How I Make Music For Video Games

Howdy! Today I want to nerd out and talk about making music for video games.

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[VenusTheory]

If you get the joke at the end, we can be friends.

[pumodi]

Your point at 11:48 is interesting. I'm happy that you and others are considering this. As an Audio Director I'd prefer to get the music from you as you mixed it without you making too many adjustments to cater to the games mix. When I'm implementing music alongside sound effect, I'm already going to be doing some adaptive mix processing to make sure everything fits well. Especially if the game is doing resequencing or vertical remixing during gameplay. In that situation we have even more control to make sure it's all going to gel well.

That's not to say the thought isn't appreciated. I just don't want musicians to sacrifice their creative intent purely to make sure stuff fits within the games mix. It's my job to make sure your work along with everyone else's meshes.

Of course each game is different, as you said. I'm just saying not to sweat it much.

[ChunkySq]

What i love about doing video game music is that you can make whatever you want. Sometime a failed project can just be music for a silly level

[_knave]

People like Toby Fox going from making music for a web comic in high school, and then going on to working on music for big game franchises (Pokemon) is always the dream for people wanting to get into video game composing (including me)

[D.H]

Who else watched this kind of video but never actually released or finished a single music piece?

[DNXIE]

We also need a video on how you can get these gigs.

[intriguedviewer]

I'm not a game developer looking to write music for a new game, but rather, a musician interested in learning game development just so that I can score it.

[Kiwikairii]

newsletters are the best thing that has come back recently, its so fun to find out about new stuff from a creator you enjoy like that, instead of a post on a social platform where everyhing gets so easily crowded with distractions

[airwindows]

Gotta say you had my full attention from beginning to end. There's nothing like hearing from an authority on an area where you the viewer aren't really any good, and the video-maker is incredibly good at what they're describing: you learn so much about what you weren't considering. It's like if Hans Zimmer was willing to show his work :)

[theejackalope]

... Okay I'm convinced you have some form of "Your viewers have also searched this" or something like that. Cause like not even two weeks ago I literally typed almost that exact title into the YouTube search bar. I mean I'm really happy you made this but still, I'm on to you...

[_FOOLSEND_]

Dude the quality of cinematography, audio, and color in your videos is such a great touch on top of great content. Thank you for the extra effort you put into these!

[gregorybissell]

Starting the video with one of the most terrifying boss fights from my childhood was a great move

[diamondnightsmusic]

Bro I was just looking for vids on this and then veenie makes one 😮

[Darksector_r]

Never pressed on notification as fast before

[syrexio]

As someone who's been doing ambient pieces for a friend's game on commission, this was a nice video to get. Many thanks.

[jacksonharpemusic]

This was great man, I love your videos and appreciate your willingness to share your experience and knowledge with everyone that follows your channel. That bit at the end about the EQ for the track was especially interesting. That's something that wouldn't have occured to me.

[mrharvest]

2:55 I think in broad strokes I agree with a lot of what you said. But the two best pieces of video game music I've heard in the past 10 years are exceptions to the rule. The first is obvious: Balatro. All the music in Balatro. Hecking heck that game deserves awards for the music. It fits the game perfectly and is wonky enough that you can listen to the same theme for 20 hours and not get tired. That's how you make excellent video game music. And the second piece is great for exactly the same reasons, the Far Harbour OST "Peace is Possible", that oboe man. Neither is singable. But they're entirely memorable. I think you can make very good music by following the rule but you make the best music by going out there.

[Cinematsic]

I just started writing music for video games and I watched this video a couple of weeks ago and it helped me out a lot. Thank you! ❤

[stevesoucy]

That ending. 😂 Always love your videos, Cam! Thank you for this.

[fourier]

For someone properly and justifiably aggravated by the algorithms, you really do nail the content creation part perfectly, though. These videos always slots perfectly into my home office lunch breaks. Not too lengthy, enticing topics and you feel enlightened afterwards. Thanks for doing these!