Music for Games, Films, and other Visuals

The film and video game industries have long been an exciting area for accomplished musicians, composers and performers to work in. I have been fortunate to spend most of my career working with sound and music for visual medias. Music technology has changed drastically since I first arrived at Berklee as a student in 1986, but the need for great music and sound is still the same. Today’s composers and sound designers have an incredible wealth of resources but they still need an aesthetic sensibility that molds their skill and talent to a project. Writing in a team setting is very different than pouring out your heart and soul in a song. Both equally as rewarding, but very different processes.

The scientific community is just now discovering how our brains react to sound, but anyone working in new media knows instinctually how we “hear”. Intellectually we can plan and push buttons, but in the end, it is our emotional sense that determines what we produce. That is what makes this work so rewarding, when you hit the emotion just right and it all comes together. Music and sound making the experience more full and deep than the visuals alone, having the ability to collaborate with other great creative artists and performers, and so much more.

If you know me, you know I don’t like to talk in a vacuum. If you have an opinion (even if you don’t agree with me!) I’d love to hear it. I’m looking forward to sharing information and exchanging ideas on this new world that is forming around us. My feeling is that the future is bright for those of us involved in music and sound. I see great opportunities in all that is taking shape in the world.

JC