Hi everyone, I'm getting ready to start a project with my game development club at the University I attend. I know very little about composing and recording music as well as sound effects, so I don't really know when the best time would be for me to try and recruit music students to join in. I'd like to have everyone involved in the project rather than feel like I'm using them for one little thing and then throwing them away. Basically, I'm wondering what the process of creating music is like. I don't know how much time it takes, and right now we don't have much more than an idea for the game and a single model. If I were to get a composer to join the team now would they make some great music and eventually get bored and lost interest? I'd like to have some voice acting as well, but I'm sure I can't do too much about that right now since I don't have a story, or even a few characters ready yet. So... ideas? Advice? Any feedback would be appreciated. -Nick

Cast your net as soon as you can, with one caveat: Have a solid workable premise for your game that won't change too drastically.

Also, I notice you used the phrase "recruiting music students", as in the plural form. I wouldn't recruit more than one composer. Too many chefs ruin the stew, as the saying goes. A feeling of consistency is hard to achieve when more than one person is working on the same soundtrack.

Now, sound effects. You might not be able to find one person that can do both music AND sound effects. Some people (especially a student) might get overworked trying to produce both. Others might flourish in that situation. It's hard to gauge. If you do end up with a separate composer and sound designer, make sure they work closely together so they can best acheive a cohesive soundscape.

Involvement. Make sure that any composer and/or sound designer is included as much as possible in brainstorming or devlopment meetings. If you don't give them any direction they won't know exactly what you want. Allow them to ask lots of questions, and try to have very specific guidelines to work from. If at all possible, have examples of soundtracks you might want to emulate. If you simply say to a composer "make it exciting", there's a lot of possible results that may come out, and they probably won't sound like what's in your head. Articulate your vision as much as possible. Immerse your sound guys with visual art, and let them read the scripts so they can get a real feel for what's going on.

Bringing them on soon is important. We've all played games (or seen movies) where it's obvious that the music or sound effects were tacked on by someone who knew nothing about the project because the themes totally don't fit. If you wait too long to bring audio folks on board you run the severe risk of this happening.

Hope that helps.

Brian

Indeed, thank you very much!

I will look into getting someone interested in composing music and from there we can see about getting another member for sound effects.

Now about the voice actors/actresses, do you think I should wait until the story is complete or should they be around during it's creation as well?

And again, thanks for the response.

-Nick

This is a very good question and Brian did a great job of answering it. I'll just supplement a few more ideas:

The timing of bringing in a composer-sound designer varies actually. Many professional teams do not bring a sound person into the mix until about 70% of the game is done. The reason behind this is much of the game is in solid form. The composer can actually play parts of the game, see screen shots and artwork that is solid. Notice I said most pro crews do this. The composer, being a pro as well, would be able to write the entire soundtrack and/or produce the needed SFX quickly...like in a month to several months. You comment about losing interest also applies here. The composer can not lose interest because odds are the audio content is needed quickly and there is so much to see in the game and do. It can be very inspiring.

Most indie teams do it differently- and bring the composer-sound designer in right at the beginning stages. This works fine too, but I'd actually suggest holding off on having the composer write music for a bit. My reasoning is in the brainstorming stage so much is up in the air and can change suddenly. If you want the input of the musician during these brain storming sessions- that is more than great!

I've worked for all kinds of projects- indie and pro, large and small. As long as you keep your vision of the music as clear and consistant as possible, you should be fine. Brian also mentioned having examples of pieces that you'd like the composer to emulate- a great resource.

My only other bit of advice is to always approach any art (music and visual) submitted for your game with an open mind. Allow your artists to surprise you or take the game in a slightly new direction. Not everything in the game has to be exactly as you fore-see it in your head.

I've found when everyone on the crew has some flexibility, while following the general scheme of the game, the end result can be very surprising and rewarding. A warning though- I've been a part of many projects that just fizzle out and nothing is more uninspiring than a project that sits for months and months with little or no updates. At that point, it is usually a done deal and time to start looking elsewhere.

Good luck!

I should probably clarify why I emphasized bringing people onboard ASAP. Since it's a project for a college course and you'll be working with other students, I figured that allowing as much time as possible for the project would be a good idea, since everyone is going to have to juggle it around their other obligations, such as other classes, jobs, etc.

Brian

I don't know what the size of your project will be, but I DO know that back in the 2D days (early 90's) the musician was brought in at the very end of the project. This because he (or she) wasn't really needed until all other elements in the game were ready... In my opinion, this makes sense a lot. You can instruct the musician to make music for "this, this and this level", sound effects, etc...

I suppose I should clarify as well :P

Everyone in the group is from the same university, but it isn't for any course we're taking. It's just a club I've started for people who are interested in game development. Sadly, it's mostly just the CS students who have jumped on board (and even then, there aren't many of us) so we're still growing slowly. There are a few of us that can do art things (a few of us can model, I can texture and animate characters, another one likes Q3 mapping) but music is still pretty foreign to me.

Anyways, thanks for all the input. You guys rule.


-Nick