Introducing Ninichi’s Royalty Free Game Music Asset Packs

November 13, 2018 in MUSIC, Game music, Gamedev Resources

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.

Understanding How Much an Indie Game Music Composer Costs

November 06, 2018 in Game music, GAMEDEV, MUSIC, Game Development

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

If you’re developing a game, at some point you may be wondering whether or not to invest in a custom game music soundtrack and whether to hire a game music composer to work with or not. One big question that I’m sure is on your mind, is how much will it all cost? How much do indie game music composers charge typically?

Unfortunately this isn’t a simple question to answer since every composer is different. However, as a freelance indie game music composer myself (learn more about me!), I can try to give you an overview of what sort of rates you may come across and to help you understand where some of the pricing structures and costs may come from.

How to Choose & Use Music in Your Film

October 16, 2018 in Film Music, Short films, FILM, MUSIC

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

There are many things to think about when putting together a film. One key area to think about is the music soundtrack and how to choose music to fit and enhance the film overall.

As an indie film music composer, I’ve worked on a variety of really interesting films and film projects (see some of the film music I’ve done here and view my credits). I believe that music plays an important role in films but it isn’t always the easiest aspect to get right. When done well though, the music can really help to enhance a viewer’s experience and understanding of your film and so it’s definitely worth taking the time to think about and to find the right music for your film.

To help you a little bit with this, here are a few things to think about…

8 Top Tips on Building a Strong Working Relationship with a Freelance Composer

September 18, 2018 in Film Music, Game music, Ninichi Music, FILM, GAMEDEV, MUSIC, Jingles

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

Are you thinking about hiring a freelance composer to work with but aren’t quite sure about how it might work or how to ensure that it works well? If so, don’t worry. It is a completely natural feeling especially if you’ve never worked with any freelancers before and it’s important to address your concerns and to make sure that you find the right person for you and your project.

I’m a freelance music composer and have worked with clients and projects all over the world – including working with game developers, filmmakers, podcasters, TV producers, marketers and more (see my homepage to get to know me, Ninichi a bit better!). I work from my home office and have never met many of my clients, yet my working relationships with each one feels really strong. There’s a sense of trust, my clients know that they can rely on me to get the work done and done to a high standard, and that I will always do my best to create music that embodies their visions. They also know that I will always be there to respond to their needs whenever they have something to say, ask, explore, feedback on or to work on further.

Introducing the Game Music for Tank Tank Rush

August 21, 2018 in Game music, Ninichi Music, MUSIC

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

This is the third article in the 'Introducing the game music' series. Each one tries to offer a little bit of insight into what lies behind the music for a specific game I've worked on. As a game music composer, I really enjoy the process of connecting with and working with such a wide range of talented game developers. I've found that each one has their own vision for their game and it is my job to help ensure that this vision is brought to life through the music and the game's soundtrack.

Now, let's take a look at Tank Tank Rush...

What is Tank Tank Rush?

Tank Tank Rush is unique blend between an artillery and side-scroller game, created by the amazing talented Antonin Duboc (@PutschMobi) - owner of Smart Game Studio. In the game, you control a soviet army tank and fire your tank gun at the enemy. The game is set during the Great Patriotic War on the Eastern Front and this is where all the action happens!

The game is still in development, but it's definitely one to watch for those who like shooting things and like a bit of tank fun!

What’s interesting about the music for this game?

The setting for this game makes it quite unique and required quite a specific style of music i.e. a USSR style military march. I worked with Antonin – the solo developer to the game, and composed the theme tune to Tank Tank Rush.

The track gets played in the game during the start menu and so it sets the scene for the game and is the first thing that one hears when looking at the game.

I was asked to create something that has a mix of feeling solemn and being something that one might listen to before going to war i.e. something that gives you courage for battle.

I wanted the game music to sound quite distinct and to work well with the look and feel of the game.

Antonin was also very clear that he didn’t want any other music within the game itself and so I felt that it was important to make this main theme tune track something special.

How did I go about creating the music for this game?

I listened to other music from this era and in this style to ‘get into the zone’. For me this is always an important step in creating any new piece of music as it gives me a good sense of the style when something specific is needed and is also a great source of inspiration and ideas.

I have experience in playing military style music and have heard quite a bit of it in my time. I’m a classically trained musician and used to play in various orchestras and so have a solid grasp of what an orchestra can do. I’ve also actually studied a few of the Russian composers in the past and so felt quite comfortable with this style. I’m very lucky to have had a lot of experience across a wide range of musical genres, which I think helps me a lot when it comes to being able to compose for different projects. I love listening to different kinds of music and the variety that comes my way when being asked to work on and create new music.

Any other thoughts or tips when creating game music?

I've created the music for several indie games now (have a little listen) and absolutely love it! One of the amazing things is how different each game can be and therefore, the wide range of music styles I've had the opportunity to create music in.

