Sound Design

Featured, Game Music, Gear, Music Production, Reviews, Software

Super Audio Cart (Review)

June 27, 2016 | Michael Hoffmann | 28 Comments Share this Super Audio Cart (Review)

In the world of game audio there’s often a need for the sounds of the earlier game consoles. Whether this is to help emulate a feeling of nostalgia of the 80s and 90s or to create all new styles of music with the older sounds, the tones of these classic consoles have had a persistent presence in the gaming world. This has been especially true with the rise of the indie game scene and the emphasis on the styles of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras.

Through the years there have been a number of software tools available to composers and audio designers for recreating these sounds. Programs like FamiTracker and Little Sound DJ have allowed composers to generate chiptune music, but they require considerable time to learn the various functions and limitations of the software. Meanwhile different FM synthesizers can be used to create sounds similar to the Sega Genesis, but often didn’t have the same limitations or imperfections of the sounds that you would hear on the original system hardware.

Now after many years of planning and development, Impact Soundworks, in collaboration with OverClocked Remix, has come forward with a collection of samples recorded from the systems themselves. The result is the sample library Super Audio Cart, which aims to provide a simple way of producing the authentic sounds of these consoles, while also presenting tools to let you do some new and complex things with the available instruments. I’ll be taking a look at the core functions of the library and examining how it stacks up against other methods of creating these sounds. (more…)
Miscellaneous, Software

Introduce Soundtracks to your Tabletop RPG Games with Syrinscape

May 28, 2016 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Introduce Soundtracks to your Tabletop RPG Games with Syrinscape Share this

Ever want to really turn up the immersive experience with your tabletop gaming? How about having custom soundtracks to provide background sounds to your RPGs? That’s the focus of Syrinscape – a sound design app that adds a variety of background sound to your tabletop gaming.

Syrinscape uses a powerful audio engine and complex algorithms to produce ever-changing soundscapes and rich encounter specific music. SoundSets are made up of numerous independently controllable ‘elements’, each representing a component of the audio environment. Each ‘element’ distributes randomly chosen samples into the 3D environment surrounding the listener. All this works together to create immersive sound with no annoying repetitions or patterns.

As the product’s website and the introductory Youtube video highlight, you can use samples from a variety of landscapes and settings including fantasy, gothic, cyberpunk and more. The Syrinscape player itself if free to download, and you purchase individual soundsets in their store or purchase a monthly subscription to access all soundsets in their library as well as any future releases as they come out. Some soundsets are for specific tabletop games, as their most recent release, A Song of Silver SoundPack, is the “complete audio solution for the fourth chapter of the Pathfinder RPG Adventure Path: Hell’s Rebels.”

The app can be run on PC, Mac, tablet or even smartphone and custom tailored for specific sound experiences within individuals tabletop games. You can check out more on their website or Facebook page.
Events, Game Music

East Coast Games Conference: 2016 Audio Lineup Announced

April 9, 2016 | Hassan DuRant | Comments Off on East Coast Games Conference: 2016 Audio Lineup Announced Share this
North Carolina is where you’ll find the biggest hub for video game developers on the east coast. Surprised? I was too, and I’ve lived here all my life! On April 20th, thousands will flock to the Raleigh Convention Center for the 8th East Coast Games Conference—but despite being the largest gathering of devs this side of the Mississippi, the conference is still under the radar for many.

While the East Coast Games Conference (ECGC for short) has been a strong meeting grounds for programmers, artists, and writers, the audio scene has been lacking.

That all changed last year, when the conference introduced its first-ever audio track: a series of talks, panels and events aimed at the game audio community. I had the pleasure of attending last year’s ECGC, and it was a life-changing experience. I met so many talented composers, musicians, sound designers—it made me realize, yes I do want to spend the rest of my life in cahoots with these crazy individuals.

Last year the conference attracted composers like Jason Graves (Dead Space, Far Cry Primal) and sound designers like Akash Thakkar (Hyper Light Drifter) to talk about getting into the games industry, negotiating work as a freelancer, advanced sound design techniques and more.

This year’s roster for the audio track includes:
- Chris Groegler, sound designer for Red Storm Entertainment
- Xiao’an Li, composer and director for East Coast Scoring, a full-time studio orchestra
- Steven Melin, an independent games composer
- Alyssa Menes, independent composer, sound designer, orchestra director, and resident Nintendo nerd
- Jack Menhorn, award-winning sound designer for Boss Key Productions
- DJ Yingling, sound designer for Insomniac Games
Additional speakers will be announced soon. They’ll be talking about everything from VR audio innovations to arcade games, which means ECGC 2016 is shaping up to be a fantastic event for game audio.

