Creating Awesome Computer Games Music

Creating computer games is something that anyone can do, and for the first time since the days of the ZX Spectrum it’s something that everyone can be successful at.

No longer is it necessary to find a publisher and to take on the big computer games studios to be a success. There’s now a thriving indie game scene on PC as well as a vast range of different systems that have very easy distribution channels such as the Xbox 360 with Xbox Live and all those smartphones with the Play Market and App Store.

Meanwhile there are hundreds of ways to create computer games, many of which don’t require much in the way of coding knowledge. That means that if you have a good idea, and the commitment to follow it through, you can create a brilliant game from scratch and have it played by millions of people in no time at all.

 

Creating Awesome Computer Games

Still though, even once you’ve created computer games itself and found out how you’re going to sell it there are still important considerations to be made and obstacles. You are going to need to create promotional material for your game for instance, and you’ll need to create things like character designs, like sound effects and like music.

Creating computer games then requires a wide range of skills, but the good news is that all of it is a lot of fun. Here we will look in particular at how to go about creating music for your computer games and how to make it fit the tone of your game.

 

Create Computer Games Music

Think Outside of the Box

When creating music for your computer games it’s important to bear in mind that it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same as every other piece of game music. You might decide to create something with lyrics for instance, or something acoustic in order to lend your game more atmosphere.

• You can also get more ambitious with your sound design and how you want the music to impact the gameplay.
• You don’t just have to make music that plays constantly in the background over every level for instance, you can get more creative by making certain events trigger particular motifs.
• A great way to do this for instance is to increase the tempo during action scenes or to make certain sights trigger particular music. How about having a beautiful score cut in when a character stumbles across a lone tree in the middle of a barren desert for instance?

Music can really help you to sell your story. Make sure you aren’t afraid to use silence either – the silence will help the music to create more impact when it does kick in.

 

Useful Tools For Computer Games Music Development

Use good recording equipment

If you are going to make music using real instruments then you are going to need some good recording equipment to capture that with high quality. So that you can then play it over your computer games without it sounded muffled and low quality. Likewise you should also invest in some good instruments and make sure they are all well-tuned.

If you have friends who have the equipment then you can always ask to borrow it, and if you have friends who play then you can get them together for a jamming session.

Likewise if you can’t play at all yourself, you can get your friends to create the music for you and give them a description of what it is you’re trying to create.

• If you want to create something more electronic sounding though, or if you want to create a more sweeping orchestral effect, then using synthesizers, effects pedals and other electronic instruments is a good strategy.

These can also be plugged straight into your computer so that you can record without any interference or background noise.

 

Use music software for computer games music development

There is also a range of music software you can use to create music without an instrument in sight.

• Musagi is one particular piece of free software that many people will find interesting as it can be used to create chiptune music(8-bit music) and effects.

This means music that sounds like it was made on an 8bit machine or polyphonic phone and this can be very effective at capturing a retro feel if that’s what you’re going for.

 

If you create your music for computer games and you’re pleased with it, then the good news is that you may even be able to get more from it by selling it on iTunes as a soundtrack – so don’t be afraid to put your all into it and to come up with something that will really set the tone.