PLEASE NOTE: This program has not been updated with 2012 program information. Information about the 2012 program will appear online shortly. Until then, feel free to browse the information about our 2011 program, to get a sense of what the program is like.

The Film Scoring Department at Berklee College of Music presents an intensive five-day institute for advanced composers. Selected participants will learn the ins and outs of video game scoring through hands-on instruction, seminars, and panels presented by Berklee faculty and industry leaders. Over the course of this institute, participants will score an interactive video game, record their score with top-notch session performers and professional engineers, producers, and conductors, and integrate their music into the game. The completed projects will be critiqued by visiting artists in an open session that concludes the institute.

Who are the instructors?
Seminars and workshops will be conducted by members of Berklee's internationally renowned faculty along with industry professionals. Previous Berklee guests include Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid), Chance Thomas (Avatar), Wataru Hokoyama (Afrika), Go Shiina (Tales of Legendia), Duncan Watt (Brothers in Arms), Olivier Deriviere (Alone in the Dark), Gerard Marino (God of War), Jack Wall (Myst, Mass Effect), Paul Lipson (President of G.A.N.G.), Clint Bajakian (executive, Sony PlayStation), and Tommy Tallarico (cocreator, Video Games Live).

Workshop topics include:

• Applied Interactive Scoring Techniques – Learn to apply approaches to interactive and adaptive writing, along with the pros and cons of each model.
• Hands-On Composition Workshop – Work in Berklee's state-of-the-art composing labs, creating music for a video game. As you compose your interactive scores, faculty and guest artists will individually critique your compositions to help improve your interactive writing skills.
• Prepping and Running a Live Recording Session – Find out how to get the most from your session by prepping parts, conducting, and producing the recording session.
• Studio Sessions – Hear your score come alive with top players, conductors, engineers, and producers in Berklee’s scoring studios.
• Implementation and Middleware Engines – Discover how sound and music are triggered by player events in current game engines, and then work directly with one or more of the current middleware technologies to place your music into a game.
• Professional Issues Related to Music for Video Games – Several respected industry professionals discuss the critical role of music in the rapidly exploding game industry and the related professional career opportunities for musical artists, craft workers, and entrepreneurs in the United States and abroad.
• Guest Lecturer Presentations – Several respected industry professionals deliver special lectures on scores and soundscapes that they have created for recent games.
• Final Event – The original interactive music you write and record in the studio will be screened in synch and critiqued by faculty and guest artists.

Program content subject to change.

Where will I eat and sleep?
Applicants will be sent information and an application for residence hall housing once accepted to the program. Most program participants elect to stay in the Berklee residence halls; however, space is limited. To optimize your chances for on-campus housing, you must return the housing application immediately upon receiving it.