FILIP
“Where the ego fades, true art begins.”
Who is Filip Melvan?
Filip Melvan is a Serbian composer and the Director of Music at Michael Ghelfi Studios (MGS), the ENNIE Gold-winning studio behind some of the most widely used audio in tabletop role-playing. Filip is the official composer for Paizo, scoring campaign settings for Pathfinder and Starfinder, and his catalog now spans more than 1,000 tracks across public releases, private commissions, and video games.
Before the music
Filip’s decade in music began at the piano in high school, writing songs. He enrolled at the Academy of Arts to study sound design, left after three years, and set out to learn music for film, television, and media on his own terms.
Then he stopped entirely. At 25, seeking something harder and less comfortable than a practice room, Filip became a sailor. For several years he worked the Danube, running the river from Austria to the Black Sea. He came back to composition with what the river had taught him: persistence, discipline, and a tolerance for long work.
Finding the table
Returning to music, Filip discovered tabletop role-playing games and found the form that fit him. His first major project was the official soundtrack for Black Void, followed by a commission to score The Omega Horizon. His work has since extended beyond the table: he composed the soundtrack for the video game Those Who Rule 2 and Maelstrom Legacy: The Tesla Mystery, and countless TTRPG Kickstarter projects such as DC20.
In 2021, Filip joined forces with Swiss composer Michael Ghelfi, a partnership that reshaped what TTRPG audio could sound like. As Director of Music at MGS, he now leads the studio’s compositional work, including its scores for Paizo.
Favorite instrument: Hurdy-gurdy
Favorite composers: James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, Bear McCreary, Franz Liszt
Favorite game: Remember Me
Other interests: Manga, anime, reading
Socials
