Thanks for this, Akash. I’ve been struggling with juggling too many things at once, and I think it comes from a scarcity mindset. The fear that if I only commit to one thing, my chances of getting a gig/job are slim. This is a good reminder that this isn’t really case.
I really needed to hear this. When I went to college, I majored in Game Design and minored in Music. Im a big music theory nerd and I always wanted to be a VGM composer. But in school my professors all taught me that I couldn't *just* be a composer. If I wanted to get a job I would need to also know sound design. (None of my game design profs were audio guys btw...) So I put a lot of pressure on myself to learn sound design, which is a *completely different skill*, and to be honest... I'm just not really passionate about it. Like it's cool, but it's not *really* what I want to do. And after a year of applying to jobs as a "composer / sound designer" and never getting past the interview stage, I kinda gave up and accepted that maybe this is just going to be a hobby for me. But this video has me inspired to stop focusing so much on sound design and just work on honing my craft of composing, and then rebrand myself and get back in the ring. I think I've been making this more complicated than it needs to be.
I agree with a lot of what you have to say but I think it's important to recognize that it's not always possible to simply focus on one thing. There are many factors at play: financial privilege, physical proximity to a game dev network, mental barriers such as agoraphobia or fear of crowds. Sometimes you need to do what you need to do in order to survive and sometimes that isn't exactly what you wanted to do. I started trying to break into games back in 2011, just graduating from school. I really wanted to do music specifically and that was it. I got basically no work for 4 years, small piecemeal projects here and there. If I had just stuck with music, I would not have survived. I was only able to because my wife was making enough to support us for a long time. I got a small break in 2015 and 2016 with a couple of big projects but the work didn't continue. I was focusing hard on music making and tried to network as best I could. In that decade, I did a bunch of sound design work, again lots of small projects, but the volume was significantly higher. It was easier to find sound design projects than it was music. Late 2019 I landed my first major AAA gig and that unlocked everything. I love it, I love making sound effects. But I miss making music as frequently as I used to. If I had the finances to be able to focus on music work, I probably would have. I would've spent every ounce of energy I had on making music. 2011 - 2019 was not very kind to me and I had to do what made sense to make ends meet. Which meant focusing on the work I knew could help me pay the bills, sound design. Over the years, I've done less and less music for games. Still do the occasional small project here and there but it's not as much as I would like. I think that is entirely due to what you're saying: the bulk of my impressive work is sound design so I get reached out to for that. I'm happy where I am and a sound design career has given me so much happiness and has enabled me to start a family. If I had stayed in music that likely would not have happened. But I still feel like that part of my life is missing. Here's hoping that I'll find some opportunities to do more music in the future as it just brings me so much joy. I've made it work with the barriers that I've had but I wish I didn't have to 'make it work'. I don't think it's a mistake for me to continue working on music even after I had to make the decision to focus on being a good sound designer. This got kind of ranty but to summarize: I agree that most people should focus on what they love and are good at and make that their focus. At the same time, it's important to acknowledge that sometimes peoples life situations necessitate that they work on things that might not be their preference for one reason or another, it's a privilege to be able to choose what you want to do and focus exactly on that.
I'm at that beginning phase of my career after recently completing a Masters Degree in Videogame Composition and, as Akash mentions, I am having to wear many hats simply to get some work. Most of the opportunities that have come my way have been Sound Design gigs and for now I'm more than happy to pick these up (and I've actually really enjoyed exploring Sound Design more). Varying assignments during my MA meant writing a bunch of music in multiple genres and contexts that has actually resulted in my musical identity failing to really shine through clearly enough in my brand. This video has made me realise I need to dedicate specific time to honing the areas of music I'm passionate about, and bring them to the forefront.
