AAA Games Music - HOW TO MASTER THE CRAFT (and Survive!!!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 พ.ย. 2019
- Thanks so much to the Flight aka Alexis (Left) and Joe (Right) award winning games composers of titles such as #assassinscreed and #horizonzerodawn and Alien Isolation for their time and for generously giving us their insight. Check their website out here: www.theflightmusicofficial.com/
Check out the originals "Cribs" video here: • Creative Cribs - The F...
AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THEM - Please comment down below or use the handle #theflightatspitfireaudio and check out the livestream 17.00 GMT Sunday 1st December 2019 here: / @spitfireaudiollp
AND IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO RUN BY US AT THE SURGERY, your concerns, confusions, problems, conundrums, 4 composers (well 3 composers and me) will be on hand to help this 14.00 GMT Saturday 30th November 2019 again here: / @spitfireaudiollp - เพลง
Ive been playing for 25 yrs as a live drummer I can't read music either, the lockdown put the final nail in my career, now I'm doing a degree in composition and production and the pearls of wisdom shared in this interview are really inspiring man! And the work the chaps did on Odyssey is second to none in my opinion. Look forward to your next score. Peace
Brilliant video Christian (and thanks Joe and Alexis for the honesty and insight! You seem like a lovely couple of blokes!). I find it really refreshing (comforting?) to know you can work on large projects and still keep maintain some form of work/life balance. I'm battling with trying to keep that balance, and I find myself feeling guilty that I'm not 'committed' enough because I refuse to work 24/7. When starting out I understand you need to say YES to almost everything to get the doors opening, but this interview was a reminder that, once you've opened some doors, you can take a step back, enjoy the fewer projects more fully AND get to be a family member too!
Speaking of video games...I know they're brothers but Joe looks a bit like if you took Christian into a character creation screen and changed the hair, beard and glasses options
Yep, it's quite funny...my brother and I look totally different!
Must have the same parents.........
And also put quite a bit of peaky blinders in his voice 😅
Do you really know anyone who’s actually said, “I’ve lost my love of music.”? Hard to imagine ever feeling that way. Just listening to music in general adds so much color to your life, but to have the opportunity to actually create and perform it at the tip of your fingers is a profound, incredible ability. I often imagine a Bach or a Schubert, et al, having the chance to sit down in front of all the gear we have at hand today. Odds are a ‘Mozart’ might feel he’s in heaven, while a ‘Tchaikovsky’ might say, “I just want a piano-thanks anyway.” 😆
Playing Horizon Zero Dawn currently and the music is superb! Captures and elevates the story and it's world perfectly.
What a great set of composers.
"We arent saving lives, we're making music so lets make it fun". Love this!
This was awesome!! The Horizon Zero Dawn soundtrack was among my most played music last year, what an inspiration! Thank you so much for taking the time to capture this and asking great questions.
I will say that the lovely (!) thing about your channel Christian is that, if you are a composer who works all day in a room by yourself, it’s the next best thing to being able to wander down the corridor and knock on someone else’s door and hear about their day. And ultimately, to realise how universal all these things are in our game.
Such a valuable channel that keeps me connected. Slightly sad that I’m reminded how important people are, having found myself after the last 5 years drilling down in my own direction, pretty isolated from the community. Virtual can never replace the physical for inspiration and connection - support and guidance. I felt part of this tea break chat. That was nice.
And I would chimed in several times with questions or comments. I’m comforted that my workflow at least is healthy, with my socials needing and improvement.
One question I’ve got isn’t about workflow or the joys of creating but touches on a small comment made about writing for libraries. The rather the more ugly topic - royalties for non creatives. The contracts I’m looking at demand a small % for the deal makers (people whom without which I wouldn’t be getting a look in). So in order to get more than just my foot through the door I’m letting a small % go to those that broker my deal with the production company.
The artist ego screams NO!
For now I’m keeping the ego quiet and getting on with the work.
Thoughts / discussion would be invaluable.
Respectfully yours
Mr Smith
So, which one is your brother?
This had some really healthy, reassuring advice for me. Thank you so much for making this video, and thanks for Alexis and Joe for taking the time and being lovely. :)
Fantastic video, Christian. You, see, that's why I love watching your videos - because they have this beautiful human side. Thanks for all your work and inspiration. Big thumbs up for the guys!
Thank you for this awesome interview! :D
Oh bloody interesting! Thanks to the three of you for the honesty and the in depth explanations! I love the fact that you talked about keeping a healthy balance with the love, social life and work!
