Ep 0: 21 Ways to Compose Better Video Game Music (Super Marcato Bros)

Another thing Will mentioned is that most of the sheet music online for these songs is incorrect, not necessarily because of incorrect notes, but incorrect voicings.

Koji Kondo often used spread voicings (as opposed to typical triads) in order to fully realize the tonal colors of a particular chord.

A triad played on NES hardware sounds pretty muddy and unclear. When you move the fifth down an octave and put the root on top, for example, it makes for a totally different (and often more interesting) sound.

Homework: pick one of your favorite classic video game songs and find it on Game Music Appreciation. Isolate the channels and figure them out on piano (or your DAW). Note the things that sound good and try to figure out the theory behind them. It’ll be a challenge, but you’ll learn a ton.

Listen to Will talk about the importance of strategic voicings in the Super Mario Bros. Overworld Theme:

3. Limit yourself for more creativity

Limitations are often a blessing more than a curse, especially when it comes to strengthening foundational composition muscles. They force you to explore new ways to express tonal qualities.

The best examples of great creativity under constraints are the 80’s-era NES composers. For instance, when you only have three tonal channels (as is the case for the NES), how do you play a four-note 7th chord?

Well, unless you arpeggiate it, you physically can’t. So does that mean jazz is out on the NES? No way.

You can still express the chord by highlighting the essential tones, namely the root, the third (which defines the chord as major or minor) and the minor 7th (which gives the chord its jazzy feel), leaving out the 5th.

This is how the great composers of old thought through limitations, and the music didn’t suffer an ounce because of it.

4. Composition first, sound design second

What sticks with us (i.e., what we sing in the shower) is not usually the rhythm or the bass groove of a piece, but the melody.

That’s why it’s important to make sure your melody sounds solid on a piano, guitar, or your voice before tweaking sound design parameters and worrying about implementation.

Plus, sound design is a completely separate musical discipline that uses a different part of the composer’s mind. Switching back and forth between arranging and tweaking sounds is inefficient and taxing.

5. Challenge yourself with different keys

We all have certain musical habits and licks that we naturally gravitate towards. Maybe it’s mindlessly playing block chords on a piano in the key of C, or never branching out into barre chords on the guitar.

Staying within the bounds of your typical writing style means you’ll write the same kind of music every time, and it’ll quickly get stale and predictable.

If you usually play in the key of C on piano, try branching out to a “darker” key like Ab or F#. If you like to strum open “cowboy” chords on guitar, try some interesting voicings higher up the neck.

It will require you to think more, but the resulting compositions will almost always be unique.

Michael New, a music theorist and YouTuber, has a great video on why C Major is bad. It’s easy to rely on playing just the white keys as a crutch.

Homework: try composing your next song in an “awkward” key (one that’s outside of your comfort zone). It will force you to think harder about chord and note choices and likely produce some unique results.

6. Break out of your typical genres

Video game music isn’t a genre as much as a constellation of multiple genres.

Within video game music, you’ll find funk, EDM, acoustic folk, latin jazz, and epic orchestral pieces (as well as endless combinations of these).

This presents a unique challenge to the video game composer, who is often expected to have a firm grasp on this wide swath of styles and sounds.

Homework: Will noticed a lot of Japanese composers (namely Joe Hisaishi) use parallel fourths for scary themes. Listen for the creepy parallel fourths in Koji Kondo’s Ganondorf Theme from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and try implementing it in your next tune.

If you usually listen to rock or reggae, listen to a ton of jazz and really analyze why and how it works, then try your best to replicate it.

Watch this clip of Karl talking about how important it is to critically listen to other genres:

7. Learn a spicy technique

Will, in a passing comment, mentioned that as you progress in your music theory knowledge, you’ll start discovering “spicy” techniques that you can use to take your compositions to the next level.

I knew exactly what he meant. When you start learning theory and composing, you’re naturally prone to stay within the bounds of the diatonic scale (notes that all fit within a major or minor scale).

