What does a Composer (Video Games) do?
A video game composer writes and produces music for interactive experiences. In collaboration with the audio director, sound designers, and game developers, the composer creates themes, cues, stems, and adaptive musical systems that respond to gameplay. The work may include notation and live recording, electronic production, middleware implementation, editing, and delivery to technical specifications.
To get a foot in the door, aspiring composers will need a show reel to send to prospective employers, which means recording a short collection of cues on their own time.
At a Glance
Besides being excellent composers with advanced training in musical composition, video game composers must have some experience playing or making games to understand the way in which their music will be used. Video game composers who are early in their careers likely need an additional source of income; this could mean working for video game developers in other capacities (e.g., as a sound designer or audio developer), working as a freelance composer, or even becoming the assistant to an established composer. One could also freelance as an orchestrator, copyist, session conductor, or session musician.
A rapidly growing industry, video gaming is overflowing with opportunity and competition. To get a foot in the door, aspiring composers will need a show reel to send to prospective employers, which means recording a short collection of cues on their own time. Even more valuable, however, is a complete game with a corresponding soundtrack.
- Orchestration and arranging
- Composing character themes
- Composing loops
- Home studio setup
- DAWs
- Synthesizers and samplers
- Audio editing
- Video game design
- Compositional flexibility
While any skilled composer can write effective music for a video game, to make a career out of it requires a deep passion for video games and the distinctive culture, community, and history surrounding the medium. Aspiring composers should have a burning desire to contribute their own ideas to the larger musical conversation. They should also be able to work well within a creative team; while composing is a solitary art, it is also—paradoxically—an intensely collaborative one.
Most video game composers are independent contractors who work from home studios, either alone or—if well-established and working on a higher budget—alongside a team of assistants. Composers may come into video game studio offices for meetings of the creative team, but for the most part, the work is performed remotely. In-house positions in this industry are rare, but composers who make strong professional connections with a particular studio or team, or who work on the soundtrack for a multi-title franchise, may find themselves working consistently with the same studio.
