Hi again. Anyone reading this blog post can probably see how long it has been since I last made another, an amount of time I am embarrassed to admit. At first it was due to a lack of projects to showcase and talk about on here. But a few changes in my life have occurred since my last post whilst other things have not changed. Allow me to explain what I mean by that.
"Those who can't do, teach" - George Bernard Shaw 'Man and Superman'
Or, as I'm sure other's remember this line, quoted by Jack Black in School Of Rock.
That's right, back in September of 2023 I became a part-time tutor at Futureworks, on the same course that I graduated from back in 2021. No, I did not get the position by pretending to be Ned Schneebly and I have yet to get my students into Battle of the Bands (though I'm sure they could form a pretty good band). I took over the role from my good friend and ex-classmate Josh Dutton as Rivet Games needed him full time.
It's no secret that I have struggled to find employment in the game audio industry since leaving university, as I'm sure many others have too. So, I was both excited and nervous to get this opportunity. Excited, to finally make a step in any direction in the industry. Nervous, as I had never really considered teaching as an avenue I would venture into. Having Josh and the head of the course reach out to me for the position did fill me with some form of self-assurance, though I was not fully convinced. The biggest hurdle before starting the job was in trying to stop myself viewing it from the viewpoint of "why would they want to learn from me?" and instead saying "I have been in the same position as them, sat in those chairs, done the same modules and managed to get a 1st level Honours, so I must have some idea of how to do it."
So over the past two semesters I have been teaching two modules from the course. Interactive Score is a 2nd year module that focuses on teaching the students how to use the middleware Fmod as a tool for making music interactive. The students have to find gameplay of any game they want and create a piece of music for it - a quite exciting and interesting challenge that a lot of sound designers and composers enjoy. Obviously they don't have access to the game engine so instead they manipulate their Fmod project and parameters alongside the gameplay. It is a great way to introduce them to middleware and it's capabilities for making games feel alive and yes, interactive. When I did this project as a student I chose God of War 2018 as my gameplay and whilst I did struggle with composing the music stems, I learned a great deal about Fmod and had a lot of fun testing how creative I could be. Teaching this module has put that knowledge to the test with questions I had not considered and making me find creative and varied solutions to different problems.
The other module is Sonification, a 3rd year module. For anyone who has perhaps not heard of this, in its most simple form, it is the method of turning data into sound. The scope of ideas for the project is what a lot of students, including myself, initially struggled with. But a good way to look at is this: take any subject you are interested in, lets say sports, you can find a data set that shows the top rated sports teams across the world and a plethora of other stats online. That data can be turned into sound in multiple ways. A common way is to put the data into a .csv file and, using some blueprinting, have Unreal Engine read it, spit it out and use that data to play sounds either in engine or through middleware. The end project can be a single audio file, a game, an app among many other things. My project, which you can find a blog post about on here, was a sonification of what it could sound like to go to the bottom of the ocean.
As of last night from when I am writing this, the deadline for submissions has passed. I have had a lot of great work done by students across both modules. I am quite proud of how their work has turned out and actually proud of myself for having taught them. Though I definitely do not want to take more credit than I deserve, the students are all greatly talented sound designers and some of them hardly needed my help. I am looking forward to see the great work they all produce in the future. And I also am grateful to them as this has been a great learning experience for me. Again, the pursuit of solutions to some of the problems the students came across has helped me learn a great deal more about how best to approach both topics.
Outside of teaching, I have still been trying to get my name out there. I have been making connections in the industry, both at networking events and with my LinkedIn network haha. Most recently I attended Game Audio Liverpool as you can see below. That's me in green right at the front if you didn't know. I had a great time and made a lot of good connections. I will definitely be attending in the future and can recommend it, you'll meet some interesting and friendly people, not just me. I am also planning on attending some others such as Game Audio Symposium in Leeds.
I have also recently re-worked my demo reel video to make it a bit more professional thanks to some feedback. I am hoping to get some more feedback soon on this new one, so please check it out on the home page of this site and let me know your thoughts on how I can improve.
As for now, I have time until the start of the first semester of next year, with a brand new skillset and the confidence to teach more students these modules. Of course, right now I need to start taking some time to grade the projects submitted. Though at the same time I fear I may need to find some part-time employment to keep things going. That brings me neatly to how some things in my life have not changed. Please forgive me for the change in tone, as I am about to start sounding grumpy and maybe to some, somewhat bitter.
I do still aspire to work as a game sound designer at a game studio some day.
I had hoped that having this tutoring job would somewhat help my job search prospects. I thought that the very fact that I can teach might perhaps be something a game studio looks at and thinks is a way of proving I know my craft to some ability at least. Thinking about it, maybe this teaching job is a form of work experience. Yes, work experience. That elusive element that I have lacked since leaving university. My lack of work experience is the only reason I have ever been given as to why my numerous applications to these positions has been unsuccessful. Someone else has always had more experience vs my non-existent experience.
I have continued applying to these jobs throughout being a tutor, with the hope that I could maybe do both, at least for some length of time, as I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of teaching. There have been very few positions showing up, as usual, so I always have a lot of competition out there.
Most recently, I applied to a game studio offering both a junior and graduate position. I applied to both as others suggested and I was at least hoping to be able to reach the interview stage. You guessed it, I did not. And I was not even granted the small reprieve of a reason why my application was unsuccessful. I was given the most common response that seems to come my way, a general "too many people applied for the job so we can't offer individual feedback at this stage". I hope to some day get an actual in-depth explanation as to why my application is rejected, something other than "not enough experience" as I have already explained how dreadful that is to hear when applying to entry level jobs.
Maybe I am being too cynical and maybe I just need to be more patient and wait for the right job to come along. I am trying to find out from my peers and friends in the industry, what it is I need to do to succeed. The problem comes from the fact that it is taking me too long to crack the code. This part-time teaching role, as challenging and fulfilling as it is, is not paying the bills. I keep trying to think of ways I could start my own business or venture so I am not tied to trying to get my foot in the door of this industry forever. That, of course, would cost funding that I don't have but it is always a thought at the back of my mind. A thought that is swimming around in my head alongside the thought of just giving up and trying a completely new job. Those thoughts are constantly at battle with my urge to prove that I can make it to my dream job of being a game sound designer for a studio.
But anyway, to reach some semblance of a conclusion to my ramblings, I am going to keep going with the teaching role as long as I can. It has been tough and a big change to the way I carry myself and my confidence. But the benefits and fulfilment it brings to my life are something I look forward to continuing. Maybe some day I will have an update that I have also started working for a game studio but who knows, maybe not. I hope I do not come across as some bitter sound designer, I am grateful for the opportunities that have come my way and acknowledge I am in a lucky position to pursue my dream job. Either way I thank you for bothering to take the time to read this entire thing, I know I can ramble a lot haha.
Thank you,
Nick
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