The most interesting moments in music are usually a result of branching out of diatonicism with one or more of these zesty techniques:

• Borrowed chords (modal mixture)
• Secondary dominant chords
• Passing diminished chords
• Extended tones (7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths and all their variants)
• Chromaticism
• Augmented chords
• Modulation

Homework: choose one (and only one, don’t get overwhelmed!) of these techniques that look interesting, do some research on how it works, and implement it into your next arrangement.

8. Expand your toolbox

While it’s important to not let limitations stop you, the other side of the coin is to always be expanding your compositional repertoire. Some examples of tools are:

• New mics
• Hardware instruments like drum machines and keyboards
• Different sound libraries or VSTs
• Listening to a new genre or unfamiliar style of music
• Theoretical concepts (see the “spicy” ideas above)

“We’re beneficiaries of the tools we use,” Will noted. New tools in our toolbox can inspire us in new ways.

The most important thing the Bros reiterated, and the overarching motif of our conversation, was to avoid “waiting” to compose music until you have the perfect gear.

9. Embrace trial-and-error

Karl, Will, and myself are all heavily influenced by the Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog series. A staple of Sonic music is the mosaic of independent musical ideas that intertwine seamlessly.

It’s tough to tell where one part begins and another ends.

A perfect execution of this is Angel Island Zone 1 from Sonic 3. Isolate the channels to hear the true brilliance of each part and how they contribute to the whole.

“So how do you implement all of these parts without it sounding like mush?” Karl asks.

Well, the answer is both un-sexy and encouraging – trial-and-error.

Un-sexy because it seems clumsy to try parts over and over until you find one that works. It’s ultimately hopeful because it reassures us that we’re not stupid when our first attempts fail miserably.

Listen to Karl talk about the power of trial-and-error, and the importance of remembering what works and what doesn’t when composing:

10. Experiment with “wrong” notes

Context is crucial here. As you explore genres like jazz, you’ll quickly realize traditional theory rules are all bent or broken.

For example, an Eb is not technically in the key of C, and playing it over a C chord might sound “wrong.” It certainly sounds dissonant.

However, if you take a page from Koji Kondo and use some chromaticism, you can start a melody on Eb and resolve it to E over a C chord.

The context turns it into a playful chromatic flourish.

11. Avoid gear infatuation

Karl has strong opinions on the pitfalls of chasing the latest piece of gear.

His philosophy is that you should be forced to work with a a few pieces of basic gear until you naturally outgrow them. “You have to earn it.”

Karl started with Cakewalk and a humble MIDI controller, manually inputting general MIDI sounds. Marty (the third Marcato bro) started with a crappy acoustic guitar and a four-track recorder.

Listen to Karl talk about the biggest error beginners fall prey to:

12. Get out of the box (or stay inside)

If you compose in the same way every time, you’ll fall into the same traps.

The Bros are partial to composing on piano, but have also been known to sing their ideas (even beatbox them) into the Voice Memos app and find the supporting chords later (I’m a huge fan of this method as well).

The ideas you compose on guitar, banjo, melodica, mandolin, or electric guitar will all be different. This is why it pays to be constantly expanding your toolbox.

I was once in a folk/rock band and came up with a one of my favorite songs by playing the opening riffs on a ukulele.

I never would’ve achieved that sound or feel without the unique qualities of that particular instrument.

13. Make your workflows work for you

Where the Bros (respectfully) disagreed was on tracking notes straight into the computer.

Karl preferred writing straight into the DAW for shreddy MIDI riffs, but Will tries to get away from that, sticking to real-life instruments as the catalysts of his inspiration.

I think they’d both agree that each has their place, and it’s important to try to each to find out what works for the music you want to create.

14. Value the performance over the tech

Why do we often love live albums more than studio recorded ones? The audio quality is nowhere near as polished, and the performance is often replete with small errors.

