Reflection

How did I benefit from carrying out the project?

Completing this portfolio and composing for each project gave me a great sense of belief in my ability to compose and create sound and music for projects as intricate as Video-games. Games hold alot of dynamicism naturally and I learned that if you choose to compose music for a game, the music must be dynamic and match the energy the player will feel when playing the game. This in turn helped me develop my understanding of the industry and doing the portfolio guided me in believing that succesfully composing for games is my preferred career and goal in life.

Why is it important and of interest?

The global gaming industry growth is projected to grow from $229.16 billion in 2021 to $545.98 billion in 2028 at a Compound annual growth rate of 13.20% making it one of the most important entertainment industries to be involved in. As the industry progresses, technical advancements will be made and interest in its growth will only attract more innovation and funding, matching the rate at which the average music composer's salary over time has slowly but surely increased in the US by $49.5k to $54.6k. Music is also a part of my drive in life and to combine it with my career is my utmost priority in life at the moment. This portfolio serves as the launchpad that will allow me to find clients and present my most prized work. Every piece I complete can be added to the site and through the portfolio I can be judged fairly on my merits and skill

What did you hope to learn and gain a better understanding of?

I learned about what I could personally accomplish in a given timeframe for a project and taught myself a general routine to uphold with customers, asking them the right things to get a sense of an instructional brief before providing them with a taste in direction, providing a rough draft and finally the final mastered product. I also learned alot about my professional environement and how the market is oversaturated with composers. In 2015, Brian Schmidt posted an article entitled “Composing for Games: MSN says
"Composer" 2nd fast-growing job in us. We figured out why”9. Schmidt goes on to say in the
article that according to the US Bureau of Labor Stats (BLS), the job growth of Music
Directors and Composers from 2008 to 2011 had grown by 154%. This taught me that Its now more important than ever to outshine the competetion and provide a sense that your service is unique and worth the agreed upon price.

What skills did you practice and perfect?

The skill I perfected was my ability to alter my communication with different customers. Some customers are strictly professional and require a more reserved language choice while others respond better to more relaxed communication. Each case is different but I taught myself a good starting point for conversations as a means to introduce myself to the client in an interesting yet neutral fashion as to test the waters. Additionally, repetetive amounts of daily composition has improved my skills surrounding music theory which were previously lacklustre. New tasks and new calibres for said tasks pushed me to try to find new and interesting software to compose with allowing me to learn new software applications and methods that I previously had little intention in exploring, believing that my time were better spent perfecting the skills i knew were avaialable to me. Ultimately, the portfolio and each project provided me with countless opportunities to grow and understand what shape I wish for my career to take. With the help of these examples, I'll surely be able to land my first few clients after graduation and i'll be on the first steps in becoming part of a game studio and starting my career as a video games audio worker.

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