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It’s a member from here in the UK that has been featured in our latest Member Spotlight piece – JoelFrancisBurford is an audio composer and has been on GDM since July 2020, you can check out their listed music
here.
GDM Username: Joelfrancisburford
Name or Nickname: Joel (Sometimes Joely)
Age: 31
Country: Manchester, UK
Developer, Asset Creator or are you a bit of both?:
Video Game Music Composer
Full Time, Part Time or Hobby?:
Currently, composing music for video games is a part time passion. My full time day job I am actually a Manager at a local Supermarket! Which, albeit does pay the bills, is (as you can imagine) not exactly scratching that internal artistic itch!
At the moment, I work around 40 hours in my regular job, and as much as 25 on my Video Game Composing. My long term goal is by this time next year to have tipped the scales into the opposite position. Just working part time (around 16 hrs) at my day job and working full time hours on my music career. Another year after that, I plan to leave my day job entirely and go full time into Video Game Composition. This is my passion, and nothing will stop me.
How long have you been doing this?:
I started creating music when my Mum bought my first guitar for Christmas when I was just 13. My passion for video games developed much earlier, however. And I can’t actually remember an age when I wasn’t a gamer (I even remember the Commodore 64!).
In terms of composing music for video games, I have a background in composing music across film, TV, & Podcasts, but my love for composing for video games has led me to pursue this career path, and have been doing so for around 3 years.
Favourite software/tools to use?:
I compose all of my music inside score editor Sibelius. I find it much easier to do this because I am a self proclaimed music theory nerd, and seeing the notes on a music staff helps me to imagine where to take the piece next. Once I have the bare skeleton of the piece composed within Sibelius (Melody, Harmony, Rhythm) I export this as Midi and import into Logic Pro X. Here, using plugins and mixing methods, I finalise the tracks.
What’s one tip you would give to someone starting out?:
My one tip for someone starting out would be when you fail (and you will!) get back up again!
I can’t tell you how many tracks have bombed, or times I’ve been so proud of something I have worked for so long on, just for a ‘Meh’ reaction. It hurts, of course it does, but you must try to learn from these.
Treat the knock backs as experience in an RPG game. And every time you get back up again after a set back, you are leveling up. And every time you level up, you are stronger, and wiser than the time before. Once you have leveled up enough times, you will be exactly where you want to be. Just don’t let any set backs be the end of your dream to be who you want to be.
If you were playing your favourite game, and your character kept dying, you wouldn’t give up, you would keep trying until you complete the level. Treat your career path the same and you cannot fail.
How do you promote your work (games or assets)?:
I promote my work on my soundcloud page, which has all my recent work on, including my most recent game asset (JRPG 8-Bit/Chiptune Adventure Music Pack).
What project are you working on now?:
My most recently published asset on GDM is my Strategy Kingdom Music Pack, which includes a selection of tracks, as well as stingers and sound effects.
I’m currently working on a couple of new music packs to add to the store in the near future.
Any completed projects/work you want to promote?:
And finally, favourite game ever & why?:
Growing up in the PS1 era, the Final Fantasy series had a huge impact on me. Final Fantasy VII has to be my favourite game of all time. It still hold a special place in my heart. The storytelling, gameplay, characters, and most of all the music is completely phenomenal.
It is the music from this series in particular that has inspired me to become a video game composer. I have even seen Nobuo Uematsu (Composer for the earlier Final Fantasy games) live in concert at the Distant Worlds tour in Londons Royal Albert Hall.
You can connect with Joel here:
Check out some of Joelfrancisburford’s assets…
