Gamedev Resources

How to Write a Great Music Brief for a Composer

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

Are you thinking of working with a composer for your game, film or commercial? If so, it will be really helpful for both you and them to create a clear brief to work together from. This will help to ensure that you are thinking along the same lines, are both working from the same set of information and it may also help to clarify your thoughts.

Here are a few things to make sure you include in your composer brief:

Information about your project

Include details and background about you and your project.

  • What is it called?

  • What is it about?

  • Who is it for?

  • What are you trying to do with it?

  • What are your plans for it?

  • What does it look like?

Make sure that you include everything that is important to you about the project, where it comes from, your vision for it and anything else that comes to mind.

Where you are at with your project

How far along are you in your project and what is left to do? It can be really helpful for a composer to have an idea of what sort of a timeline you are working with and where you are in your overall project.

Music requirements

Give an indication of what you're hoping for musically.

  • How many tracks?

  • How long should they be?

  • What music style do you have in mind?

  • Include examples and reference tracks

  • Where does the music fit into the project exactly?

  • How you plan to use it?

Deadlines and budget

It is often helpful to give an indication on what your budget is or any budgeting constraints you have to work with, and also what sort of timeframes and deadlines might be coming up for you or that you have to work within.

This will help the composer to manage their time, their work and to establish upfront whether or not they can work with you and within these constraints or not.

About the author

Ninichi is a game music and film music composer. She works with talented indie game developers and film makers to create unique soundtracks for their games and films.

Explore this website to learn more about Ninichi & how she can help you with the music for your project.

Follow her @ninichimusic

8 Top Resource Lists for Indie Game Developers

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By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

Welcome to my blog! If you’ve not been here before, I’m Ninichi, a freelance video game music composer based in the UK. I work with independent game developers all over the world creating original music for their wonderful creations! I also maintain this blog where I try to share some of my experiences with you as well as trying to draw in knowledge and resources that I come across within the game development industry to share with you. The aim here is to try and build a resource that you can turn to when in need and that can support and help you through your game development journey.

This blog has been going for a few years now and so I thought that it could be useful to highlight and summarise some of the most popular resource lists and to pull them together in this blog so it’s easy for everyone to get to. So, here goes…

1. 11 Awesome Places for Game Developers to Learn Unity & Programming

Unity is an incredibly popular game building engine that many independent game developers choose to use. That’s why I created this blog to help list a wide range of training resources, tutorials and online schools where you can access great learning tools to help you get a grasp of Unity’s game development programming language and platform.

2. 17 Great Place to Find Free Game Art

Art and graphics plays a really important role in all games. If you have the means to create custom art yourself or to work with a game artist to do this, it is definitely something worth exploring and investing in. However, there are also a wide range of resources with ready-made art that can be useful to be aware of and explore. Check out the sites I found which offer free art for video games.

3. 12 Great Places to Find Sound Effects for Your Game

Another area where people often struggle and also where some people ask me for help and ideas is sound effects. Since I create the music for games, I know how important it is to get the sound and mood right for each area of a game. Finding the right sound effects is often key to creating the effect and experience that you want. Explore these resources to see if you can find the sound effects you need to make your game great! I would also recommend hiring a sound designer too if you want custom sound effects or are looking for something a bit more specific for your game.

4. 10 Awesome Source of Funding and Grants for Your Indie Game

As an indie game developer, finding a way to fund your game is often a real challenge. This is a common theme but there are resources out there to help which is why I decided to research a few options and pull them together in this article. Check out what funding opportunities and grants might be available to help you develop your game.

5. 10 Crowdfunding Platforms to Consider for Your Indie Project

I’ve seen many indie games become successful through launching a crowdfunding project and have been involved in a few myself as well - for example helping to create the music for trailers and prototype games as they prepare for their Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaigns. There are however, many different platforms which handle crowdfunding and so explore this list to see what might be the best option for you.