I have an interesting situation where i actually tried to specialize, but projects that i participated in asked me to be a spork. And although my name is not Todd, i do apoligize for the following 30 page diatribe. 😅 So either i do sfx, and a composer leaves mid gig and i have to step in to finish their work, or the lead programmer has no experience working with FMOD API so i have to write my own utility class to integrate with their systems. I really try to be specialized, but every time i get a gig, i have to switch focus, and i end up switching my specialization along with it to keep my momentum and align my growth with my portfolio and expectations it provides. And often times when i am trying to choose people that i want to spend more time working on projects with, i end up choosing other jack of all trades types, because the wide perspective this kind of thing gives makes communication easy and smooth. Besides, when you're starting out, you dont know what niches exist for you to fill, so i just cannot imagine turning down a project just because it doesnt fit your specialization, unless you're willing to up your stakes and risk your time for a potentially even better opportunity later. So i would say, as with all things in life, its both. You need to push yourself to attempt to specialize, to gain a foothold into an area of skill and expertise that others might not be able to bring up without prior effort to establish it, but dont forget to try everything at least once to see what pieces of the grand puzzle of art can you add to your collection of tricks, because when the need arises you will be glad to have them.
This hits me. I always rushing to learn something to the very basics and jump to another thing inmediately just for the sake of knowing all. But it's true that, at the same time, it's a bit necessary at first. Since I'm in college still studying and defining my way I can use this to my advantage but with the north clear: I have to focus in one area as soon as I found what I want. Thank you so much!!!!
College (or early in your career) is the perfect time to just try stuff. You don't need to pick immediately and specialize right away, but don't make the mistake of *never* picking something to get good at - which is what most people do.
I never really considered doing game sounds, but it's something I'd like to look into for sure. Trying to sell regular sounds and field recordings is a bit of a tough market. So many people want everything for free or almost no money, and there's so so many sound packs online these days. Maybe I need to branch out and specialise as you said.
As a Producer/Mix engineer coming into the game audio world now, it's very interesting seeing the approach vs the way things are currently in music industry (where they *want* you to specialize, but the budgets basically always end up meaning that you need to be very good at everything). Suffice to say *before* I was a Producer I was a composer and have been continuing that throughout (nearly 20 years now), so when the time comes to approach people for game audio work, I'm just gonna focus on that area! (Interestingly enough I would definitely say I'm a composer who focuses on single player games, with an emphasis on mood and emotionally driven music with a somber edge).
That said, my audio skills now help me a lot in the core skill I picked over game audio: video editing. You could probably get rid of most of that room reverb with a shotgun mic above you, just out of frame. Also, DaVinci Resolve's voice isolation feature is incredibly good at cleaning up room reverb. I know use it over RX De Reverb almost every time. It's a bit of a Blackbox and all we know is that it uses AI voodoo to isolate a dry vocal, but boy, does it do a good job at it
@@AkashThakkarAudio Awesome! I noticed the change in your videos and they do a great job! Shotguns _can_ be tricky indoors, and some people prefer small diagram condenser mics for vocals. Have a try and see what works best - and thanks for being so active on here again!
I do sound design for money. And learn composing. But fun fact I had at list on finished project for video game as a composer. But I feel like I'm not good enough yet and still try to figure out my role as a composer. For me it's better to be in game development as a sound designer, having connections, understanding the pipeline, see how other composer works . And learn all from that to become better composer. Then work on day job let's say customer support that have noting to the game , and even near its experience.
sometimes i feel like a nerd i dont feel like a dork i feel like a spork in no-bodies droor i can do it all, well enough but not really that good i mean, for me, it works but it gets me no work
this is great - haha needed to hear this. My resume and website both says composer and sound designer. I love writing music but also am very interested in doing music system design - love using Wwise/c# etc. to implement audio. Do you have any recommendations on how to get into that field / is it okay to be both a composer and the one who implements the music?
in your case, being a solid composer who also has strong implementation skills is a much more cohesive fit than a composer/sound designer. unfortunately the amount of postings for music implementation is already pretty small compared to compose, it will require more networking and slowly building up your presence. best of luck!
hey Akash! Thanks for the input. Do you think this also stands for closer related fields, let's say Sound Designer/Field recording artist or Composer/Orchestrator? Or would you, for instance as an audio director, also go for someone who only pitch one expertise? One more thing, which is more related to a previous subject, music composer "jobs" are very rarely posted....as you said in a previous video, you better build relationships with people because when it's posted it's already too late...would you suggest sending a resume in as a composer to gaming companies even if there is no such job posting? will it ever be looked at? thanks again. glad to have found your channel with those good tips (even for composers 🙂)
Great question! If something is very closely related (Sound designer/field recordist or composer/orchestrator) are totally fine to show and advertise. Orchestrating is often a big part of composing, for example, so it's not something that's unexpected. Great question! There's no real reason to send in resumes as a composer to companies (for the most part. There are always exceptions in any circumstance). 99% of people won't bother looking at it, and when it's time to find a composer, they'll hire who they know vs. spending time and money looking at resumes.
