Joystick Division

dear aap:
I want to make music, but I don't want to be in a band. I think it would be cooler to make songs and music for videogames. How do I do that? Where do I start? - unsigned.

Dear Unsigned-
Ahh, the future. There was a time when every kid wanted to be a baseball player. Then every kid wanted to be a rock star. Some kids wanted to write the ultimate novel. Other kids wanted to make movies... now everyone under the age of 15 that I talk to wants to make videogames. I'm not saying that as an old fossil, I'm just pointing out the truth of it. Desires and thoughts of what is "awesome" shift with the generations, that is the way of the culture and that is cool, but one thing is constant: a tiny percentage of the kids who wanted those dream occupations ever take the steps necessary to make their dreams (possibly) come true... and only a tiny percentage of those people actually get that ultimate gig/life.

I'm not saying this to discourage you. I'm saying it to double-down your determination.

I know that video games buy/commission some real "songs" from established recording artists for specific games, but from the sound of it you were talking about making the 'music' for games too, and by that I assume you mean the scores/background music that fills gameplay and cut scenes. Before you even get to thinking about how to get specifically into games you're going to need some basic skills... and then some advanced skills... and hopefully some innate talent... and then some pure luck. But you asked "Where do I start?" so I'll tell you.


1) Piano Lessons.
Yes, and maybe years and years of them. You said you specifically don't want to be in a band... so buying a guitar and taking four quick lessons from the local stoner isn't going to give you the foundation you'll need. That foundation can be found in the piano, and in real, structured study of music theory. You'll need to be able to read music too, and understand rhythm and harmony and melody and all those words that serious musicians bandy about so easily. Seriously. Think of it like learning a foreign language- of the country you plan on moving to. "Real" musicians start at the piano. It is the most straight-forward instrument on which to learn the basics of all the things I just mentioned. Once you have the basics really down pat, then you'll branch out into learning all the styles of piano and keyboard music. Then you'll branch out into orchestration and all sorts of music theory. These are the basic building blocks.

2) Immerse yourself in gaming and gaming culture.
By this I don't mean just PLAY videogames every waking moment you're not seated at the piano (although, of course I assume you're an avid gamer already.) I'm saying you'll need to get into the esoterica and behind-the-scenes stuff. Start reading gaming INDUSTRY blogs and websites. Basically I'm saying: After you know the 'language' of your new foreign country home you have to also know the history and culture.

3) Start making stuff.
Start making your own games (another thing to learn) and/or align yourself with people who have a passion for making games so that you can learn about HOW games are constructed and how the music fits into the overall structure... maybe throw some understanding of coding and computer science into your bag of tricks. You'll also hopefully gain some experience in actually creating music for them. DIY still applies to the world of videogame-making... more NOW than ever.

So that is the most basic starting path. Develop the basic skills now, so that the advanced skills won't be as much of a reach for you later. Don't give up and don't get lazy, if this is what you want.

Good luck.

The collapse of society will not be written in ones and zeros.

Dear AAP-

I use a computer, obviously since I'm writing to you here. I'm no the web every day like everyone else - for news, email, work, research, killing time whatever. I'm saying I get it , but I'm still concerned when I see my kids and their dependence on all things online/digital and really not just my kids but also my co-workers and some peers too. They get lost in it and I'm thinking this is going to have some serious negative consequences down the road, for our society I mean. I know that sounds dumb as I type it, but I'm asking seriously, what can a person do to go against this tide? - Not Anti-Technology. Just concerned.

Dear NA-T.JC

If you really want to go against this tide, just do it. Unplug, then tell your friends they'll need to buy stamps if they want to send you messages because you don't have email any more and then dig out your phone book so that you can look up phone numbers again... and with the cash you save not having to pay for internet or a text/data plan on a cellphone, you can buy a bicycle, get outside and spread the word of your new, happier lifestyle.

...but ok, you said you're not a Luddite. You know the utility and usefulness of all this technology... but YOU can handle it... you're concerned with how other people can/can't handle it, how "Society" is going to crumble because other people aren't as savvy as you are about these things? Is that it? I've got some news for you: Worrying about 'the other people' in this case is just code for some kind of elitism, and besides that I should tell you this: Unless you own ComCast, your actions aren't going ot have much of an impact on our society one way or the other.

