At the start of your game audio career, you’ll need to grind. A lot. Finding consistent work means meeting people, stepping out of your comfort zone, and spending an inordinate amount of time on business activities—not just writing music.

But over time, your career can pivot. Opportunities begin to flow to you, and your days become more focused on the creative work you love.

Chris Rickwood has made that transition. In this episode, he shares hard-earned insights on the skills, mindset, and habits that helped him build a lasting, sustainable career as a video game composer.

Grab a notebook—this one’s packed with wisdom.

Gina Zdanowicz, Founder and Audio Director of Serial Lab Sound, has cultivated a dynamic career spanning over two decades in the game industry, leaving an indelible mark on titles such as Eternights, Paladins, Just Cause 3, Bioshock 2, and numerous indie, e-Learning and midcore games. Gina has been instrumental in shaping the future generation of game audio professionals. Her impressive tenure includes leading and authoring courses at Berklee Online, as well as spearheading the establishment of the Game and Interactive Media Scoring Major at Berklee College of Music's campus. Gina's co-authorship of "The Game Audio Strategy Guide: A Practical Course" exemplifies her dedication to providing both theoretical foundations and practical insights into the nuanced world of game sound for enthusiasts and inquisitive minds alike. Beyond her contributions to academia, Gina's impact resonates throughout the gaming industry, where she serves as a mentor and has been a distinguished judge for esteemed awards such as the Game Audio Network Guild and IADAS.

Megan is primarily a video game composer. She did the music for River City Girls 1 & 2, the Halloween and Ash vs Evil Dead games from Retro Realms, and I believe she composed most of the music for the Atari Recharged games.

Not only does Megan do a ton of custom work for games, but she also earns income by licensing her music for TV and releasing her own music as an artist. I brought Megan on today to teach us how to create multiple streams of income using our musical talents.

In addition to all the great info she’ll be sharing, notice how cool and easy to talk to Megan is. I’ve found that the vast majority of working professionals in the game audio industry are not only great at their craft but also down-to-earth, genuine people. Let’s jump into this conversation with Megan McDuffee!

Today you’ll be listening in on a conversation with lifelong gamer, composer, and music designer Olivier Deriviere. He has created the music for games such as A Plague Tale: Innocence, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Dying Light 2, Streets of Rage 4, and, most recently, South of Midnight.

Equally impressive to his composing skills are Olivier’s talents in music design. He is a leading voice in pushing the boundaries of what game music can do.

In this interview, Olivier offers guidance on everything from mindset to the questions you should ask in meetings with developers, designing game music, and acting with intention and integrity as a collaborator on game projects.

Enjoy!

To learn more about Olivier and music design check out these useful links:

Olivier's Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@oderiviere

Olivier's website resources:

https://olivierderiviere.com/music-design/

Tobi Weiss is a video game composer who has amassed a following of over 120K on Instagram. He emphasizes the importance of being genuine with your audience and staying true to yourself while working hard to become known and find more work. This is a value-packed conversation for anyone looking to become more visible as a composer in a genuine and authentic way.

Follow Tobi on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/filmandgamemusic?igsh=ZGxmaDZtN3lqc3lt

There is a lot to do and learn as a freelance game composer and it can be hard to figure out what activities are most important to focus on, what skillsets are most important to develop, and how a composer needs to think to make this career happen.

This episode will help you get inside the head of professional composer Brendon WIlliams. He has composed for major franchises such as League of Legends, Guild Wars, and Start Wars. He has worked both as an in-house composer and a freelance composer.

Follow Brendon and listen to his music:

IG: https://www.instagram.com/brendoncomposer?igsh=MTVidDR4NXI2dTI3NQ==

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendoncomposer/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/BrendonComposer

Game composer, sound designer, and audio engineer Robbie Dolan talks about the top handful of skills that are essential for composers in order to carve out a career in today's marketplace. Robbie wasted no time establishing a strong career in the game industry and the knowledge and experience he shares are invaluable.

Michael Sweet is a video game composer, sound designer, audio director, and all around audio pro. He has also been teaching game audio at two of the top music programs in the world.

He has worked on over 100 award-winning games and has basically done it all in the world of game audio.

In our conversation, we talk in-depth about what interactive or adaptive music is, the fundamental building blocks of interactive music, how and when to use it, and how to compose it. This conversation is a masterclass on how to plan and create adaptive scores. Sweet also mentions different resources for improving as an adaptive music composer.

Youtube channels to check out:

Games that are good examples of adaptive audio:

Books

Today's episode is taken from module 3 of the START course. Module 3 is all about how to write demos that can help you find video game scoring work. This episode discusses the how and why of creating targeted demo music, and how targeted music is different than making music as an artist in general.

If you are interested in taking the START course head to thevideogamecomposerhq.com/start and join the waitlist. The course is completely free and you will be given access as soon as the course is launched.

Today’s Guest, Ryan Ike, is a very accomplished indie game composer and an all-around awesome dude. You can hear his music in indie game hits like Wizard With a Gun, Shadows Over Loathing, Where The Water Tastes Like Wine, Gunpoint, and more. We had a great conversation about Ryan's diligent method for becoming a strong game composer. I learned a lot from this conversation and had a lot of fun.

To follow or reach out to Ryan Ike:

Instagram: @ryanikeaudio

Website: https://www.ryanike.com

Ryan’s Microjams project that he speaks about: https://soundcloud.com/ryanike/sets/microjams

Want hands-on training to get your composer career off the ground, and off to a strong start? I am creating a new course called the START course. Through seven modules you be walked through setting up shop and getting started as a game composer. The course is completely free. Pre-register for the course to get automatic access as soon as the course is live.

https://thevideogamecomposerhq.com/start