Composing a score takes time, and so does sound design. If you're a game producer, you probably want 2 people working in parallel, not 1 taking twice the time.
About the one core skill.. I really love doing sound design, but a lot of places requires you to know implementation as well. I don’t hate implementation, but I’m not nearly as good at it and it’s taking a lot of time from my practice in sound design, just to learn how to implement it correctly into a game engine or in Wwise. There is no way you can only lean towards sound design in the game audio space, right?
You'll have to learn it, but you don't need to master it at all. Learn the basics of Wwise using their free material, and then learn on the job as you go. As you work on smaller indie games and projects, you'll pick up a lot along the way.
Akash, would you say this same concept applies to someone who has decided to focus solely on sound design as their initial core skill, but is interested in doing it for both games and post-production (namely animation/cinematics)?
That's totally fine! You *may* need to choose which you prefer to do eventually, as post-production and games have very different workflows, timelines, tools, and client needs. That being said, I do know some sound designers who manage to do both post and games. They tend to have "seasons" where sometimes they work on games for a bit, and then in post for a bit. One thing to consider is to see what your clients in each category of your work actually want, and make sure you speak to those wants/needs. If clients feel that they're heard and their actual, deeper desires are being met, then you'll be fine.
Thanks for this, Akash. I’ve been struggling with juggling too many things at once, and I think it comes from a scarcity mindset. The fear that if I only commit to one thing, my chances of getting a gig/job are slim.
This is a good reminder that this isn’t really case.
Yes, definitely not the case! Nowadays, the less you do/the more you focus, the more unique you become.
I really needed to hear this. When I went to college, I majored in Game Design and minored in Music. Im a big music theory nerd and I always wanted to be a VGM composer. But in school my professors all taught me that I couldn't *just* be a composer. If I wanted to get a job I would need to also know sound design. (None of my game design profs were audio guys btw...)
So I put a lot of pressure on myself to learn sound design, which is a *completely different skill*, and to be honest... I'm just not really passionate about it. Like it's cool, but it's not *really* what I want to do.
And after a year of applying to jobs as a "composer / sound designer" and never getting past the interview stage, I kinda gave up and accepted that maybe this is just going to be a hobby for me.
But this video has me inspired to stop focusing so much on sound design and just work on honing my craft of composing, and then rebrand myself and get back in the ring. I think I've been making this more complicated than it needs to be.
GOOD LUCK DON'T GIVE UP
wow im literraly in the same position bro. we going to make it
I agree with a lot of what you have to say but I think it's important to recognize that it's not always possible to simply focus on one thing. There are many factors at play: financial privilege, physical proximity to a game dev network, mental barriers such as agoraphobia or fear of crowds. Sometimes you need to do what you need to do in order to survive and sometimes that isn't exactly what you wanted to do.
I started trying to break into games back in 2011, just graduating from school. I really wanted to do music specifically and that was it. I got basically no work for 4 years, small piecemeal projects here and there. If I had just stuck with music, I would not have survived. I was only able to because my wife was making enough to support us for a long time. I got a small break in 2015 and 2016 with a couple of big projects but the work didn't continue. I was focusing hard on music making and tried to network as best I could. In that decade, I did a bunch of sound design work, again lots of small projects, but the volume was significantly higher. It was easier to find sound design projects than it was music. Late 2019 I landed my first major AAA gig and that unlocked everything.
I love it, I love making sound effects. But I miss making music as frequently as I used to. If I had the finances to be able to focus on music work, I probably would have. I would've spent every ounce of energy I had on making music. 2011 - 2019 was not very kind to me and I had to do what made sense to make ends meet. Which meant focusing on the work I knew could help me pay the bills, sound design. Over the years, I've done less and less music for games. Still do the occasional small project here and there but it's not as much as I would like. I think that is entirely due to what you're saying: the bulk of my impressive work is sound design so I get reached out to for that.
