Are you working with a composer for a film, game or something else? If so, communication is key to a strong working relationship. However, the chances are, the composer you’re working with may not always fully understand what you’re hoping for from them and their music. Being able to offer helpful, descriptive and constructive feedback on their work in order to help guide them towards creating music that fits your needs well – is really important.
Read More6 Marketing Articles to Help Your Indie Game Succeed
Hello lovely indie game developers and other peeps! Welcome, welcome to my humble blog! If you’re here for the first time, I’m Ninichi - a freelance game music composer and the creator of this game development blog. Here I offer my music talents and services to you i.e. you can commission me to create music for your game (see my game music page) or explore my royalty free music library and game music packs. AND - you can explore my blogs which include a wide range of articles to support you through your game development journey, highlight interesting indie games I’ve found and been involved in, offer tips and tricks when it comes to game music and more!
One of the key areas in the game development cycle that I’ve seen many game developers struggle with is marketing! It’s often something that isn’t considered very fun to do but at the same time I think we all know that doing something in this arena is absolutely necessary if we want our wonderful games to sell! Without any marketing, how will you reach your audience? It’s something that must be thought about and that you will need to take some action around but it can be tricky to know where to start and what to do.
On my blog I’ve written a couple of articles that look into the ‘marketing space’ and so I thought that it would be useful to pull these articles together here so that you can explore them easily and as and when you feel the need…
1. 6 Must Do Marketing Tips for Indie Game Developers
This is the first article that I wrote that offers some ideas to help game developers market their games. It’s a good place to start and offers some ideas that you can hopefully action or at least start exploring. It’s just an overview and introductory article to give you some idea of the areas to be thinking about, but hopefully is a good initial article to help you with your next steps.
2. How to Create an Awesome Indie Game Trailer
Creating a trailer to help give people a glimpse of what your game looks like and to introduce it to them, is a powerful way to market your game to your audience. However, it’s not always obvious how to go about creating an effective game trailer. Check out my tips and ideas to help you create an awesome trailer for your indie game.
3. How to Promote Your Game on Twitter
Twitter has a big game development and gaming community. I’ve discovered this, being on Twitter myself (@ninichimusic), and have found both of these communities to be incredibly supportive and encouraging. I would recommend that you tap into these communities and that you build your Twitter and other social media profiles so that you can reach a wider audience.
4. 4 Ways to Make Marketing Your Indie Game Less Painful
I’ve discovered that many indie game developers really really don’t like thinking about marketing their games in any shape or form! It’s not something that comes naturally to everyone and you are not alone if you feel that it’s something you’d rather avoid, runaway from and/or skip completely. However, I would encourage you to think again and to try and approach it in a way that hopefully you can become slowly more comfortable with. In this article I try to offer you some suggestions and ways that you can do this.
5. 6 Indie Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
There are many mistakes that I’ve seen people do and that are common but that can definitely be avoided! That’s the reason I put this article. It aims to highlight some very common errors that people do and that can waste you a lot of time or mean that you miss the boat completely - and so get reading and make sure that you don’t fall into any of these marketing traps!
6. 10 Crowdfunding Platforms to Consider for indie Projects
As you develop your game you may wish to explore raising some funds for it. Crowdfunding is a great way to do this and can also help create a buzz around your game. It can form part of your marketing activities and help to build your fan base which is why I’ve included this resource list here for you to explore further.
So, I really hope that you’ve found these 6 articles useful. I hope to create more in time but hopefully these offer some insights and ideas to help you hone in your marketing strategy for your game. Best of luck with it and do keep in touch with me via my Twitter and Instagram accounts! I’d love to hear all about your game and how you’re getting on with it!
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
Five Great Movie Scores
A great film pulls together many different elements and factors to impress viewers.
A good plot, great actors and a meaningful topic all help, as does innovative and exciting direction, but music is also a key part of making a good film great.
Whether you’re shooting a big-budget blockbuster, or a short animated indie production, a good soundtrack can make your movie stand out from the crowd. What makes a good soundtrack though? Which movies take sound and use it as an arsenal in their attack on viewers and cinemagoers?
We have pulled together a collection of five movies which perfectly used musical scores to accentuate and develop their projects to great effect.
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
Few scores have defined a genre in the same way as Ennio Morricone’s work on The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The whistle and those opening three notes came to represent everything that Westerns stood for, and it still endures today. 54 years on and the best Western score of all time is well known by fans whose parents were not born when it first played to cinemas.
Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
The Star Wars franchise has been given new life recently by Disney’s interpretation of the story, but back in 1977, it was new to fans. Science fiction, in general, was in its tentative stages on the big screen, with special effects barely able to deliver the scenes the directors wanted. John Williams’ triumphant opening created an epic feeling, suggesting to viewers that what was to follow was a classic and memorable experience that would stay with them forever. Thanks to a neat range of merchandise and George Lucas’ perseverance, that has been the case.
