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| By
The Fat Man, George Alistair Sanger
[Back To] Game Audio Resource Guide This article originally appeared in the February 2001 issue of:
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The Sound of Money (Down the Potty): Common Audio Mistakes in Kids' Games And Again I Say, History RepeatsThat is the battle. Repetition is the enemy, so you've got to fight it with everything you've got. The following are some tips: Don't rely on new technology or clever gimmicks to make things sound better. That is like trying to build a baby-sitting robot instead of being with your kids. Always direct all your audio energy toward making lots and lots and lots of warm, exciting, varying, heartfelt audio. You can do this better with a kazoo and a cassette recorder than with physically modeled 3D interactive vaporware. Don't use one repeating tune for an entire level of a game. That's old school, there's no excuse, and it will kill the parents. Don't do it. O.K.? Just don't. If any one tune in your game repeats for more than five minutes, you should do one of the following: (1) change to another tune after five minutes, or (2) stick a hot fork into your own eye, you evil moron. Reuse your resources in different circumstances. I know you want special "cinematic" pieces, and "payoffs," and a unique piece for the puzzle with the cute duckies and such. But the math is simple. If the game's budget is for 20 minutes of music, and the game is constructed so that music plays for an hour in a given session, the music is going to repeat somewhat. And remember that three repetitions of the music would happen only in the best possible circumstances, meaning all music has the same odds of repeating. But suppose you get greedy about special-case music. The more of your music that goes to special one-time cases, the more the other tunes have to repeat to cover for it. Reuse that "Binky meets the cougar" tune as a "tense puzzle-building" or "will we win the pony race?" background piece. The kids won't mind -- the situation will be different enough that they'll experience it as two different pieces of entertainment. The parents will be grateful for one less repetition of that incessant "riding the pony" music.
Do not use musical structures that utilize repetition to build familiarity. This is hard to get away from. Sure, conventional musical theory suggests that we play familiarity against variation to achieve tension. That's why conventional music uses forms such as AABA. But in a game, you're going to get 30 repetitions of the tune at least. Think about that. How many times have you listened to the CDs in your house? Even your favorite CD? In a game, you can concentrate on the variation and relax on the repetition. An hour into the game, the familiarity will be there, I guarantee it. Don't insult kids with poor tones and yelling, squeaky voices. Elmo and Barney are beloved, but so are the softer, lower-voiced characters such as Mr. Rogers, Captain Kangaroo, and Marvin the Martian. Kids' ears are brand new, and they can probably hear better than you. If you want to delight kids, play a pretty little bell for them. Yes, they respond well to high tones. Yes, they even like those little square waves, by God. But even though some little girls might be inclined towards pink, Crayola has not yet rationalized filling an entire box of crayons with that one color. ________________________________________________________ |
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