:46 A great example is the music in Mirrors Edge. In that game the composer named Solar Fields really added lots of horizon movement so that the soundtrack feels alive. Which makes one song easily around 10 minutes long. How? Well Solar Fields divided the pieces in certain blocks like Guy talks about in this video: The first one is just an ambiance, the root of the song like Guy made at 2:45. From there he starts adding and subtracting things so that the song gets lets static. The second part is the more "alert" style of the music. In Mirrors Edge this can me you get chased by people or something happens in the narrative that shifts the music. The third part can go two different ways, so for the music creation there is an branching path: You managed to escape but are now in a building where you have to solve a puzzle by doing parkour or, the chase intensifies to an another level and the music gets more aggressive and got that "hurry up" feeling. From there things gets interesting, because again an level can be branched in more different ways. Note that the alternate music always got the same roots as the ambiance, for the track still ahs to feel familiar. But now so familiar that i gets boring. So Solar Fields added lots of modular synthesis to solve that problem(also something you hear in the Doom 2016 OST by Mick Gordon)...!!! If you want to hear an example to follow along of what i am talking about, here is a link to one of my most favorite pieces of Solar Fields~ Hopefully it can you help all out if you want to create your own video game music...!!! Keep on creating D Mirrors Edge - Flytrap OST: kzread.info/dash/bejne/faKTyLGMnJOzd7g.html
This is absolutely amazing! Very very creative and informative! But I think one of the challenges is to put down a great pieces which doesn't suck or get very boring on lots of repetitions!!
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
Yup that is the skill of great games composers
Wonderful! So glad to hear you mention Jason Graves! I went to high school with him and had the pleasure to play music with him! He's really done well for himself and we're all so proud to know him!
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
AHA! Jason is lovely and a phenomenal composer. He does some work with our postgrqad students
@thomasdevries8558
Жыл бұрын
@@ThinkSpaceEducation A secondary side note... it was fun to find out that years after we both graduated, that we met again professionally before socially. Not long after graduating from university, I started working as an artist for a games company and as I was tasked with making cinematics and needing time on an editing deck locally, imagine my surprise to meet Jason out of the blue. Before games, he was in video production - at least that's my memory from 25 years ago! Since that time, I guess we've both kept with it... the odd fact about this that I want to share is that Jason is a drummer... that was his musical start, and almost everyone else that I've met in game sound and music are also Drummers! Out of 5 people in the audio department, 4 were drummers. Maybe its because there's something about drummers on the east coast... maybe its industry-wide... I think it would be fun to poll anyone that you meet that also has made a career of video game composition and sound design if they were Drummers first. Thanks for all the inspiration and for using Cubase! Cheers!
This feels like it should be paid content, you wouldn't get quality like this from any college lecturer. I feel inspired to try and compose myself now. Absolutely phenomenal demonstration with a great balance of interactivity as well as tons of useful information. Love it!
This is great ! Though being a game composer specifically often also requires a bit of knowledge of the tools used to implement the music into the game - usually FMOD or Wwise - and actually playing the game to understand it and the kinds of interactions one may have in it is also beneficial.
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
Absolutely - as i say at the end its like learning of the rules of chess not becoming a grand master. This is the grammer and synbtax - now go write a novel
watched the full thing, wonderfully explained and showcased, loved all the effort put in, very very informational!
Really had no idea that video game music did some of this. I pick out cross fades and loops when I play one but the vertical layering is really something else entirely that I didn’t even realize. Very neat content this week.
Chopping the end of the bounced audio and moving it to the front blew my mind, so simple!
Funny story 😂: I looked for some tips on composing a videogame for a client. This video was the one which seemed to be great to watch. And then, I saw your face and I was like: "hmmm, this person is very familiar to me but I don't remember who exactly". And when I finally reached the end of video, I was like :" wow, great explainer, he is very familiar to me. There was this great and aged-person I considered as Gandalf for music composer and his name was Guy Michelmore. However, this one have a beard. Guy didn't had a beard at that time" When I was going to look for another video, I just looked at the OP name and it ta-da it is Guy Michelmore 😂 I missed your Easy-Go-Ness, I feel I belong with you humably speaking. Thank you for the video Guy! Great work
You are one of my absolute favorite music educators on KZread. You are so knowledgeable and have such a great way of conveying the matter. Absolutely love your videos!
I love your channel. Most of the content isn't necessarily new to me, but you're one of the few who've captured my attention, and I'll watch to support you! Thank you for everything you do for the community! -Cheers
Less than a minute in and this man has already earned all of my respect. So well done.
