Music for Games, Films, and other Visuals

I was catching up on my reading the other day and I ran across an article that I had bookmarked months ago. I’m not one to wax philosophical, but some of the comments and observations made are worth pointing out. As it is with most people who have a connection to the video game industry, I am constantly challenged about the validity and societal implications of video games. This article speaks to those questions and challenges the industry to continue to strive to be “better”.

The best quote of all comes from Jane McGonigal, ARG designer

the four key elements of happiness:

• having satisfying work to do
• the experience of being good at something
• time spent with people we like
• having a chance to be part of something bigger

The world is most certainly changing in a positive direction when that conversation is happening among video game developers.

I made the plunge today. After months of drooling over applications and features. I think it went well, but only time will tell. I’ve been needing to run things like BootCamp, and OmniGraffle Pro… and I’ve really been stymied with OS 10.4. So… I ordered a new hard drive for my laptop and installed it Friday night. I know, I know, exciting weekend fun!

(I’ve been running 10.5 on my desktop Mac Pro machine since PT HD was released)

Well, long story short… I am now running OS 10.5.2 on the primary partition of my laptop (shh… don’t tell Berklee, we’re not moving forward on 10.5 right now, for one thing ProTools LE is not yet compatible!). I also have a Windows Vista partition (scary I know but I’ve already got a real pc running XP so I thought I’d go out on a limb!). The third partition is carrying my old OS 10.4 material which makes it easy to be Berklee institution certified!

One weekend and I have a new bounce in my step! Spring has never felt better! I have had so much fun poking around 10.5 and all of the new applications available. WOW! I also installed the VMWare tool so I can run that BootCamp Windows partition while still working in OS X! Many of you will remember the old days of running Virtual PC and other emulation tools. I’m sorry, don’t cry. Those days were full of promise yet in reality caused much pain and suffering (as well as too many of us staring at our computers while the incredibly slow process of opening a document or application was performed.)

This new world of OS 10.5, BootCamp and VMWare could very well be the world we wished we had back in the 1990’s. I’ll check in with my progress as I move foreward, but right now, things seem to be working very well and the promise of a Mac/PC collaboration might very well be the outcome!

learn network inspire

Those are the three words on the GDC pamphlets. Very simple words, but with so much meaning…

It is a lovely day in San Francisco today! Not because it is warm and sunny (it isn’t) but rather…. it is the first day of the Game Developers Conference! I had the chance to sit in on some great conversations about education and games offered as part of the 2 day summit on game education by the IGDA.

The morning sessions started with an impassioned plea to do it right. Our job as educators is not to train our students for a specific job when they leave our school, but rather to build a student’s knowledge base and their critical/independent thinking. In the music world you might think of it as teaching a musician how to approach sight reading as opposed to trying to teach the musician every single piece of music they might ever be called upon to play.

I love the GDC slogan. Learn, Network, Inspire. It is perfect in this day and age. We all can bear to learn more, of course, that means we have to look at exactly where we spend our time. None of us has the ability to learn everything about everything we are interested in. Susan Rogers, from McGill University, compares it to science. Back when Leonardo DaVinci was learning about science there was a small set of known truths. He really was able to master most of what was known at that time. Now things are different. Not only in science where researchers can spend a lifetime on the smallest of details, but also in music. I can’t, as someone who studies drums for instance, be a master of all styles. I can not master the playing styles of Vic Firth on timpani, Evelyn Glennie on percussion AND John Bonham on set. I must choose where to spend my time and energy.

Network. Some might think this is a hard sell for students, but in reality it might be the one thing that separates a great student from a great job. In every industry, networking is a part of the process. You can be the most talented “fill in your own blank here” but if no one knows about you it doesn’t matter. Networking is a part of the modern life. There are so many opportunities that come up through a network of professionals. Being a part of that network will help to put you in the right place at the right time.

Inspire. Great art has to come from somewhere. Great artists are inspired. The videogame industry is one of the few remaining places where great artists are rewarded when they are inspired. It is also a place where creative people inspire other creative people. Teamwork and collaboration are the foundation of great games. That very same teamwork and collaboration helps one artist inspire another.

A wonderful set of three words, meant for the modern world.

learn network inspire

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