[Rob Bridgett, audio director on Prototype 2 issues a rallying cry for the mixing of the audio discipline with the rest of the studio, and opening up the closed studio space to collaboration -- perhaps even suggesting a fundamental change in studio structure.]

Read more at Gamasutra

Cool video profile about the work of the guys at Wabi Sabi Sound featuring sound designers Andrew Lackey and Geoffrey Garnett.

SoundWorks Collection has published a new video profile, featuring the creative talent of Sound One Studios talking about the story of the facilities and also about their workflow, collaboration and approach.

The history and creative talent that fill the halls of Sound One is a who’s who of the New York film and audio community. Many memorable projects have been crafted at Sound One such as “Black Swan, “Chicago” “The Sixth Sense”, “The Wrestler”, “Brokeback Mountain”, “The Silence of the Lambs”, “Casino”, “Fargo”, “MIB” , “pi” , and “The Big Lebowski”.

Sound One is home to five re-recording studios, two ADR studios, a Foley studio with a comprehensive prop collection, and nearly one hundred editing suites, Sound One is centrally located on Broadway in the historic Brill Building in midtown Manhattan.

Let’s get started with the Jamey Scott Special! Here is an exclusive interview with him, talking about several aspects of his career, workflow, tools, and more! Hope you enjoy it.

DS: Please introduce yourself… how you get started in sound and how has been the evolution of your career?

JS: Ok, well let’s see… I’ve been involved in what we’re calling sound design now for around 17 years, I think. That number is a little nebulous because I was working on my studio chops without working on professional projects for a long time.

I was a Jazz guitar major at San Diego State University, paying my way through college by playing around San Diego, in bands at bars, that sort of thing. $50 a night wasn’t really much to buy studio gear on, so I had to work a lot to fund my passion for gear. Eventually I amassed enough stuff to put together a demo that ultimately got me that first job, which came shortly after college around 1994, when I was asked by a college friend to create some sound effects and music for a CD-ROM companion that was shipping with some McGraw Hill books that he was doing graphics for. The first job was a blast. They sent me this list of sounds that they needed like “Vacuum cleaner turning on” and that sort of thing. Easy stuff. But then it started getting harder like “chime for bonus achievement”, which got me to thinking… “hmm… how am I going to make that?”, which let me down the path that I currently walk today as a creative problem solver of sound.

DS: Did you have a mentor early or something like that? How did you get involved with video games?

JS: I never really had a mentor… that came later via nagging smart dudes around the internet like Charles Deenen. Early on, I was just hanging by the skin of my teeth, learning from each new challenge. I’m thankful that there were those opportunities for someone inexperienced because I very much learned most of what I know “on the job”.

Back to the “first job”, I ended up moving my gear into my college buddies’ company building and became their in-house sound and music guy. It was a super cool gig for me. It didn’t pay much, but it paid enough for me to evolve my studio gear a little bit at a time and pay the rent so I was pretty happy. But then I discovered MYST, which kinda changed my life. I stayed up for hours fascinated by that damn game. It was hilarious, my wife (then girlfriend) would leave for work shaking her head at me because I was so engrossed in the game. Then she’d return 7 hours later and I’d be in the same place and she would just freak out.. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HAVEN’T MOVED ALL DAY!!!”. I’d say dumb stuff like “well I did go to the bathroom a few times”. Anyhow, MYST had a “making of” quicktime movie on the disc and it showed how they made some of the sounds and I remember thinking “well how cool is that??”.

As luck would have it, the company that I was working for started to do some contract work for Presto Studios, who had released a game called The Journeyman Project, which was very similar to MYST but much more sci-fi, which was right up my alley, so I checked it out. I loved it and eventually had a chance to meet a couple of the guys making the game. They had a sound and music guy at the time so I never thought I’d have a shot to work for them, but they parted ways shortly after the Journeyman Project sequel, (Buried In Time) and so I approached the decision makers at Presto.

I was pretty green and wasn’t ready for prime-time at the time and they were definitely prime-time so I knew it was a long shot, but I went for it anyway and ended up getting an interview. It went well. 6 years later, I had been the audio director, sound designer, composer, and pretty much everything else on about 8 of their fantastic projects, including MYST3: Exile, which was a real benchmark for me, given that MYST was my initial attraction to the game industry.

Sadly, they closed their doors in 2001 and I decided to go freelance instead of immediately lock myself back into an office situation. I didn’t really intend on staying freelance forever because I enjoyed having the stability of a job, but I started to land some pretty big clients and one thing led to another and here I am, 9 years later, still freelance!

DS: And how about films?

JS: The film thing came a little bit later and it was mostly out of my desire to have a deeper understanding of the craft and business of sound design.

Working on games is at times a very derivative process in that I get a lot of people asking me to come up with sounds that sound like this or that and most of the reference comes from movies. At that time, there were very few resources available in regard to how sound designers make things so I had to let my ears lead the way. I spent most of my childhood transcribing guitar and saxophone solos and I had a college education in music, so my ears were highly trained. I could pick out the layers of most sounds and if I could figure out how to make the layers involved, I could reproduce sounds identically. I got pretty good at it, but I really wanted to work on movies, mostly for the opportunity to work with and learn from guys who innovated these techniques. I didn’t want to be an imitator, I wanted to get to the point where I could stylize things in a new or unique way.

