[directmusic] Re: directmusic Digest V1 #47
- From: "Saul Bottcher" <saul.bottcher@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <directmusic@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 10:36:12 -0400
Hi John,
My two cents:
cent #1:
If you are designing sound or composing music for games, look at it this
way - every game has a sound system and a music system. Whether or not you
run into problems or challenges related to the way the system works, the
systems are still there. So you should be able to speak fluently about the
technologies which are directly related to music and sound. You shouldn't
need to understand the exact processes involved in programming the sound or
music system, but the more you do, the easier your job, right?
cent #2:
If you are a programmer working on a game and assigned to either the
sound or music system, look at it this way - every sound or music system has
a content creator (or several) working with it. Whether or not you run into
problems or challenges related to their content and how it (ab)uses the
system, the content creators are still there. So you should be able to
speak fluently about the aspects of music and sound which impact the
system's performance, or which could be influenced by its limitations. You
shouldn't need to understand the exact processes involved in sound design or
composition, but the more you do, the easier your job, right?
bonus cents:
Notice the overlap? I'd like to suggest that this is a necessity.
Communication doesn't come from the edge of your "knowledge sphere" touching
someone else's edge. It comes from having enough overlap that your ideas
can fit inside that space you create. (Yeah, weird analogy).
In an idealised version of the industry, composers would know a little
technology, and programmers would know a little music, and that would be
enough. But in practical terms, you're going to run into programmers that
don't even listen to music, and programmers will run into musicians who are
afraid to click on anything other than their sequencer shortcut. So it
behooves both sides to learn that little bit extra to make sure they can
mesh with anyone.
Not everyone will take the time to do this learning, but the people who
do are in my mind more employable and more likely to be seen as competent
professionals.
Caveat: Programmers aren't always assigned to the same tasks, so they
may feel less pressure to learn about audio than you might feel to learn
about programming, especially if you're a game-only composer r sound
designer! (In other words, we may have the short end of the stick to a
point).
> has anyone else encountered this problem?
I certainly have. I've worked for people with absolutely no musical
knowledge, and doing revisions on songs can be excruciating. You should
hear some of the bizarre comments I've received.
I don't know if it would be too off-topic for this list to ask for more
detail on the problems you're having. You could e-mail me if you like, I
may have some useful advice, but at the very least some sympathy. :^)
Either way, good luck working it out.
Saul.
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