I feel like an idiot not having seen this video two years ago Christian, but everything Joe and Alexis said is still valid and relevant today, and perhaps more so since the field is a little more dense than it may have been a couple of years ago. Your time and shared knowledge are invaluable as are the Spitfire products I use, and I thank you for that.
As game music composer myself I'm surprised they don't use FMOD or WWISE. Well I get it because it is very time consuming to program music and they want to focus more on music itself.
But on the other hand if you don't do it by yourself you don't have any control on your music. Someone can take it and make weird transitions from one cue to another which you'd never make. Or combine different "layers" which suppose not to be combined etc.
I think If I wouldn't have time to do it by myself I would just hire an assistant to do it for me the way I want it to work in the game. After giving wave files to game developer you have no control on your music at all.
I thoroughly LOVED the game Horizon Zero Dawn and I think the music was a huge part of this experience (as I’d argue are most contemporary cultural experiences). Great interview and insights. Thanks. Looking forward to more. 😁👍
That was really interesting to watch, 40 minutes passed just in an instance! Thanks :)
Honestly, one of the first few studios I've seen that I'd actually be happy to have, what a lovely, simple space.
Really enjoyed that, two really cool guys - Thank you.
Thanks Christian, Alexis and Joe. Amazing interview! 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you so much for this interview 🙏 Very insightful! I'm deeply grateful to Alexis and Joe for their astounding work on Assassin's Creed Odyssey 🙏❤️
I really hope they will create a new AC score soon!!
Their music is ace! Thanks for posting this interview.
This content is a blessing!
Really insightful Christian - thanks for sharing! If I could go back and give my younger self some advice it would be, 'have a little more faith in your abilities and don't give up so easily! Best of luck to The Flight for their next project ;)
You and your brother have such similar mannerisms! Great interview.
Brilliant video and much appreciated. Very interesting how talented your family is.
I loved this what a lovely couple of guys.
Great news that the doctor is in the house - fantastic idea, and I hope you do more of them. I have several burning ailments for the surgery I hope the doctor can cure me of. Please feel free to choose all/none: (1) any tips on how do you deal with percussion - I'm getting a better handle on how strings, woods and brass blend together, but I often feel the percussion feel gratuitous in my compositions, like I included it just so that I can say I did! Any tips of where to use, when to use, and how to blend? (2) I've found 'adapt tempo' in Logic has completely transformed my tracks - I used to just play in to the click, but tempo changes really improve things. I use it like this: play in a piano piece with adapt tempo on, which then forms the backbone of the composition and gives me the tempo changes that add feel and movement in the right places, then add other instruments to gradually reduce or replace what the piano is doing. Am I doing it right? Do you have other tips to use tempo to enhance a track? (3) I'm using the BBCSO template you kindly shared: everything coming out of the Mix Bus sounds great (B255 if I recall), but the master (256) is muted be default, and unmuting the master, and it's sounds all wrong and ruins what I'd mixed - what am I doing wrong? (4) With eDNA Earth, how do you recommend to find/save favorites? (5) How best to use compression - haven't got a good handle on this yet: how, why, when? (6) Any composition I try, basing it around low string ostinatos always just sounds like a poor Hans Zimmer copy - he seems to have captured the entire sound range in this regard; any tips on how to use this style that avoids sounding like Pirates?! Thanks so much - looking forward to the surgery.
This was great!
Stunning interview
Awesome video Christian! Question for the guys - With the quality of your work and your capabilities aside, do you think being in a small composer team (i.e. a duo) gave you somewhat more credibility / legitimacy when it came to getting 'in the door' with agencies, directors etc, as opposed to being a one-person operation? Thanks in advance! #theflightatspitfireaudio
So refreshing
This was such a great interview. I envy you for many things Christian, but to sit down with your brother, sharing a similar passion, but in a non-competitive way, both at the top of your game in different areas, is so heart warming. Please tell me you at least fought like cat and dog as kids?
Rugby_League_Saint we jammed a lot, kind of like fighting, but with funk?
@@TheCrowHillCo Yes, that's exactly my approach with my kids now - seems to work well. Just wish I'd have known this strategy at their age. Really, it was so nice to watch you both in this. Not an ounce of one-up-manship, no put downs, nothing but genuine mutual admiration and respect! It was very cool for me to watch, as this isn't something my brothers and I have ever managed, so kudos to you both for having that bond to fall back on. Just another thing you should be proud of.