6. 10 Places to Find Beta Testers for Your Indie Game

Before releasing your game it is often a really good idea to make sure you get it tested and that you get some initial feedback from potential players. This will help to iron out any potential bugs and issues with your game and give you the opportunity to fine tune it before sharing your game with the general public. Here are some places where you can find willing and eager beta testers for indie games.

7. 16 Indie-Friendly Indie Game Publishers

This is one of my most read resource lists! Once your game has been developed and is ready for the big wild world to see, you may want to get help in publishing it. However, as a small indie game studio or indie game developer, it may not be obvious where to start. Here, I’ve tried to collate a range of game publishers that I could find that seem to be focused on supporting indie games and indie game developers.

8. 11 Places to Publish and Release Your Indie Game

Knowing what to do with and where to release your game once it’s ready can challenging, especially if this is your very first game! It’s a super exciting time though and many congratulations to getting to this stage. There are many ways to get your game out there without a publisher. Check out your options in this article and good luck!


About the author: Ninichi is a freelance UK-based indie game music composer. She works with indie game developers and indie filmmakers to create soundtracks for video games, film & media. She can compose in a wide range of styles & loves getting involved in new projects. Find out more about her game music or royalty free music and contact her to discuss your project and music needs.

Follow her @ninichimusic

Introducing Ninichi’s Fantasy Atmospheres 2 (Royalty Free Ambient Music)

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

If you’re in need of some ambient, mood setting music, then Fantasy Atmosphere’s 1 and 2 could be the music packs for you! Following the positive feedback I’ve received from my first few music packs, I decided to create some more, so do please feel free to check these out or to let others know who could be in need of some great royalty free music for their projects! 

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Introducing Ninichi’s Fantasy Atmospheres 1 (Royalty Free Ambient Music)

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

Have you been searching for atmospheric, mood creating music for your video game, film or videos? If so, Fantasy Atmospheres 1, could be just what you need! 

I’m Ninichi, and I’m a freelance composer! What that means is that I create music for games, films and other media (see my homepage). I’m usually commissioned to create custom music for different projects, however, I’ve also made some of my music available to license here on my website.

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10 Awesome Sources of Funding & Grants for Your Indie Game

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

Are you an indie game developer wondering how to fund your game? Perhaps some of these organisations and indie developer funds could be worth looking at. I’m Ninichi - a freelance game music composer (see my homepage) and as such have worked with many different indie developers and indie game studios on their projects. One big challenge that I’ve noticed is often the financial side of game development. There are many options available to you, including self-financing, crowd-funding, finding a publisher and so on, but one area that is sometimes overlooked or not really considered is that of grants and other funding sources.

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Introducing Ninichi’s Royalty Free Game Music Asset Packs

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

If you’ve been thinking about using royalty free music for your game, you may be interested in these. I’m Ninichi, a freelance game music composer and I create music for games, film and other media. I am usually commissioned to work on game music soundtracks and custom music for game trailers, film and other shows and media. I also offer some royalty free music available to license through my website, since I’m well aware that not all projects have the budgets available to invest in custom music.

My video game music packs are one of these licensing options and the idea behind these is to enable indie game developers on very tight budgets, to still be able to have great quality music in their games. 

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6 Pitfalls to Avoid as an Indie Game Developer

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

After having connected with various indie game developers (often supporting them with their game music), I’ve discovered that there are many challenges that one faces in the game development journey.

It can be a tricky road to travel and it’s always good to know what to avoid if you can and so I’ve tried here to highlight some common issues and mistakes that I’ve heard/seen/witnessed people going through. I hope that you will be able to take something away from this and that you find these useful. So here are some key mistakes to note and avoid as you develop your game…After having connected with various indie game developers (often supporting them with their game music), I’ve discovered that there are many challenges that one faces in the game development journey.

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10 Crowdfunding Platforms to Consider for Indie Projects

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

So, you have a great idea and maybe even an awesome team working on it already! That is an excellent start, however, the often tricky issue of financing your project may be something you have yet to decide on and to have set up for you.

Are you sure that you have the funds to see your exciting project through? If not, then crowdfunding may be something for you to consider.

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