So, I convinced my wife to move the family to Burbank in 2003 and we’ve been settling in ever since.. lol. I landed my first feature film job within 2 months of living here. I didn’t even have my studio built yet and here I was convincing this guy that I could redo his film’s sound and mix it like a pro… I was a bit naive. But, opportunities led from one to another and I actually did get to the point where I could build a full feature films sound from nothing to a final mix. I’ve worked on about 17 features and a ton of short films so I’m pretty comfortable with the process now.

DS: How do you stay creative? do you have any kind of method/habits to enhance your creativity as sound designer? where does your inspiration come from?

JS: Good question. For me, creativity has never really been an issue. There’s a direct parallel to composing in this regard that I think about often.

With composing, the understanding of music theory is core to the craft. If you have a deep understanding of it, you can always just come up with something. It may not the best something you’ve ever conceived of, but there’s always something. By having that deep understanding of music theory, you can always evolve that little something by thinking about it analytically. Like putting together a puzzle. The theory gives you the guidelines to craft something out of nothing systematically.

It’s the same way with sound design for me. The long road always starts with a little step and fortunately, those little steps are always just available to me in my mind. I then let my years of learned techniques take over and can usually craft that little nugget of an idea into something pretty evolved and fitting to the task at hand. In that sense, sound design is a lot like composing for me.

DS: You’ve worked on a lot of different projects, from indie films to short films, and AAA games. What industry you like the most? Did you have a favorite genre or type of project?

JS: It really depends. I like having a lot of diversity in my life. I like working with new and different people; collaborating and getting to know others artistically and personally. It’s a really rewarding and rich way for me to live my life and I’m usually very energized by new opportunities.

The best projects are always the ones where I’m clicking with the people involved and we’re having fun doing what we’re doing. Technically, I think my favorite thing to do is mixing prerendered game cinematics. Having the freedom to design all of the content in those scenes and having the luxury of time to perfect the 5.1 mixes are just a thrill for me. I like the feeling of completion and the end result of knowing that they were silent before I got to it. I’m mixing the cinies for Epic’s next game Bulletstorm right now and I’m having a blast with them. Full bore action sequences with lots of little details. Fun stuff :)

As far as which industry I like the most, that’s tough to say. They’re very different industries and yet very similar in terms of the actual craft of sound. The film industry is far more political and systemic, which I actually kind of like. There’s a lot more to learn in the film industry from an artistic standpoint too, but the game industry also has some things going for it that film guys cannot hang on. Games are more technical and films are more emotional and I like both aspects. From an aesthetic perspective, I think I lean more towards film because I am a subtle artist and my greatest moments are centered around an emotional context. Games invoke plenty of “cool”, but rarely any emotion. I’ve always been more drawn to subtle things and telling stories with sound that aren’t so on the nose or over the top. At times I think that my personality is not cut out for games because I’m such an emotionally motivated person, but I’m also compelled by what’s cool, so when I’m in the midst of that, I definitely feel like I’m in my element in games.

DS: If you had to give one advice to a sound designer (both pro and young)… What would you say?

JS: I generally don’t like to be forthcoming with advice because I always feel like a student and I’m the one that should be getting the advice! lol :). But in retrospect, I think the best advice that I can give is advice that was once given to me by Charles Maynes.

He told me that you need to live your life for love and everything else will fall into place. That was really important for me to hear at the time because it was right when I moved to LA and I was having a hard time adjusting. I felt like everything was just so urgent and that I had to sacrifice everything for my career if it was to take off.

But ultimately, hearing that helped me settle into the perspective that my career is ultimately not the thing that will bring my happiness, it is my relationships, and that has rung so true time and time again, year after year, situation after situation. My wife, my children, my family, my friends, and my clients. They are what matter the most in life and the next gig, the current artistic conflict, the politics, the competition, the guy who won’t pay me, etc.. that stuff is all just bumps in the road.

DS: You do both sound design and mixing crafts… What do you like the most? Also… if you know you’ll mix a design you’re working on, how that affect the way you work on it??

JS: That’s a really good question. I like mixing the most, but a mix is only as strong as its parts, so I like to create the sounds in my mixes so that they support what I believe to be a good mix.

That works inversely in regard to designing sounds for a mix. I have a certain way that I like my mixes to sound so I can design sounds in a way that fully support my mixing concept.

It’s not like I NEED total control though. I’m happy to work with and support other people who contribute to a project when I’m mixing. Sometimes though I secretly mess with other peoples designs to make them work better in my mixes, but that’s part of the gig. You do what you have to, but then I’m usually excited to hear what other great pros that I’m working with are doing and it inspires and motivates me to take things to an even higher level.

DS: What are your main tools in the studio and the field?

JS: Well that’s easy.. my ears! haha… Seriously though, I think my greatest asset in my studio is the studio itself. It was designed by Chris Pelonis and the sound is so good that it is actually a very precise tool that I use to determine what should go where in a mix and in a design. And because the room was basically built for my speakers, I would include them in that category.