This is one of my dreams! I really appreciate you, Guy, for this segment, explaining how this works! Thank you!
The start was long but surprisingly, it kept me interested the whole time. Very well done.
I learn SO MUCH every time I watch! Thank you😊
This is one of the best episodes ever! Thanks a lot for this one! ❤
Every Guy Michelmore vid he puts out, puts a smile on my face....reminds me to ease up when making beats
Friday afternoon: off work, cup of tea, a new Guy Michelmore video --- happy days!
Hi Guy ! Thank you so much for your detailed videos, they have been a really useful source of knowledge ! much love from Belgium
This video is the most informative, succinct, revealing and practical introduction to game music composition the world has ever seen! A master communicator, thanks👍.
Awesome video as always, Guy! Love your humor throughout.
great video, i was recently approached with some work for an indie game and this has been invaluable in trying to figure out the structure of everything
I haven't finished the video yet but as an aspiring composer who is working with her roommate on their first project, that intro was fantastic.
I can’t put into words how much I appreciate this video
@yorique2267
Жыл бұрын
@@Guy_Michelmore get a job
So blessed to have found this video. Yes, this video is very useful. I will be starting a music for video game course soon and your video has certainly given me many pointers as a head start. Thank you.
Best video about music production i've ever seen. Very well explained.
Thanks so much for this great informative video. One of the tips that you gave is going to solve a problem I have with my current project. Absolutely love watching all of your stuff.
Such a fascinating explanation of the challenges and how to overcome them!
Guy, really appreciate your time and effort w/this vid! On LinkedIn, video games companys are looking for audio engineers at large numbers. It's mindblowing to me, bc I grew up using razor blade editing, & now computers are so ubiquitous that we have a multitude of areas in audio engineering to investigate for employment. Your vid helped me to see how it is done. Thank you.
This video is brilliant!! You went above and beyond, thanks for explaining all of this in such detail :D Thank you
So for this upcoming year I’m gonna be doing game dev and I got offered to try to get music for this lil game this definitely helped a lot to understand and I’m glad you mentioned Jason graves I went to go search him and found he composed music for one of my favorite games untill dawn I can’t wait to get started with composing ❤
This is great, Guy. Really tells me what I need to consider as a composer for this medium.
Forever grateful for your content, and you.
Great lesson! Thanks Guy!
Love it! Thanks for this great info, Guy!
13:40 Horrifying! Such a contrast from your nice warm relaxing voice hahaha
This. Is. Gold. THANK YOU!!!
Thanks a lot for the lightning tour, Sir. That will help me a lot when doing music for my games. I will use it to illustrate the danger in a realm were you need to whisper and to be quiet. Keep up the good work :D
Fascinating! Thanks, Guy; superb as ever.
This was extremely helpful! I'm a senior in game design (art side), working on my thesis. Have a big background in music, but I never really knew how games went about music comp. This is really gonna save my butt, because music from our previous years theses have been so abhorrently uncared about!
Sir you're a musical genius like hans zimmer. A true gem ❤ for young producers who want to learn about filmscore music.
Thank you for seamless loop tips, will be very useful 🙂
Rah this video editing is SERIOUS. 10/10!! Great explanation of gaming topic. I like how you was inside the 🎮 . I could visualise what you was speaking about
A topic I’ve been waiting for. Thank you
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
enjoy
Amazing video. Quality was very high as well as informative and entertaining all in one! The beginning intro was top notch though and very creative. Saving your video and channel for when I start composing.
Guy, could listen to you talk all day. Please continue to make content
Always inspiring. Your creativity in music is matched only by your child-like imagination, the one you use every time you have to come up with an idea for a video. 👌🏼
I’ve been playing The Last Of Us 2 recently - and was tuning into just this kind of thing, the way the music is cued at certain points, the way it fades, changes, is used to foreshadow - and have been intrigued by how well the score responds and interacts with my choices. So interesting!
Fascinating, thank you 👍
You are so creative my dude. These videos are hilarious to watch. But i'm actually learning sonething ye know. Love the intro. Kudos to you.
You deserved a like just for that introduction. WELL DONE.
thank you so much for explaining
Maaaan, I've gone 28 years of my life not understanding how exactly they transition music like this in games, and this finally explained it so very well 👏😁 absolutely fantastic job explaning it and showing it all off! Also incredible intro section haha
Captivating presentation and great explanation!
