Guest Contribution by April Tucker Meet Yuki, one of my cats. She’s a tiny, feisty 6-year-old tabby. Earlier this year, we learned that Yuki had gone deaf after having normal hearing most of her life. She probably lost her hearing gradually, but it wasn’t obvious until one day when I was vacuuming and realized she was right by me, happily curled up and sound asleep. There’s a … [Read more...]
Monthly Theme: “Pure” Sound Design
What is the essence of sound design? It is widely accepted that individuals who are visually impaired develop the ability to hear heightened detail and extract deeper levels of information through their other senses, in which hearing/sound is a large part. For many of us, the sounds we regularly design are for the distinct purpose of supporting, and enhancing the context … [Read more...]
News: How to Create Horror Sound Effects
In an appropriately seasonal blog post over at A Sound Effect, Asbjoern speaks to Saro Sahihi of SoundBits, a boutique SFX library and sound design company. Saro, who has released some excellent gore SFX libraries, goes in-depth on how to achieve some truly squishy, wrenching, and disgusting gore sounds for all your horror needs. He even touches on some other horror mainstays, … [Read more...]
News: Behind the Scenes with Plants vs. Zombies 2 Neon Mixtape Tour
Considering the newest Plants vs. Zombies 2 release has the word "mixtape" in the name, there was never any doubt that music would play a big role in the game's experience. And as anyone who closely follows PopCap Games and their audio obsession, they're not a company that does something halfway when it comes to sound or music. That's why its a real treat that PvZ2 Neon Mixtape … [Read more...]
Review: Sonarworks Reference 3 & Measurement Microphone
Oh The Variables When you consider the variables in play when dealing with audio, it amazes me that we’re able to create anything that sounds even half-decent to someone else. Author-End Variables How the authorship software processes audio Digital-to-analog conversion quality Unbalanced monitors / headphones The acoustic space Monitor placement Mix … [Read more...]
News: SOMA – Behind the Sound
There's a common joke among game audio artists and designers: if you ask any number of sound designers what genre they'd most like to work on, the odds are good they'll all say "horror", twice. It's no surprise it's such a common answer, either; horror games offer designers some of the most interesting and diverse sound design opportunities one can come across. There's no doubt … [Read more...]
News: A Sound Effect: How to Design Supreme Sci-Fi Weapon SFX
In a recent blog post, A Sound Effect spoke to sound designers Ruslan Nesteruk and Glen Bondarenko on the techniques and tools they utilize in creating sci-fi weaponry SFX. The post delves into layering, synthesis techniques, breaking down each weapon into its constituent components, and a great deal more. If you want some insights on creating better sci-go weaponry, you owe it … [Read more...]