Breaking the Sound Barrier: How to Work with a Third-Party Sound Designer

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Breaking the Sound Barrier: How to Work with a Third-Party Sound Designer
By Aaron Marks
Gamasutra
April 20 , 2000
URL: http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000420/marks_01.htm

Sound effects are an integral part of games, equal in importance to artwork, music, and game play. And I'm not just saying that because I create them either - I'm also a game player, so I understand their impact from that perspective, too. Sounds are designed to absorb the player into the game world, to make it believable, entertaining, and satisfying.

The process of determining the appropriate sounds for a given game situation, creating them, and implementing them in the game isn't always a painless experience. Both sound designers and game producers need to understand each other's professional needs and responsibilities so that the sound design process becomes less grueling to both parties. This article describes the process of determining what you will need from a third-party sound designer, what that person will need from you, and will briefly describe the process audio contractors go through to create high-quality sound effects.

Where Does It All Start?

Joey Kuras, sound designer for Tommy Tallarico Studios, has personal credits on more than 60 games, and he recently worked on the James Bond game, Tomorrow Never Dies. Early in the production cycle, he was given a list of effects needed for the title. He designed and delivered more than 200 sounds per the developer's request, only to have approximately 90 percent of them discarded as the production matured. He ended up recreating them later in the project. On another project, he received an unspecific and vague list of sounds. The request for a "splash" sound had little meaning to him. Was it a rock making the splash? A person? A 400-pound object or a four-pound object? Was the body of water a bathtub, a pond, or an ocean? No one he talked to was sure and they ended up waiting far into the project to solve the mystery.

This is a lesson for all of us. Early concepts of art and game play have a tendency to change and continuously evolve, so sound design at the outset of a project is usually a grand waste of time. Producers have the difficult task of trying to determine the audio needs of the game early in the development cycle, and if a contracted sound designer is used, the producer must find one whose skills and credits match those of the game being developed and negotiate the contract with that individual. When you are spending up to $30,000 for sound effects, you want to get your money's worth.

The producer may have to take a long-range look at what sorts of sounds the game may need (general Foley sounds, imaginative or "far out" sounds, and so on). If the game is to have a wide range of settings and characters, it can be difficult to imagine what this large bank of effects will consist of. Therefore, it's important to bring the development team together to begin thinking conceptually about the game audio as early as possible. If you've decided on a sound professional, bring him or her in on the discussion and listen to what the sound designer's experience has to say. A lot of time can be saved this way and the process will have more grease for a smooth ride. Don't be tempted to jump into the audio implementation details, however - starting the creation of game sound effects too early in the process often leads to major headaches down the line, as I'll explain later.

Usually, when a game is far enough along (at the point when characters, movements, and a defined game play model are present), the sound designer should enter the picture. By permitting sound designers to meet with the development team, view some rough game levels, and perhaps see some animation ideas, their idea machine can begin to churn out possible routes to take. Also, asking a few specific questions will bring a direction and necessary information together to get off to a smart start.

Contracting Out the Work

The actual task of finding a third-party contractor can be as arduous as creating the game itself. Unless you've worked with a particular sound designer in the past and you're comfortable using him or her again, you'll need to take care of some advance work. Even before the project is put out for bid, a media buyer (often the producer's role) can do homework. Investigate various sound design companies beforehand to stay ahead of the game. Web search engines can help, developer resource web sites are prevalent, and the numerous unsolicited e-mails, inquiries, and résumés can (finally) be taken advantage of. Request a sound designer's current demo reel, references, and examples of past work, and keep this data on file.

When the time does come to start looking at bids, the producer alone, or with several of the team members, sits down to evaluate submissions. Generally, they are looking for outstanding work, creativity, a shared vision, reliability, experience, and someone with whom they feel they can work for the length of the project. After the field has been narrowed to a couple of choices, pick up the phone or invite them over. It's a good idea to talk to the candidates either by phone or in person before any final decisions are made. Check their production schedules to ensure they will be available (some busier sound people are booked two to three months in advance), see which one you feel is best at communicating and receiving ideas, and get a sense of whom you can get along with.

Moving on from the courtship stage toward project commitment necessitates that both parties bring their interests (and sometimes lawyers) to the table and work out an agreement both sides feel comfortable with. Typically, though, negotiations for sound design work are fairly simple. More complicated negotiations come up when music creation is also part of the deal, because that can also involve hashing out ancillary rights, payment for different SKUs, bonuses, property rights for soundtrack releases, and so on. Spend a little time working out an equitable agreement and get the business out of the way so you can focus on the creative aspects of great development.