This is mind blowing would love to make music for games. Thanks so much
As always: a great video, Guy! I'd like to add: you don't necessarily have to compose to a scene that hasn't been directed. I like to ask for the installer file, or gameplay footage, and score to that because I think finding the "pace" in those scenes is important. If they don't/can't provide the installer, and I'm having trouble coming up with something, then I'll grab a snippet of a scene from another game that I think captures what I want to write, and then compose to that scene. For anyone interested in composition for video games Winifred Phillip's "A Composer's Guide to Game Music" is a solid learning tool!
Maaaaaaan you read my mind!!! That's what I need right now! Love it!
Thank you, it was super helpfull ! i've made some pieces of music for games prototypes in shcool but couldn't get my head around the workflow, so thanks you again !
You sir, are the greatest music tutorial KZreadr ever.
Currently creating a horror game audio library for the final project of my degree, this was so helpful!
wow. Love the energy. such a great explanation as always. I didn't think I was interested in game music, but this is very useful and interesting. and I remember when you split the tea, when reading the news.
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
it was coffee and I will remember that moment to my dying day
This. Was Sensational... Excellent insight! Thank you ONCE AGAIN, Guy.
Awesome video! I would love to see a breakdown of how you actually made each of these sound effects. They are absolutely perfect for a horror game.
Loved the little intro!
Great explanation, Guy. Shows some insight how video game composers have to think - scoring a game you probably not even know too much about, yet the composer knows the players will probably listen to this music a lot (so it has to be neither too boring nor too much in the foreground, being too annoying - which is a nother hurdle to take care of), And even thinking back to the very old days makes me kinda shiver even more, where all you got was a couple of oscillators with basic wave forms, and perhaps a noise channel (plus limited space), where bleeps and bloops had to make the same hoops (verticality could probably only done if you kinda juggle the instruments using those few channels. I like to think about those fast-paced arpeggios back on the C64 and 8-bit console days; like the Mega Man soundtracks on the NES), because you had limited resources. Which required the composer to be really creative then, also with the horizontal thing of making loops connecting to itself or other loops nicely.
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
Well a friend of mine is scoring a new game for gameboy using all the old chips. Nostalgia city!
another great video, thanks a lot Guy
this has helped me so much!! thank you very much, goodness! 💖
haha that intro was awesome! Very great video as always!
brilliant vid guy..happy xmas to you and your family and thanks for all of the knowledge youve gave me this year
Just loved it Guy, great explanation
Super helpful insights! Thank you!
Considering this is the field I want to go into, this was very helpful!
Best information I've found on this so far!
Wow, excellent tutorial, keep up and well done, Sir.
that intro was amazing!!!
Smart, someone hooked you up with the idea of consistent high quality content.. it’ll work well for you
Wow!!! Another outstanding video tutorial!!! 🎮👾🎶🙌🏿
The first 5 minutes of this was really useful, in games where each scene has one track of music and it's not changing depending on what's happening. You just got to cut off the intro and then loop the rest of the song indefinitely. So render the music to audio. Cut off the intro, then make sure a few extra bars are rendered at the end so it can loop into the cut seamlessly. Bookmarking this video for future reference!
Great Video! Love the "game" you made!
I'd preemptively donned my sunglasses of doubt having, as a gamer, seen years of marketing bonanzas wherein composers are given about 8 seconds to spill the beans that their game has a custom Dynamic Music System™ (like many others), or simply has music which (gasp!) makes you feel stuff and things. I should have expected better from you, but here I was with the glasses. This was great! Sincerely entertaining _and_ educational as usual. I figured it must be more complicated than I realized, and having this concrete peek at the process gives me even more appreciation for this version of the art. And of course your intro was great fun, even for me with my acute zombie game allergy. :)
entertaining intro and informative tutorial. thank you for this gem
awesome soundtrack love it 💞🔥🎵🎶🎶 thanks for the teaching
ty for all that u teach me i really like ur videos keep it up!!!!
I had no idea about that looping trick to make it sound natural wow, awesome stuff
@ThinkSpaceEducation
Жыл бұрын
Well it was Stephen Baysted (Project Cars, Fast and Furious) who showed me that
Im very happy I have found your videos! :)
this is so well explained
Good morning. First time commenting your channel, even if I watched quite a lot of your videos ! Love the positive energy in them ! Thank you. I have started to write some tracks for a game as well. And I love it ! Even if it takes a lot of time 😉 for me.
i would love to have you as my professor. your explanations really resonate with me.
Great video thank you Guy👍
Amazing. Thank you
We all know we’ve been waiting for this
This is a great teacher!!!
Would love to see a breakdown of how Wwise / fmod work 👍
Amazing! one of your best videos!