[Written by Rodney Gates for Designing Sound] Jason Bourne – One Skilled Fighter Jason Bourne is one of my favorite characters brought to the silver screen in the early 2000’s. More realistic and practical than James Bond, he made for a great character to watch. I loved the tightly-choreographed fight scenes in the films, so when we set out to begin development of a game … [Read more...]
SFX Lab #1: Experiments on Pressure, Blow Holes
Welcome to SFX Lab, the "laboratory" of sound effects, a place dedicated to experiment and explore sound libraries with the goal of learning different kinds of sounds and some of its morphing features. We take libraries of a certain theme and put them through some experiments. Think about not only what you will learn, but also for what your ears are obtaining. Some time ago, … [Read more...]
Rodney Gates Special: How I Spend My Vacations: Field Recording
[Written by Rodney Gates for Designing Sound] Serenity Now! Nothing can be more peaceful than sitting quietly for several minutes at a time in a unique location recording the living world in front of you. Your eyes and ears are alert and observant of everything that’s happening as the recorder captures it all. There is a calm that comes over you and for the first time in a … [Read more...]
HISS and a ROAR Release Their First Ambience Library: Blow Holes (Q&A Included)
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/22187040[/vimeo] Tim Prebble has released Blow Holes on HISS and a ROAR, opening a new catalog of ambience libraries. Ambiences play a crucial role in every film: literally, emotionally and physically they define the world that the film exists in. Accordingly we endeavor to provide characterful multichannel recordings of dramatically interesting … [Read more...]
Alan Howarth Interview on Horror, Hip Hop, and the Sonics of Fear
Great interview at Thirteen with Alan Howarth, talking about scoring and creating sound for horror films, his early influences and experiments, anecdotes from works with Hip-Hop artists, and more. RC: What’s the craziest contraption you’ve used to capture a wild effect? AH: When I was developing sound effects for The Hunt For Red October I wanted to record underwater sounds, … [Read more...]
Toy Guns HD, New SFX Library by The Recordist
The Recordist is releasing a new library called Toy Guns HD, a small but interesting sfx pack that includes recordings of two "airsoft" guns: Crosman Pulse R76 (Clear and Black) - 6mm Electronic Full or Semi-Automatic Military-style Rifle With high quality gear box, pivoting collapsible stock, tri-rail accessory mount and adjustable hop-up system. 350-round clip features … [Read more...]
Rodney Gates Special: Learning to Listen: Using Sounds out of Context
[Written by Rodney Gates for Designing Sound] The Blank “Page” As we sit at our desks each day, creating new sounds for a game, it’s important to think outside the box when it comes to choosing your source material from which to design from. Most of the sounds you hear in games or film are usually not a single recording edited and dropped into place to represent the things … [Read more...]