game audio questions Asbjoern Andersen

Posted by Asbjoern Andersen in Game audio


How do you get started - and make it - in game audio? To help with those inevitable questions on where to begin, what to expect, what to focus on, and how to succeed, Akash Thakkar has launched a great series of short, to-the-point answers to many of the questions that typically come to mind. Check out his thoughts and answers in the videos below + explore the additional 21 resources we've found for you:
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Game audio topics covered:

Click below to jump straight to your chosen topic:

Should you go to school to work in game audio? • What gear do you need to work in game music and sound? • What do you need to know to work in the game industry? • Can you find game audio projects online? • Can you make money as a sound designer? • How do you get feedback on your demo reel? • How much should you charge? • How do you get game audio experience WITHOUT a job? • Do you need to code to work in game audio? • How long will it take before you start getting paid for your music and sound work? • Can you be an in-house composer? • Are you too old to work in games? • Do you have to be a game audio freelancer?

+ 21 additional resources on how to make it in sound


 

Should you go to school to work in game audio?

Do you have to go to university/college to work in game audio, or in the game industry as a whole?



Should You Go to School? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

What gear do you need to work in game music and sound?

Do you really need tons of fancy microphones and recorders to get started as a composer/sound designer?



What Gear Do You Need to Work in Game Music and Sound? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

What do you need to know to work in the game industry?

In this video, Akash Thakkar lets you in on a skill that many people are seriously lacking in the game industry:



What do you need to know to work in the game industry? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

Can you find game audio projects online?

In this video, Akash Thakkar tells you why it’s a bad idea to rely purely on online networking to get freelance gigs in the game industry:



Can you find game audio projects online? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

Can you make money as a sound designer?

Some thoughts on whether or not you can actually make a GOOD living as a sound designer in games:



Can You Make Money as a Sound Designer? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

How do you get feedback on your demo reel?

Here’s how you can get great feedback on your portfolio and demo reel:



How to Get Feedback on your Demo Reel | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

How much should you charge?

Insights on that eternal question: How much should you charge for your music and sound?



How Much Should You Charge? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

Popular on A Sound Effect right now - article continues below:


Trending right now:

  •
    Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects CIRCUS Horror Strings Play Track 180 sounds included $0

    Strident and Demonic

    Expand the timbre of your horror violins and cellos with CIRCUS, a sinister sample pack featuring 180 WAV sounds of screeching or high-pitched string noises, perfect for horror music and dark sound design.

    Creative Tension

    This collection offers a curated selection of screeches, high-tension tremolo, heavy jeté strokes, dark demonic textures, finger patterns, chaotic string elements, clock loops and bow accents.

    Haunting and Experimental

    Create haunting atmospheres, perfect for horror, thriller or experimental soundtracks. Every element has been designed to unsettle and disturb, blurring the line between music and noise.

    Add to cart
  • Destruction & Impact Sounds Wood Impacts Play Track 1671 sounds included $65

    Wood Impacts features a large number of organic-sounding wooden crunches, impacts, metal+wood clashes and wood fiber explosions.

    The sounds are organized into 10 different categories such as Hits, Movements, Digs, Cracks, Mangles – giving you lots of great and versatile material for your sonic arsenal!

    Add to cart
  • Funny / Comedy / Cartoon Baby Sounds Play Track 160 sounds included, 85 mins total $39

    Baby Sounds library includes 160 HQ (24bit/96kHz) indoor recordings of newborn, infant, toddler laughs, sighs, screams, whimpers, giggles, and cries. All captured in real-life conditions, over a 14-month period.

    Apart from the profound pre-speech vocalizations, you’ll also find cute recordings of a suckling pacifier, baby farts, breathing, breastfeeding and sneezing that will help your foleying character become more realistic and lifelike. Overall, the collection caters to projects in need for authentic newborn/ infant/ toddler boy vocal expressions.

    Add to cart
  • Shotgun sound effects recordings
    Shotgun sound effects recordings
    Firearms Sound Effects 12 Gauge Shotgun Play Track 29 sounds included $12

    A collection of shots fired using a 12 Gauge Remington 870 Wingmaster shotgun. This library also includes a few bonus tracks of shots fired using a Thompson Rifle muzzleloader and a Barnett Crossbow.