I’m a pretty straight-forward kind of guy. I have 2 ProTools HD systems that I use in tandem via Satellite. I mix in the box for everything and I don’t like using faders and consoles. Both of my PT systems have 2 192 digital interfaces so I use my second system as a dubber for complex mixes when I’m mixing by myself. I also frequently have an assistant mixer when things get really deep, so I’ll run fx and dialog on my main system and he’ll run bgs and music on the second system. 2 ways of offsetting the load of really big mixes. I find that HD3 systems just aren’t enough for some of the bigger mixes that I do so it really helps to split them up. I also have a little Mac Mini with an 11 interface that I use for the rare occasion that I record guitar, but mostly as a dedicated video playback device via SatelliteLE. It’s connected directly to my projector. That machine also has all of my softsynths on it that I connect to via VSL pro. Really helps the stability of protools to get those softsynths out of the main system. Avid still hasn’t gotten that right sadly.

I have a machine room on the other side of the ADR booth that houses my two main Macs (8core Intel machines), my interfaces, and all of my networking and server gear. I do all of my own IT and cabling, which is the reason I’ll probably die young… hahaha.

In the field, I have a cool little rig that I take with me everywhere I go. It’s a little bit elaborate but the sound I get is worth it. Essentially, it’s a core-sound 2496mk2 preamp connected digitally to a Sony D50 that I just use as a memory stick recorder. All of the good stuff is happening in my Mics and the 2496. It all packs away nicely in a tool belt and I have all of my cables custom made to perfect lengths so it’s a very slick and stealth recording rig.

DS: Why you don’t like faders and consoles? What kind of tools you use for mixing then?

JS: Well, I think of that stuff as old school. Even though I started working in studios in 1993, I never sat at a console. I stated out using DeckII and moving automation with my mouse, so I got really quick at it. I always saw those fader consoles as harkening back to a paradigm that was never mine. I’ve really tried to use them. I’ve had a procontrol desk, a mackie fader controller, and others, but I always just come to the same conclusion with them. They’re a glorified mouse and keyboard and at the end of the day, I’m WAY faster with a mouse, a keyboard (and of course, QuickKeys).

DS: What has been the project that you’ve enjoyed the most?

JS: A film I recently worked on called Desert Son. It was a feature film that I found myself totally in my element. It’s an indy art film about some derelict kids living in the desert and it was a clean palette for me to exercise 16 years of sound ideas that I’ve had floating around in my head. Completely different than any other games or movies I’ve worked on, and very rewarding. The design is very subtle but rich and emotional.. probably to no one else but me, but that’s ok. There are no “cool” sounds designed for it like I do for Gears or Unreal Tournament, it’s all just about pace, overall story arc, and provoking the right moment at the right time and doing it in an unexpected and challenging way.

But then, I think if you asked me that question right after I finished Gears 1, I probably would have told you that was my best work. I dunno… I tend to get really into what I’m working on and I let it capture me so whatever my last thing was will probably always be my best work or my most favorite thing… that said, Desert Son was an amazing project for me. Fingers crossed that it gets some sort of distribution.

DS: So, what are you currently working on? what’s next for Jamey Scott?

JS: I’ve got a little too much on my plate at the moment so I’m working very hard. I’m working on Gears of War 3 and Bulletstorm with Epic, I’m audio directing a game called Hunted for Bethesda, and I’m working on these little Dr. Seuss iPhone apps for a startup company called Oceanhouse Media. These are all keeping me very very busy. Oh I’m also doing work on SOCOM4 for PS3. Right now I’m focusing on getting to the end of this busy stretch which will end in a couple of months. Then I’ll worry about what comes next. I think I’d like to get onto another feature film where I can really stretch my legs, but I’m open to whatever.

Let’s start with this month’s special, starting with an interview with our guest David Farmer. David and I discuss general aspects of his career, his thoughts, techniques, and more! Hope you enjoy it as I much as I did.

Designing Sound: How did you get started in sound and how has it evolved into a career?

David Farmer: I’m not ashamed to tell you that I started as a copycat, or maybe wishful copycat is a better way to say it. I was pretty much obsessed with the character of the sounds in films by Ben Burtt & Gary Rydstrom (ask anyone that worked with me back then!). I’ve seen “The Empire Strikes Back”, and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” more times than most would dare to admit. My career in sound also started right after T2 came out, and I was mesmerized by the nature of Rydstrom’s work as well. So I added T2 & Backdraft to my rotation of “watch all the time” films. When I started, I was on the night shift and my 2 roommates worked during the day. So I had all day to watch & listen to whatever I liked.

I’d do things like watch the movie with the sound off, and also listen with the picture off. I know that sounds dorky, but it was a great way to train the brain & ears. As time went by & I cut my teeth in sound, I honestly did approach almost everything I was working on with Ben & Gary’s work in the back of my mind. Try as I might though, I could never sound quite like them. I eventually made peace with it, and learned to be OK with sounding like me. It actually turned out to be a huge relief when I stopped trying to sound like someone else. (Their work is still my favorite though! :) It’s a lot like being a musician in that respect. You can take a guitar player & put them on 10 different amps & guitars, but there’s something about them that stays consistent regardless of the gear.