We are a digital society, and growing more digital by the day. Get used to it and accept it. Bad weather here in Southern California knocked out my internet connection for eight days and I thought I was going to lose my mind... Not because I didn't know what to do with myself but because I couldn't DO any of the things I have to do in the course of a typical week. Granted I'm not addicted to an MMO game or some such thing, but still, it felt like a kind of withdrawal. Am I proud of that? No. Am I aware of it? Sure... but that has more to do with my own weaknesses and habits than it has to do with the technology itself... I recently watched a documentary about people who have developed addictions to online gaming etc, and for my money, it always seems to come down to this: addictive types are going to find SOMEthing to be addicted to... whether it is heroin, ham or digital heroics... and it seems that for every addict who destroys their lives with a videogaming addiction, you'll find a story about some wheelchair bound recluse who found friendship and real connection through an 'online community' of some kind.

The real point that I'm slowing coming around to is this: Society has problems and most of them are NOT caused by WoW or FaceBook or anything else flowing into your house through the DSL line. From where I'm sitting "kids today" are not more isolated by all of this technology - In fact they're waaaaay more connected. Think about it. My nephew is a high school freshman. He sends/receives 1000s of texts/messages each month, to/from everyone: friends, cousins and of course his parents. When I was a freshman in HS, I had just a small group of maybe 4 friends who I pretty much only saw or talked to while AT school, maybe got 2 or 3 phone calls a month and basically spent all of my time sitting in my room alone (ie: "isolated") and listened to records... and when I graduated from high school I immediately lost track of most of those friends. Then it was off to college where the whole thing started all over again: figuring out who your friends might be etc etc... but now, kids are always connected to 100s of people and they STAY connected, not based (as we did) on who is or remains most geographically convenient, but by who best enriches their lives with communication... and when/if they do go off to college, they still have all their old contacts just as close by as ever (in their 'contacts' list) and have also probably already found (through online means) like-minded people & groups at what will be their new school.

Seriously - our society isn't "changing" it has already changed in more ways that you or I can truly comprehend... and those changes aren't going to stop any time soon. We're humans, changing our society and our living conditions based on improvisation and innovation is what we DO as a species... Get on board with that and stop with the self-righteous concern about "society" ..."society" will be fine and continue on its current trajectory whether you're sitting in front of your flatscreen or on your high horse.

A sign of the End Times?

Happy New Year everyone. I won't be doing much of a year-end wrap up this week because NEXT week marks the one-year anniversary of ASK A PUNK... so I'm planning to do some wrapping-up (wrap-upping?) then... Meanwhile a reader asks a post-Christmas question that has been on the minds of many folks lately...

Dear Ask A Punk –
Are games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band going to kill rock and/or roll ? - Concerned Punk Rock Mom

Dear Concerned Punk Rock Mom,
I don’t think so. There will always be some percentage of kids who just want a damn guitar and nothing else will do. For older gamers who never learned to play a guitar etc, it’ll be, like all video games, a nice retreat into fantasy land, and I think (or at least hope) that younger gamers will at some point want to graduate to playing the real thing once they’ve gone as far as they can with a plastic guitar-shaped controller.

In fact I think these games might eventually increase the number of beginner musicians. One thing about video games is that they can tend to increase peoples’ confidence levels in certain tasks. I know golfers who have told me their REAL golf game has improved since they started playing Tiger Woods Golf, so I have to imagine that a kid who learns to keep a beat on the drums in ‘Rock Band’ will be just that much further along, confidence-wise, the first time he/she sits down behind a real drum kit… and god knows, the world needs more drummers.

For me personally? I’ll admit I AM a bit of a gamer, but after playing guitar for so long, playing pretend guitar is incredibly counter-intuitive. I like video games that let me do things I CAN’T do in the real world… like fly ‘Banshees,’ shoot par or point shoulder-mounted rocket launchers at people’s heads... although that last skill might come in handy if/when society completely breaks down.