The Trap That Most Sound Designers Fall Into
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- Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
- Demo reels and portfolios are plenty useful, but do they matter nearly as much as most people in game audio think?
Well, almost every budding composer and sound designer tends to think that reels are the end-all-be-all when it comes to their career.
They feel like, once they make some magical, perfect demo reel, that people will finally see their value, their worth, and start knocking down their doors to hire them. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.
The audio designers who do focus on their reel to the exclusion of everything else get trapped. They spend all their time working on something they think is important, but ends up barely mattering in comparison to everything else they could have been focusing on.
In this video we dive into the demo reel trap, how to avoid it, and what to focus on while shoring up your portfolio.
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Table of Contents:
0:00 - What Sound Designers Forget About
1:38 - The Demo Reel Trap
3:08 - This Is How to Make Your Reel Work For You
4:06 - When a Reel is Super Important
4:40 - Getting People Interested in You
5:05 - 4 Reminders
5:54 - Getting Feedback On Your Reels
6:23 - DOG!!!!!!!!
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For those who are nervous about reaching out to industry professionals (Like I was when I first started out), I've learned that regardless of how "big" the company is they work for, most of them are really approachable. I'm not saying crash into their DMs like a block party but also don't be afraid to just reach out and say hello. The truth of the matter is, we're all just a bunch of audio nerds who love to talk to other audio nerds.
Excellent point. It's surprisingly easy to get in touch with people in this industry.
Very true. I was quite nervous about asking to just grab a coffee but everyone's been super open. Definitely recommended
@@AkashThakkarAudio well then hi Akash, would love to get in touch with you and ask a couple questions man 👍🤓
Thanks Akash! Very useful and a nice reminder to keep in mind. Have a great day!
Brilliant video! I remember hearing that story about Joshua Bell. I like how you used it here to make your point- there's a time and place for everything.
Thanks Akash. As always, your videos are gems. You are totally right about sharing our work, I didnt think about that LOL.
The most useful videos for me are the ones that the composer or sound design makes music or sounds in real time, really love thar type of video!
Man you truly are a gem to find.
I feel I've became more socially relaxed since I started watching your stuff 3 or 4 years ago. You're a sweetheart for sure.
The sweetheart is you! Thank you so much!!
You are a great story teller! I love how you include an interesting story or trivia piece in every video and tutorial. Great content :3
Thank you so much!
"if no one knows who we are, the odds of anyone wanting to hire us are drastically reduced"
applies so strongly to so many parts of the music industry - it was great to hear you say this, so thanks for another wonderful video you upside down chocolate espresso torte
Thank YOU so much for watching!
Thanks for this! Another great video with very helpful guidance. :)
Thank you so much!!
Hey Akash, your video made me feel bad and great about my methods, back and forth, a lot of times during the course of its six and a half minutes. Emotional rollercoaster career advice. Anyway. Makes sense. Thanks.
Hey any furture people who see this a year late like I did. I found your podcast about a month ago and have been steadily listening to them on my commute to work. Honestly the highlight of my day and I feel so confident to work more towards my audio career goals. I feel that I am the newbie sound designer you speak of in each episode, and I'm excite to hear more of your wisdom!! Thank you for sharing and supporting this awesome community.
Awwwww thanks so much! That means a ton. I'm glad the podcast has been a confidence boost!
Great advice, Akash, as always!
Appreciate it!
I've never been more proud to be a Sound Designer than at 1:44
We're all just the cutest pups.
I get the impression that publicly posted jobs are just clever product placement.
Akash, this is a great video you upsidedown chocolate espresso torte. Keep it up
I'm not necessarily trying to get into audio design (though I do have a podcast hobby). However, I still hesitate to reach out to people I'm interested in knowing because I don't want them to think I just want to know them in order to get a job. Usually, I'm more interested in getting to know them and asking them the odd question now and again.
Good! Ironically you’ll get far more people wanting to talk to you than all the others who are desperate for jobs. Ask good questions and people will respond.
When you talk about "networking" and "making friends", I'm not really sure are you talking just about online presence or in real life also?
Because, some of us are not really living in places where we can make direct contacts in the industry.
Thanks!
Both, ideally! But if you can only do online, read this guide: www.akashthakkar.com/post/find-gigs-online-2020
Hi Akash, thanks for sharing your knowledge and valuable tips. My question is where do I start? Where do I go to meet these people in the industry? I checked the web for the UKbut no luck. Could you point to the right direction please?
Go through my free courses! That's what they're for.
Short answer: Discord, IGDA.com, meetup.com. There's a LOT happening in the UK.
Great video.. Enjoying your channel. Jeez Joshua needs to maybe make his "Several hundred thousand dollar an hour rate" just a tad lower.. He he.
Good advice on demo reels I´m kinda falling for that trap but I do think they are worth doing for the learning experience the sound designer gets.. Just use the best one you have after putting real effort into it as make it original as it can be.
Good advice on networking with people every job I have ever had is through connections although Sound design is a new field for me even though I've been a sound geek and made music for many many years.
I´ll give it a shot!