If you can’t make it this year, you can live vicariously through me as I cover the event on Twitter. Be on the lookout for a wrap-up of all the audio events after ECGC ends, April 22nd.

Mr. Hassan DuRant is a composer out of North Carolina and a guest writer for OSV. All information and opinions are his own.
Music Production, Software

Black Friday Deal: Heavyocity Virtual Instruments On Sale

November 24, 2015 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on Black Friday Deal: Heavyocity Virtual Instruments On Sale Share this

Virtual instrument company Heavyocity is having a Thanksgiving sale on its products starting now until December 6th. The collections and individual instrument packs are available for up to 50% off. These include Gravity, Aeon Collection, Ensemble Metals Collection, Evolve, and many more.

All of the instrument libraries run on Kontakt 5 and require at least the Kontakt 5 Player to be used. If you’re a composer or sound designer who’s been eyeing any of Heavyocity’s virtual instruments, now may be the time to grab them. You can check out more of the Heavocity Thanksgiving sale on their main website.
Chip Music, Featured, Film, Game Music, Indie Music, Music Production

Game Audio Documentary ‘Beep’ is Looking For Backing on Kickstarter

August 25, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this

Creators of a new game documentary have launched a Kickstarter. The project titled Beep is intending to take a look at the history of game music and sound. Everything from the old school sounds of arcade games all the way to the games of today. The focus isn’t just on the music of these games. The documentary will also be an exploration of audio design, voice work, and the use of chiptune and other game sound technology outside of the gaming medium. A book will also accompany the documentary to supply more detailed information about the various subjects covered in the film.

There are already plans for interviews with major members of the game audio community. Raising money through Kickstarter will aid the creators in being able to travel and interview composers and sound designers. Several composers have already been named for interviews including Tommy Tallarico, Winifred Phillips, Shota Nakama, Peter McConnell, and many more.

Rewards for backers include copies of the documentary, book, soundtrack, t-shirts, and many other physical rewards. The Kickstarter has already raised over $15,000 of the needed $40,000 pledge goal. If this sounds like a project you’d like to see made, definitely check this Kickstarter out.
Game Music

E3 2011: Skyrim’s Soundtrack is as Beautiful as Expected

June 15, 2011 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on E3 2011: Skyrim’s Soundtrack is as Beautiful as Expected Share this

While Skyrim wasn’t playable at on the show floor here at E3, Bethesda was showing guests a demonstration of what the game can do throughout the day, and what we saw was quite incredible. It has everything from a brand new game engine to tweaks and modifications to the interface to make the game more accessible along with a brand new score by Jeremy Soule.

We heard a number of pieces from the game during the demonstration, and also got a feel for the game’s sound design, and on top of being one of my most anticipated games of the year, it’s also one of my most anticipated soundtracks.

Find out what we heard in our preview after the jump. (more…)
Featured, Game Music, Interviews

A Blast From The Past: Metroid Prime 3 With Kenji Yamamoto and Retro Studios

August 24, 2010 | Jayson Napolitano | 7 Comments Share this

I’ve been intentionally holding on to this one for awhile now. For those who don’t remember, “A Blast From The Past” is an interview series that revisits interviews I conducted while at Music4Games. We’re republishing them here on a somewhat monthly basis as they’re not longer available online. This time I thought it would be fun to celebrate the upcoming release of Metroid: Other M next week by posting the interview I conducted with Metroid Prime 3: Corruption composer Kenji Yamamoto and Retro Studios sound supervisor Scott Petersen.

In the interview we discuss the series’s transition from 2D into the 3D realm, the audio technology behind the Wii and the Prime series in particular, the interactions between the Japan-based Kenji Yamamoto and the Texas-based Retro Studios, and Nintendo’s lack of official soundtrack releases. This is the interview that I’m probably the most proud of, and I want to thank Nintendo once again for coordinating it and allowing us to republish it along with both Kenji Yamamoto and Scott Petersen for providing such thorough responses.

Re-reading this, I’m curious to hear how Yamamoto’s collaboration with Retro Studios is going for Donkey Kong Country Returns!

Check out the interview after the jump and let us know your thoughts. (more…)