Buy used: $12.70

FREE delivery February 5 - 6. Details

Or fastest delivery January 30 - 31. Details

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Follow the author

Aaron Marks

Follow

The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, and Game Developers

by Aaron Marks (Author)

4.1 15 ratings

See all formats and editions

There is a newer edition of this item:

Aaron Marks' Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Sound Designers, Musicians, and Game Developers
$54.39
(12)
Only 8 left in stock - order soon.

This comprehensive guide gives readers with basic music compositional skills the information they need to become commercially viable artisans. In addition to providing a foundation of prerequisite technical skills, including basic audio considerations and sound file formats, the book teaches the business skills needed to work successfully as an audio technician in the game development business. How-to features take the reader step-by-step, from purchasing the right equipment, understanding the various game platforms, and composing music and creating sound effects specifically for games, to the ins and outs of marketing, producing demo reels, determining fees, bidding projects, and negotiating contracts.

ISBN-10

1578200830
ISBN-13

978-1578200832
Publisher

Focal Press
Publication date

October 1, 2001
Language

English
Dimensions

7.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches
Print length

318 pages
See all details

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Aaron Marks' experience and insight into the inner workings of the game audio world make this book an invaluable resource." -- Greg O'Conner Read, founder and editor, Music4Games

"Aaron is truly a game audio expert and a great teacher." -- Jack Buser, computer and game initiative engineer, Dolby Laboratories

"An exhaustive and indispensable resource for game audio from initial concept to cashing the royalty checks." -- Jennifer Olsen, senior editor, Game Developer magazine

"I'm in awe at the amount and caliber of the content! Bravo!" -- - Dave Miner, Canada

"Somebody gag this guy! He's giving away all our secrets!" -- Chance Thomas, game composer and president, HUGEsound

"You've written a great book that has completely shown me the light. -- - Jonathan Brickley

I actually had tears in my eyes a couple of times, I think this book is what I needed." -- - Adam DiTroia

About the Author

Music had always been a part of Aaron Marks' life. But it wasn't until 1995, when his overgrown hobby became On Your Mark Music Productions, that he began selling it to the world. He started with the local radio and television scene, composing jingles and scoring public service announcements. With his sights set firmly on Hollywood, he bumped into the games industry. Ever since that fated redirect, he has been cranking out music and sound effects for games. His credits include a PlayStation 2 game, five CD-ROM game projects, 56 on-line casino games, a dozen touch-screen arcade games, and numerous multimedia projects. As an occasional diversion, Aaron sidelines as a writer for Game Developer magazine, Gamasutra.com, and Music4Games.net.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Focal Press (October 1, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 318 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1578200830
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1578200832
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.65 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.25 x 1 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #6,916,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #359 in Speech & Audio Processing
- #858 in TV & Video Engineering
- #1,258 in Computer & Video Game Design

Customer Reviews:
4.1 15 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product or seller, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Aaron Marks

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Best known as the author of The Complete Guide to Game Audio, Aaron Marks is not only an outspoken advocate of great audio in games, he is also an accomplished composer, sound designer, field recordist, voice over artist and owner of On Your Mark Music Productions based near San Diego, California. In addition, he is the lead author of the book, Game Audio Development, and is part of the audio production faculty at The Art Institute of California – San Diego. Some of his game credits include Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Tom Clancy’s ENDWAR, The Settlers II – 10th Anniversary, The Settlers Traditions Edition, bittosHD and numerous video slot machines around the country. He divides his time between his love for all things audio, his family and their menagerie of farm animals.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5

15 global ratings

2 star

0%

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

James Boer

Definitely a must-read for computer game musicians

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2001

Verified Purchase

Marks provides a facinating peek inside the world of audio content development in the computer game industry. With a casual and friendly style, he covers a broad range of topics in his book, from basic equipment setup to negotiating contracts for freelance work (and much more, of course). Having recently become a freelancer myself, I found his advice both helpful and inspiring.
All in all, this book bolsters Marks' credentials as a professional musician and businessman, and comes highly recommended to anyone interested in getting some excellent and no doubt hard-earned advice.

Helpful

TonyS

Caught off Guard Again

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2001

Verified Purchase

I bought this book on recommendation of a friend in the video game industry. Be away of what this book is and what it isn't. This is not a book on how to write audio for video games. This is an introductory book to audio and its role in the video game industry, and how to get into the industry. This book contains no technical information, as one might hope, about computer audio technologies such as Direct music or any others. If you already know how digital audio, MIDI, and mixers work then most of this book will bore you to tears.
I have no doubt that, if you are looking for the information which is in this book it is good. The presentation is longwinded and very centered around the author rather than the topic itself it seems. At times, the book seems to lose all relevance to the audio industry. The interview with established video game artists are interesting, however I didn't find in them anything that I hadn't learned by playing around for a hours with recording techniques.
In conclusion, there are better books on the market in all regards except for the video game audio industry notes. For that I have found no better source, however it is wrapped in information which I already know, and that I found nearly impossible to sit through.

40 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michael Huang

great book for people wanting to get into game audio/music

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2002

Verified Purchase

a great book for people wanting to get into game audio/music production.
though it does not cover all game audio format used for games (ie: mods for shareware games), it's still an excellent book with infos on what to charge for your work, what to do to get started.

Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2015

Verified Purchase

Fast shipping Great service.Would recommend all the way.Thank you

Helpful

Alejandro Rodriguez

Rich in information but outdated

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2007

This book contains very good and valuable information for those wanting to get into the game industry, unfortunately it was written in 2000, so most of the information is completely old for today standards, specially in this field.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Lee Lustig

Oh yeah. This book rules.

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2009

I really don't have to say much. Anybody who wants to make music or sound for games will be an idiot to pass up this book. A+

Helpful

Amazon Customer

Be Warned! This book is not for DEVELOPERS

Reviewed in the United States on September 16, 2003

I bought this book after reading several reviews, on Amazon.com and other sites.
Let's take a closer look at the title - The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, and Game Developers.
For composers - yes. For musicians - yes. For sound designers - yes.
For DEVELOPERS - NO! I am a DSP Engineer with extensive MATLAB programming experience and I'm looking for a book that will help me develop audio applications in C++.
There is NOTHING here for the developer. Chapters 4,5,6 deal with finding jobs and landing a contract. What the Hell? I'm sure there are people that need that kind of advice - but when this is the title of your book, I expect job hunting to be appendix C.
The rest of the book is for musicians. Being a musician myself, and with some experience of studio production, I found the material to be alright. Nothing that really made me hang on to this book.
Pg. 289 0f 300 is where the developer bit starts. And it offers absolutely nothing, but more of the same general information contained in the preceding pages.
In short, this book is short on specifics and has a rather misleading title.
BE SURE TO READ THE CONTENTS THOROUGHLY BEFORE YOU PURCHASE IT. And if you still want it, I have it for sale in the Amazon Marketplace

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Todd Fay

Buy this book now!

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2001

If you want to know what it takes to make it in the games industry as an audio professional, then this book is for you. It exposes the business to you, covering all the important elements of audio production for start to finish.
If you already work in audio and are looking for a new source of clients then this book will help you prepare to tackle a new market.
If you make games and want to ensure that you will get the best from your audio staff then read this text. It will shed light on what is expected of you and what you can expect from composers and sound designers working in games.
BUY IT NOW!
LAX

Helpful