Hi! I am new here and I am looking for ideas on where to find work as a music composer in the gaming world.

First, a little background: I have a solid background in music theory, I compose write, record, and master in a home "studio" environment. I am not necessarily looking for advice on my writing (but if you do, feel free). My current website is:

http://phrygianphish.weebly.com

I have been working on several of my own musical projects (albums etc.) but I have always wanted to give writing music for games a shot. I have an account on Elance.com and landed a gig there but composer jobs just don't come up that often on there - at least that I have seen so far.

Are there certain websites/boards that would have this information?

Thanks in advance!

Sean

Now you need to build your portfolio and your contacts. Network, network, network.
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson53.htm
http://sloperama.com/advice/lesson54.htm

I would avoid Elance as what I've experienced there is a steady stream of developers only want to pay bottom-of-the-barrel prices. Because of how Elance is constructed it can quickly become a race to see who can underbid each other and the focus seems much more on price rather than quality and ensuring the proper fit is found. Tom is right - get an online website happening with a solid demo reel. Some folks choose to focus on 1-2 music styles while others choose to show a great deal of variety. It's really up to you and where your talents lie.

From there start attending conferences, take part in online discussions and network-network-network. After all of that, network some more.

Good luck!

Nate

Thanks for the advice Tom and Nate. I guess I need to organize a portfolio - I have several works already done in varying styles (I am probably going to work on showing the breadth of work rather than to one or two styles). For a music portfolio, should I show 30 seconds of varying pieces of music or should I go for 4-5 pieces of music?

The Sloperama articles look very useful - I am going to have to take my time going through those. Thanks again!

For a music portfolio, should I show 30 seconds of varying pieces of music or should I go for 4-5 pieces of music?

It really depends. For my demo I've chosen to show 3-5 pieces in 30-ish second chunks then crossfade between cues. I treat this as an introduction to me and my work and hold off for full sample cues for later once the client expresses further interest.

Thanks!

nate