Thanks for this!
ALL VERY INTERESTING!
Great video & Inspiring stuff hearing about incorporating crafting your own samples into your workflow.... QUESTION: I would like to know which sampler they use to do this and if they have any tips for sample library novices that want to create their own unique sound palette for their next project??? Cheers!
Questions - 1º How do you negotiate with big companies? You try to be more tuff and show them how big is your fish (metaphorically), you just show what you got and wait for and answer, does it have something that we should have in mind when being in this situation?
2º How do you get the contract done? In the sense that which kind of lawyers you need (ex: since you guys are working with a company from a different country do you need a specific kind of lawyer, which kind of lawyer for the negotiation e etc.), what are the contractual traps that you need to look after, what things are good to ask for in the contract and do you keep the rights of your music?
3º Are you responsible for the publication of the music on streaming platforms or this is the company’s job/ how they prefer?
4º How do you plan a two years of budget? Is it a shock or is something that you get to know how to handle throughout the career?
5º Any business tips for us? (Marketing, budget management and etc.)
Proof you don't need to drive yourself crazy with acoustically treating a space to be successful with music production. I swear the people on forums who insist it's essential are just a tiny vocal minority who are obsessed with that stuff, and think everyone else needs to be just as obsessed as them.
I'm guessing they don't mix themselves. If you don't mix you really don't need that.
Depends what you’re doing completely - most of the stuff that are doing here seems to be in the box rather than through microphones, and they mentioned going to studios to record instruments when they needed too. It’s obviously massively overvalued in Internet forums tho!
YOUR BROTHER ?!? *mindblown*
The reverb in that room!
Great video. Thank you Alexis and Joe for the insight. I do have a question(s). If I wanted to make a resume that would attract triple A games or Hollywood films how would I go about doing this? Or better yet if the day comes where you are looking to outsource your workload, where would be the first place you'd look for help? Also did you enter some sort of competitive event to be rewarded with working on such big games or did they all approach you first? Don't have to answer all of this but generally would like more insight on how one becomes established in such a prestigious environment.
Deckard's Dream.... respect.
Those closing comments were pure gold. Constantly find myself worrying about the future, guess it must be pretty common amongst composers, or people who choose music related career directions. Ace interview Christian! Can’t help wondering what the pink guitar pedal with the face on it was. Anyone know?
Wonderful interview. What's the art above the monitors? :)
That was so insightful, thanks to Alexis and Joe for the nuggets of wisdom. I definitely have a question #TheFlightAtSpitfireAudio 'Do you finish a track (done and dusted) and then move onto the next one or do you keep revisiting and tweaking them as you progress? The reason for my question stems from wanting to know the best time to record/layer soloists into the soundtrack to conserve budget and get the most out of each recording session' Hope that makes sense :)
Your brother Joe reminds me so much of Johann Johannson
I see a bit of Ade Edmondson.
Dear Christian,
What you recommend. Single core of multi-core when it comes to music?
I read that single core is more important.
With Studio one 4.5. it seems that multi-core is being enabled.
Is it worth going for a 16 core cpu? or doesn't that make sense?
Can't find a answer online.
#theflightatspitfireaudio My question is - How do you get fast at writing and finishing songs? I get and idea and start to develop it, I can get about half of it done relatively quickly, but then everything grinds to a halt and it takes me forever to finish it off. Thanks!
Assassins Creed and Horizon Zero Dawn were years long productions. How do you price jobs like these?
Rate: $$/ minutes of music...
👍
Great interview, they went through some pretty good topics, and they both seem like really down to earth kind of blokes.
Nice one.
#theflightatspitfireaudio
Could you talk more about how you layer up a track and how these get triggered in the games? How do you evolve the music? Do you have to stick to the same key, tempo, chord prog? What are the challenges and dos and don’ts.
Cheers.
2nd'ing this question - & how do they go about the stemming side of it all? cheers great interview #theflightatspitfireaudio
Thanks for this Christian - really insightful and some very inspiring tips there. I did have a question for Joe and Alexis (and even yourself possibly), is that for someone like myself who has good programming chops, who is friendly (not an arrogant dick basically) and a has universe of musical ideas in their mind , yet cannot read music and has limited musical theory - how would you go about approaching composers to give you the best chance to be taken on by them as an assistant? Cheers!
What is that pink robot looking thing and where can I get one?
