Given the time schedule it was a rush job, it sounds a bit ‘MIDI’ in places (those damn pizzicato strings – yes I’m looking at you East West Symphonic Orchestra) but here’s a mix of the music:

MP3 – The Psychopath Test Music – TED 2012

http://www.screenedmusic.co.uk/masterclasses/

This is what I’m going to attempt to talk on:

Don’t rely on pre-rolled synthesiser patches to create your ambiances and tones, using often cheap and lo-fi techniques can create in some wonderfully original textures. This talk will demonstrate a variety of techniques and approaches for creating ambient tones, including contact microphones, granular synthesis and generative audio.

Topics will include:

• Creating music from the sounds that surround us
• Using audio editors to shape sound
• The Science of Alchemy
• Generative audio techniques

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203721704577157512700171698.html

• Audio should be recorded uncompressed at 48khz, 16 or 32 bit is acceptable.
• Dialogue recording should average at -12dB with peaks no higher than -3dB
• Background noise, room ambience and acoustics must be kept to a minimum.
• Thirty seconds of pure background noise should always be recorded as a wild track using the same microphones and positions as the interviewee.
• Suitable microphone options will be dependent on the recording environment however a good quality lavalier microphone or a directional (hypercardioid) microphone should be the standard options for interior recording. Recording simultaneously using both a lav and hypercardioid is recommended across two mono tracks, the two tracks should never be mixed down during recording. Exterior recordings should be free from wind noise and may require the use of different microphones, such as shotgun mics.
• The recordings should be free of clothing rustles and obvious sibilance.
• If level metering is not available when recording direct to camera, a portable mixer with accurate metering should be used.
• If recording to an external medium (such as a portable digital recorder), sync code should be used. If sync code is not available then a lining up tone or clapper board should be used.
• Compression should not be used during recording and limiting should only be used to control the very loudest peaks and should not be audible.
• During recording no distortion or other audio artefacts should be present.
• When mixing it is advised to monitor at -79dB reference level (DVD mix level standard) across studio quality speakers and not headphones.
• Compression during mixing should be used sensitively to maintain a dynamic range and should not be noticeably audible.
• Please take particular care that dialogue clarity is maintained when mixing to music, the focus should always be on the intelligibility of speech.
• The audio should be in sync with the picture at final delivery.
• With the proliferation of delivery mediums it is recognised that mastering levels can vary considerably. For web or DVD playback, the audio should be mixed to -20dBfs as average and have transient peaks no higher than -3dfs. It is suggested to follow the EBU R128 mix guidelines (http://tech.ebu.ch/loudness ). Under no circumstances should audio be allowed to reach 0dBfs. Delivery across other mediums (such as broadcast) will require different mix levels and metering (such as PPM metering).
• If the delivery medium uses compressed audio, wherever possible the bit rate should be high enough to allow for no noticeable compression artefacts.

http://sijm.ca/2011/msconference/changing-times-the-benefits-of-using-generative-music-in-games

It’s the first time MIGS has run an audio day so I hope it goes well for them. Here’s the summary:

Presented by Paul WeirAudio Director, Composer & Sound DesignerEidos Montreal

November 1st11:15 – 12:15Room : Jacques-Cartier

Audio track presented by Steinberg and Yamaha Canada Music.

Generative music brings tremendous benefits for creating a non-repetitive and reactive soundtrack within games, yet there are very few titles that have incorporated this technology. This talk will debate the problems with using traditional music forms in games, presents generative music within a theoretical framework and show the system we have developed at Eidos Montreal for the new Thief title, along with tips for best practice when working with generative systems.

Learning Objectives

- Understand how generative music can enhance the user experience.
- Show a fully functioning generative system that is suitable for a game environment.
- Discuss the implications for the composer when working with generative music.

When: Thursday 28th July

Where: Conference Room, Hotel Zero 1 (01 René-Lévesque Blvd. East)

Time: 6.30pm, presentations 7.00pm – 8.30pm then drinks

Entry: $6, price includes drinks

Speaking will be representatives from  Eidos Montreal, Montreal University, Audiokinetic and others. The short talks will cover topics such as the challenges in using convolution to create outdoor effects, the use of obstruction and occlusion, experiences in teaching game audio, Wwise’s roadmap and audio tips from the front line when working on AAA titles.

As places are limited, please drop us an email so we have an idea as to numbers and feel free to let other audio people know.

UPDATE:

We’re fully booked now, but drop us a line anyway if you still want to come in case others can’t make it.

UPDATE 2:

It was an interesting evening, plenty of variety in the topics discussed and a good chance to get together. We still need to find the ideal venue but hopefully we’ll do it again next year.

As audio director on the new Thief game, I have the pleasure if visiting Montreal every few months. This time a few of us are trying to organise an evening for game audio people, consisting of short presentations followed by a drink, more information shortly.