    Add to cart
Latest releases:

  •
    City Life Sound Effects South East Asian Kitchen Ambience Play Track 26 sounds included, 189 mins total $30

    South East Asian Kitchen Ambience captures the busy and lively atmosphere of a working kitchen in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This collection features authentic sounds of cooking activity—meat pounding, stove crackling, water dripping, blenders whirring, pumps, and the hum of a grater machine—layered with background chatter and the subtle presence of passing traffic.

    Perfect for filmmakers, game developers, and sound designers, these recordings deliver a realistic sense of place, transporting listeners straight into the heart of a Southeast Asian kitchen full of movement, energy, and life.

    Add to cart
  • Ice Sound Effects Deep Ice Play Track 133 sounds included $60

    Deep Ice is a unique sound collection capturing the organic power and delicate beauty of ice in motion. Recorded with precision on frozen lakes, this library offers an immersive palette of crystalline cracks, deep impacts, and pure debris.
    You will find:
    – Under-ice recordings with an Aquarian H2d hydrophone: deep cracks and resonant fractures
    – Surface recordings in XY stereo with Schoeps CCM4: sharp impacts, hits, textures, cracks, and debris
    These sounds are ideal for films and series sound design, video games, and musicals creations. Each recording has been carefully cleaned and formatted to UCS standards.

    Showreel Deep ice MOOBOX
    Add to cart
  • Animal Sound Effects The Birds Play Track 78+ sounds included, 177 mins total $100

    The Birds includes selections from some of my previous libraries: Forests and Mountains, California Grassland Wildlife, Forest Day, and Harbor and Ocean. 

    I’ve gone through all of these libraries and selected what I consider some of my favorite recordings and that only include birds.  With this collection you get a wide variety of various birds in different environments, perspectives, times of the day, night.  Birds together, more specific and separate, close, distant.  The locations mostly include Southern California Foothills, Forests, and Mountains and Central California Grassland areas.  There’s also some recordings from Washington and Oregon. 

    There’s a few different species of Owls, a number of Ravens, various Sparrows, Woodpeckers, Doves, Finches and all sorts of other fun birds singing away.  Anyone looking for a bit more info should check out the library links up top to get a good idea.

    I’ve provided the species listings by each library.  The file names have been kept the same as they were in the original libraries so if anyone would like to compare metadata sheets to see what’s included it will be a bit easier.

    Forests and Mountains
    Acorn Woodpecker, American Coot, Barred Owl, Black-headed Grosbeak, California Quail, California Towhee, Canadian Geese, Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, House Wren, Mallard, Northern Flicker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Pacific Wren, Pied-billed Grebe, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Poorwill,  Raven, Robin, Red-shouldered Hawk, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Steller’s Jay, Swainson’s Thrush, Western Wood-Pewee, Wilson’s Warbler, Wrentit, Yellow-throated Blackbird

    Forest Day
    Acorn Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Lawrence’s Goldfinch,Mountain Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Raven, Red Shouldered Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Western Bluebird, Williamson’s Sapsucker

    California Grassland Wildlife
    Ash-throated Flycatcher, Barn Owl, Bell’s Sparrow, Bullock’s Oriole, California Towhee, Cassin’s Kingbird, Common Nighthawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Horned Lark, House Finch, Great Horned Owl, Mourning Dove, Raven, Red-tailed Hawk, Say’s Phoebe, Western Kingbird

    Harbor and Ocean
    Crow, Herring Gull, Pelogagic Cormorant, Pigeon Guillemot

    Grassland Micro
    California Towhee, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Western Kingbird, White-throated Swift

    Metadata
    All files have been carefully edited.  Detailed Metadata and labeling of species has been provided along with using UCS.  Photos have been embedded with each file to help out with getting an idea of what birds are typical in particular landscapes.  Markers have also been placed in the files to help out with navigating.

