As you might already know, my name is Matheus Alves Barbosa. I am from Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
When I was a kid, I used to spend most of my free time with video games. But only after a few
years, I started to be interested in their audio - especially the soundtracks.
Donkey Kong, Chrono Trigger, Zelda, World of Warcraft, and Skyrim are some of the many
video games that made me develop an interest in that area.
No one is self-sufficient. It is because of someone we exist and that everything we did was
possible.
Wondering about that, I think it is important to keep registered my story and the people who had
made it possible - especially my wife, Letícia, that had to bear all those “beeps and bloops” and
supported me in my career. After all, it was because of God and these people that I got here.
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Around 2004, I found out about the Virtual Piano for Windows XP (or would it be ME?). I think it was this one.
I didn't understand anything about music but I was surprised to see that, pressing the keys on the computer keyboard, the harp-like sound that came out was identical to the one in the Ultima Online main theme - Stones.
My dad and brother knew that I was using the Virtual Piano and later decided to buy me a Yamaha PSR E313, my first musical keyboard.
I played my musical keyboard by ear for some time until I finally start to take theoretical and practical piano lessons.
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In 2011 I joined my church’s choir as a singer.
At home, in addition to practicing my voice, I would also play by ear the song that the choir was rehearsing: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”.
One day, the pianist of the choir could not attend the rehearsal. I started to play the first part of the song I was practicing at home for fun.
It was then that the conductor, Nara Peres Camacho, found out about my talent. Her words were these: "I thought the pianist was here".
From then, I started to take piano lessons with the pianist of the choir, Josias Matschulat. Later I became the pianist of the church's choir.
(Nara and her husband, Sergio, would become bridesmaid and groomsman at my wedding in 2017)
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I started working at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul as a programmer, and after a couple of months, I was able to buy my first digital piano: a Roland FP-80.
That piano was frequently used in presentations at hospitals, weddings, and other. I still use it.
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In 2015, I started to study Music Production, Sound Synthesis, and other technical aspects of audio.
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I married Letícia who's supported me in this journey :)
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In 2019, I entered the game audio world.
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In 2020, I joined Game Audio Academy, and at last, I learned how to implement adaptive audio for games. I also bought my second musical instrument, the harpejji.
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I decided to play a decorative handmade flute that I had at home. My parents bought it for me as a souvenir from a trip to Central America.
It had an odd tuning. Still, playing that flute made me think: "It is time to learn how to play a melodic instrument."
I got in touch with a friend from Argentina, Melisa, whom I met at the church during her stay in Brazil. She is an excellent violinist and member of a Celtic group where her sister is a flutist.
Since she is from Argentina and lives in Ireland, our classes are in Portuguese blended with Spanish and English. I am taking online lessons with this patient and demanding teacher.
Then I started to study transverse flute using a YFL 222 secondhand flute.
I also started my postgraduate studies in Soundtrack at FACEC/Alpha and was certified as an audio professional at the Game Audio Academy.
