Awesome video! For people interested in starting out and might not have much experience, i would recommend checking out various Game Jams as well. This is a great way to dip your toes into creating music and sound effects for games on a small scale. You quickly get to know the basics of game engines and even middleware if you so desire. You get to meet lots of great people from all over the world and make new friends along the way; some of who probably will need a composer when they start creating bigger games. There are online Game Jams going on all the time, big and small. Very easy to find by googling or going on Discord. Mini Jam, Global Game Jam, Ludum Dare, Brackeys etc etc.
That's great to hear! I remember working on Mods back then and it also played a major part of getting into it. After couple of tries on a few mods we back then finally hit a release with Nuclear Dawn which is still available on Steam after all these years :D
I am incredibly passionate about video games. I am not interested in composing music at the moment someday I intend to give it a try. What I really like is Graphics design and computer programming. I say people should just do what they love even if it's not for work if nothing else you get satisfaction from doing it.
What a fantastic insight! I'm at the early stages of my career, looking to branch into video game composition, and I think I'm going to do exactly as you've outlined! Writing 30 seconds of music multiple times for different games is a great way to apply to indie companies, and if nothing comes of it, you're still adding these short pieces to your portfolio which will again help further down the line. Thanks a lot for this!
Thanks for the tips Alex. I absolutely love Dynamedion music for Anno 1800, I hope you participated in the project because I am looking for the names of performers of one of the vocal parts of the soundtrack that I am so heavily inspired by :) Regarding games music, I've been involved in some indie projects before but I never took the opportunities that were available in full seriousness as I was focusing on a non-music career. Fast forward 6 years, I decided I can't live without making music on a daily basis so I'm restarting my video game composing aspirations :)
I still remember playing Anno 1404 as a small child, and being in love with that soundtrack. I was so exited when I found out you were one of the composers!!!
Like, of course. Thanks for these tips! I am very interested to know how you make a living, what exactly is more? How to live and not worry about having enough for everything, while doing something interesting to you. It seems to me that over the years that you have been working, you have gained some experience.
Thank you so much, I actually made a little course, a guide but also a little free document that you can download when signing up for my mailing list. You may want to check the video description and look for the free cheatsheet :) If you have any questions you can contact me any time!
Vielen Dank für diese hilfreichen und detaillierten Tips. Ich stehe am (Wieder-)Anfang weiß aber wo die Reise hingehen soll :) Freue mich immer wenn Du wieder ein neues Video veröffentlichst.
That email template 🤯. Alex Moukala is awesome too. I’ll do a video on some of my favorite online composers and music knowledge sharers like Christian Henson, Christopher Siu, Steven Melin, Guy Mitchelmore, you. lol.
I have a question for you: I can’t find ANY assistance in becoming a studio musician. Everything I find is about becoming a composer. I don’t want to compose, I want to play my sax for videogame soundtracks. How can I get my foot in the door? Tons of high quality samples and recordings of my own, and I have studio and live show experience. How can I take the next step here?
Hey James, you can always contact me and we can work out a strategy. Besides that you simply have to make use of the social networks of choice and deliver content on a consistent basis. I am not talking about recording or doing a few videos once in a while and then drop the ball after a few days. I am talking of working hard on this for at least a year. You will see astonishing results. Are you in for that?
@@AlexPfeffer I’m down for that! Just let me know what I need to do! What is the best way I can contact you? Thank you so much for getting back to me by the way!
how can i become a videogame composer in college? what majors? I'm in my last year of highschool, and I am interested in game design, making game art and music.
To be really honest, I am not sure how to become a video game composer in college. Even IF this would be possible you won't get any gigs only because you studied this in college. In the end it doesn't matter if college, self-learned or additional lessons, the most important is that YOU are willing to really dig into becoming a video game composer. Everything else doesn't matter.
Dear Alex, thank you for your insight. I have never worked with a program as FMOD - and I fear that this is a must to be able to work with an interesting company. How should I start with, for example fmod - without a game in which fmod is integrated? I hope the question does not sound too naive - but I could not get a real answer for that till now. Thank you for your time & all the best, Adam
Thanks Adam, to be honest during my entire work on video games which is basically the entire 15 years of being a composer I have never touched a single instance of FMOd or Wwise. I perfectly know that IF I have to use it for a project I would do all to learn it but so far this has been never the case. However, it is important to know which kind tracks you have to write. If something has to be loopable or contains several layers etc.
Alex, would it be too much to ask NOT to post videos at 60 frames per second? I don't think it serves any purpose for these videos, and only increases bandwidth usage, and makes streaming to my Chromecast impossible. Thanks! :)
Hey Clay, I am sorry you are experiencing trouble, but I don't constantly don't want to switch between gaming stream and video stream/recording settings and then get in trouble when I keep forgetting to switch profiles or anything. Wouldn't it work better if you reduce the quality a bit in the video settings?
Do you need to actualy play and like to play with such video games? (Last time I've played a video game it was on a NES in the 80's, which I gave to the son of my partner of the time...)
