robtylermusic-blog-blog - Tumblr blog

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Taking a break from life. This is my honeymoon... Calypso music is so underrated

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Unmissable Opportunities

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" - Winston Churchill

This post does not entirely describe my situation but more an explanation of what exactly happened and why. 

Over the last week I have been in discussion with a developer of a new Independent title he's working on, this project came about via an early upload of his artwork for the title. Needless to say it blew up on social media, so much love for the style and originality. I approached the developer with my services as an audio guy, he let me know that a LOT of people had been contacting him to work on his project and he would get back to me in due course. 

With my portfolio in a bad way (i guess for the moment my only portfolio is my website that merely hosts one game OST, all my work for Cool Dog is unreleased for the moment) I couldn't just leave it at the developer adding me to the pile of composers who had approached him. Purely based on research I'm sure I would not come up trumps. Therefore I started just chatting to the developer. I really saw this as, like the title says, and 'unmissable opportunity'. The potential to create something beautiful and fulfilling was at my fingertips. So meanwhile I began working on a sketch for another mobile title, inspired by some wintery scenery. It was not long before I worked the entire sketch round to this game. It's one of my most promising works yet (found on my blog titled 'Mountains') and it wreaked the raw emotion I felt that this unmissable title envisioned.

I sent this over to him and he loved it, stating that I was capturing the mood perfectly (I was so excited by this project). He did say that right now he could not promise me anything, it was really early days for his game and making any solid audio commitment was a no go. It was very apparent that he needed to mull things over. I did not know how or what the other applicants were treating this project.

After a few days I received an email that he was in a dilemma, a AAA studio had approached him from USA and were very keen themselves to work on this title. He said that of the 10+ composers that had approached him my "energy and ideas were the best". But he could not pass up such an opportunity. Which I totally respect, I have provided one sketch and do not have a portfolio filled with big releases. From a business point of view you go with the best you can get. Could I have delivered the perfect audio world to this title? I think so, but I have a lacking experience compared to this studio. I thoroughly respect him for doing me the honour of straight up telling me. (There are many developers who make up excuses or just cease communication) 

He also mentioned that he would love to work on another project with me in the future. 

As Churchill states "an optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty", I have experienced difficulty in [for lack of a better word] rejection. But not only do I have potential work in the future I was deemed the best at what I do over all other applicants. As a budding Composer I am extremely happy with that. 

"I will prepare and some day my chance will come." - Abraham Lincoln

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My new sounds:

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Scoring the Soundtrack to Cool Dog Adventures. Writing moving Game Over music is fun! #Cool Dog #Score #Soundtrack

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Keeping busy

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New Beginnings

Starting up a new project is always exciting, vast ideas fly around your mind and you start fantasising about the possibilities before you. (I do not know if this feeling changes, I'm only on my second professional job) 

I thought that it seemed appropriate to write my take and approach on the start of a project, as a composer. Yes I am in the infancy of my career but perhaps it is also the best time for me to discuss this as it may well aid others starting out and trying to find their way. I am sure there are many of you out there who will say "why would you do that?" and "that's not how I would do it". Again, this is my approach as a newbie. So far it's working out ok for me!

After approaching an Indie developer who was reaching out for collaborators for his game 'Cool Dog Adventures' I offered my services as a Composer. His game seemed to have a valid premise, it showed originality and used a pleasant art style. Furthermore I wanted something to sink my teeth into with a bit of a storyline to develop some auditory emotion!

The first thing I start doing is discussing the game. I ask for, essentially, a press-release style pack. Featuring concept art, a summary of the story / characters. I want to get to know what it is I'm about to write music for. Start to build a relationship with the developer so that you both know where you stand and what they want from you. Remember that you are providing a service to them as a client. 

Now I know what the game is going to be about I start to discuss if and what the developer has in mind for the style of music. Examples, genres, timbres. Again, you want to clear out any confusion and misunderstanding early on.

Once all these details are discussed leaving both you and the dev on the same level I begin to discuss terms regarding payment for the service I am providing. Do not be surprised if indie projects do not have a budget or any funds set for a soundtrack. It is often an afterthought compared with the visual element of the game. The common ground in which composers are paid is by minute of mixed and mastered music provided. Some of the bigger composers charge around £300 per minute, If you are creating a 60minutes soundtrack the money can soon rack up but remember the effort that must be put in your end!

As mentioned, there may not be any funds going for you to be paid during the development cycle and an agreement of either a % of revenue post release or an agreed amount made payable once the game begins to earn money are common place. Just make sure you have all the agreed terms in writing, signed and dated. No matter how good you may think someones word is things can always go pear shaped when money gets involved!

From here we now have terms agreed and an idea of how the soundtrack should sound. I would begin developing concepts using the artwork and back story provided. Be it Major, Minor, powerful or quaint. Getting ideas down on the stave, developing them and then getting feedback from the developer. As composers it is easy for us to put more than just ideas into compositions, so we can easily become offended if a development is veto'd by the dev team. Remember that they are the client and paying you (ideally) so you want to keep them satisfied. Providing you are on the same page from day 1 then this should not really be a problem.

I hope this has been, in some way, informative. Keep an eye out for more developments with Cool Dog Adventures as I am currently in the conceptual stage.

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New game to begin working on. More OSTs to sink my teeth into.

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The full OST composed for indie mobile video game 'Pongdroid 3D'. The soundtrack features 6 tracks with Curve being the games menu theme. Enjoy and check out my website http://robtylermusic.com