Prices for sound design services vary per contractor, as each contractor has different overhead costs to meet. Those with more experience can, of course, demand more, and their experience is usually worth the price. Rush jobs, special requests, and other tasks assigned to the sound designer (such as auditioning, hiring, and producing voice talent and their sessions, abnormal amounts of revisions or change orders, and so on) can increase the price, too, so try to plan ahead. The bottom line is that costs are definitely negotiable, but don't expect the contractor to work for free or below their expenses. For more information about payments and contracts for sound design, see the section titled, "The Audio Development Agreement" at the end of this article.

Questions Sound Designers Ask

Around the time a producer is trying to wrap up contract negotiations with a sound designer is when the sound designer is going to want to know the nitty-gritty details about the project. This is the point at which "clear and concise" can mean the difference between complete audio bliss and a sound disaster. A good sound designer will want specific information about the game. As the producer or team leader, be prepared to answer the following questions clearly and concisely:

For what platform is the game intended? This will suggest what type of playback system the consumer will use and the confines the final sound effects will rest within. As a sound guy, I mix to several playback systems - from "el cheapo" multimedia speakers you buy at the grocery store to high-end studio monitors. My interest is to make my sounds work well with them all, but my main focus is on the system the majority of people will be using.

For what genre is the game intended? You want the music and sound effects to follow the spirit of the game, so make sure you communicate this to your sound designer, including the feel of the game, what genre it falls into, and what similar games are currently on the market.

What sample rate, bit size, and file format are preferred? Should the audio be in stereo or mono? The development team should have done all of its homework to determine how much space the graphics and sound will be allotted. This information will help decide the sound quality level and within what parameters the sounds should be created.

Will sound effects be altered by any software or hardware processors? Additional processing by a game engine will determine to what extent certain sounds are processed beforehand by the sound designer (if a sound designer applies reverb to a sound that the developer had planned to apply reverb to in the game, that could be a problem). For example, driving games often apply a reverb effect to sounds. This is the kind of information the sound designer needs to know at the outset. Decide as soon as possible if there are plans for this type of processing and communicate them, so that the sound designer doesn't overprocess any files.

Are any ambient sounds needed? You probably don't want to distract the player with silence. If the game will use background music, tell the sound designer - designers won't know this fact unless they are also the composer. This question may jog a producer's memory and alert the team to the fact that more than just event-driven noises are needed.

Will certain effects have priority during playback? There can be instances during a game (a player unlocks a hidden door, stumbles into a trap, or is attacked by a villain) when a single sound punctuates the moment. All other sounds become irrelevant and this one sound takes priority. These are the ones you want to have the biggest bang for the buck. Since other sounds won't be drowning them out or playing over them, you won't have to consider whether other effects can be heard at the same time. It's critical to get this type of sound perfectly, and by alerting sound designers to these effects, they'll know which ones to pull out the stops for.

Will there be any voice-overs or speech commands that need to be heard? Similar to the way vocals must stand out in a song mix, any vocals in a game must be heard easily by players. A sound designer can be involved with processing speech via an equalizer or the volume controls to ensure they can be heard and understood over the other effects.

Are any narratives needed? Will there be background sounds to accompany narration? Narratives fit into the sound recording category, and generally anyone capable of sound design can also record narration. If you already have narratives recorded, the sound designer can usually transfer these recordings into digital files, maximize the sound, cut them to length, and add any additional background or Foley sounds. If narratives are to be recorded, sound designers need to know if they have to provide the voice talent so they can budget accordingly. A good question to ask prospective sound designers is whether they have any experience directing narrative sessions, and if not, make it clear that the producer will fill that role.

Are there any special sound considerations? Is the game intended to be an audio trend setter, and use technologies such as Dolby Surround Sound or DTS? Are you planning to advertise the game as having "cinema quality" sound? Knowing this ahead of time could be an important safety tip for the sound designer's longevity in the business.

What type of music, if any, will play as the sounds are triggered? This would give the sound designer an indication of what other sonic activity will be happening during the game. If the music will be a soft orchestral score, you might want the sound effects geared to that mood, and not sound too obtrusive. If a rock soundtrack will be played, then harsher sounds and careful manipulation of an effect's higher and lower frequencies will ensure these stand out. The sounds should all work together to enhance game play, not aggressively compete with one another.

