He might look like a rockstar with long hair, but his profession requires him to listen to everything—from classical music to Edith Piaf. This is the reality for Antonio Teoli (pictured), 24 years old. Since 2003, Antonio has been a composer and sound designer for games, and since 2008, he has worked on the game Taikodom. He is responsible for the entire soundtrack.

"Because of the job, I had to listen to a wide range of music. Always seeking references and new sounds," he says. "After all, the game is limitless. You can imagine the amount of work involved," he notes, referring to the fact that the game doesn't have a predefined script with a set ending.

In these games, players have the freedom to explore the environment. This freedom presents a challenge for those who sound-design a game. "People think that making music for a game is just about adding a gunshot sound, a sequence of notes, and that's it," says Antonio. "One must be careful with volume levels. For example, in the middle of a battle, it's important to understand which sounds matter and immerse the player, and which do not. These are details that people often don't notice. They only realize when the work isn't done well."

For the soundtrack of *Taikodom*, which is set in a futuristic space science fiction universe, Teoli chose to create a more classical soundtrack, incorporating elements from synthesizers. The goal was to give players the sense that they are embarking on a grand journey, similar to what is experienced in George Lucas's *Star Wars*.

"The difference is that they primarily use classical music," says Teoli, who began his musical studies at the age of 7. Later, he played tuba in an orchestra. "Don't ask me why the tuba (laughs)," he jokes. "My room looks like a store on Teodoro Sampaio. It has guitars, bass, acoustic guitar, percussion, and the tuba."