I'm happy where I am and a sound design career has given me so much happiness and has enabled me to start a family. If I had stayed in music that likely would not have happened. But I still feel like that part of my life is missing. Here's hoping that I'll find some opportunities to do more music in the future as it just brings me so much joy. I've made it work with the barriers that I've had but I wish I didn't have to 'make it work'. I don't think it's a mistake for me to continue working on music even after I had to make the decision to focus on being a good sound designer.
This got kind of ranty but to summarize: I agree that most people should focus on what they love and are good at and make that their focus. At the same time, it's important to acknowledge that sometimes peoples life situations necessitate that they work on things that might not be their preference for one reason or another, it's a privilege to be able to choose what you want to do and focus exactly on that.
Man, this kinda applies to everything. Being more focused means (generally) you should be better at that thing you're more focused on.
I'm at that beginning phase of my career after recently completing a Masters Degree in Videogame Composition and, as Akash mentions, I am having to wear many hats simply to get some work. Most of the opportunities that have come my way have been Sound Design gigs and for now I'm more than happy to pick these up (and I've actually really enjoyed exploring Sound Design more). Varying assignments during my MA meant writing a bunch of music in multiple genres and contexts that has actually resulted in my musical identity failing to really shine through clearly enough in my brand. This video has made me realise I need to dedicate specific time to honing the areas of music I'm passionate about, and bring them to the forefront.
I have an interesting situation where i actually tried to specialize, but projects that i participated in asked me to be a spork. And although my name is not Todd, i do apoligize for the following 30 page diatribe. 😅
So either i do sfx, and a composer leaves mid gig and i have to step in to finish their work, or the lead programmer has no experience working with FMOD API so i have to write my own utility class to integrate with their systems. I really try to be specialized, but every time i get a gig, i have to switch focus, and i end up switching my specialization along with it to keep my momentum and align my growth with my portfolio and expectations it provides. And often times when i am trying to choose people that i want to spend more time working on projects with, i end up choosing other jack of all trades types, because the wide perspective this kind of thing gives makes communication easy and smooth. Besides, when you're starting out, you dont know what niches exist for you to fill, so i just cannot imagine turning down a project just because it doesnt fit your specialization, unless you're willing to up your stakes and risk your time for a potentially even better opportunity later.
So i would say, as with all things in life, its both. You need to push yourself to attempt to specialize, to gain a foothold into an area of skill and expertise that others might not be able to bring up without prior effort to establish it, but dont forget to try everything at least once to see what pieces of the grand puzzle of art can you add to your collection of tricks, because when the need arises you will be glad to have them.
This hits me. I always rushing to learn something to the very basics and jump to another thing inmediately just for the sake of knowing all. But it's true that, at the same time, it's a bit necessary at first. Since I'm in college still studying and defining my way I can use this to my advantage but with the north clear: I have to focus in one area as soon as I found what I want. Thank you so much!!!!
best of luck! yes college is a perfect time to experiment and figure out what works best for you
Thank you! ❤ :)
College (or early in your career) is the perfect time to just try stuff. You don't need to pick immediately and specialize right away, but don't make the mistake of *never* picking something to get good at - which is what most people do.
Don’t judge me and my array of sporks 🥲
Well said! I tell my students the same thing.
I never really considered doing game sounds, but it's something I'd like to look into for sure. Trying to sell regular sounds and field recordings is a bit of a tough market. So many people want everything for free or almost no money, and there's so so many sound packs online these days. Maybe I need to branch out and specialise as you said.
For a person in a completely different industry and career path, it still makes total sense! Thanks for the video :)
As a Producer/Mix engineer coming into the game audio world now, it's very interesting seeing the approach vs the way things are currently in music industry (where they *want* you to specialize, but the budgets basically always end up meaning that you need to be very good at everything). Suffice to say *before* I was a Producer I was a composer and have been continuing that throughout (nearly 20 years now), so when the time comes to approach people for game audio work, I'm just gonna focus on that area! (Interestingly enough I would definitely say I'm a composer who focuses on single player games, with an emphasis on mood and emotionally driven music with a somber edge).
Man, I miss summertime in Seattle. And this is the video for me...thanks, Akash!