    The Gear
    Sound Devices MixPre-3
    Sound Devices MixPre-6
    Zoom F3

    Mics
    Sennheiser MKH 8020
    Sennheiser MKH 8040
    Sennheiser MKH 8040+MKH 30 MS

    Add to cart
  • Animal Sound Effects Harbor and Ocean Play Track 15+ sounds included, 37 mins total $12

    Harbor and Ocean is a smaller micro library featuring a mix of Ocean and Harbor sounds.  This features some recordings of Seagulls in a harbor, a large group of Cormorants and sea Pigeons hanging out on old dock pilings, and morning birds in a lake marina.  There’s also a few various sounds of ocean waves on different beaches, water laps on rock jetty’s and a lake dock, a barge ship heading out of the harbor, and general industrial harbor ambience.

    Harbor and Ocean
    Add to cart
  • Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Synthetic Cut Transitions Play Track 214 sounds included $39

    MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds

    Keyframing, motion blur, easing, masking, interpolation, texturing, rotoscoping and more, everyone knows that making professional broadcast quality motion graphics, visual effects, animations and info graphics is no easy task. Even more, finding the right sounds and audio cues that fit is tedious, time consuming and frustrating. 

    With Synthetic Cut Transitions – MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds you get an instant, affordable, sound solution, ready to use right out of the box. Precision crafted to amplify the impact of your motion graphics, animations, logos, idents, transitions, explainer videos, cinematic trailers and cutscenes. You get a fresh set of swipes, wipes, whooshes and sound morphs that you can use everyday (all royalty-free). Even more, you can mix and match, layer and transform sounds to create the perfect audio track to go with longer visual sequences. 

    It’s a time saving, action oriented, ready to use power pack of sound made specifically for interactive visual effects. 

    • 214 Total audio files for dynamic visual effects
    • All in 24-bit / 96kHz WAV plus other formats
    • 400+ MB of custom crafted audio 
    Add to cart
Need specific sound effects? Try a search below:

 
How do you get game audio experience WITHOUT a job?

Look around and you’ll see almost EVERY game industry job requires some form of experience… so how do you get experience if you’re new to the field?



Getting Game Dev Experience WITHOUT a Job | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

Do you need to know how to code to work in game audio?

Do you need to know how to program to work in game audio? Here are some insights on that:



Do You Need to Code to Work in Game Audio? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

How long until you get paid?

How long will it take before you start getting paid for your music and sound work?



How Long Until You Get Paid? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

Can you be an in-house composer?

Is it possible to become an in-house, full-time composer at a game company? Listen in as we cover whether or not that’s possible:



Can You Be an In-House Composer? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

Are you too old to work in games?

Wondering if it’s too late to work in the game industry if you’re above a certain age? Some thoughts on that here:



Are You Too Old to Work in Games? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

Do you have to be a game audio freelancer?

Do you HAVE to freelance to work in games? Here are Akash’s thoughts on that:



Do You Have to be a Freelancer? | Game Audio FAQs


 
↑ Back to topics

 

A big thanks to Akash Thakkar for his game audio insights! And if you’re looking for further resources on how to get started and make it in audio, check out our hand-picked selection below:

 

 

Further reading on freelance audio success:

Want to learn more about making it in audio? We’ve done some digging and have found the following resources for you – hope they come in handy!

Succeed in game audio:

• How to Set (and Get) the Right Price for Your Audio Work

• 10 Essential Tips for Game Audio Freelancers

• How to be a successful sound designer – with Scott Gershin

• 5 Useful Tips for Upcoming Sound Designers and Sound Editors

• Building a successful audio post studio – with Kate Finan and Jeff Shiffman
 

Breaking into game audio – guides and resources:

• The ‘Quit Aspiring’ book – by Adam Croft

• Applying for a job in game audio – by Matthew Florianz

• Freelance Game Audio: Getting Started and finding work – by Ashton Morris

• Yet Another Game Audio Hiring Article – by Ariel Gross

• Courses: How to network and get paid for your work in the game industry – by Akash Thakkar

 

Finding those audio jobs:

• Hand-picked audio jobs on Soundlister

• Get the weekly Audio Jobs newsletter

• Join the Audio Jobs Facebook group
 

Showcasing your work:

