The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, and Game Developers (Paperback)

Turn your musical passion into a profitable career with this essential guide to the business and technical skills you need to succeed in the multi-billion dollar games industry. Step-by-step instructions lead you through the entire music and sound effects process ?from developing the essential skills and purchasing the right equipment to keeping your clients happy. Learn everything you need to:

Find the jobs. Identify your niche, implement a business and marketing plan that includes a great demo reel, and plug into the established network to find clients.

Make the deals. Make the bidding and contract process work for you by knowing the standard industry terminology, understanding how to set fees, and employing non- confrontational negotiating tactics to reach sound agreements that establish acceptable boundaries for change orders, reworks, payment options, and other essentials.

Create music and sound effects for games. Master the exacting specifications for composing music and creating sound effects on the various gaming platforms and systems.

The companion CD-ROM features audio and cinematic examples, demos of useful sound editing and sequencing programs, and sample business contracts.

Table of Contents

Forward

Chapter 1    An Introduction to Game Audio

• Insert Quarter Here
• The Bleeps and Bloops of Yesteryear
• Where Sound is Now
• Where Sound is Going
• Chances of Finding Work
• The Rewards
• Let's Go Get 'em

Chapter 2    Essential Skill Sets and Tools

• Important Skills
• Tools of the Trade
• Preparing Your Studio for Surround Sound

Chapter 3    Getting Organized and Ready for Business

• Understanding the Business of Game Composing
• Composing vs. Sound Design
• In-house Audio vs. Independent Contractor
• Audio Demo Reel
• Determining Your Costs
• Organization is Key

Chapter 4    Finding and Getting the Jobs

• Marketing
• Where to Look for Clients
• Finding Your Niche
• Networking Basics

Chapter 5    The Bidding Process

• How Much Do You Charge?
• Let's Play 20 Questions
• Asking the Right Questions
• Pre-Production Made Simple
• Contract Payment Options
• Speculative Demos
• The Bid Submission
• There is Still More

Chapter 6    Making the Deals

• Understanding Industry Contracts and Terminology
• Negotiable Contract Points
• Negotiating Negotiations
• Change Orders and Reworks
• Sample Agreements and Contracts
• Conclusion

Chapter 7    Setting the Stage

• Company Liaisons
• Meetings with the Game Development Team
• Pre-compositional Considerations
• 'Gotchas' and Other Things to Watch Out For
• Conclusion

Chapter 8    Creating Music for Games

• Game Music Varieties
• Exercises to Create Fitting Game Music
• Some Technical Considerations
• Musical Details to Reconsider
• Compositional Methods
• Recording Methods
• Editing Music
• Conversions

Chapter 9    Creating Sound Effects for Games

• The Creative Aspects of Sound Design
• Types of Sound Design
• Editing Methods
• Sound Design in the Production Cycle
• Specific Sound Design Questions to Answer
• Determining Necessary Sounds
• Creating Original Sound Effects that Fit
• Presenting the Final Work
• Conclusion

Chapter 10    Blending the Total Soundscape

• Maintaining Consistency in Production with Audio Elements
• Quality Control
• Conclusion

Chapter 11    Game Platforms and Their Audio Development Issues

• Sony PlayStation 2
• Nintendo GameCube
• Microsoft Xbox
• CD-ROM Games
• Web-based Games - Java and Flash
• GameBoy Advanced
• Coin-Op Games
• Conclusion

Chapter 12    For the Developer

• Understanding Sound
• Working with Contractors
• Getting to Work
• The Next Step
• Production Nightmares
• Conclusion

Chapter 13 Game Over? Not Hardly

Appendix A The Grammy's and Other Game Audio Awards

Index