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Tarantino does things differently to most, with films that break convention and often use tracks from others to juxtapose the action on screen, for instance, Reservoir Dogs using Steeler’s Wheel during a rather violent scene. Foxy Bingo explains how Inglorious Basterds is considered Quentin Tarantino’s dark comedy, and as a director famous for trying things differently to most, it was the storyline and dialogue which set the film apart. In Inglorious Basterds, he had a specific time period to address, as well as scenes to compliment, which makes this a particularly impressive use of a music score. It was the work of Ennio Morricone which helped make this a great soundtrack, but afterwards the famous composer said he would never work with Tarantino again as he ‘places music in his films without coherence’.
The Godfather (1972)
The 1972 masterpiece brought together all the elements of a genuinely great movie; slow build-up to the shocking moments, compelling storyline and some wonderful acting. Of course, the work of Francis Ford Coppola helped set it apart as he steeped his film in Italian immigrant culture, developing the mobsters into characters of psychological depth and complexity. It was ambitious, grandiose and could only work with a suitably successful score. Italian composer Nino Rota created the score to reflect and relate the situations in the film, with his success. Described by Empire as an intricately constructed tapestry of narrative and emotion, the film has not been dulled by the passing of time, almost half a century after its release.
Rocky (1976)
Perhaps the Rocky franchise is more famous for the rousing use of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ as a motivational soundtrack, but the movie's score should not be underestimated either. Bill Conti’s track ‘Gonna Fly Now’ became the go-to soundtrack for a generation of fitness addicts needing that extra push, combining pulsating horns and rumbling drums to complement any montage. What makes the score great is the compatibility with the film’s themes of fighting against adversity and rising to a challenge. Sadly, the franchise needed Survivor to say those words in Rocky III in a less subtle usage of music as a metaphor.
Game funding Tips: How to Impress a Game Investor
in GAMEDEV
If you are a game developer or part of an indie game studio and are looking for investment in your video game, it can often be tricky to know where to start. Knowing how to impress a game investor and therefore how to gain crucial funding and support for your game can be a challenge which is why, in this article we explore what it takes to get this right. Here are some tips from Bertrand Vernizeau, CEO of Game Seer at game-seer.com
1. Target the right partner
First of all, you must ensure you know who you will pitch your company or game to. Be it a publisher or a traditional equity investor, ensure you check which projects they have backed already and/or which companies they have invested in so far. Your pitch will get instantly rejected by investors who solely do equity funding if you come seeking project financing and vice versa.
2. Inform yourself about us
Browse carefully our websites, read our opinions in the press, at conferences, as some investors shun certain domains: for instance, we only invest in PC and console games with productions up to 5 million EUR. Some investors like our friends over at level-up.com only invest in mobile. Some only invest in tech, in AR, in VR etc. If you know what an investor seeks beforehand and it is aligned with what you propose, you are much more likely to be a match.
3. Choose the right timing
Now that you are sure that the investor you want to pitch to is actually looking for what you have to offer, you must still verify that the timing is right. At what point should you pitch your project? Again, targeting the right entity matters all while making sure your company is ripe for investment. Some incubators like Y combinator will invest at paper pitch level, this is also mostly true for traditional equity venture capitalists whose upside is based on securing the highest amount of shares at the very early stages of a game’s development, with the lowest investment possible.
4. Make an impression, at first glance
Game seer as well as publishers on their end will most of the time require a playable demo, a vertical slice or a prototype. Visual materials help a lot as they help showcase your skills and most importantly allow the investor to picture in their mind what you have in yours. If you come and pitch us compelling visuals and a playable demo, you ensure that we will thoroughly review what you have provided. If you ask us for money and have already made something decent enough to trigger our preliminary interest, then you most certainly will get all our attention at this stage to make sure we understand entirely what you are trying to achieve. That’s a great place to start.
5. Maximizing your chances
While great games are made by exceptional people, they do not always have the ability to properly showcase what they are capable of. Some people are simply better at making than showing. Investors are aware of this and have adapted their business acumen over time to see through this. While you may not be a great presenter, marketer nor an excel spreadsheet champion, this pretty simple set of documents will drastically increase your chances of getting an investment:
- Detailed production pipeline
- Budget breakdown with everyone in your team who is Employed Full Time (external and internal)
- Standard product information: Recommended Sale Price, Platforms, expected rating etc.
- Elevator pitch with as many visuals and as little text as possible, team experience, general vision and unique selling proposition of the title.
- Decisive bonus: prototype, demo or vertical slice
About this blog
This blog is brought to you by Ninichi, a video game music composer who works with indie game developers and indie filmmakers to bring their soundtracks to life. This article, like many others on my blog, offers tips and advice from the games industry to support the development of new games.
For more information on Ninichi explore her game music, royalty free music and/or contact her to discuss your project and music needs.
Follow her @ninichimusic
6 Reasons Not to Use Royalty Free Music in Marketing Videos
in Marketing tips, Jingles, MUSIC
Do you have a corporate video or marketing campaign you’re working on? If so, getting the music right will be one element to consider carefully. Putting together the rest of the video is super important, however, many people seem to underestimate the importance of the music and the impact it can have on pulling the whole project together and enhancing the video content.