Are any sound resources available to the sound designer for licensed materials? Alien vs. Predator, Star Trek, and South Park, for example, are games based on film or television properties that were produced under licensing agreements. If the publisher or developer has secured use of the actual sounds from these works, sound designers need to know if they have it at their disposal to manipulate for the game, or if they are expected to recreate it themselves. While your sound designers may not have an actual hand in creating them originally, they are equipped to convert them to the proper formats and sample rates and need to know, for planning purposes, if this service is desired, too.

Are any special file naming conventions required for final delivery of sounds? If the development team is overly organized, or if they waited until late in production to bring a sound designer on board, they may already have file names programmed into the code. While renaming files is not a big deal, it may help cut down on any confusion when delivery is made if they are already appropriately named. The developer should make this need clear or define an acceptable method.

Getting to Work

Once the sound design contractor has been hired, the previous questions have been answered, and the appropriate nondisclosure agreements have been signed, one or two people on the development team should be assigned as liaisons to the sound designer, who are responsible for communicating the project specs and signing off on work. This ensures clear and effective communication, which is the key to obtaining sounds that match the team's vision.

If you're using a local contractor, have them stop by, meet the rest of the creation team, and discuss the game. If the sound designer is unavailable, send copies of artwork, storyboards, and any story text already written. If there are any rough animations, movie promos, or even an early version of the game available, send those, too.

There are several ways to convey sound effect needs to the sound designer. You could create a sound list that describes each sound, what it will be used for in the game, and the requested sound duration. This is really just a wish list, because often the entire list isn't completed for the game - changes in the game see to that.

A producer can also indicate where sounds are needed by giving an alpha version of the game to the contractor that uses place-holder sound effects (general effects-library sounds or effects taken from other games). Placeholders can, of course, simply be spoken words created by someone on the team - for a game I'm currently working on, the producer inserted audio files of himself saying words such as "click," "bonk," "explode," or "shot" that are triggered by the appropriate game event. As I play the game, every time I hear his voice, I create a sound to match the action.

With the preliminary action accomplished, the sound designer has a solid idea of what the game is looking for and sets out to get things organized on his or her end. Jamey Scott, sound designer and composer for Presto Studios (developers of The Journeyman Project series, Gundam 0078, and others) believes putting together the initial palette - finding sounds that will mix well together - is the most important step. He uses the E-Mu Emulator 4 sampler in his sound design process, and for each game he develops an entirely new sound palette to keep them original. Scott feels that using a sampler has advantages over straight computer files and sound editors. "Layering sounds internally in the E4 works very well for me," he says, "more so than doing it on a computer. That way, I can save my banks as a palette rather than having sources in various folders all over the computer. They are all looped, equalized, and noise filtered all to my specifications. Plus, returning to them to make any changes is a simpler task."

Soapbox Time

Producers and developers who know absolutely nothing about sound design tend to place undue demands on the sound designer, or simply ask for the impossible. It is tremendously frustrating to negotiate and work with those who don't have at least a basic concept of what goes into our process. One original sound can take more than two hours to create - we're not just taking clips from an effects library disc and converting it to the needed format. (To get an idea of the sound creation process, see the section "A Sound is Born." at the end of the article) An entire game can be done in two weeks - with much pressure on the sound designer - but it can take a month or two just as easily.

Ensuring the Best Audio Results

When a sound designer devotes his or her time exclusively to your game for the duration of the project, it helps ensure consistent game audio. Ask prospective sound designers up front whether they will commit solely to your project. The second concern to address with your sound designer is that of quality assurance. All of the sound designers and many of the producers I've talked to insist that the sound designer listen to the sounds in the actual game. Typically, this happens around the time the game goes into beta. It's not uncommon for effects to sound great in the studio but not so hot (too loud, soft, long, or short) once they're synchronized with the action in the game. While analyzing the audio in the beta version of a game he was working on, Joey Kuras discovered a programmer on the project had taken one of the effects - the sound of footsteps - and bumped up the volume. What were intended to be subtle, barely discernable Foley effects turned into a loud series of crunches. Thankfully, Joey's screening session caught the problem and corrected it in time.

Specify to your sound designer that you want your sound effects created in the highest quality possible (which today is usually 44.1KHz, 16-bit stereo). Because new technology is now becoming more mainstream, some development teams may soon opt to go even higher to 96KHz, 24-bit audio. Why? Because you want to develop the sounds in the highest fidelity then convert down to what is needed for the game. If a game needs 22KHz, 16-bit stereo sounds and it is later discovered it can fit in 44.1KHz, 16-bit stereo sounds, it may already be too late for the sound designer. Attempting to convert up almost always adds unacceptable noise to a recording - you just can't do it. You usually have to start the whole recording process again from scratch.