On paper, live albums should always be inferior to studio recordings, but we still come back to them (I’m thinking of the Avett Brothers’ Live, Volume 3 and Paul Simon Live in NYC)

That’s because of this simple principle: performance always trumps gear. Perfect the performance and the quality of gear won’t make a difference.

Getting gigs and breaking into the video game music industry

15. Developers sign your checks

Many new composers make the mistake of trying to prospect their work to fellow musicians. Even if you’re revered as a video game music composition god or goddess among your peers, they aren’t going to be ones that need your services.

The ones that hire you will be the developers, so the Bros recommend networking with indie devs whenever possible.

In my experience, some great way to meet indie developers are:

• Indie dev forums
• Facebook groups
• Hack-a-thons and game jams
• Game dev conferences (GDC is expensive, but by far the best place to network)

16. Practice communication and soft skills

Mindlessly spamming developers is not a viable strategy for getting composition work. Karl mentioned that soft skills are almost as relevant as musical proficiency when it comes to getting work.

Want to set yourself apart in the game development industry? Be a genuinely likable, helpful person, not viewing people as mere tools to use to reach your goals.

Be communicative, courteous, professional, and meet your deadlines. You’ll go far in the video game music world (or any industry).

17. Focus on the environment

Another page to take from the Sonic series is how the composers focused less on the character of Sonic and instead on the environment.

It’s an interesting change of mindset that one also finds present in series like Mario Kart. Listen to Frappe Snowland, one of my personal favorites in the whole series:

18. Support the story

From a philosophical standpoint, Will reminded me that it’s important that video game music composers support the story of the game. Sometimes, a catchy melody is what the developer wants, and other times it’s ambient pads, dissonant choral voices, or a looped beat.

Whatever it is, the modus operandi of the video game composer (especially when payment is involved) should be to support, and not distract from, the game’s story.

Video Game Music tools of the trade

Karl and Will sung the praises of inexpensive DAWs and free VSTs. Why? They eliminate excuses.

Limited resources also force you to learn more tricks when it comes to EQ, compression, and sound design.

Here are the Super Marcato Bros tools of the trade for composing video game music:

Work Ethic and Composition Philosophy

19. Don’t bash popular music

Will is about to wrap up a composition degree. He expressed disdain for the movement of professors and students obsessed with eschewing music just because of its mainstream appeal.

“They want music to be something that’s only for people who go to school,” He lamented. “It’s infuriating.”

What made The Beatles and Paul Simon popular is that they figured out how to make something that everybody likes.

It’s truly difficult to make something that can be analyzed by music theorists but also enjoyed by the masses.

Don’t be ashamed to draw influence from popular art, Karl concluded. It’s popular for a reason.

20. Finish, finish, finish

The Brueggemann Bros are some of the most prolific creative people I know. The two have over 30 albums and nearly 300 podcast episodes under their belts with no signs of stopping.

On top of this, Karl is in a funk band and Will is in college.

Their secret to productivity? A burden for finishing. They’re both wired to finish what they start, which is another big weakness I’ve seen in the creative field (and in myself).

It’s exciting to start new projects, but drudging through the “messy middle” is often a grind.

The Bros have consistently come out the other side and know that the rewards of focusing on one goal to completion are more than worth it.

21. Keep writing everyday – no matter what

In conclusion, the most important thing, and in my estimation, a large predictor of the success of the Marcato Bros, is to compose or make music in some way every single day.

We, as humans, make time for what we truly care about. If composing is important to us, we’re not going to let gear, hardware, time, or any other limitations stop us from making music.

Get in touch with the Marcato Bros

I highly recommend checking out the Marcato Bros’ music and podcast. If I’m honest, it’s the only podcast I’m listening to right now.

Check out their website here. You’ll find all their music and links to their podcast.

Like them on Twitter, and on Facebook.

If you like what they do, support them on Patreon.

Here’s the recorded interview in its entirety if you’d like to watch it: