By Winifred Phillips | Contact | Follow

Welcome! I’m game music composer Winifred Phillips, and just before the holidays, I was ecstatic to learn that my music for the Jurassic World Primal Ops video game was nominated for a Society of Composers & Lyricists Award! In all the excitement following the announcement of the SCL Awards nominees, many budding game composers reached out to me for advice regarding their own career trajectories. I found myself referring many of them to articles I’ve written in this space over the years – articles covering the widely diverse topics that interest us as game composers.

Since 2014, this series of articles has explored the evolving state of our industry and the tools and techniques that can help us make great game music. Over time, these articles have become a fairly deep repository of information. After referring so many budding composers to articles in this lengthy series, it has occurred to me that this sizable collection has become quite difficult to navigate – partially due to the many topics that have been explored over the years.

Discussions have included many of the creative challenges that make our profession unique. Through an examination of the structure of interactive music systems, numerous dynamic composition techniques have been investigated. Along the way, we’ve pondered how game music composition has been accomplished in the past, and where it might be going in the future. A profusion of resources have been collated in these articles – including the best methods to find gigs, and awesome networking opportunities that can benefit a game composer’s career. There have also been examinations of resources that can keep us inspired and creatively energized.

Together, these articles constitute a living document about game music composition. However, they definitely need an index at this point. With that in mind, I’m offering this ‘big index’ of articles I’ve shared over the years, organized by subject matter.

Dynamic Music in Games

This is one of the most-discussed topics among experts in the game composer community: dynamic music. These articles explore the various systems for dynamic music construction and implementation. We’ll also find discussions of the relationship between game music and game players, including ways in which gamers influence the music as they play. There are also a collection of case studies with real-world examples for discussion and analysis.

Dynamic Music Case Studies

Dynamic Music General Concepts

Dynamic Systems

Game Music Business

When we’re not considering the creative and technical aspects of our work as game composers, we’re consumed with the demands of maintaining our business and finding work. These articles focus on tips for keeping our business lives running smoothly.<