I'm an Australian composer based in Tokyo, specialising games and animation! You might recognise my work from games like Corpse Factory, Yandere Simulator or How to Date a Magical Girl or from the Amazon Prime and YouTube animated series Akedo: Ultimate Arcade Warriors! Don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to chat about music for your project!
I've loved games, cartoons and films/TV shows ever since I was a kid and also developed a love for music during school. After many years of learning classical piano, my interest eventually shifted to composing and music technology. During my Bachelor's in Music Technology and Audio Engineering, I discovered that my dream career was to combine the things I loved, music and media, and become a media composer. And I've been living that dream ever since!
With years of experience creating music and audio for games and animation, I'll work closely with you to hand-craft the perfect soundtrack for your project!
We'll start with a meeting to discuss your vision and what ideas you have for the soundtrack.
Then once you're ready for me to begin work, I'll start creating drafts of tracks for levels/scenes/etc.
After any revisions, I'll move on to either organising session musicians to record parts (if your budget allows and the style requires it) or fine-tuning the midi programming.
Then finally I will mix and master the audio and deliver the final files however you need them! (Any file time, stemmed or full audio, broken into sections or as one single long track).
Would love to hear from you. Click the contact button above to get in touch.
Interview with Alec Shea
Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?
A: I'm especially proud of my work on Corpse Factory. It's one of the most unique and cohesive soundtracks I've ever written. I feel like the director has created something truly special and I'm honoured to have been a part of it.
Q: What are you working on at the moment?
A: I'm currently working on new episodes of Akedo: Ultimate Arcade Warriors, some final audio touches to Corpse Factory and my own project, TabletopMusic.com
Q: Analog or digital and why?
A: Digital. I travel a lot an analog gear is very difficult to take with me.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: I'll do everything in my power to make sure your soundtrack is the best I can make it. For both our sakes!
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: The fact that I wake up genuinely happy, excited and looking forward to working.
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: What can you show me? Screencaps of the game? Rough footage? Animatics? I want to see it! Not just for inspiration, but so I can gush over their awesomeness!
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: Just send a message saying hi and asking to chat. There's no pressure to bring us on board. I, and I'm sure many others, will be happy to discuss your project with you, even if you decide to go another way. The discussion is still always enjoyable, and who knows, maybe we'll become friends or work on something else together in the future!
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: I've been freelancing as a composer for over 7 years now. I started doing it on the side while working a day job and worked hard to build my portfolio and following, meaning I've been able to do it full-time for over 5 years now!
Q: How would you describe your style?
A: My style varies depending on the project, but mixes of electronic, orchestral and rock are usually most common.
Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?
A: I recently have gotten the opportunity to work with 2 of my favourite vocalists, Emi Evans and Amelia Jones which is truly a dream come true. So next on the list would be working with a full orchestra. Perhaps Trackdown in Australia, the Budapest Scoring Orchestra or the Synchron Stage Orchestra in Vienna.
Q: Can you share one music production tip?
A: Don't be afraid to cut. Be it when composing/arranging parts or mixing. Sometimes less is more.
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: The most common types of soundtracks I'm involved with are electronic/synth heavy music, rock/metal and orchestral/classical.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I consider my knowledge of western classical music theory my strongest skill. I like to use a mix complex and unusual harmonies and rhythms with simple and familiar ones, for a mix of senses of familiarity and senses of strange and unknown.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I have an intricate knowledge of music theory as well as music technology/DAWs which I put to use creating interesting music that knows when to catch your attention and when to sit back and support other things that are going on.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I usually like to start with a discussion with the project's creator and/or director to both learn about the project itself but also how they like to work, what their expectations are and why they felt I'm the person to create the soundtrack for it. From there, I'll start drafting ideas for whatever track/cue was requested first and start a feedback loop as I work on the track, not only to make sure it's what the client is after, but also to continue building and refining my understanding of exactly what will make for the best soundtrack for the project in both the director/creator's and my own ears.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: I travel a lot both as part of my work as a composer/game audio specialist and also personally as many of my friends and family live in different countries from where I live in Japan, so I mainly compose on a portable setup. I use a high end 2019 Macbook pro with Logic Pro and mix using Steven Slate VSX and its accompanying studio modelling software. I own a vast collection of sample libraries and software synths, but when I can, prefer to have parts recorded by session musician friends and colleagues.
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: I particularly love media from both Asia and the west. On on side, western composers like Lorne Balfe and John Powell have done such incredible work on some of my favourite movies and TV shows, but I also love the vastly different style from Japanese composers like Yuki Kajiura and Shiro Sagisu. I hope to continue developing my career as a composer and musical style to be one of the people that bridges the gap between the two, like Kevin Penkin and Evan Call. In the game music world, some of my biggest inspirations are Keiichi Okabe, Takeshi Abo, Christopher Larkin and Gareth Cocker.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Creating unique and interesting soundtracks for game, animation and film projects.
I was the Composer in this production
- Game AudioAverage price - $600 per day
- Film ComposerAverage price - $300 per minute
- Composer OrchestralAverage price - $300 per song
- Sound DesignContact for pricing
- Dialogue EditingContact for pricing
As many revisions as needed, as long as they're reasonable and well considered
3-5 tracks per week on average, or a single cue/track within 48 hours (may vary)
Extra fee if using session musicians
- Lorne Balfe
- Ennio Morricone
- Yuki Kajiura
- Komplete Ultimate 13
- Spitfire BBCSO
- Omnisphere 2
- Keyscape
- RMX Stylus
- iZotope Production Suite
20% Discount on our first project together!
