AI’s impact on audio production has, of course, become a hot topic in the game music world.
If Alexander Brandon has difficulty finding a position (he is arguably extremely well known in his particular niche, he is almost a celebrity), it must be crazy out there for younger kids with no experience.
That being said younger kids are more likely to accept shit pay and a garbage work setup.
That reminds me of how bethesda fucked Mike Gorden out of his music during the doom games. These guys are brilliant and they just get treated like shit, or can’t find work somehow. It’s crazy.
This will be controversial, so I’ll open with a disclaimer that there will be probably a ton of people replying that they love certain music in games, and it is important to them, but I think people like that are the minority.
The music of a game is potentially one of the least important aspects to development. I mean, music has to be extremely annoying and bad for anyone to stop playing a game all together. And even then you could just switch it off. If the music slaps, it won’t be able to rescue the game either if it is badly designed. Of course it can add atmosphere to a good game, but in comparison to all other parts of game design I would assume it is less important.
Therefore it isn’t surprising to me that even someone with a name in the industry has difficulties at the moment.
Edit: well the voting on my post shows me it is exactly going as I thought. I stand by my opinion on this though.
I absolutely think music is a massive part of the game experience, personally. Music is a direct line into human emotions, more so than almost anything else. For example, I think Expedition 33 last year was completely carried by its soundtrack and it wouldn’t be even close to as successful or win as many awards without it.
I see how you came to your opinion, but I disagree.
While I don’t think I’ve ever quit playing a game because the music was annoying, I’m less likely to quit a game of the music is good because a good track will help you get immersed in the moment.
It totally changes the mood of a game too. Without the right kind of music, the vision of the storyteller won’t get conveyed as well.
Also, it’s what keeps the games in our memories. Art styles, protagonists, and game mechanisms change over time, but music lasts so much longer. Everyone knows the few notes from Mario. Pokemon’s Pokemon center song hasn’t changed I’m 30 years. Personally, I still listen to Jet Set Radio and Phantasy Star Online OST all the time. It can make a franchise unforgettable.
Anyway, I thought I’d share my opinion instead of just downvoting.
Sure. I think my message holds irrespective of whether one agrees or disagrees with you (I lean more towards agreeing); I am saying that by the standards of video game music production , Brandon is well know (that’s a fact).
But as you mentioned it’s seems to be not enough.
A childhood friend of mine has a Harvard degree in finance. He is currently looking for a new job. He submitted 102 applications before he got a single callback. They didn’t hire him.
That was a little over a year ago. He’s still job hunting today. Fortunately, he still has work with his old company. He’s not submitting his 2 weeks until he has another job lined up. But he just can’t get callbacks with anyone. It’s insane out there right now.
It’s just as bad in information technology right now. My former employer liquidated all assets months back, including employees to stay afloat. Haven’t been able to get to a single round three interview yet. Probably put in between 500 and 1,000 applications between November and now for various companies and locations worldwide. I’m not asking for an exuberant salary. Just base pay for my qualifications.
Harvard degree in finance
One would think that would help him get a job.
I am not from the US. but from my time living there, I got the impression that middling to weak results from a high reputation educational institution are almost worse than OK (or even not bad) results from a “mid tier” institution (e.g. state schools as the American refer to it).
While everyone’s out here complaining about DLSS 5 ruining video game art, it’s likely there will be full AI soundtracks in games and movies soon, a real shame. I will refuse to play or watch any such movie/game as a (lousy) musician.
Not to mention ML generated music sounds really off to me.
Much more so than voice acting. Could be a personal thing.
I can hear it as well. It sounds “sliced” up like an overly compressed MP3 file. It’s not analog and we can tell.
Don’t know about “analog”, but I find ML generated music to have much more of an uncanny valley effect than voice work or art.
It sounds off and distracting.
There has been pushbacks every time a major game had anything with ai slop, so I’m not sure. Also why would anyone pay for something a machine did instead of pirating it?
I wonder if he’d be able to take commissions from indie developers.
Folks like Gianni Matragrano and Andrew Hulshult seem to do alright that way.
The economy is shifting. Drones and other weapons don’t need a soundtrack IRL.