As I try and make the most of my time when in the city, it’s always a real pleasure to meet other audio people, so if anyone is up for a drink, drop me a mail.

Well done to all the organisers for the first Finnish game audio conference. It was a packed day and it was great to be involved and get to see Helsinki. I learnt how polite and reserved the Finnish people are, indeed how do you tell the difference between an introverted Finn and an extroverted one? The introverted Finn will look at his feet when he speaks to you, the extrovert will look at your feet (thanks to a Brit for that one).

Click on the title below to download the slides from the presentation I gave:

Changing Times – The Benefits of Generative Music within Games

In his 1944 film ‘Lifeboat’, Hitchcock was not keen on using music, where would the music come from in the middle of an ocean? The composer David Raksin’s response was “Go back and ask him where the camera comes from and I’ll tell him where the music comes from!”

We seem to rarely get to even that level of analysis when discussing game music, will there ever be a point at which it can be taken seriously?

From the dawn of film, serious composers were quick to engage with the medium, even if it was to earn a fast buck. With many of the early composers coming from progressive German schools, film music quickly matured.

Whilst games are part of a wider debate about art forms, asking the question about the music feels pretentious, possibly justifiably as there are some significant factors holding back its development.

One of these is that there’s still a widespread view that games are required to have music slapped everywhere, without stepping back to consider whether the music is warranted. Omnipresent music quickly dulls the senses, we become so used to it being there that it becomes wallpaper. The lack of dramatic range, of pacing out the music through the game, leads to a great lose of impact.

In film, sound designers and composers like to deliver 100% of the experience. Sound designers often work on a film without music, entirely filling it with sound. The composer similarly works without effects to deliver their emotional punch completely through the music. The magic of the film mix process is to tease out each element, there’s a filtering process where the mixer and director breath shape to the soundtrack.

Games similarly like to have 100% effects, if it moves, slap a sound on it. Too frequently there’s a shopping list mentality of ticking boxes in a spreadsheet for every sound that needs to be created. The composer, not wanting to get left behind, frequently writes over-dense music that’s designed for the biggest impact (feel the anvil love). Films are rarely able to develop the music and sound effects together but we have the wonderful opportunity of creating a relationship between the two, making them work as partners and blurring the line between sound design and music.

Films do have something we may never convincingly obtain in games, that of psychology. The composer Bernard Hermann’s great innovation was to reflect musically the inner life of a character, to create layers of meaning through the music. Until we can better empathise with game characters, the default position is to write music that’s overly literal and crudely descriptive, with little space for the abstract.

The language of sound is also notoriously tricky, communicating intentions to a team can be difficult without a strong creative figure to lead the vision. Most composers I’m sure would kill to be more experimental but with rare notable exceptions, the combination of design by committee and a low risk mentality works against innovation.

That’s then the problem, but what’s encouraging are recent titles that try for something different. To change the outcome, change the process. Having worked with a lot of generative music systems I’ve found them useful for forcing the composer to approach composition from a more state or mood basis, where timbre is even more important than usual. Moving away from a traditional sequencer gives a different perspective, generative music shifts the focus to be less on the fine detail and more on the general impression. Whilst Dead Space uses traditional linear music cues, Jason Grave’s compositional work process, of using orchestral noise-based samples and randomly triggering them, is similar to generative music, which helps to create a distinctive score.

Strong ideas need a strong leader. The audio director is central and it’s unforgivable that on large scale titles an audio equivalent of an art director can still be optional. There have been several recent major titles that have excellent individual audio elements but could have tied them together and taken them in a more interesting direction with an audio director. It’s difficult to have a vision without anyone to communicate that vision.

One of the jobs of the audio director is to ensure that audio is thoroughly embedded within the overall game design. The audio and design departments need to collaborate, design quandaries may have audio solutions. The music should be such an essential part of the game that turning it off, like with a horror film, makes the experience so flat it’s worthless, the obvious example being Limbo.

I hope one day game music will be mature enough to be able to read books that analyse its meaning without the idea seeming quite so absurd. When will game music be taken seriously? When we start to write serious music for games.

Barney Pratt - Paul Weir - Andrew Barnabas - Alex Joseph

Through AMPS (The Association of Motion Picture Sound) we had an informal panel discussion covering the common issues regarding mixing for games. The event brought together game and film audio people and topics discussed included carrying the emotional element through a game mix, the ways in which film post-production is merging with game audio, mix technology and the lack of standards.

Many thanks to Barney, Andrew and Alex for participating and for the audience for asking questions.

Download or stream a recording of the event (56mb / 59 minutes long) by clicking below:

Game Mixing Panel Discussion Recording

Some linkys of interest: