What to Look For in a Game Audio Education

A modular synthesis setup


Game audio is a tough subject to teach in a school setting. You have to learn a DAW, design, foley, editing, middleware, game engines, implementation... the list is long, and it's tough to find a way to condense all of that into any kind of regular educational structure. Game audio professionals get questions about where to go and what to look for from prospective students all the time, and I'm hoping to address at least some of those points in this blog post. Thanks to all of my wonderful, Wholesome friends for your brainstorming on this topic with me (and letting me vent...)! 


What kind of learner are you?

Before we go any farther, I want you to ask yourself HOW you take in information, and what learning style you enjoy. Game audio careers do not necessarily require a degree or diploma, so the way you get yourself educated is more or less up to you. 

Are you a self-directed learner?

If you know you're good at finding the information you need, and love the idea of googling the answers to your problems, you may do best by utilizing Youtube University along with places like the Sound Design Discord, Air Wiggles, and game audio forums to learn what you need to learn. As mentioned above, a degree is not critical to landing a job in this field, so if you have the time and the mental budget, you may get what you're after by sitting down with some videos and writing it out for yourself. There are also plenty of Udemy courses you can take a look at!

For links to some of these groups and resources, check out my Website's Community Page for info!

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Do you want a little bit of direction, but at your own pace?

There are some resources out there that will get you most of the way there without the need to pay for an expensive degree. The School of Video Game Audio is a fantastic option - structured courses you can complete in your own time, with instructor feedback and guided lessons. Another option is to follow the Game Audio Learning Roadmap to help find your way to where you need to go. In addition, there is Paul Boechler's "how to build a great game audio portfolio" and The Bible of Getting a Job in Game Audio to get you started on the right track. 
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Do you need the direction from a structured education in order to thrive?

If this is you, you're not alone! I felt the same way, and that's why I went searching for a structured program to take to learn sound design. I can learn some things on my own when I need to, but I wanted to sit down and really digest all of the information about what game audio is as a career, so an educational institution was the route for me.  And this is what I want to talk about! 

Like I mentioned, it's really tough to fit what we need to know for game audio into an educational program. There are many factors working against us, such as:
  • Getting credited instructors is difficult because we have busy jobs that take up a lot of time, and have less availability to be a part-time instructor let alone a full-time educator. 
  • Technology in games evolves so quickly that it's difficult to keep up with modern practices
  • Getting permission to use trailers, and designs from current video games is difficult when it comes to being able to market the school and what you will learn. And in lieu of these permissions being available, it is difficult to find other pieces of material to use as our learning guides. 
  • This whole job is more or less two careers in one - sound design and game technology / implementation. 
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    A note on this: Not only are we dealing with tech and sound design in game audio, but in order to get your work out there, you also have to understand the basics of marketing, branding, networking, video editing, etc. The more professional-looking your reel is, the better your chances of landing a gig. 
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  • The limits to what it means to be a sound designer are unregulated and can change so drastically studio to studio that it's difficult to nail down what is the most important to teach upcoming students. 
Thankfully, there are a handful of programs out there that hit the mark on most of these things and provide students with great education. Here are two examples of programs that I either went to, or consistently hear great things about:

Sound Design for Visual Media at Vancouver Film School  (my school!)

Pros: single-year diploma program, teachers that are still actively working in the industry, collaboration with game design and film campuses, professional development courses, foley and recording studios, being in Vancouver means being in a very active indie games hub with great networking opportunities, proven alumni success

Cons: Expensive, both for the program and for living in the city, difficulty keeping up with modern sound design practices, time taken up by both film AND games courses without the opportunity to choose

Sound Design for Video Games Specialization at Berklee College of Music

Pros: well-known, accredited institution with a proven track record for great education, consistent modernization of bachelor's programs and specializations, experienced faculty, part of the electronic production major that includes extended learning in recording and electronic production techniques

Cons: Expensive, four year degree program, less opportunities available to collaborate with game designers
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Is cost a factor?

Schools are expensive, and so is gear for audio and games, not to mention rent in a lot of the cities with a prominent game development scene. 

Vancouver Film School's tuition hovers at around $30,000 for Canadians and $50,000 for International students. Cost of living in Vancouver is wildly expensive, and that has to be considered. In 2017, my bedroom in an 8-bedroom house was $950 / month, and prices have only gone up since then. Consider an extra $20,000 / year for basic living expenses, and you're looking at $50,000-$70,000 including housing and tuition. 

Berklee's average tuition plus housing is Available on their website, and they average your cost to be $80,000 USD per academic year. 

Then we get into the talk of what you need for gear - a decent computer or laptop with good graphics cards if you're working in games, plus the cost of an interface, recorder and microphone, libraries, plugins, not to mention website upkeep, branding, business cards, etc... Things add up quickly, and it's a part of the cost of starting this career. You need to account for this when you're considering the budget you have available, and how much you want to spend to get into this industry.