• Get a free profile on Soundlister

• Upload your demos to Soundcloud

• Upload your demos to ReelCrafter
 

Networking:

• Find game audio community groups around the world

• Find interesting audio events around the world
 

Education and knowledge:

• Get an audio mentor at the Audio Mentoring Project

• Read the 100s of sound stories and guides here on the A Sound Effect blog (search for stories here)

• Browse Industry Data: Game Music and Sound Design Salary Survey Results

• Take online courses in Wwise, FMOD Studio, Unity, Pure Data & Unreal at the School of Video Game Audio


 
↑ Back to topics

 

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THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:
 
A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

  •
    Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects CIRCUS Horror Strings Play Track 180 sounds included $0

    Strident and Demonic

    Expand the timbre of your horror violins and cellos with CIRCUS, a sinister sample pack featuring 180 WAV sounds of screeching or high-pitched string noises, perfect for horror music and dark sound design.

    Creative Tension

    This collection offers a curated selection of screeches, high-tension tremolo, heavy jeté strokes, dark demonic textures, finger patterns, chaotic string elements, clock loops and bow accents.

    Haunting and Experimental

    Create haunting atmospheres, perfect for horror, thriller or experimental soundtracks. Every element has been designed to unsettle and disturb, blurring the line between music and noise.

    Add to cart
  • Destruction & Impact Sounds Wood Impacts Play Track 1671 sounds included $65

    Wood Impacts features a large number of organic-sounding wooden crunches, impacts, metal+wood clashes and wood fiber explosions.

    The sounds are organized into 10 different categories such as Hits, Movements, Digs, Cracks, Mangles – giving you lots of great and versatile material for your sonic arsenal!

    Add to cart
  • Funny / Comedy / Cartoon Baby Sounds Play Track 160 sounds included, 85 mins total $39

    Baby Sounds library includes 160 HQ (24bit/96kHz) indoor recordings of newborn, infant, toddler laughs, sighs, screams, whimpers, giggles, and cries. All captured in real-life conditions, over a 14-month period.

    Apart from the profound pre-speech vocalizations, you’ll also find cute recordings of a suckling pacifier, baby farts, breathing, breastfeeding and sneezing that will help your foleying character become more realistic and lifelike. Overall, the collection caters to projects in need for authentic newborn/ infant/ toddler boy vocal expressions.

    Add to cart
Explore the full, unique collection here
Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • City Life Sound Effects South East Asian Kitchen Ambience Play Track 26 sounds included, 189 mins total $30

    South East Asian Kitchen Ambience captures the busy and lively atmosphere of a working kitchen in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This collection features authentic sounds of cooking activity—meat pounding, stove crackling, water dripping, blenders whirring, pumps, and the hum of a grater machine—layered with background chatter and the subtle presence of passing traffic.

    Perfect for filmmakers, game developers, and sound designers, these recordings deliver a realistic sense of place, transporting listeners straight into the heart of a Southeast Asian kitchen full of movement, energy, and life.

    Add to cart
  • Ice Sound Effects Deep Ice Play Track 133 sounds included $60

    Deep Ice is a unique sound collection capturing the organic power and delicate beauty of ice in motion. Recorded with precision on frozen lakes, this library offers an immersive palette of crystalline cracks, deep impacts, and pure debris.
    You will find:
    – Under-ice recordings with an Aquarian H2d hydrophone: deep cracks and resonant fractures
    – Surface recordings in XY stereo with Schoeps CCM4: sharp impacts, hits, textures, cracks, and debris
    These sounds are ideal for films and series sound design, video games, and musicals creations. Each recording has been carefully cleaned and formatted to UCS standards.

    Showreel Deep ice MOOBOX
    Add to cart
  • Animal Sound Effects The Birds Play Track 78+ sounds included, 177 mins total $100

    The Birds includes selections from some of my previous libraries: Forests and Mountains, California Grassland Wildlife, Forest Day, and Harbor and Ocean. 