One thing I'd say is not to limit yourself when deciding what kind of music you think could fit your game. Take the time to explore different styles and to understand what you really like yourself vs. what you feel others may like to hear when playing your game. You don't have to do what others do necessarily either. Let your creativity flow and let your composer work with you to find a unique sound for your game. (Also see: How to Communicate Effectively with a Composer)

When creating music for a game, it's always important to fully understand the setting for where the music fits with everything, so that when composing, you can create something that will enhance the gameplay and immerse people into that world and specific section of the game.

All music in a game is important I feel, however, the main theme tune should certainly be given extra attention since it's the tune that should stick in people's mind for a while and that they are most likely to associate with your game.

I hope some of this has been interesting! Good luck with your game development and if you'd like some custom music for your game, get in touch!

Other articles in the 'Introducing the game music' series:

How to Communicate Effectively with a Composer

August 07, 2018 in FILM, MUSIC, Podcast

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

If this is your first time visiting my blog, welcome! I’m a game music composer and believe that communication is key to a strong working relationship. In order to ensure that you get the best music for your project, whether it’s a game music soundtrack, film score or anything else – knowing how to communicate effectively with your chosen composer can really help. Here are a few tips that I hope will help you to get the most out of your working relationship with your composer.If this is your first time visiting my blog, welcome! I’m a game music composer and believe that communication is key to a strong working relationship. In order to ensure that you get the best music for your project, whether it’s a game music soundtrack, film score or anything else – knowing how to communicate effectively with your chosen composer can really help.

5 Reasons Why Jingles are Vital For Great Advertising

July 24, 2018 in Jingles, Podcast, MUSIC

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

If you’re involved in advertising and are wondering how to make your advert stand out, think carefully about the music jingle that everyone will hear as they listen to and watch your advert. Jingles are a super important part when it comes to advertising and it’s amazing how much impact they can have on an advertising campaign and on one’s brand.

I’m a freelance jingles composer and have worked on various jingles, theme tunes and intros and outros for different shows and commercial adverts as well as working on soundtracks for games and films (see my homepage or jingles & intros page). It’s a really rewarding experience and one that I feel passionately about. Often the importance of getting the right jingle can be overlooked and so I hope that this article helps to offer some insight and ideas around why they require real thought and consideration, and that by investing time and energy into this, you will most definitely see your advertising campaign come to life!

3 Basic but Important Game Music Rules!

July 10, 2018 in Game music, MUSIC, GAMEDEV

By Ninichi | Contact | Follow

When it comes to the music and/or soundtrack to your game, it’s really important to get some basics right. For some people it’s easy to identify and decide on what sort of style and mood you want for different parts of your game. For others, it can be really tough, since there will be various different options and directions that you could go in, and it can be hard to tell what would fit best and be most well received by players of your game.

It’s challenging for me to help you choose the right music for your particular game without knowing much more about it, but there are some general rules that I hope may help you in your decision making around what kind of game music you might like for your game and also where you might want to get it from…

1. Game music is there to support the gameplay

That means that it should NOT be overwhelming or too distracting. It is there to enhance, engage and support, not be the centre of everything. Great game music adds to the experience and heightens the emotions that you feel as you move through the game.

If working with a composer, it’s important that they understand this and aren’t the type to create music that takes away the focus from your game. A good composer will know how to create music that has that precise balance that’s needed to capture one’s attention enough to be interesting and fun to listen to but which is still something that sits neatly in the background to the main gameplay.

2. A lot of game music loops

Most game soundtracks will consist of looping tracks, which are between 30 seconds to 2 minutes long, on average. That means that although the tracks shouldn’t be overwhelming, they also shouldn’t be too repetitive either. They may be played over and over again depending on how long someone plays the game for, and so ideally you’ll want your music to be fun and engaging to listen to several times.

This means that you probably want your composer to have a real talent for melody and for developing tunes in a way that they can be repeated several times without becoming boring or annoying. Tunes that are too simple, can be often too easy to remember and hence when they’re repeating often, it becomes irritating. However, tunes that are too complex aren’t memorable or catchy at all and thus aren’t usually great to listen to.

3. Consistency and coherence

Whether you’ve decided to work with one composer, multiple composers or to source your music from elsewhere, it’s important to think about the consistency of the music across your soundtrack and within your game.

Across your game you will mostly likely want and need a variety of different types of music to bring out different aspects of your game. Whilst the variety in the moods and potentially styles and important and useful to help bring your game, game areas/locations and characters or situations to life, it’s also important to have a sense of consistency and coherence across all of the game music.

It needs to sound as though it’s all part of the same game and fits well within the game world. This is often tricky to do if using music from a wide variety of sources because the styles, instrumentation, sounds etc. can all be quite different. To someone playing your game, if the music doesn’t have that sense of coherence, the game may feel quite disjointed.

I hope you’ve found this article useful! If you find yourself getting a bit confused when it comes to the music for your game and/or would like some help with it, do feel free to contact me. I’d be delighted to work with you on your game music and look forward to hearing about your wonderful project!