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Questions to ask when researching a program: 

It's difficult to keep track of the new programs that are popping up, but there are some questions you can have available to ask the admissions teams, or even just ask as you're reading through the course descriptions to determine whether or not a program may be a good fit for you (and your wallet). 

What is the name of the program?

Yes, this is a very simple question to get started on, but the title itself can help you figure out if it's something you want to commit to. Are they calling it game music? It's probably a composition course. Audio production? It MIGHT have sound design courses, but that kind of language tends to point to music recording and production rather than sound design. 
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Does the language of the course description focus on music or sound? 

I know this may sound simple enough, but there are programs out there that say they are game audio related, but all of their resources describe music instead. While this can certainly be an error from the admissions team, or a simple oversight in how the course is structured, it's something to ask admissions / faculty about before you apply!

A course description that reads: "Game Sound Design 1 - Students will deconstruct the game music from the classic, modern and contemporary periods

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A note on this: I think it's a fine idea to have music education available alongside a game audio / sound design degree. These two disciplines ARE related, and they can be very useful to study together, however, a program that seems to talk about music while marketing sound design gives off a red flag to me as I want to make sure the faculty is very focused on the sound design side of my education.
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Other things to look out for would be calling sound effects special effects, not mentioning any specific sound design techniques like foley or synthesis, talking about synthesis relating purely to music, etc.
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What programs are they teaching students to use?

Game audio is not the same as music production or film audio. Reaper, Wwise, FMod, Unreal, Unity - you will want to make sure at least some of these programs are a part of your education. A lot of the time we'll see a program that might be sound design focused, but purely in ProTools which, while fine at its core, COULD indicate that the program is much more film-focused than it is games-focused. 
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Who are the instructors and what are their qualifications? 

I cannot stress this enough: Research The Faculty. Look up their names, see what they've worked on and how long ago they've been an active part of the industry. As mentioned, technology and techniques move so fast in game audio that you should look to get instruction from teachers that still have their foot in the door and are actively working in some capacity, or have worked in more recent years. I have seen programs out there that have ZERO sound design-focused teachers in their faculty. This is a major red flag for teaching what we do and I would encourage you to reconsider a program where this is the case. Also see if you can reach out to them and chat before you apply - if you don't get along with them it's likely you won't get as great an education! 
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What extracurricular / multidisciplinary opportunities will the school provide you? 

Does the school host game jams? Do they actively help you find community events to be a part of? Do you get to collaborate with teams from game design programs? A major part of this job is networking, and you will want to make sure your school knows that and actively tries to help students find these opportunities. In addition, you'll learn the most about game audio by actively implementing into a game that's currently in development, so being able to collaborate with students in game design programs is extremely helpful. 
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What facilities are available at the institution? 

Game audio can also include a lot of recording, especially props, foley and VO. If the recording spaces start mentioning primarily music-making specs, rather than talking about foley, sound effects, and VO, then it might indicate the program is actually more music / production focused, which may not be what you're looking for.
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Where is the school located? 

Networking is SO critical in this industry that I would choose a 3-star school in a 5-star city over a perfect school in a city with no opportunities available.  Even if you don't end up going down the school route, I'd HIGHLY recommend seeing if you can move closer to, or into, a city that has a notable community for game audio. This is so critical to landing a job and getting into the community, and being away from that can hurt your chances at getting your foot in the door.
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When you say internships.... what do you mean?

Unfortunately, internships in game audio are few and far between. A yellow flag for me is seeing programs that mention their students will be ready for internships once they graduate, but don't actually give a list of available internships. There are not many around in game audio, and giving students the false promise of easily finding one is unfair.
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What does the school have in place for helping students find game audio jobs?

Similar to the internship situation, a school that boasts immediate success for every student without explaining how carries with it a red flag. Make sure the program you're looking into helps teach you a bit about the business side of this industry and gives you recourses necessary to start understanding the job market. This could be as simple as ensuring a course is dedicated to portfolio production, or giving graduates lists of game jams, clubs, and other networking events within the school's city and beyond. Most school programs do not properly prepare students for what it takes to market yourself and get your work out there - this is huge in this industry and has to be considered. 

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This was a bit of a novel and it still doesn't cover everything, but ultimately what I'm trying to say is this: 
Game audio is getting more and more popular, and because of that, institutions are seeing the bags of money in front of them for creating these courses. A lot of the programs that are popping up have not had enough time for research and development, and are ill-equipped to provide students with proper, useful education. Given the price tags on education in most countries at the moment, make sure you're doing every bit of research you can before committing to one, and really think about what is right for YOU to learn. This might not be a degree program - it could end up being self-directed learning. But if it IS a degree or diploma, put the time in to do as much research as possible first. 

Love y'all
Until next time!

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