Read More5 Things to Think About Before Hiring a Composer
in Game music, MUSIC
Are you considering hiring a composer for your game, film or media project? Are you clear about what you want from the music and from your composer once you’ve hired them? If not, perhaps some of these tips might help you think through some key areas before making the final decision of who to go with, which composer to hire and which musical direction to take for your project.
Read More11 Video Game Music Advice Articles from Ninichi
in GAMEDEV, Game music, MUSIC, Ninichi Music
Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to my game development blog! I’m Ninichi and I’m a freelance game music composer. I create music for games, film and media and I work closely with independent game developers, small games studios, small film studios and more, to help them create custom soundtracks for their games and films! I also run this blog where I try to share some insights into the work that I do, what I’ve discovered from working in this industry and where I pull together resources that I believe will be useful for the game development community.
What I’ve noticed from my blog is that I’ve now created quite a few different articles to do with game music! So, I thought that it could be useful to have somewhere that highlights the best of them all in once place so that they’re easy to get to, read and so that we can all see an overview of what’s what so far!
1. Why it’s Useful to Think About Music Early On in Game Development
When development a game from scratch there are certainly many different elements to think about. Music is one component but it’s also a crucial component to get right since it sets the tone for the game, helps set the mood and helps to immerse people into the whole gaming experience. Thinking about what kind of music you want and how you want to use it to enhance your game early on in game development can really help. Find out why in this article.
2. 4 Ways to Source Music for Your Game
Once you’ve decided to start thinking about the music in your game, you will need to figure out where you want to source it from. One option is to do it yourself but you may not have the required skills to do this well in which case you will need to explore your options. Read this article to find out more!
3. 6 Different Ways to Harness Music in Games
Explore the many different ways to harness and make the most of music in games. Here I try to share some insights into how music is used to connect with players in a game and to enhance the overall gaming experience. Hopefully this will be useful for you as you begin to explore what kind of music you want and need for your game to make it shine!
4. Understanding how much an indie game composer costs
If you are thinking about whether or not to hire a composer for your game, this article will help you understand some of the steps and costs involved in this process. Budgeting for your game and game music are often things that you will need to think carefully about and so this article offers some insight into how composers often price and cost their work and what sorts of things you’ll need to take into consideration when hiring a game music composer to create custom music for your game.
5. 3 Basic but Important Game Music Rules!
Get some tips and insights into what kinds of things you’ll need to be thinking about in order to get the game music right for your indie game! They may be obvious points (or not if you’ve not considered these things before), but they are pretty important to be aware of. Bad game music is usually obvious and can really interfere with the gaming experience leading to people not wanting to play your game at all.
6. 5 Reasons to Hire a Composer for Your Game
Perhaps you’re in two minds about whether or not to hire someone to compose the music for your game. Find out why it could really be a game changer for you. There are some investments involved usually but at the same time, most games do dedicate a lot of time, care, effort and attention to their game music soundtracks and often this involves a dedicated game music composer who’s job it is to create that amazing soundtrack!
7. How Different Video Games Use Music
After being interviewed and asked by the BBC about how I go about writing music for games and what sorts of ways different games use music, I thought that I would write up some of the things I discussed and also have experienced. This article outlines a variety of ways that music is used in different types of games and are probably things worth thinking about and considering when putting together your game music soundtrack.
8. How to Choose the Right Music for Your Game
Now we’ve established just how important game music can be, you’ll probably be wondering how to select the right kind of music for your particular game and for each part of it. This is tricky to offer general advice around since each game is very different but in this article I try to offer some ideas to get you started hopefully on the right track.
9. 3 Mistake to Avoid When Creating Music for Your Game
It’s easy to make some mistakes when it comes to game music especially if it’s not your area of expertise. Hopefully if you were working with a good composer they will be able to help you avoid all of these automatically but if not, these are some things to be aware of.
10. 5 Top Tips for Hiring a Game Music Composer for the First Time
For those who haven’t hired a game music composer, this article is designed to help you! It’s not always easy to understand the process or to know what to expect from a composer if you haven’t worked with one before and so hopefully this article with give you an idea of how to approach the whole topic and how to find the right composer for you.
11. How to Communicate Effectively with a Composer
Communication is so important when it comes to working with anyone in game development or in any project. If you do decide to hire a composer (or any other freelancer), it’s incredibly important to know how best to communicate with them in order to get the best results. Here are some guidelines to help you get the most out of your relationship with your composer. It requires you to describe your vision, know what i tis that you want from them and to talk openly to them as you work together to build the music for your game.
I really hope that you find some of these articles useful. There are more that are scattered around the blog and so feel free to use the search bar to look for specific topics if you didn’t find what you wanted here or if you simply want to see what other articles there are on the site. Whichever stage you are at with your game development, I wish you the best of luck with it and encourage you deeply to spend a bit of time on the music side of things and not to leave it to the last minute! Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog and do stay connected with me on Twitter and Instagram!
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
8 Top Resource Lists for Indie Game Developers
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