How do video game music composers make so many songs for one game? Are all of them some sort of musical talent / genius?
I love video game soundtracks from to 8-bit ones to the very orchestral pieces but it's not clear to me how they can make so many songs for one game. Even if there are motifs which can help make multiple track by variations there are plenty of very different tracks.
For example: Mega Man games.
Each stage has it's own atmosphere and melody, "feeling" and I don't think those tracks are so motif-sharing or just remix the same melody like the ones for example in Undertale, where Megalovania was the "base song" for almost the whole soundtrack.
I was thinking maybe they use every melody they find since a simple melody can express many different emotion and atmosphere depending on the rythm, correct rest placing and of course the instruments and the underlying bass, but still...
Are these composers so talented that they immediately hear the melody which is fitting for the certain level, atmoshpere or there are plenty of trying / experimenting and improvisation until they find a melody which sounds good?
I was trying to find good melodies for some imaginary scene but I just couldn't make my head "hear it". Even with improvisation... I've been learning the past weeks so it can be a reason.
Sometimes I hear ideas in my head, some of them similar to existing songs, some of them not, the same with improvisation which I think I can do better but I'm starting to worry that it's not the very lack of experience or because I don't have instrument but the lack of the talent.
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It’s actually not that difficult. Here’s where an education comes in handy:
Music for those types of video games is written to be looped seamlessly. The original portion might only be 2-3 minutes long, which is long enough to repeat without getting too annoying.
By having an understanding of form, how to structure phrases, chord progressions, and how to create certain moods, a composer could pretty quickly come up with a a variety of material without too much hassle.
This is actually true for music beyond games as well. Many people think “wow they must be a genius to write that” or they think that genius is a prerequisite for writing music, or tangentially, creating art in general. In truth, even the most complex pictures start with basic sketches of shapes with detail added along the way. Music is no different when you understand it’s basic ingredients.
Perhaps sometimes it starts with a melody, sometimes it starts with a chord, a sound, a drum rhythm or maybe nothing musical at all. Every composer is different and every piece starts differently. Rarely if ever is the reason because they are just “so talented”.
My advice: get some books on music theory and form and analysis. There is no substitute for doing the good work.
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