In part 2 of our interview with game composer Aaron Marks, Aaron shares his insights on a typical day as a game composer, how songwriters can break into the game industry, how they get paid, and the skills they need to be competitive. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out part 1. Learn more about Aaron Marks at OnYourMarkMusic.com.

Aaron Marks is a professional game composer and author of The Complete Guide to Game Audio, Second Edition: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, Game Developers (Gama Network Series). Aaron’s music can be heard on dozens of game titles, including the ESPN MSL Extra Time Playstation 2 soccer title and online casino/arcade game sound effects and music for several Universal/Vivendi casino websites. His most recent project is music and sound effects for the game bittosHD for Xbox, PS3 and iPhone/iPad.

We all know it when we hear a great song because we can’t get enough of it. It makes us move, it makes us listen and it draws us in. But it’s a lot harder to write a great, or even good, song than it seems, as anyone who’s ever tried to write one knows. We can analyze great songs all day long to see what makes them tick, but sometimes can learn just as much by analyzing the ones that aren’t that great as well.

Here’s a quick shout out to an excellent music production workshop coming to New York City next weekend.