Great stuff! We can never have too much of this stuff. More of this...less "Aperture" ads, please. Thanks, Christian!
No Aperture ads on this channel my friend! Fear not!
@@TheCrowHillCo LOL....Unless...I just created an ad with my comment. LOL. Either way, keep up the great work!
very interesting. and it is encouraging not knowing how to use FMOD oder WWISE seems to be no problem
I started the video and put the phone in my pocket. When I raised the phone and saw your brother I was like ... Oh when did Chris start wearing glasses and spent the next 2 minutes trying to figure out if it's you or not 🤣
Christian's brother is like the blend of Christian and Paul Thomson in one person.
I'm very curious about the speakers system they have. Could you tell us the name of the brand ? What about the triangle shaped ones ?
Wow you both are so similar Chris
#theflightatspitfireaudio Hi guys! thank you for publishing this interview! How would you start in these days as a videogame composer and/or as sound designer? What are your best advices? I'm doing re-sonorization of videogame trailer and I will post the best one on social media to get feedback and to let people know me (after that, I will dig in FMOD or Wwise).
In your opinion is a good thing to do? I live in Italy at the moment "unfortunately" ehehe there is still chance to do work/collabs with videogame developers all over the world from here? Cheers! Thank you all if you'll ever reply! :) Deiv
oh haha that's your brother! I was wondering why you had a beard
Christian, serious question. Who makes your collarless shirts?
Antonio G Margaret Howell (an incredibly expensive habit).
@@TheCrowHillCo Thank you very much! I have an expensive habit as well, it's called Spitfire Audio! : )
Antonio G 😂😂😂👏👏👏👏👏
Would you be inspired enough to give us a library of Hans Zimmer Brass maybe Christian
Great interview, really interesting, especially about trusting that you are good enough. Is it just me that's sat here wondering what the little pink thing is that's sat between them all the way through? And I dont' mean Christian...... :O)
Check out the originals "Cribs" video: th-cam.com/video/uxHNwlUDHaw/w-d-xo.html
You can see the "little pink thing" there :)
Random - but how much budget does a AAA game actually have when it comes to the Music / Composition?
Is that a Nagra VI I spy in the background at the beginning 👀
I do have a question for The Surgery if at some point you could go through.
Like the guys mentioned in this vid, not only are we composers but we also have to be producers mixers and engineers, the thing is I know my mixing/engineering side really lets my music down as I have quite a lot of the libraries that others have yet their music sounds huge. Is that really all done by them on their home computer or have they had it all done professionally, so the question is, could I get that kind of huge production sound on my orchestral music from my home pc?
Alexis mixes all of our current game music in the box at our studio. There is no silver bullet but he spends a lot of time dealing with bottom end, compression and placement in the mix! My advice is to A/B your music against other music see where they differ etc...
@@joedubass That's great Joe, thanks, it like my music is always muddy and a lot of the instruments can't be heard even if they are loud in the mix and it usually always is the bottom end lol
Coming from a time of 'enforced breaks' - waiting for the tape to rewind for example - that was my thinking time. Maybe about the track. Maybe about something totally unrelated. In these days of blindingly fast computers I've had to reinvent those breaks artificially by giving all the tracks in the same family a specific colour (that actually helps) or giving the tracks their correct icons.
Sounds like they've got it sussed
After hearing their advice and comments from interviews with other composers, I've wondered something. Many prominent composers in the industry seem to have significant sound design / technological experience, and not so much music theory training. For those with extensive music theory knowledge and not as much sound design experience, what kind of work can they be expected to find? On the note of 'finding a niche for yourself,' would they be better as an orchestrator?
I'm a bass player dabbling in film and media composition. I'm just starting out and have a lot to learn, but it's the dream to write film and media music.
Both my two teenage sons love playing cricket. My youngest son scores more runs than my eldest. At our local village cricket club, he is refereed to as the "Better Brother". When judging the musical chops in the Henson Family. Who is referred to as the "Better Brother"?
Keaton.
@@TheCrowHillCo Yeah. I have listened to his music. It has so much tension and emotion in it. Its like having two bowls of Damien Rice! I hope you can do an interview with him in the future. That could be a good question for the 'The Flight'. Have they ever used Keaton's music in one of their games or have any plans to use it?.
Is that Christian's brother?
SPITFIRE EPIC CHOIR LIBRARY PLEASE
Like an adorable married couple, finishing each other’s sentences and everything!