DS: What was your first gig like?

DF: The first sound effect I ever put in a track was a car door close on a TV show called “Dark Justice”. I wasn’t the editor on the show but I was sitting in on the mix (I guess I was still interning) and they wanted a different effect. I was sooooo excited about it! Just thinking that I had put in an actual sound effect that would be heard by dozens of people! ;) So OK, that wasn’t my first “gig” but I do remember that moment – it made quite an impression on me. I’m trying to remember what the first gig was, and I’m not actually sure. I know the first tidbit of responsibility I had was to prepare temp effects to give picture departments for shows we had coming in. We’d get wish lists of things and I’d put them together using the Synclavier, put them on DAT tape, and send them off to the picture editors.

It was my first exposure to interpreting what clients say they want. I’d see something on the list like “small electrical explosion”, and so I’d prep just exactly that, a SMALL electrical explosion! I had to run everything past Harry Cohen who was the head of the effects department. This was to make sure we weren’t sending out crap, and it’s a good thing he listened first! I was too literal, and he had to explain to me that a “small electrical explosion” really was about the size of a transformer landing on a car and the entire thing bursting into flames. This was all done without any picture to reference, or maybe it would have been clearer. However learning to make things larger than they appear is a challenge everyone I’ve ever known has had to work on.

DS: Who was your mentor early on? What influenced your learning the most during that time?

DF: Harry Cohen was awesome! It was a bit by chance that I hooked up with Harry. I was looking for a place to intern that had Synclaviers, and EFX Systems in Burbank had more Synclaviers than anyone else. I was really happy to land there because of the Synclaviers, but I was unaware that the best thing there for me was Harry. The management were trying to steer me towards dialog since they needed dialog editors. But I knew that if I was going to pigeon-holed somewhere, it was going to be SFX because I wasn’t interested in dialog!

So Harry is one of these rare talents that is also really happy to share his knowledge. And he likes to talk about the craft too, so all I had to do was be present & listen. I can’t work and talk to other people at the same time, in fact I almost require solitude so I can focus and try to think. I never did well with interns sitting in with me. I wish I could pass on some of what I’ve learned like that, but I just can’t work that way. But Harry could! We’d talk all day as he was working, and I learned a lot from him. I was also single and insanely gung-ho, so when the day ended for the day shift, I’d hang around for several more hours & practice.

I was really lucky that I was there at EFX. We weren’t doing huge-budget films. There were a lot of lower budget films & TV moving through there. When I first started I was on the night shift doing backgrounds for just about every TV show & film moving through there. When time permitted & schedules required, I started doing more hard FX. The great thing for me was, since i was the BG guy & bouncing between all the shows, when films came up that needed help, I was actually the first one free to work on them since the more experienced people were tied up with their TV shows. I’d stay all night usually. I was supposed to leave around 3AM I think, but I usually stayed until the next shift came in and kicked me out. I didn’t bill for those extra hour. They were used to practice my chops. It was a dream come true really. I had the time, and the interest, and there I could squeeze out tons of extra experience, doing it on real shows. Also, seeing that most of these things were pretty low budget, I felt a certain freedom to stretch the limit & see what I could get away with sound-wise. I’d use strange elements, mix & match things that you normally wouldn’t do, and see if it flew.

The atmosphere there at EFX was just great. As I was bouncing around from show to show I was also working with several great SFX editor/designers like Ann Scibelli, Tim Gedemer, Paul Menichini, and Ricardo Broadus. There were many discussions about sound & film, and everyone shared info & sounds freely. It really felt like one team working together to get all the shows done.

DS: What do you love about being a sound designer?

DF: I think it’s that sound is so intangible. It also makes it very hard to describe in words, what you want something to sound like, unless you refer to another sound directly. I also love when I can use a sound for something other than what it is and get away with it. I remember using a wet car by for a flare gun shot in “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, and noone could tell thats what it was. I love stuff like that.

DS: Do you have any special methods or moments that affect you the most creatively?

DF: I don’t have a good answer for that. It’s really tough. I feel like my butt is in the sling pretty much all the time. I don’t get many calls for the simple solutions. But honestly, staying challenged is the only way to keep from stagnating so I welcome it.

DS:  When you’re working on a sound and it simply isn’t working out, what do you do? How you deal with those challenging moments?

DF: Sometime I just step away for a while, and an idea pops up. Sometimes not. Quite often, I reach that point after I’ve been working with a certain set of base elements, and in trying to get it to work, have just piled on a lot of other things. If I get that far and its turning to mush, or missing the right flavor, its usually because the base is wrong. In those cases its best to broom it and start over with entirely different sources. When it’s possible, I try to record something new. There’s nothing like a fresh piece of sound that I’ve never used before! This isn’t always possible though. Take for instance a dragon vocal. There’s not much I haven’t recorded for that type of sound. Certainly there’s nothing convenient to record, or I would have done it already! So in a case like that, sometimes what I’ll try is to make a pass through just as fast as I can and see if a simpler approach generates a solution. Sometimes spending too much time on something just works against you.

