Dry ice is a lot of fun to use for making noise. Touching metal objects to a block of dry ice creates some really cool squealing/whistling/screeching sounds. This is because the metal surface is much warmer than the dry ice and it causes the dry ice to quickly turn to gas. Some of the gas is momentarily trapped between the two surfaces, and when released through a small … [Read more...]
Audio Implementation Greats #7: Physics Audio [Part 2]
In Part One we took a look at some of the fundamentals involved with orchestrating the sounds of destruction. We continue with another physics system design presented at last years Austin Game Developers Conference and then take a brief look towards where these techniques may be headed. UNLEASH THE KRAKEN In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed we were working with two physics … [Read more...]
Chuck Russom Special: Gun Recording Guide
Introduction Of all the things that I have done in my career, I get more questions about gun recording than anything else. Recording guns is an exciting experience and it takes a lot of planning and quite a bit of money to pull off correctly. Often I am asked why someone should consider recording guns for ªa project. Here are my feelings on gun recording: Libraries don’t … [Read more...]
Looking for Creativity in the World of Sound Design
George Spanos has created another fantastic article on Game Sound Design, talking about creativity, covering common problems and different ways to get inspiration and constantly improve your creative ideas. Inspiration is a very mercurial event. One cannot control the moments of inspiration that occur or when those moments will happen. Some believe that with more work comes … [Read more...]
Sound Design Essentials: 6 Recommended Books and 11 Google Books Links
Continuing with the Sound Essentials series, articles created to provide resources and tips to learn sound design. Since I give the first list of recommended books, some people told me if we could recommend more of them, ans the answer is: yes. Buy software, buy gear, it's ok, but also buy Books! I consider them as one of the best ways to spend money, and come on, they're … [Read more...]
Richard Devine Special: Exclusive Interview
Here is the result of a great talk I have with Richard Devine. He has a lot of interviews and profiles on the web, so I tried to do different questions and explore on a more technical/geeky side. However if you want to ask something to Richard, there is a place for that. Let's read! Designing Sound: Hi Richard, first of all... Introduce yourself and tell us something about … [Read more...]
The Use of Silence in Sound Design
George Spanos has published a new article at GameSoundDesign, this time talking about the use and approach of silence in sound design. Silence is a very powerful sound. Sound? Silence is not a sound... right? Well I think that silence should be considered a "sound", a "sound effect", and "music". But that's crazy isn't it… how can the lack of sound be considered the same as … [Read more...]