    I’ve gone through all of these libraries and selected what I consider some of my favorite recordings and that only include birds.  With this collection you get a wide variety of various birds in different environments, perspectives, times of the day, night.  Birds together, more specific and separate, close, distant.  The locations mostly include Southern California Foothills, Forests, and Mountains and Central California Grassland areas.  There’s also some recordings from Washington and Oregon. 

    There’s a few different species of Owls, a number of Ravens, various Sparrows, Woodpeckers, Doves, Finches and all sorts of other fun birds singing away.  Anyone looking for a bit more info should check out the library links up top to get a good idea.

    I’ve provided the species listings by each library.  The file names have been kept the same as they were in the original libraries so if anyone would like to compare metadata sheets to see what’s included it will be a bit easier.

    Forests and Mountains
    Acorn Woodpecker, American Coot, Barred Owl, Black-headed Grosbeak, California Quail, California Towhee, Canadian Geese, Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, House Wren, Mallard, Northern Flicker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Pacific Wren, Pied-billed Grebe, Pileated Woodpecker, Common Poorwill,  Raven, Robin, Red-shouldered Hawk, Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Steller’s Jay, Swainson’s Thrush, Western Wood-Pewee, Wilson’s Warbler, Wrentit, Yellow-throated Blackbird

    Forest Day
    Acorn Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Lawrence’s Goldfinch,Mountain Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Raven, Red Shouldered Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Western Bluebird, Williamson’s Sapsucker

    California Grassland Wildlife
    Ash-throated Flycatcher, Barn Owl, Bell’s Sparrow, Bullock’s Oriole, California Towhee, Cassin’s Kingbird, Common Nighthawk, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Horned Lark, House Finch, Great Horned Owl, Mourning Dove, Raven, Red-tailed Hawk, Say’s Phoebe, Western Kingbird

    Harbor and Ocean
    Crow, Herring Gull, Pelogagic Cormorant, Pigeon Guillemot

    Grassland Micro
    California Towhee, House Finch, Mourning Dove, Western Kingbird, White-throated Swift

    Metadata
    All files have been carefully edited.  Detailed Metadata and labeling of species has been provided along with using UCS.  Photos have been embedded with each file to help out with getting an idea of what birds are typical in particular landscapes.  Markers have also been placed in the files to help out with navigating.

    The Gear
    Sound Devices MixPre-3
    Sound Devices MixPre-6
    Zoom F3

    Mics
    Sennheiser MKH 8020
    Sennheiser MKH 8040
    Sennheiser MKH 8040+MKH 30 MS

    Add to cart
  • Animal Sound Effects Harbor and Ocean Play Track 15+ sounds included, 37 mins total $12

    Harbor and Ocean is a smaller micro library featuring a mix of Ocean and Harbor sounds.  This features some recordings of Seagulls in a harbor, a large group of Cormorants and sea Pigeons hanging out on old dock pilings, and morning birds in a lake marina.  There’s also a few various sounds of ocean waves on different beaches, water laps on rock jetty’s and a lake dock, a barge ship heading out of the harbor, and general industrial harbor ambience.

    Harbor and Ocean
    Add to cart
  • Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Synthetic Cut Transitions Play Track 214 sounds included $39

    MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds

    Keyframing, motion blur, easing, masking, interpolation, texturing, rotoscoping and more, everyone knows that making professional broadcast quality motion graphics, visual effects, animations and info graphics is no easy task. Even more, finding the right sounds and audio cues that fit is tedious, time consuming and frustrating. 

    With Synthetic Cut Transitions – MoGraph and Visual Effects Sounds you get an instant, affordable, sound solution, ready to use right out of the box. Precision crafted to amplify the impact of your motion graphics, animations, logos, idents, transitions, explainer videos, cinematic trailers and cutscenes. You get a fresh set of swipes, wipes, whooshes and sound morphs that you can use everyday (all royalty-free). Even more, you can mix and match, layer and transform sounds to create the perfect audio track to go with longer visual sequences. 

    It’s a time saving, action oriented, ready to use power pack of sound made specifically for interactive visual effects. 

    • 214 Total audio files for dynamic visual effects
    • All in 24-bit / 96kHz WAV plus other formats
    • 400+ MB of custom crafted audio 
    Add to cart

   

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