Darryl S. Duncan

Zoo Tycoon

Current projects:
Microsoft Zoo Tycoon, Sega NBA 2K2, EA Knockout Kings 2002. For Zoo Tycoon we developed all of the music and sound effects for the game and we provided the intro music for NBA 2K2.

Academic Info

College: I attended the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
Degree: I majored in electronic music and jazz piano composition. (non-degreed).

Were there any particular projects or areas of study that you pursued?
I initially wanted to play jazz piano but it quickly evolved into electronic music composition, digital music and midi music production.

Did you do any internships?
No, I never did an internship anywhere.

Career Info

Tell us about your first job in the industry. How did you get the job? What was it like? What were your responsibilities?
I migrated from the mainstream music industry. I was a staff songwriter/producer at Warner Brothers and A&M Records for several years. I've had several charting records and even a #1 record in 1989. I've written for and/or produced several artists including Jeffrey Osborne, Chaka Khan, Earth, Wind & Fire, R. Kelly and many others. My first job in the industry was as the audio director and lead sound designer/composer at EA in Florida. I feel I got the job because I was an accomplished composer and I had a strong demo package. I submitted my material to 3 separate companies and had 3 separate job offers. I accepted the Florida position because it was to work on the Madden Football game which I was already a big fan of. It was extremely challenging primarily because I was the ONLY audio person at EA Florida from the time I started to the time I left. Needless to say, it was extremely difficult to keep up with the many SKUs I worked on, but I managed, and I'm very proud of what I was able to accomplish. My responsibilities were varied and included music composition, sound design and editing, location audio shoots, managing audio assets, developing and maintaining scripts, filename documents, in-game audio tuning, voice-overs, dialog editing and tweaking, and much much more.

What jobs have you held in the games industry thus far? Briefly describe the career path you took to get where you are today.
Well I worked for EA Florida for 2.5 years before I left to form my own company. Fortunately EA became my first and biggest client. Since then my company and client list has grown steadily and we have been fortunate to have worked on some of the industry's best-selling titles.

Advice

What fields of study, specific courses, or life experiences would you recommend to students interested in your field?
Well I feel that one needs to have a natural ear for music and a high level of sonic intelligence to start with. When it comes to music schools they can teach you the technical stuff but there is a degree of natural talent that I think must exist first. A musical background is a plus before ever deciding to take any formal courses, but once that decision is made, courses in digital audio, digital signal processing, music composition, arrangement, midi, multitrack recording and music theory are all must-have skills to master. Most of today's audio schools will also train you on a lot of the industry standard software and hardware packages which is also very important.

Is there anything you wish someone had told you before you got into the games industry? Is there anything you would have done differently?
Well I think I would have liked to have been warned about how vulnerable the industry is as a whole. The rise and fall of various game developers is sort of scary for someone deciding to move across the country to accept a particular position. For me I was fortunate to have joined up with a major developer, but I have many colleagues that change companies almost every two years, and some are out of work because many startups fail and many established companies downsize. I think the only safeguard to this is to be the best at what you do and make yourself a valuable asset to the company you work for. It is also a good idea to get all agreed-upon employment terms in writing. Make sure a company keeps any employment promises they make.

I would not have done anything differently.

As games increase in complexity, what are the various kinds of jobs that you foresee development companies needing in the next five years?
I think companies will actually be looking for more versatile professionals, for example in the audio field a composer that can also program is a rare but extremely valuable individual, and can command a much higher salary. The "coding composer" is one of the holy grails in the industry. If you find one, I assure you they are well-paid professionals.

Do you have any other advice or recommendations to share with students who are interested in doing what you do?
I think the most important thing is to be highly versatile. If you are a composer, learn the ins and outs of sound design. If you are a sound designer, it would help to have some musical abilities. Most companies want the combination but positions are available for either. Versatility is the key, do more than one thing and do it well. If you are a composer, you must specialize in many different styles of music and even some styles that you may not personally like. Also don't expect to submit some of your techno/trance pieces done on your shareware tracker software and get any real industry attention. I would suggest any aspiring game composer to invest in some of the tools of the trade and do what it takes to create and submit a strong, quality and versatile demo CD. It doesn't matter if your goal is to land an in-house position or to be a freelancer, your music and your level of creativity and versatility will determine your fate!

Lastly and probably most importantly LEARN HOW TO WRITE A GOOD BUSINESS LETTER. I have received correspondence from many aspiring sound designers/composers whose initial business approach leave a lot to be desired. Learn what it takes to make a good introduction and the important points to make about your abilities in your communications to potential employers. This is important if you want to be taken seriously.