Hmm, do you need to watch movies to work for them? Do you need to watch trailers to know what is going on? I think the answer should be obvious. Even more, video game music is the most complex form of writing music, ... if ones plan would be to just make it for the money, you would be out in no time.
@@AlexPfeffer I'd take it one step further: if you love games and love writing music, it's a good bet to try out writing music for games. If you don't - why should you?
@@AlexPfeffer It was not a question about making money but actualy you gave the reply I suspected. And it's entirely my problem, I love to compose, for any media, but even if I tried them in the past I was never realy interested in video games. Maybe I should try again with the modern ones, with better stories, a better look? All I know is "streetfighter", "tomb raider" from 20 years ago and "supermario". I presume things are more interesting now.
@@denovaire See my reply above and: It's not so strange: For me any media, any story, book, movie, ballet, poem, etc..., can be inspiring. But I've never enjoyed to actualy play, with a joystick in front of a screen for hours, to such game. And I'm quite sure some of their stories and universes can be interesting and inspiring.
Thanks for the huge shoutout my dude!!
Really appreciate it :)
You're more than welcome man! Keep on rocking and thanks for your comment! :)
yoooo wasssup
@@mikuchibeats2458 Yoooo!
Awesome video!
For people interested in starting out and might not have much experience, i would recommend checking out various Game Jams as well. This is a great way to dip your toes into creating music and sound effects for games on a small scale. You quickly get to know the basics of game engines and even middleware if you so desire. You get to meet lots of great people from all over the world and make new friends along the way; some of who probably will need a composer when they start creating bigger games. There are online Game Jams going on all the time, big and small. Very easy to find by googling or going on Discord. Mini Jam, Global Game Jam, Ludum Dare, Brackeys etc etc.
Thanks so much for that valuable information! :)
The mods tip is true, i have applied and got in 3 years ago, and we released even a soundtrack for our mod.
That's great to hear! I remember working on Mods back then and it also played a major part of getting into it. After couple of tries on a few mods we back then finally hit a release with Nuclear Dawn which is still available on Steam after all these years :D
I am incredibly passionate about video games. I am not interested in composing music at the moment someday I intend to give it a try. What I really like is Graphics design and computer programming. I say people should just do what they love even if it's not for work if nothing else you get satisfaction from doing it.
Awesome! Thank you for the tips. I'm just getting into game composing and will apply these methods.
What a fantastic insight! I'm at the early stages of my career, looking to branch into video game composition, and I think I'm going to do exactly as you've outlined!
Writing 30 seconds of music multiple times for different games is a great way to apply to indie companies, and if nothing comes of it, you're still adding these short pieces to your portfolio which will again help further down the line.
Thanks a lot for this!
Thank you Damian, all the best to you!
Thanks for the tips Alex. I absolutely love Dynamedion music for Anno 1800, I hope you participated in the project because I am looking for the names of performers of one of the vocal parts of the soundtrack that I am so heavily inspired by :)
Regarding games music, I've been involved in some indie projects before but I never took the opportunities that were available in full seriousness as I was focusing on a non-music career. Fast forward 6 years, I decided I can't live without making music on a daily basis so I'm restarting my video game composing aspirations :)
Hey Mirza, great to hear! Good luck to you! Actually, I worked on Anno 1404 :)
@@AlexPfeffer All Anno games had awesome music. I didn't know you were part of the series. Respect! :)
@@mirzaaljic Thank you!! :)
Great info. I’ll be coming back to this video to help look for projects once I get some game packs out there.
Thanks Mike! :)
Great video Alex! Really liked the "write 30s music" approach.
Thank you! :)
Awesome insights Alex. I'd also suggest taking part on Game jams. Its a great way to learn the specifics of composing for games.
Thank you! Yes, it is actually never wrong to appear somewhere in flesh and blood :D
I still remember playing Anno 1404 as a small child, and being in love with that soundtrack. I was so exited when I found out you were one of the composers!!!
Thank you so much!! :)
Rejection is the first step towards success..
thanks for such wonderful video alex..
by the way i like the background music :)
Thank you for checking my vid! :)
very helpful, Alex. thanks!
Ayyy yes I needed this! Thanks Alex
Thank you for checking it out!
You rock Alex! Thanks for the great content
Very inspiring, not only for music composers...
Thank you!
Like, of course. Thanks for these tips! I am very interested to know how you make a living, what exactly is more? How to live and not worry about having enough for everything, while doing something interesting to you. It seems to me that over the years that you have been working, you have gained some experience.
Thank you so much, I actually made a little course, a guide but also a little free document that you can download when signing up for my mailing list. You may want to check the video description and look for the free cheatsheet :) If you have any questions you can contact me any time!
Gutes Tutorial gemacht, der Herr.Weiter so.
haha, danke Dir! :)
Vielen Dank für diese hilfreichen und detaillierten Tips. Ich stehe am (Wieder-)Anfang weiß aber wo die Reise hingehen soll :) Freue mich immer wenn Du wieder ein neues Video veröffentlichst.