DS: Honestly, when I think about creature sounds, I think David Farmer. Is there a draw for you to this type of work? How do you first approach this kind of vocal sound design?

DF: I’m flattered! When I think of creature sounds I think of Ben Burtt or Gary Rydstrom. They’ve still delivered the most unique & identifiable creatures to date IMO. Who wouldn’t recognize Chewbacca or the T-Rex?

I went to great lengths to make the creatures in Lord of the Rings iconic, and the films production value required it to hold up. It was certainly because of Rings that I get so many jobs for creatures the last decade. But in all honesty, I hadn’t done extensive creatures before that. I had done some, but nothing to that degree, with that much diversity, and certainly none that demanded that much integrity. The exciting thing about it was the discovery of that craft, that process, and perhaps most of all hunting down the source. I had not done a lot of animal recording before that, so it was exhilarating to go record my own tigers, lions, leopards, seals, elephants, horses, and on & on & on. I went to Arkansas for elephants, and Oregon for something as simple as a donkey! I paid for all my animal recording out-of-pocket, so I could retain the rights to the source. It was quite exciting to see & hear these things come to life, to give them that voice, and to have brought it to that stage from microphone to screen.

Creatures are satisfying because the source is fairly elusive, and unpredictable. They are also incredibly difficult to make iconic, because there are only so many animals to record. And growls do not an iconic sound make. That center projecting bellow is really hard to find, and is really the only part of the sound that has the chance to make something a signature.

DS: What are your favorite tools to work with? Are there any special or “unusual” tools you like to use?

DF: I use Pro Tools just like most everyone else these days. I really miss the Synclavier. There was something very special about that tool that made design more performance based. It was a sampler that had a dedicated keyboard, and internal sequencer with a hardware button panel that just made it a spectacular tool. There was something about using it that aided creativity in a very tactile way.

Pro Tools is a great system that can do a lot different things than the Synclavier ever could. But Pro Tools is not performance based. We nudge regions around & can do very minute detailed editing, which was tougher on the Synclavier. I thought by now we’d have some answer to the Synclavier, but no sampler has the same intuitive interface. And add into that the MIDI sequence issues to layer sounds, and its just more trouble than it’s worth usually. I’ve tried to create workflows with Kontakt, Mach5, and Structure, but nothing comes close to that tactile interaction the Synclavier had. I know they’ve continued work on the Synclavier, and I’m not up-to-date on where it currently stands. If it can operate with my existing file library then I’d definitely look into one.

I’ll cover the tools I use more in depth in a later article.

DS: What are your favorite sounds to record or design?

DF: The more diverse the better for designing, if I can find somewhere really creative to go, I’m happy . I do prefer making sequences (film style) to individual sounds, though both have their own sets of gratifying challenges. I suppose fantasy based sounds would be my #1 though, espcially “Ring’s” fantasy.  They just interested me the most and required a real gritty, dirty sound.

DS: Finally… We’ve heard your music work. How does this relate to sound design and why do you like to create music?

DF: Well I’ve been toying around with music since I was a teenager, but I never pursued a career in it. I’ve always sketched out songs and they’re always popping into my head. There’s nothing unique there as lots of my peers are doing the same thing. Most of them are much better musicians than me as well. About 5 years or so ago, it dawned on me that I had a setup that most project musicians would be frothing at the mouth over. And all these things I acquired to make things go boom. ;)

So my musical projects are for a handful of reasons.

- It’s an excellent diversion from the other sounds I make all day.
- It’s like going back to my early days in Sound Design – I’m trying to see what I can get away with.
- Unlike all the other Sound Design – I don’t have to get anyone else’s approval on the final result. (This might be reason #1 ;)
- It’s a fun way to study sound & how to work with it.

SoundWorks Collection has just released a new video (on top) with a tour of the post production facilities on Walt Disney Studios.

Take an exclusive tour of the Walt Disney Studios located in Burbank, CA hosted by Gil Gagnon, VP of Post Production Services.

The Walt Disney Studios Post Production Services has a rich history in Dubbing dating back to the early 1940′s when Fantasia was mixed in the Main Theatre. Fantasia went on to win several technical achievement awards from the Academy as it was one of the first to mix in “Stereo” and it actually incorporated an early form of surround sound termed “Fantasound”.

The Sound Editorial department is staffed by a talented crew including two-time Oscar-winner George Watter II along with Robert Sephton, and Thomas de Gorter. The facilities include Pro Tools Digital Audio Workstations and 5.1 sound design rooms that are truly state-of-the-art. In addition, this world class facility provides complete sound integration and compatibility with the mixing stages in a conveniently located campus-like environment in Burbank, CA.

Designing Sound: Hi Charles, first of all, would be great to have an introduction about your career. How did you start, how you grow up in the sound world, and so on…

Charles Deenen: Thanks for the invite! We’ll have a fun month together with (hopefully) lots of usable info.

