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The Essence of Games

  • Yuteng Wang
  • Jun 20, 2016
  • 4 min read

Most people nowadays play games and relish the experience of the addicting entertainment, but many people don’t realize that there is an aspect in games that make them so much more emotional. That aspect is music. As players get caught up in the moment, the music in the game intensifies their feelings and makes the scene much more realistic. Don’t believe me? Play your favorite game and mute the sound and music. It won’t feel the same, and instead, it will feel a lot more flat and bland. There’s no sad music when a character dies, there’s no suspenseful music in horror games foreshadowing events, and in general, it just dulls the game.

The Bulldog Brief got in touch with Mr. Akash Thakkar, a game music composer, (courtesy of the Seattle Film Institute) to talk about game music. Mr. Thakkar got inspired at the tender age of three by the NES game Mega Man III. While playing the game, he noticed that he was latching on to the music more than the actual gameplay. Of course, he still loves games, but it's the music that drives him. He said that he wants to create that emotional feeling that he got while playing games for other people through music. This led to him wanting to become a game music composer, as he is today.

You might be wondering how music in games is different from general music. According to Mr. Thakkar, music is supposed to match the emotion and scene within the game, and also has to fit like lego blocks to be interactive with the player. Also, making this music is very complicated. The music is made with modern recording technology, computer programs, a variety of instruments, and practice. Mr. Thakkar says that you have to write a lot of music everyday to become good and also listen to music to hear the styles. Sometimes the developers of the game will give the composers a sample of the style of music they want for scenes and the composer implements those styles into their own music. But that isn’t always the case, as the developers don’t usually use musical terms to describe what they want. They don’t always give the composer a good explanation of what they want, so the composers sometimes have to wing it. If they want a better description though, they can talk to the developers and agree on similar non musical terms. For example, if the director wants a sad tone of music, the composer might consider adding some styles from the blues genre of music. The composer and the director then have to agree on common terminology to avoid disagreeing ideas.

Music in games always seems so complicated and intricate to the point of where you wonder if one person truly can compose that. But we as the audience and consumers of the game don’t see the countless number of failures and trashed samples that the composers go through. They go with the flow and eventually, with enough tweaking, it becomes something that meets their expectations. Thakkar says, “Every successful composer, even like John Williams, if you ask them if they know what they're doing, they’ll say no.” He himself feels blocks in his job everyday and says that the key to overcoming those blockades is to wing it. You have to write music everyday and according to Thakkar, “If you’re writing garbage, great, you’re doing it right. If you hate it, you’re doing it right because you need to get all that [garbage] out of you.” Mr. Thakkar also says that the industry of game music doesn’t really require any special education, and if you can learn every day from books, videos, or a good teacher, you can get yourself a good path without having to go to a special school. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need to have any musical skill, experience or learning, it just means that you can train yourself in how you see fit. According to Mr. Thakkar, there are great composers for games who don’t even know how to read music. They can barely play an instrument but they compose entirely by ear. This skill is quite common in the game music industry and can lead to the composers being very successful with enough of the proper training. Another key to being a game music composer is to play and listen to games. That is essential to being a good composer and you should make time in your day to play games.

There is a common misconception in the game industry that if you go to school and work really hard, you’ll get a good job. That isn’t true anymore as you also need to possess creativity in order to become great. Networking is another key component in the game music industry and other jobs, as putting yourself out there with the right people will help you a lot in the real world. Thakkar says that talent can only get you so far. If you can’t be outgoing or express your ideas and meet people, you still will be unemployed even if you have massive amounts of talent.

If you want to learn more about game music or want to pursue this as a future career, go to Thakkar’s website at http://akashthakkar.com/ or visit his youtube channel at Akash Thakkar. He has many videos, including a Ted Talk about game music, which are very informative and instructional. Lastly, thank you to the Seattle Film Institute for putting us in touch with Mr. Thakkar. This article would not have been possible without their help and you can visit their website at http://www.seattlefilminstitute.com/ to find out more.

 
 
 

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