Song mastering is the final step in the production of a song. It adds the final shine and professional touch to your mix. When you start a mastering session, the client is allowed to stay and give his opinion regarding the sound, or if he lives far away from your studio, a copy of the final mastered cd is posted across. You should not worry about the distance, because nowadays Internet connections are very good and most of the mastering process can be solved long-distance.
There are several steps that need to be followed, depending on the person who does the mastering. At the beginning, the person who is in charge of the mastering process evaluates the album in an acoustically perfect room and balances the mixes. During the next step, the full sonic potential of song is brought to the forefront.
There are different requirements regarding game audio: some of them want a more contemporary music, but others prefer retro chiptune type. The most important thing about video games is that they need to be interactive, that`s why audio plays such a great role. The game is designed in a way that the player`s action trigger’s dialogue, sound effects, ambient soundscapes or music. When it comes to game sound design we must have in mind two questions: how games are different or similar to a film or other audiovisual and what is the target audience? Another important issue is finding game composers who can produce music which reflects the pace and visuals of the video game, with memorable melody lines, which gives an identity to the game.
To add value to a game, the game composers must find catchy and easy to remember melody lines. The original scene is analyzed and suitable music and sound effects are produced for it. The game sound should be perfectly looped. All tracks are edited in a way to play back again, looping without any clicks or glitches, providing infinite hours of superb music.
Music for video games has a huge fan following, from the oldest generation to the more recent ones. Both fans and composers appreciate it and try to improve it as much as possible. We can observe in the video game industry songs with hip-hop, pop music, electro-music or 1980` influences that belong to famous artists. It is said that “like the purpose of all great music, music for video games is supposed to move you and make you feel it in your bones”.
That`s why the video soundtracks began to take their influence from places like the Russian folk song and classical music. Music and audio in video games have come a long way since 1970. Today, audio in video game has won its status and has become a complex science, loved by those who compose it. Music composers for video games deserve the status of artists.