When it comes to game development, the two areas that I see discussed the most extensively are coding and/or engines, and artwork (pixel art etc.). But I don't think I've ever come across a conversation in the wild about the audio side of things.

So I'm wondering, are there any recommended tools or software for use in game development specifically? Or is this something that is more or less up to the creator? I'm sure recording real instruments is more or less the same as recording anything else in the music industry, so I'm talking specifically about software for creating electronic music. Think retro style games. Which I'm guessing would be MIDI?

Which brings me to another question. I believe that MIDI makes use of something called 'soundfonts', which is basically the sound and personality of all of the instruments. How does this work out as far as licensing and shit goes? Do indie devs frequently make use of free soundfonts or is creating your own soundfont commonplace? Or am I getting ahead of myself here?

Basically, or TL;DR, are there any tutorials or guides floating around that suggest recommended software and perhaps offer more information in general on this side of game dev? Music theory is another story altogether, so that's not what I'm asking here. I'm asking specifically about creating music in relation to game dev.