I’ve been called an old fella by some young folks in the industry, so am getting up there in age. I grew up in the netherlands and around 1983, attempted to start doing audio on a computer. That was the era of Commodore PET, so I tried to get tolerable sound out of a single-beep CBM-PET, and oh my, that didn’t go so well, LOL. Soon after acquiring a C64, I started to make music/graphic demos, through which I met Jeroen Tel. We wanted to make our own music, and wrote a music-driver for the Commodore 64. Well, this led to us having the “odd” idea that maybe we could make money doing this. You know, maybe just enough to pay for some gum and floppy-disks. There we travelled as young teenagers, all dressed up, to the european computer show in London where Hewson gave us our first paid gig. Apparently they liked what we did, and this led to many more jobs from a wide range of companies. Initially, I mainly provided the sound-effects for the titles which we did, but soon had to delve into doing music. Well, I knew nothing about music. I knew that a C major sounded OK after a D minor, that’s about it, LOL. However, funny enough the first music pieced I did wasn’t bad, and started doing more and more.

Early appreciation of cars

In the late 80‘s our company “Maniacs of Noise” had to begin sub-contracting, and at its peak had 5 people making musical noise at once. Considering those early computer-game years, that was huge. During those time, computer games were not nearly as main-stream as now. Zzap 64 was about the only magazine dedicated to gaming, and a game development team was 3-4 people. We provided music and/or sfx for over a hundred games on Commodore 64, 128, Amiga, Atari ST and Spectrum.

In 1990, one of the projects we did was “Dragon’s War” by Interplay which I’d taken on. They liked what I did, and asked me to move to the USA. Only 20 years old, I said “sure, why not”. After all Visa related items were completed I moved to Irvine, CA in the middle of 1991 where I started as Audio Director for Virgin Games and Interplay Productions. After doing McKids for Virgin on the NES, I moved solely to Interplay where I stayed for the next 10 years. Startrek, Baldur’s Gate, Ice-Wind Dale, Descent and others were some of the franchises I worked on while employed there. After a short stint at Shiny where I worked on the Matrix game, I went freelance to work on feature films. Thanks for Soundstorm, who gave me a chance on “Superman”, “Fast and Furious” and “2 Fast 2 Furious” were some of the first ones I worked on. This is were I fell in love with cars and emotionally engaging sound design.

Electronic Arts was in the process to re-boot their Need for Speed franchise a bit with NFS Underground.  During this, I received a call from a very nice gentlemen at EA who asked if I’d be interested to move to canada to work on this. My first reaction was “canada… oh man… that’s too cold… thanks, but no”. Through the generosity of EA, my wife and I visited Vancouver, BC and actually really liked it, so we ended up moving there.   We had the fortunate luck to find a house which allowed me to build a nice studio from which I do a fair bit of (non game) projects as well.

Since 2001, doing sound for Feature film trailers has been a side-job on weekends. Daredevil was my first one, and since then have worked on more than 60 of them including some recent ones like “Clash of the Titans” and “Salt”.

They are my learning cases. How to do great sound-design under an extreme tight deadline has you reaching for the most odd solutions, which in turn help with the production of video-game sound design.

DS: You’re creating sounds since the era of the Commodore and Atari ST… What do you think about the evolution of the game audio industry? What could be the next step?

CD: We’ve now reached a level of sound reproduction similar to film sound. The next era will not be about “more voices” and “more dsp”, it’ll be about creating emotionally engaging and believable soundscapes. 95% of games still break the believability barrier within the first few minutes, wether it’s through actor performances, character placement or odd pauses and gaps. There are many ways to take a player out of the experience, and that’s still our biggest issue today. Added technology will help, and make it easier again, but until we overcome this believability gap, all the technology in the world is not going to do it for us.

DS: You have worked as freelance and in-house… What would better for you? What you learn of each “status” and what do you recommend for all the sound designers out there?

CD: I was always freaking out a bit when I was freelance. Always looking for the next gig. It drove me insane at times. The insecurity of having a mortgage and family to sustain and the need for a constant stream of income worried me greatly. Oddly enough I never had to really look for jobs when I was doing freelance work, it was merely the “what if” factor that did it.

What I’d recommend freelance sound designers to do is become good and fast. Easier said than done I know, and it might be a simple statement. There are so many sound designers out there who haven’t been exposed to musical pacing, musical editing styles, or haven’t been exposed enough to highly demanding directors who crave for a emotionally stimulating and fitting soundbed. These experiences are needed to sustain in a demanding, volatile market-place to be able to rely on your experiences to deliver. Also, specializing in something really helps getting some sound design jobs. For example right now I’m hired a fair bit for car chases and any other vehicles. That seems to have become my “thing”.

The amount of games with large budgets is rapidly decreasing. The request for “cheaper and faster” not only is hitting the film industry, but also the game industry. In this situation though, cheaper and faster doesn’t mean “worse”. Industry peers are still expecting high quality work. The trick is how to gain the experience of doing something fast and good. This is only something you can learn mostly on your own, learning your own strengths and boundaries. Its critical you acquire honest feedback. If everybody keeps on telling you your work is awesome, there’s something amiss, unless your name is Randy maybe. You simply haven’t met the producer or director yet who has found some flaws in your work which requires improvement or adaptation. Now, make sure you continue to work for that person. He’s the one who’ll drive you further (or nuts in some cases :)

DS: I can see a couple of series of video games and films, such as NFS series, Star Trek and Fast and the Furious. What are the sound challenges on each sequel? The game/film is always different, but the essence is the same, so how you make to have a sequel of sound too?

