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by
George "Fat Man" Sanger
Gamasutra
[Author's
Bio]
May 20, 2002
Game
Audio Resource Guide Sponsor:
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 Resource
Guide
Un-Asked-For
Advice for The Aspiring Audio Guy
This
isn't an article as much as it is, in convenient list form , a sample
of mistakes you're likely to make in the beginning, middle, and end,
er, I mean, The Advanced Level, of your career
You didn't ask me to post this to the web, the publishers did. Sadly,
you must now read it. I weep for you. And I hope, Dear Reader, you
will weep for me as well, having to write for those who might not
want to read my advice. Ah, me. And I, I, who was once the Greatest
of Them All. You know, they always consider audio as a lowest priority.
Always have. It's all too tragic to think about. Poor you. Poor me.
How very, very sad. I must remember this tragedy forever.
Or should I just get over it?
I think that as a developer, content provider, or even player, you'll
find that audio for games is largely a matter of getting over things.
I like that. Begin Article.
A lot of "expert" authors such as myself might get up on
a soap box. They might draw a line in the sand and challenge the reader
to cross it. Come out fighting. It's a Jungle Out There. I, on the
other hand, think it might be more helpful to think of it as a desert…full
of mirages and the like. As we travel through this desert, we might
see what appear to be lines. And the challenge I'd offer you when
you see one is this: I'll erase the line in the sand, you Get Over
It.
Let's look at a sampling of the kind of mirages I'm talking about.
Here are some mistakes that you might find yourself making at the
various levels of your career. Some will require more independent
study on your own. Others you only need to hear once to be healed
of all ills. I would advise, requested or not, that before you even
think about moving deeper into Game Audio, you spend some time learning
to recognize and then eventually enjoy the absurdity of the sentiments
represented by the phrases that follow.
Now, I certainly have to admit that one or even all of the purported
falsehoods that follow might at some times be quite true. Truehoods.
But, but assuming that any one of them is true before proven so can
only bring misery to you and me, ass. I think that's the expression.
Beginning
Mistakes
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A
game needs music that sounds like game music.
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Oh,
Boy, I'll sure make lots more money in game audio than I would in,
say, Engineering or Pizza Delivery.
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The
music I like ROCKS. The music that I don't like SUCKS.
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I
deserve my job more than That Other Guy.
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Before
I start making sounds, I'm going to need the right equipment.
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We
musicians can't let people walk all over us.
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This
career will be a perfect stepping stone to the film and TV audio
business.
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I'll
have to write music that sounds like movie music.
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Let's
see, my boss asked for a sound for each action. That means one sound
for each. One footstep, one "ouch" sound…that'll
sound real good after 40 hours of playing.
-
And
40 minutes of music will be just fine for those 40 hours of gameplay,
too.
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The
company will never find anybody else to write this style of music
the way I do.
-
And
certainly nobody with that kind of talent would do the other stuff
I do.
-
And
even if he did, he'd never be willing to put up with the crap that
I put up with.
-
And
there's no way he'd do it for this little money.
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Before
I start making sounds, I'm going to need the right equipment, and
some decent patch and sound effects libraries.
-
Upgrading
my motherboard will solve my problems.
-
I
should repeat my themes to emphasize them, as I learned in composition
class.
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This
is just like the film and TV audio business.
-
I'll
have to write music that sounds like the radio, or those guys on
MTV.
-
They
just don't respect us Audio Guys.
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Something
besides repetition is the thing that's making my game sound bad.
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Do
you realize how rich these people are getting off me?
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Before
I start making sounds, I'm going to need the right equipment, more
patch and sound effects libraries, and a state-of-the-art studio
with nice acoustic wood paneling, and the topless intern who comes
through occasionally with sandwiches with the crust removed.
-
This
will save my floundering film and TV audio business.
And,
Finally, the Dreaded
-
Boy,
the Fat Man sure knows a lot about game audio! I bet his advice
can help me!!!
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