Sound Business with Akash Thakkar
Jul 15, 2026 · 45 min · 16 segments
#95: My guest today is Tim Larkin, who's based out of Spokane Washington. Tim has been playing trumpet and piano since a young age, and has performed with artists like James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald…
Tim LarkinGuest
Akash ThakkarHost
[upbeat music] My guest today is Tim Larkin, who's based out of Spokane, Washington.
Tim has been playing trumpet and piano since a young age, and has performed with artists like James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Sheila E., and many others.
Tim has also worked in game audio for over 30 years, including 21 years at Valve Software, working on titles like Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and 2, Portal 1 and 2, Artifact, Dota 2, and outside of Valve Software, Riven, Myst V, and many others.
In this interview, we dive into how Tim got his first game audio job from calling the company Broderbund in the phone book Yellow Pages, how he transitioned from being a gigging trumpet player into a video game composer and sound designer in the first place, how up-and-coming composers and sound designers can stand out in a wildly competitive field, the release of his recent jazz album, Setting Standards, and so much more.
[upbeat music] My guest today is Tim Larkin, who's based out of Spokane, Washington.
Tim has been playing trumpet and piano since a young age, and has performed with artists like James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Sheila E., and many others.
Tim has also worked in game audio for over 30 years, including 21 years at Valve Software, working on titles like Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1 and 2, Portal 1 and 2, Artifact, Dota 2, and outside of Valve Software, Riven, Myst V, and many others.
In this interview, we dive into how Tim got his first game audio job from calling the company Broderbund in the phone book Yellow Pages, how he transitioned from being a gigging trumpet player into a video game composer and sound designer in the first place, how up-and-coming composers and sound designers can stand out in a wildly competitive field, the release of his recent jazz album, Setting Standards, and so much more.
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