What the composer of Ori and the Blind Forest and Halo Infinite taught me about making music for games.

Jason Graves is a game audio veteran with numerous AAA titles under his belt including Dead Space and Tomb Raider (2013)

Eric Buchholz is a talented composer and orchestrator who offered a glimpse into his illustratious career as well as valuable orchestration principles.

Sydney Kjerstad is a talented pianist, arranger, entrepreneur and VGM geek with tons of arrangement and business wisdom. Listen to our conversation now.

Tom is an ASCAP winning and MTV VMA-nominated composer who’s been in the biz for a long time and has an impressive list of both TV and game credits including PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Red Steel 1 and 2, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Prince of Persia, Wolfenstein Youngblood, and the Halo Anniversary Edition soundtracks. 


In our conversation we discussed the importance of having an R&D period in your mind before you begin composing, what he calls the “sandbox” phase of composing, where he allows himself to just play, incidentally sort of tricking himself into composing (this is a huge pro-tip for composers, you don’t wanna miss this).

He also offers some really practical advice for building meaningful relationships in the game audio space.

As all my guests always do, Tom brought a ton of value to me personally and whether you’re just starting out making music for games, or you’re a seasoned pro, I guarantee you’ll find something helpful in this conversation.


Resources from Tom:

• Tom's website


• Tom's SoundCloud


• Tom's TEDxTalk

Daniel Koestner is a newcomer to the game audio space, but his style draws influences from some unusual places and culminates in a sound unlike anything else.

He composed the soundtrack to the lovable indie game, Donut County. The playful vibe of his music sends up folk artists like Sufjan Stevens and Beirut with the rhythms of lo-fi hip-hop and producers like J. Dilla. 

He shared some really valuable info on how he's gotten gigs by going above and beyond with clients, the details of his creative process, and his self-imposed constraints (like insisting on making his own samples).

I highly recommend checking out the Donut County OST for some succulent jams. You can find it on Spotify, iTunes, or Youtube. 

Enjoy the conversation!

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Nathan Madsen is a seasoned game audio composer with years of experience in both in-house and freelance roles. We chatted about best practices in landing gigs, the pros and cons of freelance vs. in-house work, and how to balance a family with VGM ambitions.

He's got a real heart for mentorship and helping other composers succeed, aided no doubt by his previous work as a school teacher.

You can learn more about him and hear some of the fantastic music he's made at his website here.

Also, check out his vlog on game audio here.

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Chad Seiter is a game composer that I met at the recent VGMCon in Minneapolis, MN. He's an experienced and really humble dude that shared a lot of his own experiences, both personal and professional.

We talked about some of the lessons he learned from studying under renowned composer Michael Giacchino, how he faced some of his personal demons by making music about them, and his particular process for writing epic, orchestral music.

You can learn more about him and hear some of the fantastic music he's made at his website here.

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In other news, Composer Code now has a Patreon!! If you'd like to help support the show or just learn about my goals for the future, check out my Patreon here.

Thanks for listening! Don't forget to give me a rating in iTunes, if you would be so kind. It helps a lot with visibility.

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Steven Melin is no stranger to the podcast. He's a good friend and a great composer, and he's been quite busy for the past several months... writing a book!

In this episode, we chat about the "why" behind Steven's new book, Family-First Composer.

He shares some practical tips for building a career in media composition without sacrificing the most important things in life like health, faith, and family.

If you're interested in reading the book, you can check it out on Amazon.

Thanks for listening!

--

In other news, Composer Code now has a Patreon!! If you'd like to help support the show or just learn about my goals for the future, check out my Patreon here.

Thanks for listening! Don't forget to give me a rating in iTunes, if you would be so kind. It helps a lot with visibility.

Enter your email below to get future content delivered fresh to your inbox as soon as I release it.





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We talk about Cajsa's unique approach to starting a song, how she founded a game company with friends from her university (Forgotten Key), and how she uses a very cool sound-stretching plugin to create banjo soundscapes.

Grant Kirkhope is a man who needs no introduction. He’s the talented composer behind some of the most beloved classics on the N64 like Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Goldeneye 007, and Perfect Dark.

I talk with Matthew about some of the benefits of full-time employment vs. freelancing, but also some really organic, practical ways to build relationships and ultimately get paying work as a composer.

I talked with Chase about how he got into video game music, how he practices "connecting" with his instrument, and he shared some incredible techniques for beating writer's block. Seriously, every creative person needs to hear this.

I chatted with Tony about his origin story, the indelible impact of games like Majora's Mask, and how he approaches orchestrating a piano sketch.

This episode is a little special, as we actually analyze a few video game pieces in real time (download the transcriptions below to follow along) and talk more about the value of transcription.

We talk through Emmanuel's composing process, his personal experience networking with game developers, and he shares some practical tips for building your career as a video game music composer.

We talked about mastering the orchestra, breaking into the video game music industry, and he imparted valuable lessons about the difference between film and game composition.

Gordy Haab is a multi-award-winning film, video game and television composer who has written music for many well-known titles, including most recently: Microsoft’s “Halo Wars 2, and EA’s “Star Wars: Battlefront II”, and “Star Wars Battlefront I."

We chatted about James' current freelance journey, the intersection of game music and electronic music, and the power of being really good at one single thing. He shared his perspective on how to break into the industry and habits that hold beginners back from success.