Composing Video Game Music: 14 Tips for Beginners [2022]

Tips for Making Video Game Music

Tip #1: Study the kind of music you want to write

You probably have a general idea of the kind of video game music you want to write. We all have games that have shaped our tastes, typically in the formative years of our childhood.

You may have a penchant for peaceful RPG music. Or perhaps you’re partial to chiptune music from the early 90s. Maybe it’s Skyrim’s sweeping orchestral score that tickles your fancy.

Just like an author studies her favorite novels or a painter studies his favorite artists, you must study your influences.

It’s not enough to just listen passively and then try to regurgitate what you hear.

I highly recommend importing reference tracks from some of your favorite game soundtracks into your DAW and studying things like:

• Tempo
• Arrangement
• Instrumentation
• Melodic contour
• Commonalities between all your favorite tracks

Of course, if you’ve been following my content for any length of time, you know that I’m a huge fan of transcription. It is hands-down the best way to improve as a video game music composer.

Your skills will improve exponentially if you make a regular habit of transcribing. If you’re new to transcription, check out my blog post on the topic here.

Tip #2: Make a creative brief (with or without a client)

If you’re interested in eventually working with clients, you’ll want to get used to writing a creative brief.

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A creative brief is like a blueprint. It’s a 2-3 page document that guides you throughout your composition process.

Even if you don’t have a client, it’s a best practice to have a guiding document when undergoing a creative project of any kind.

This doesn’t need to be complicated or fancy. Just open up a Google Doc or a Word Document and list out:

• Your goals for the composition (if any)
• How you want the listener to feel
• How your piece contributes to the scene or mood of the game (if scoring for a game)
• What reference tracks you’ll be drawing from (and what you like about them)
• The ideal length of the piece
• The desired ensemble (instrumentation)
• The form (AABA, ABABC, etc.)

It’s helpful to be as specific as possible in these planning stages. That way, when you open your DAW, you’re free to be in full-on creative execution mode.

I walked through this exercise live in the video version of this post. See how I analyzed the music of Ice Cap Zone from Sonic 3 in the above-linked video.

It may seem silly or unnecessary to create a creative brief for pet projects or even for smaller clients.

But I can tell you from experience, that every time I’ve “gone in blind” without any sort of plan, I end up feeling very disorganized and unfocused.

Tip #3: Set up your sound palette first

One of the best ways to kill your creative flow is to switch contexts.

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For example, going back and forth between actually composing and digging through your sample library for the perfect instrument. This is an inefficient use of your willpower and will result in creative fatigue.

A professional chef once told me that one of the keys to cooking is preparing your ingredients in advance. The same applies to your sound palette.

I know it’s tempting to start composing as soon as you open your software, but take 20 to 30 minutes and pick out your instrumentation first. It’s like measuring out all of your ingredients in the exact proportions ahead of baking a cake.

This doesn’t mean you can’t add to your instruments later! When inspiration strikes, by all means, find the sounds you’re looking for.

My point is that switching back and forth between creation and curation will exhaust your brain faster and interrupt your flow state.

Tip #4: Experiment with layering

There are two types of musical arrangement.

Horizontal arrangement deals with how the piece evolves and changes over time. Vertical arrangement deals with how you layer sounds, harmonies, and individual voices at any given point in the piece.

One of the easiest ways to make your piece sound more rich, full, and unique is to layer sounds together.

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I went through an EDM phase where I got big into producing electronic music. What shocked me when I studied the genre and watched producers work was how much they layered their sounds.

It wasn’t uncommon for producers to have six bass tracks layered on top of one another. One would cover the sub-frequencies, another the high-end. The others would give the sound “bite” and percussive quality.

However, in the context of the song, they all sounded like one unified instrument.

This was totally eye-opening, and I took this principle into my VGM composition. I commend it to you as well.

Tip #5: Start with a small idea

One of the scariest things in any creative field is a blank canvas. How do you know where to begin?

The key is to reframe your mind. Don’t open your DAW or sit down at your instrument and say, “Okay. I need to compose a piece.”

Start small. Say, “I’m just gonna find a cool interval,” or “I’m just gonna play around in the pentatonic scale.”

If you’re stumped, consider these starting points:

• Start with a scale — limit yourself to finding a melody in a minor, major, pentatonic, or some other exotic scale. Some DAWs even have a “quantize to scale” option.
• Start with a rhythm — if no melodies or harmonies are coming to mind, lay down some drums (or beatbox into your phone mic, if you want). A rhythmic foundation can be incredibly inspiring. Plus, composing to a beat is a lot more fun than composing to a click track.
• Start with a chord progression — starting with an existing chord progression and then writing your own melody over it is called a contrafact. It’s a great way to grease the wheels of inspiration. If you’re short on cool progressions, you can check out my post on the 13 best progressions in VGM right here!