CD: Sequels have indeed their dilemma’s. You’re asked to better the work you did which was last year was just considered “your best”. Now “your best”=old, and you’re faced with re-inventing the sound-design you did. In some cases you’re lucky and the movie or game has a new feel which will inspire this. For each project I always look for the single “it-factor”. Sometimes this doesn’t come to fruition until the last second, and sometimes it ignites the project. For example on NFS Shift we did these “in your head” driver experience sound-beds. This resulted out of an early teaser where I played around with non typical sounds, trying to emulate what a driver would hear in a race. This came partially due to the “driver experience” slogan the game just got. This stimulated the signatory sound for the NFS Shift FMV’s and menu-beds.

Charles at Interplay

DS: What kind of software you use to work with sound at EA Black Box? What are the technology to work with the implementation process?

CD: Some industry folks say that we’re spoiled at EA. I hear this often at GDC and such. Know though that the technology we use is build by a very small team, and often on the game-teams themselves. Technology is not the end all be all.  For me, it’s less important how the tools work, as long as the result can be obtained. For the past years we’ve worked with a MAX/MSP style tool where we can manipulate sounds in almost any way in real-time. This has been the work-horse for many EA games for over 8 years.

Then there are game specific tools. For Blackbox’s Skate, we build tools which were able to emulate the skate-boarding sound much more realistic than ever before. For our driving games, we build a car-engine technology which (until recent) hadn’t been done in any other game. Now, with Dice’s Frostbite technology it makes it even easier for Artists at EA to integrate flawlessly with the game itself. So, yes in one way, we’re spoiled, but these tools are driven by folks who know what they want to hear, and through team-work, get great results.

I recall when I started at EA in 2003 we were mixing in text-files, and had to restart the game everytime we made a single change. Now, it’s all real-time, thanks to a talented group of programmers and the artists who steered them  In hearing the many storeis from other companies, I do believe EA has some of the most advanced tools right now, and we’re making them even better every day.

DS: What you consider as the most important skill of any sound designer must have?

CD: Will-power. Never give up. Sometimes directors will ask the impossible of a sound-designer, and I’ve seen many give up. The ones that didn’t,  became the leaders in this industry. One story I’ve told many is one that happened to me during Descent; I wanted to make a very cool ship fly-by, and whatever I did sucked. Determined not to give up, I locked myself up in my sound-design room, not to leave it until I arrived at a result. I started off by mimicking some other ship fly-by’s from movies in order to learn. This was the hardest part; I had to create each element from scratch with a very limited library. Frustration set in rapidly, but got to know my effects processors (DSP4000, PCM80, DSP4, BBE, SPL’s etc. etc. at that time) very very well. After 3 days and nights I ended up with a set which I really liked, but that wasn’t the payoff. The real payoff was that I had just learned 100+ ways on how to make by’s, air-distortion, clean tonal whooshes etc. Those 3 days have brought me partially where I’m at today.

Another big part is real-world inspiration. Sound Designers who don’t get to hear the world and its wonderful plethora of sounds, and/or don’t expose themselves to other people inspirational work, will inhibit themselves of growing to their full potential.

Sound Designers also must find a mentor to learn from, people who inspire them to greatness. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’ll be amazed how many people are very willing to help others, especially in the sound community.

Few more things I value in sound-designers; musical understanding, musical sensability, and rhythmic sense, as well as the ability to know every owned plug-in’s potential very well.

DS: You’ve worked in film and video games. If you had to choose just one, what would it be? and why?

CD: That’s like making me choose between Candy and Chips. Come on !! :) Each have their best parts; Game development has a real sense of team-work. You become part of the development from day 1, and get to adapt the game to make it work better with audio to enable a richer player’s experience. You get to play with a lot of technical tools, which is really fun, but the amount of emotional fulfillment isn’t nearly as high as film. With film or other cinematic experiences you’re usually working to make a director or sound supervisor happy. You work purely on sound and its emotions, with no worries on how to play it back. The amount of emotional connection to picture is a dozen times higher. I edit sound on picture based on feel, not on # of channels available or trigger mechanism. It’s a whole different paradigm, but I wouldn’t want to miss either one. Sound design for film speaks to my emotional side. Sound design for games covers a lot of my technical outlets.

DS: How you survive to “the crunch”?

CD: When you get older, surviving a crunch becomes harder and harder, and I can’t honestly say I survive it well anymore. I simply can’t do the 80-100 hour weeks I used to do. At this point its more important to me to get stuff done earlier vs. later. This makes the crunch at the end is a lot shorter. My job over the last 3 years  (through my own doing) has been close to a constant “crunch”, helping out several games during their final stages. It also had me travel quite a lot which, combined with late hours, can get a bit straining. But that said I’m not complaining about it. Will-power makes me overcome the crunch, and the end-result always is the pay-off. Lets say I like coffee and “beaver buzz” energy drinks :) But my real goal is to limit crunches by setting deadlines much sooner, and by distributing more of the work. The crew at EA is awesome. They all help out during needy times.

