Game Audio: Getting in

While this blog is usually reserved for Sound Designing and the Designing of Sound, a recent blog post by Samuel Justice titled: “Getting your first gig in the world of game audio” woke me from my sound bathed complacency and desperately urged me to put pen to…uhh…blog post.

Readers of this stream of sound related goodness will be no stranger to the idea of getting in, having gotten in, or wanting to find out how to spend your days doing nothing but the aforementioned sound bathing and Sam starts things off simply enough…

“I get emailed a lot about how I got my first gig and how to get gigs. In the short time that I’ve been involved in the game sound industry things have changed, quickly.”

…and before you know it he’s rat-a-tat-tatting the things that helped him get a leg up and into his current gig doing sound for games. When he says things “have changed, quickly” the more I read I think “the more thing have stayed, the same”. Was he’s taken the time to template-ize for the would be game audio mavens of the world is in essence a testament to his greatest quality: Tenacity. I urge you to read on and find your own determination within to follow your creative muse to a satisfying place of being.

In the meantime, it seems like this “getting in” thing has been happening a lot lately.

Here’s an update from Joe Cavers, another recent game audio acquisition:

“Anyone who follows me on Twitter or reads this blog knows that this is a dream come true for me. I’m still reeling from the fact that I’ve landed what is essentially the start of my career straight out of uni.”

Take some time to peruse his “Into Sound” blog and you’ll find some educational gems that he’s put forward about making sound with the Unreal Developers Kit.

Which brings me to Andrew Quinn, of the “recently hired to Splash Damage” extreme noise maestro who had this to share at a recent speaking engagement covered by Stefan Rutherford (be sure to stick around for Stefans other insightful posts):

“The blog ‘Master Of Sound’ can be accessed from http://aquinn.co.uk/wordpress/ It’s not as regularly updated anymore but head through the archive and you’ll very quickly stumble upon something interesting.”

…and there’s interesting stuff there to be sure, not the least of which being his involvement with The Game Audio Tutorial! I first head of him back when he cooked up an interactive mixer built with Max/MSP. Be sure to head over to his Splash Damage profile page where you can absorb more of his origin story.

So, that’s 3 recent cases of “Getting in” to Game Audio, illustrated and punctuated by their willingness to share these experiences with you. Having watched all of them make their transitions from afar, all I can say is that the gaming industry is all the better for their presence.

Here are a few more resources that you might want to check out if you think you have what it takes to follow your bliss:

Vincent Diamante – Sums up “How to break into Game Audio” over at Game Career Guide.
Leonard J. Paul – From his AES Brazil presentation sums up the state of the industry and details a bullet list of recommendations on slide 16.
Kris Giampa – Shares his insight on “How to get into the Video Game Industry (Sound Designer Edition)”

For those of you who have been laboring away towards a career designing sounds or getting your game audio groove on, keep at it there’s room for more passionate people!
Anyone else have any tips or resources or questions? Lot’s of savvy readers out there willing to discuss!