Not too long ago, one game company decided to create a television commercial for its game and intended to use the original effects from the game. They contacted the sound designer who worked on the project and requested their sounds in a CD-quality format. Unfortunately, he didn't have them at that sample rate and proceeded to spend a few sleepless nights recreating them. It would have been just a few minutes of work had they already been available.

Presenting the Final Work

Delivering the final sound effects to a client is not usually just a matter of sending a CD or e-mailing the sounds and saying, "Here they are!" When presenting finished effects to producers, some sound designers (myself included) send more sounds than were actually requested by the client. I work up several effects, let the producer in on the process, and give clients the chance to choose the effect that matches their vision. Some have subtle differences, changes in length, layering, or effects processor settings. Other sounds are completely different but still evoke a similar emotion or idea. This procedure actually serves dual purposes: it gives the producer radical ideas that just might work, or it makes other effects stand out and sound that much better.

Occasionally included, if it isn't already obvious by the file names, is some sort of documentation that describes what each sound effect is for. This key will save some headaches for everyone involved and score some points for the organized sound designer.

Avoiding Production Nightmares

There are plenty of ways that things can get screwed up when working with a third-party sound designer. For example, the producer may not choose the proper adjectives to describe the game and, in turn, the description may not mean the same thing to the sound designer. Or, the production could go through dozens of design changes, causing the sound designer to lose interest and quit. The list of potential problems is endless. We've all had our own experiences which we'd rather forget, but it's important to learn from them, if for no other reason than to prevent history from repeating itself. Here are some true horror stories from the trenches.

Mark Temple, owner and executive producer of Enemy Technology, has many games to his individual credit and he's currently at work on his company's first game. One of his biggest pet peeves is trying to work with sound designers who are not computer literate. Yes, believe it or not, there are still people out there who don't know much beyond their immediate sound applications. He has made several treks during hectic schedules to visit a sound designer just to get a copy of a game running. He's also had to instruct them how to zip and unzip files, attach sound files to e-mail, or use a modem to connect to the company BBS. So now when hiring people, he makes it a point to ensure first that they know their way around a computer.

Another time, Mark's sound designer left a project in the middle of the contract, with half of the milestones completed and half of the sound effects budget. A new sound artist was quickly brought in, but the effects had a different quality and it became difficult to match his sounds to the previous work. Reluctantly, they opted to start from scratch, which forced them to spend more than they had budgeted and also broke their schedule. People leave in the middle of projects all the time for various reasons, and there are as many different ways to prevent this as there are reasons to leave. But honest communication and understanding of the creative processes helps. Contract points, which give the proper incentive (such as increasing milestone payments over the course of a project, with the largest payment for the completion of all work) are another option, but overly aggressive contracts that withhold too much money until the end can spoil things, too. Try to find the right balance.

A potential contract sound designer, whose work is outstanding, wanted to work on a particular game, but didn't have the right equipment for the particular project, nor the money to buy it. And because the development team didn't have the resources to help him with this purchase, he didn't get the job. If you find yourself in this position, talk about the situation with the prospective sound designer and see if you can come up with a creative solution before you pass up the deal. Developers have been known to loan or buy equipment for the contractor, depending heavily on how badly the contractor is needed and the cash flow of the developer.

The idea of "one-stop shopping" for a sound designer who can also compose and produce music is appealing. It's an opportunity to hire one fewer person, saving time and money. However, when Mark began his search for just such a person, he found few available. What may have helped this situation would have been to have the producer looking in the right places (no offense, Mark). If they had done any previous research, they could have had a list of names and demos already at their disposal. But since that didn't appear to be the case, there are plenty of online sites that cater to this very thing, some of which are listed at the end of this article.

Here's my horror story. A while back, I replaced a sound designer late in the production cycle of a fantasy game, after the producer became dissatisfied with the previous contractor. It seems the former sound designer was missing his milestones by ever-increasing amounts, and the overall creative quality of the work had declined rapidly. As an example, for some of the spoken magical spells used by the various wizards in the game, he recorded profanities and simply played them backwards. While his "shortcut" wasn't recognizable to the average listener, someone with audio editing software could reverse it and a lawsuit could develop, something this small developer couldn't afford to have happen. I was able to step in late in the game and secure a few points, landing the contract for their next two games.

