Getting started as a composer

Just getting started as a composer? Composer and sound designer Richie Nieto shares his tips on surviving your first composing gig.

So you have finally landed your first paid gig as a video game composer. The first thing you do is call all your friends and try to excitedly explain that you’re going to work on a real game, but you can’t really talk about it because of the Non-Disclosure Agreement you just signed. After the initial rush of joy, you start to realize that you haven’t really done this before. Not the composing part – you got that down pat, no problem!

It’s the part about working with a live, breathing, paying client that you start feeling nervous about. A lot is riding on this; someone has money to lose if you don’t deliver what is asked from you. You can easily ruin your reputation even before you start building it. Panic sets in.

Have no fear! Here are some pointers that will help you sail through the rough seas of composing for money for the first time (or the second time, if you blew it the first time around). These tips won’t help you write an award-winning score, but they will help take the stress out of mostly everything else in the process.

Read Richie’s full feature on getting started as a composer here.