However I’ve had my downs too; during my first year at EA I was doing some late nights since I wanted to learn every tool quickly, and was drinking a lot of Mountain Dew. Now, nobody in canada had told me that you can artificially put caffeine in a drink, so the mountain dew I was drinking didn’t have the usual buzz I was used to. After 7 cans I was wondering why the hell I was falling asleep.. The next morning, there was quite a bit of chuckling going on when they explained the canadian non-caffeine rule… damn :)

DS: How many time you spend playing games?

CD: Honestly, fairly little since I have little spare time. I check out the competition of games we work on, and any games my friends work on, and/or highly praised sound-jobs on games. Usually I spend enough time with them to get the jist, but hardly find myself continuing to play for “fun”. Luckily through some peer judging panels I’m part of, every year I get to play 20+ games during december and march, and usually those are the best of the best that year, so it’s fun to check them out and talk among peers about what’s great etc.

DS: Someone you admire? Any special influence in the world of sound?

CD: There’s many folks I admire, either for their talent, their perseverance, their contributions to the industry or other. Whenever people ask me this question, the first person that comes to mind is Harry Cohen. For the last 15 years he’s been my inspiration for sound-design, and he’s always open to share some advice and/or techniques.
The other that comes to mind I John Fasal. Everytime we work together he remains calm, even under the greatest stress, and always delivers quality work. There aren’t many people who can do this on a consistent basis. I want to learn his “zen mode”, LOL.

Having known Tommy T for 19 years, ever since we worked together at Virgin, I admire everything he’s done to promote the game industry towards the outside world. We’ve had our differences for sure, but that doesn’t take away from everything he’s accomplished in those 19 years.

I also admire people who speak their mind, and don’t bullshit. Some execs in my past talked a good talk, but don’t always walk the walk. This in turn made them loose respect from the crew. A great visionary (exec) producer who knows what he wants is his weight worth in gold.

DS: Finally, could you tell us something about your current projects? And for the future?

CD: In January, I went back to work mainly on Need for Speed games, to help shape its bright future. At home I’m still helping out on an occasional ad, trailer or movie, but have tried to take more time off to enjoy life with my lovely wife. My hobby of photography (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdeenen/sets/) is also moving a bit to the foreground. A few years back I noticed that a lot of fellow sound designers are also photographers, and have enjoyed sharing techniques with them on both sound and photography.   One of my biggest pleasures will remain helping folks excel at what they do, and succeed.

Seeing the plethora of young, very talented sound designers arise through the masses makes me realize our industry has a bright, but very different future.  Each person brings their own element to the table.  Too bad we don’t have a sound design museum. We should. There is so much great work out there done by all these folks to be enjoyed and inspire a whole new generation.

The future will also hold more relaxing time, I hope :)

Thanks for listening

There are a lot of people interested on the gear of Richard, so here is some porn. The second part of the tour on Richard Devine’s studio, this time with his toys, recording stuff and software…  If you want to know more about the gear, and how Richard use it, remember to make your questions.

Rciahrd Devine:

“These photos are taken from AIA university studio for our session that we did to record the first part of the Hollywood Edge Library. The software screen shots are taken from my computer. The photos you see where part of a experiment to test out different microphones, many of which we rented and borrowed from the university,and many we brought from our studio.”

Logic + SoundToys + UAD-2 + EZdrummer

Metasynth

Reaktor + Lemur

Logic + SubBass + Waves Doppler + SoundHack Delay + GRM Doppler

Foley Toys

Foley Items

Foley Items

Foley Items

Mics (Sennheiser, Roger, Rode, DPA, AKG)

Mics (Sennheiser, Royer, Rode)

The Ekdahl Moisturizer is a spring reverb where the springs are exposed so they can be played/hit/fiddled with. I was just playing around this afternoon with various objects, magnets, marbles, tuning forks, mechanical bugs, and slinky coils. Running the audio through a Tiptop Z-DSP. Quite fun.

Absynth 5 experiment, sounds and synth patching by Richard Devine. Lemur interface by Antonio Blanca, September 4 2009.

First experiment with the Tiptop Audio’s Z-DSP module. Amazing range and detail with the delay time and feedback controls. This is one of the most amazing Euro rack modules I have ever played with. 8 time-based VC-Stereo-Delay algorithms. Running TR-808, and TB-303 through the inputs, Amazing!

Just thought I would record a patch I made this afternoon on my modular system. Bits and pieces running through the H-3000 DS/E Eventide Harmonizer.

Want more? Check the Official Richard Devine’s Vimeo Channel.

From the beginning Richard Devine has been recognized as a great collector of gear and all kinds of technologies for audio production. Today we’ll do something we’ve never done in previous specials, giving you a complete tour of the Richard Devine’s Studio, where you can see all their amazing tools.

Check some pictures given by Richard for Designing Sound:

Studio Console Side

Doepfer Modular

Drum Machines

Prepared Piano

Custom Toys

Kitchen Studio

Sculpture for a lot crazy sounds

Bugs!

Finally check this video via Electronic Musician with a complete tour and gear description by Richard

Richard Devine Studio Tour