Managing Outside Talent Shouldn't Be a Mystery

At some companies, there tends to be a stigma attached to third-party contractors. To some, it seems a highly unnatural act to search beyond the company walls after you've spent a tremendous amount of time and effort collecting and nurturing your own talent. As you might have guessed, I take a different attitude. I've found that artists are more creative in working environments that they have designed for their own purposes. Not keeping to a nine-to-five schedule actually lets them budget their own time and work when they are at their best. Their happiness and security can be heard in their much-inspired work, and any game could benefit from this passion.

When it comes down to it, working with a contracted sound designer is not so different from interacting with any of the full-time developers on your staff. Graphic artists, programmers, composers, actors, and voice talent are all looking to you for the proper motivation and, though the sound designers are not immediately within the corporate view, they respond to the same proper, positive stimulus.

The key points mentioned here, when focused on, can help you achieve fantastic work from a sound design contractor. Even though there are no hard and fast rules, secret formulas, or prescribed methods for creating the consummate assemblage of game sound effects, it can happen. It takes fluid communication and a firm vision from the development team coupled with a sound designer who shows no bounds to their creativity and patience. Together we can take on the gaming world and keep them lining up at the stores.

The Audio Development Agreement

Tommy Tallarico is making life easier for both producers and sound designers by trying to standardize sound contracts and the often unpredictable contract negotiation process. With more than 125 games to his credit, he has plenty of experience in this phase of deal-making and after paying lawyers large sums of money to draw up the paperwork, he's still willing to share. At the 1999 Game Developers Conference, he gladly handed out copies of the agreement to anyone interested. Hundreds of people took advantage of his generosity.

This contract, available for download from the Game Developer web site(ftp://ftp.mfi.com/pub/gamedev/src/oct99.zip), is a revised copy that pertains to the sound designer and the created effects. Many points can be added or taken out as needed during negotiations, since both parties are attempting to have their best interests represented. Whether you're a producer or a sound designer, I recommend you download this file and read it over closely so that you get a sense for what the top talent in the field is asking for. Tallarico has granted everyone permission to use it as is, or merely as a guideline for sound design deals.

A Sound Is Born

Here's an example of how one simple sound effect is created. The project I'm currently working on is a space strategy game, in which units are maneuvered in formation to battle against other players. It is a PC game with final sounds to be delivered as 22KHz, 16-bit .WAV files. I'm creating a sound which is triggered when a shielded unit is fired upon.

The shield sound should have an "electric" quality to it - a controlled surge of energy that might sound as if it were deflecting a shot from a laser weapon. I wanted it to sound unique, so I stayed away from stock library effects and used one of my synthesizers for initial inspiration.

I ultimately settled on a patch, similar to the keyboard sound in the Van Halen song "Jump," and recorded four seconds of a three-note chord. I saved it into my audio editing program, Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge, as a 44.1KHz, 16-bit stereo file. Experimenting with a few different effects processors, I found a nice Doppler effect in another program, GoldWave. I edited an existing patch to give it a quick one-second Doppler increase with three seconds of Doppler decrease. Back in Sound Forge, I pulled up a radio static sound file (which gives it that "electric charge" feel), ran it through a 1Hz stereo flange effect, and equalized it to increase the high frequency range. I then cut that file to four seconds to match the manipulated keyboard sound and mixed the two sounds, keeping the static barely perceptible. I gave the new mixed file a one-second fade-in, and faded out the last two seconds with a linear fade. Now it was beginning to sound like something. I normalized the file to maximize the sound, adjusted for any abnormal level peaks and finally saved the new file as SHIELD.WAV.

Later, the producer wanted a dull, metallic clank mixed in to give the player some distinction between a shield hit and a hit to the unit's space suit. I pulled up a nice clank sound, used the equalizer to get rid of most of the high frequencies, and mixed to the shield file. All was well; the producer was happy.

Converting down to 22KHz is simple. Utilizing the resample feature in my audio editor does the trick nicely. Because some of the higher frequencies get lost in the conversion, I usually adjust the equalization to compensate. After another check on the levels, the effect is ready for the game. Total time spent creating this one sound effect: two hours, 15 minutes.

For Further Info

Places to Find Third-Party Sound Designers:

Gamasutra.com
http://www.gamasutra.com

Happy Puppy
http://www.happypuppy.com/biz/index.html

Dungeon Crawl
http://developer.dungeon-crawl.com

Black Sheep Journal
http://members.aol.com/blaksheepj

GameDev.Net
http://www.gamedev.net/info/about

Aaron Marks (aBmajor@aol.com) is a sound designer, music composer, and owner of On Your Mark Music Productions. Look for more of his life story at: http://members.aol.com/aBmajor.