petedupon

When it comes to indie game development, I've been thinking a lot lately on the subject of team size in the audio world.  At least from my experience on these forums, it seems like a lot of our stand-out posters function as one-man teams.  They're capable and good at designing FX, composing pieces, mixing, and implementing every aspect of the sound.  While I understand the decision to do that from the financial standpoint of a freelancer, I am very curious as to what the public opinion is on the subject.

As someone relatively new to this, I understand that not only my greatest love, but my strongest ability is in my FX design work.  I'm not much of a composer, and really don't find any joy out of doing it, so I don't.  And while I'm working on learning FMod and WWise, I wouldn't consider myself even capable of doing any large scale implementing or audio programming.  This has, understandably, made finding work much harder when I compete with others who can do it all.  And I'm not complaining, mind you.  But I am curious if others feel the same way, where they'd prefer to really only do one aspect of the many that they often find themselves doing.  Are there any composers out there who'd rather focus on that instead of being stuck creating FX?  Are there any of you who love programming but find the composing side more difficult?  I've connected myself with a few composers who I'm working with on a current project, and am just curious what you all think.  Would you prefer to work as part of a team more often, or enjoy working solo?

Agreed with above, in that they're extremely beautiful but could do well to get to some more driven parts more quickly.  There's a lot of sonic exposition in War Graves, for example, before reaching the meat of the track.

I'll also add that while you use great samples and have a wonderful sense of composition, don't be afraid to mix in the space a little more.  Some of your instruments sound much to up front in the mix, specifically flutes, plucked strings, or clarinet.  Those instruments lean more towards wistful and mysterious, and I imagine them being more effective sitting farther away in the mix.  You could accomplish this either by using less compression (if you're using any compression on the samples), or wetting the reverb on those particular tracks a little more and lowering the dry signal.

Keep up the great work man!

Nate makes some great points.

I totally agree about the payment thing, unless you work something out with a specific team or group.  One great way to get going might be to contact some projects that are already in the works, and ask them to put you in touch with their audio guy.  Ask him if he needs any help so he can get your feet wet.  It'll be kind of like an internship, and he might be able to unload some of the easier work to you.  This would give you some good practice in a real environment, without laying the weight of the world on you right as you begin.  It also builds some networking opportunities between you and other designers, which can be your most important ones down the road.

And while doing sound to an existing clip is always a great way to practice, my portfolio admission to my school was a sound only piece, kind of like a radio play.  Come up with a short story on your own, and produce it using only sound.  It's a great tool to help your chops, as well as giving you something to show off that's totally yours.  It's also a good way to hone your storytelling skills, which I think is one of the most important things a sound designer can possess.

Best of luck!

Compositionally your work is really good!  There's only a few points I'd like to make.

-Wet the reverb more on your drum parts.  Sending the kick and snare further back spatially in the mix will add to the huge size of your tracks.
-Try playing with the attack on your snare sound.  It's good tonally, but it lacks that precise definition, and it tends to sponge up your drum tracks in certain parts.  I would say use a more precise snare, and double them to achieve the group marching sound you're going for.
-Some parts of your song could use a little quantization, especially on the drum parts.  That's the rhythm that people subconsciously attach to, and if it drifts it can affect the effectiveness of your piece.
-Play with the tempo more during the melody parts.  Not a lot, but creating a tempo change of 5-6 bpm at certain parts of the song can help the melody gain or lessen intensity.  This is something John Williams does on almost everything.

Everything sounds awesome man!  I'd love to hear more!