That said, my audio skills now help me a lot in the core skill I picked over game audio: video editing. You could probably get rid of most of that room reverb with a shotgun mic above you, just out of frame. Also, DaVinci Resolve's voice isolation feature is incredibly good at cleaning up room reverb. I know use it over RX De Reverb almost every time. It's a bit of a Blackbox and all we know is that it uses AI voodoo to isolate a dry vocal, but boy, does it do a good job at it
Yes! I have a new videographer so we're working on getting that shotgun mic back with multiple angles worked in.
@@AkashThakkarAudio Awesome! I noticed the change in your videos and they do a great job! Shotguns _can_ be tricky indoors, and some people prefer small diagram condenser mics for vocals. Have a try and see what works best - and thanks for being so active on here again!
Todd was just chilling 😆
I do sound design for money. And learn composing. But fun fact I had at list on finished project for video game as a composer. But I feel like I'm not good enough yet and still try to figure out my role as a composer. For me it's better to be in game development as a sound designer, having connections, understanding the pipeline, see how other composer works . And learn all from that to become better composer. Then work on day job let's say customer support that have noting to the game , and even near its experience.
Appreciate your content, good points! Thank you! :)
sometimes i feel like a nerd
i dont feel like a dork
i feel like a spork
in no-bodies droor
i can do it all, well enough
but not really that good
i mean, for me, it works
but it gets me no work
this is great - haha needed to hear this. My resume and website both says composer and sound designer. I love writing music but also am very interested in doing music system design - love using Wwise/c# etc. to implement audio. Do you have any recommendations on how to get into that field / is it okay to be both a composer and the one who implements the music?
@@AntonStruzik Thanks so much for listening :)
in your case, being a solid composer who also has strong implementation skills is a much more cohesive fit than a composer/sound designer. unfortunately the amount of postings for music implementation is already pretty small compared to compose, it will require more networking and slowly building up your presence. best of luck!
@@petersonnormil6799 Thanks for the insights! I think the time for a rebrand is coming soon :)
hey Akash! Thanks for the input. Do you think this also stands for closer related fields, let's say Sound Designer/Field recording artist or Composer/Orchestrator? Or would you, for instance as an audio director, also go for someone who only pitch one expertise?
One more thing, which is more related to a previous subject, music composer "jobs" are very rarely posted....as you said in a previous video, you better build relationships with people because when it's posted it's already too late...would you suggest sending a resume in as a composer to gaming companies even if there is no such job posting? will it ever be looked at? thanks again. glad to have found your channel with those good tips (even for composers 🙂)
Great question! If something is very closely related (Sound designer/field recordist or composer/orchestrator) are totally fine to show and advertise. Orchestrating is often a big part of composing, for example, so it's not something that's unexpected.
Great question! There's no real reason to send in resumes as a composer to companies (for the most part. There are always exceptions in any circumstance). 99% of people won't bother looking at it, and when it's time to find a composer, they'll hire who they know vs. spending time and money looking at resumes.
@@AkashThakkarAudio thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. much appreciated.
Composing a score takes time, and so does sound design. If you're a game producer, you probably want 2 people working in parallel, not 1 taking twice the time.
Nailed it.
Akash, your videos seem to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?
Excellent advice alert 👍
About the one core skill.. I really love doing sound design, but a lot of places requires you to know implementation as well. I don’t hate implementation, but I’m not nearly as good at it and it’s taking a lot of time from my practice in sound design, just to learn how to implement it correctly into a game engine or in Wwise. There is no way you can only lean towards sound design in the game audio space, right?
You'll have to learn it, but you don't need to master it at all. Learn the basics of Wwise using their free material, and then learn on the job as you go. As you work on smaller indie games and projects, you'll pick up a lot along the way.
Akash, would you say this same concept applies to someone who has decided to focus solely on sound design as their initial core skill, but is interested in doing it for both games and post-production (namely animation/cinematics)?
That's totally fine! You *may* need to choose which you prefer to do eventually, as post-production and games have very different workflows, timelines, tools, and client needs.
That being said, I do know some sound designers who manage to do both post and games. They tend to have "seasons" where sometimes they work on games for a bit, and then in post for a bit.
One thing to consider is to see what your clients in each category of your work actually want, and make sure you speak to those wants/needs. If clients feel that they're heard and their actual, deeper desires are being met, then you'll be fine.
Seattle one of my favorites city)
It's a wonderful place to be!