Vielen Dank Martin!
That email template 🤯. Alex Moukala is awesome too. I’ll do a video on some of my favorite online composers and music knowledge sharers like Christian Henson, Christopher Siu, Steven Melin, Guy Mitchelmore, you. lol.
Wow thanks so much man, I am honored! :)
Alex Pfeffer no problem. Your stuff is awesome man! Thank you!
@@dafingaz *hugs*
Hey Alex - thanks so much for this. Really got me thinking..
Thank you, you are more than welcome. Let me know if you got any questions! :)
Will definitely give this a go, thanks Alex, invaluable information! :)
Thanks Rene, good luck!
Glad I found your channel bro! Very very helpful info! Keep it up!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾
Thank you so much!
Thank you Alex!
... and thank you! :)
Very informative. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks and you're welcome! :)
Great video Alex, few useful advices can change big bad habits. Now I have to work on mine :)
Thank you so much! All the best to you! :)
Thank you Alex .!
No, thank you for watching! :)
Thank you for this video.. really inspiring.
Thank you so much for checking out my video! :)
nice one. cool title anims as well :)
Thank you!
THANKS MAN FOR BEINGG AWESOME
Thank you for watching!
Well no need to thank me, I should be the one thanking you ❤️ I will be very grateful if you check my mail I sent you
I have a question for you:
I can’t find ANY assistance in becoming a studio musician. Everything I find is about becoming a composer. I don’t want to compose, I want to play my sax for videogame soundtracks. How can I get my foot in the door? Tons of high quality samples and recordings of my own, and I have studio and live show experience. How can I take the next step here?
Hey James, you can always contact me and we can work out a strategy. Besides that you simply have to make use of the social networks of choice and deliver content on a consistent basis. I am not talking about recording or doing a few videos once in a while and then drop the ball after a few days. I am talking of working hard on this for at least a year. You will see astonishing results. Are you in for that?
@@AlexPfeffer I’m down for that!
Just let me know what I need to do!
What is the best way I can contact you?
Thank you so much for getting back to me by the way!
@@HBSaxMachine You can contact me any time at alex at alexpfeffer dot co (not com)
how can i become a videogame composer in college? what majors? I'm in my last year of highschool, and I am interested in game design, making game art and music.
To be really honest, I am not sure how to become a video game composer in college. Even IF this would be possible you won't get any gigs only because you studied this in college. In the end it doesn't matter if college, self-learned or additional lessons, the most important is that YOU are willing to really dig into becoming a video game composer. Everything else doesn't matter.
Dear Alex, thank you for your insight. I have never worked with a program as FMOD - and I fear that this is a must to be able to work with an interesting company. How should I start with, for example fmod - without a game in which fmod is integrated? I hope the question does not sound too naive - but I could not get a real answer for that till now. Thank you for your time & all the best, Adam
Thanks Adam, to be honest during my entire work on video games which is basically the entire 15 years of being a composer I have never touched a single instance of FMOd or Wwise. I perfectly know that IF I have to use it for a project I would do all to learn it but so far this has been never the case. However, it is important to know which kind tracks you have to write. If something has to be loopable or contains several layers etc.
Alex, would it be too much to ask NOT to post videos at 60 frames per second? I don't think it serves any purpose for these videos, and only increases bandwidth usage, and makes streaming to my Chromecast impossible. Thanks! :)
Hey Clay, I am sorry you are experiencing trouble, but I don't constantly don't want to switch between gaming stream and video stream/recording settings and then get in trouble when I keep forgetting to switch profiles or anything. Wouldn't it work better if you reduce the quality a bit in the video settings?
@@AlexPfeffer Roger. Thanks.
If I wudda had this ....when I was about maybe 20.... I'd probably be a billionaire right now....😆😜
xD I know THAT quote!
Do you need to actualy play and like to play with such video games?
(Last time I've played a video game it was on a NES in the 80's, which I gave to the son of my partner of the time...)
why do you want to write music for games, if you do not play? strange
Hmm, do you need to watch movies to work for them? Do you need to watch trailers to know what is going on? I think the answer should be obvious. Even more, video game music is the most complex form of writing music, ... if ones plan would be to just make it for the money, you would be out in no time.
@@AlexPfeffer I'd take it one step further: if you love games and love writing music, it's a good bet to try out writing music for games. If you don't - why should you?
@@AlexPfeffer It was not a question about making money but actualy you gave the reply I suspected.
And it's entirely my problem, I love to compose, for any media, but even if I tried them in the past I was never realy interested in video games.
Maybe I should try again with the modern ones, with better stories, a better look?
All I know is "streetfighter", "tomb raider" from 20 years ago and "supermario". I presume things are more interesting now.
@@denovaire See my reply above and:
It's not so strange:
For me any media, any story, book, movie, ballet, poem, etc..., can be inspiring.
But I've never enjoyed to actualy play, with a joystick in front of a screen for hours, to such game. And I'm quite sure some of their stories and universes can be interesting and inspiring.