next »

[petertos]

Hi all, sending this article for possible inclusion on the front page.

Interview with Peter (videogames musician); questions suggested by a friend of him:

Q: Hi Pedro, first of all: Who you are and what you do?
A: My name is Pedro, from Spain, and I'm a game developer and musician, but my music is recalling much more attention than my games. There are 20+ tracks on my website to be used freely on videogames if properly credited and *surprisingly* people are using those tracks! Based on some messages I'm receiving and a few games I know use my music I can now say that my songs have been heard millions of times on videogames from around the world.

Q: What are the ingredients a good videogame soundtrack need?
A: To me, the most important thing of a videogame main music theme is that it needs to be catchy. A good tune or melody will do the trick. We can mention many great videogames main songs like Mario Bros. or Monkey Island. Even when the game power is dulling due to loss of interest the music theme can make it shine or extend the time the game is interesting.

Q: Mario Bros. and Monkey Island are old examples. Can you tell me a nowadays videogame who has a strong melody on the main theme?
A: Sure! And it comes from an independent studio: Angry Birds. Who doesn't know the Angry Birds tune today? It is a wonderful theme, and now they are creating a TV series from the game, I bet they are going to use it widely. So it is important to fetch a great melody for you game just in case it recalls more attention than expected...

Q: So what are you trying to achieve with your music?
A: I'm looking for good melodies. Some of my games (like Smileys Invasion series) have surpassed the million views mark. And music was very important in that game; I have released the soundtrack for free and is used widely in other games now.

[ACOM]

[eyeliner]

This is spam, and should be deleted.

[petertos]

This is spam, and should be deleted.

Hi eyeliner! Nice to meet you! Warm welcome, thanks! This is Pedro, the writer of the post. This is just an interview with a musician (me), I don't see the difference between talking about your own game in a post submitted for possible inclusion in the front page and my interview. Plus, I have sent this once I've stated that my music has gained some interest among the videogame community.

Thank you so much.

[MrDodo]

Well, people "submit" their games here looking for feedback to improve. (that will be you sharing some songs and asking for advice)

There is a huge difference!

[petertos]

Thanks MrDodo, for your answer.

I think there's a 'feedback section' somewhere else on the forums, I feel people here share their finished games and something they might find interesting for the community. Here I'm sharing something I thought it was interesting for the community...

Not only the interview, but I'm sharing free music to be used on videogames! I would only find that useful without the interview and the fact that the music has been listened to many times!

Thanks for your comment, though. I just don't want to look like a spammer. I am not.

[eyeliner]

This topic should be deleted, as it is spam.

[petertos]

Hi eyeliner (again),

we are in a public forum, I always start my posts with 'hi all', I end my posts with 'thanks' or 'regards'. I don't know if this is something stupid or just trying to be polite. I would love to see some of this in your answers... I think that your position is a littlebit extreme either, could you please tell me something you don't like from the interview or anything that could be improved? I'd love to show people something improved and updated.

Anyway, thanks.

[eyeliner]

Let's get things straight.

It's not the interview itself. IT AIN'T THE INTERVIEW. It is the self promotion in this particular case. It comes off as cheap. I don't like it. I'm not passing judgement on your person, mind you. The act of creating a topic, presenting an interview of yourself where you present squat. Not another person presented it, and the reporter is a friend of yours. That's crap.

The contents of the interview are basically a waste of cyberspace, but that's ok. Goatse was worse. But by a tiny fraction.

Do you understand where I'm getting at? If it was an interview on an indie scene site, that would be different.

EDIT: And you don't always start your posts with 'hi all' nor end your posts with 'thanks' or 'regards'.

[VDZ]

Ah, I was going to just watch how this turned out, but if we're going to point out the problem....

People read interviews like these because they've heard of the composer or the game he's worked on, and are interested in how he created the music or what he thinks. These interviews are done by press people and posted on a site to reach a large interested audience.

Simply put, as far as I'm aware, nobody has a reason to care about you or your music right now. You're just a random musician who hasn't actually composed any music for an actually notable game yet. So am I, and so are many other people on these forums. While your input is valued as one of many commenters on a subject discussed in one of the discussion threads here, there is no reason for anyone to seek out specifically your thoughts on random subjects that we aren't actively discussing. Interviews are done so many interested people can hear the opinion of someone who is somehow special or otherwise specifically interesting to listen to.

Since people have that kind of expectation, conducting an interview with yourself and asking for it to be posted comes off as arrogant, as if you were insisting you are somehow more notable than the other random non-notable musicians here, despite having nothing to show for it. We have no reason to specifically care about you, so don't climb up the stage and start communicating in one direction. If you want your thoughts to be heard, get off that stupid stage of yours and just join us in our discussion threads; two-directional communication, where you respond to stuff we say and we respond to stuff you say.

As for forum etiquette, on the internet there's a saying going 'lurk more', which pretty much means that you're supposed to watch and read so you'll get a good idea of how people communicate in a community until you can adapt and blend in without sticking out like a sore thumb. I'm not going to post any specific instructions, just watch how other people post and try to fit in.