Video Game Composition & Orchestration | ThinkSpace Education

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Course summary

With the video game industry rapidly growing, more projects are now using live orchestras. Games frequently have both the budget and ambitious scale to support larger music and audio budgets and with that comes unique opportunities for composers and orchestrators. This course gives you the skills needed to reach the top in video games music, including a live orchestral session with a 50-piece orchestra and multiple chances to write for solo instrumentalists.

During this comprehensive Master of Fine Arts degree course, you will cover the skills taught in both our MA Composing for Video Games and MA Orchestration for Films, Games, and Television degree courses.

Preparing you for the career you deserve
This course will give you all the technical and creative skills needed to realise your music as both professional grade sampled mock-ups and prepare them for live orchestra - all in the context of interactive video game scores.

You will learn to write for live players and prepare scores for live orchestral sessions, as well as implement your MIDI mockups into game engines directly using audio middleware like Wwise.

On this course, you will learn:

To write dynamic music for video games required for interactive gameplay driven by the player’s choices
To use Wwise to implement your music interactively in fully functional Unity games, many specially designed or licenced for the course - including commercial releases.
How to compose for a wide variety of game genres, from mobile puzzle games through to action and racing games.
Composition for orchestra - creating and orchestrating awe-inspiring live and sampled orchestral film, TV and games music.
Sampled instrument techniques, including skills like creating and balancing your template, instrument placement, use of reverb, and using controllers to enhance realism and orchestral mixing.
Live orchestral session skills, including preparing a session-ready Pro Tools project and scores for live performers.

Fees and funding

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Sponsorship information

ThinkSpace Education tries to provide exceptional value to all students both in the UK and the rest of the world. Our fee structure is extremely competitive and, as such, does not allow us as much room for bursaries or scholarships as some providers. However, on occasion, we do award part scholarships to exceptionally talented applicants, particularly those from disadvantaged or under-represented groups, to help them fulfil their potential.

If you would like to be considered, please make this clear in your application by filling in the accompanying 'Bursary Application Form'.