Audio Guys...

hey it might've been room101 bbs? :)

I was just doin a search for oz96 photos for some reason (I've lost my copy of them) and found this place :)

been a bit of reminiscing going on of late about the adelaide demoscene (and .au scene in general)... some threads on scene.org too :)

anyway..

Hello all! Thought I'd interuppt the conversion with my bio :)

Status : full time employed (not in audio tho, worse luck), freelance, seeking work
Skill : sound designer
Years exp: worked mainly on low-budget/no-budget short and feature films in Sydney - I think I've done just about every audio film role there is over a number of different projects over the last 5-6 years. Before that I was a guitarist in various inner-city pub bands (no bands of any note tho hehe!)

I really love the atmospherics that can be generated using audio to help immerse the player into the game - I've played and loved Halo 1 & 2, Halflife, most of the Unreal games, etc.

Never worked on a game before, but would love to try if someone has a project they wouldnt mind a complete game-audio "noobie" to stumble thru ;)

Timbo
The Big Sound

Even though I am heavily involved in a game project, I have been involved in the music making field since 1983.

At this present moment I am learning more about audio mastering.

Did any of you know Tim Koch? He was an Amiga muso from Adelaide...

May as well join in :)

Status : full time (in teaching), student (in multimedia)
Skill : musician (piano and guitar)
Years exp: 10 in piano, 5 years in guitar

Haha, well didn't make any tracks for games but wrote a few ad hoc songs on the way, played in a high school
band (keyboard and lead guitar), haven't played for a while since.
Played with a synth hooked up to a midi sequencer (using some IBM simple multitrack software). I even got the speaker to beep a tune out of the old Apple II :)

Hoping to setup a mixing studio of sorts using Linux software to make some game background music
and sound effects. Still need to investigate some software, buy a decent synth, etc.

So what are people using now (circa 2006 :-)) for audio creation?

quote:Originally posted by ruzza

Hoping to setup a mixing studio of sorts using Linux software to make some game background music
and sound effects. Still need to investigate some software, buy a decent synth, etc.

Hi ruzza, you may find Linux too geeky still, but have a look at http://linux-sound.org . There is certainly better "normal" audio software on Windows and MacOS (for a price). Linux is mostly the playground of audio researchers atm, so you can find some very unusual software for it- and you get the sourcecode. But have a look at http://ardour.org

edit: just spotted your post in the programmers section, so Linux may not be too geeky [:)]. It does take quite some getting used to if you haven't used/administered unixish type systems before, but it's very addictive [;)]

I'm not very pro-active on sumea, I check the forums every once in awhile but that's about as far as it goes.

I use SONIC 5 to sequence and live record, it's not too bad.. great
features, especially the lexicon stuff which is really amazing if you can't afford the real thing. I use a 5150 head and 4x12 cab and the BCA2000 USB audio interface for recording and simultaneous playback.

I was wondering if anybody has links to music thay have done just
to make the thread a little more interesting ?

Here are a couple of backing tracks I played guitar over.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=483287

Hey Muse!

I love the idea of sharing some music!

Here is a track that I did for Socom3:
http://www.lavainjection.com/music/lavainjection_socom3_promotheme.mp3

This one is for a spec demo that I am working on (cant say which game):
http://www.lavainjection.com/music/lavainjection_easternmercenary.mp3

This track was for a NextGen tech demo that I did for GDC:
http://www.lavainjection.com/music/lavainjection_nextgentechdemo.mp3

Now lets share some more!

Hi Mick,

Great stuff and it sounds really professional, can you give us a run down of the equipment you're using.

Copied from the site:

Workstations:
1 ? AMD 64 3500, 4 gig of RAM, 730 gigs of HDD, Dual SLi 7800's
2 ? AMD 64 3500, 4 gig of RAM, 750 gigs of HDD, ATI 9800

Audio Monitors:
2* Mackie HR624
2* Yamaha NS-10
Creative Audigy 7.1 consumer system
Sennheiser HD265 Headphones

Software/Hardware:
Digidesign 96 I/O
Pro Tools
ESI Wami Rack 192
Gigastudio 3 with a huge amount of sample libraries
Adobe Audition 1.5
Cubase SX2
FL Studio Pro 5
Sibelius 4
Reason 3

Microphones:
Rode NT4 - XY stereo mic
DPA 4091 - Omni instrument mic
Sennheiser MD 421MKII

Commercial Sound Libraries:
The General Series 6000
The General Series 6000 Extension I
The General Series 6000 Extension II
The General Series 6000 Extension III
The General Series 6000 Extension IV
The General Series 6000 Extension V
BBC Sound Effects Library 1-40
BBC Sound Effects Library 41-60
Series 8000 - Sci Fi
Series 8000 - Sci Fi Warp 2
Series 8000 - Sci Fi Warp 3
Series 5000 - Wheels
Series 5000 - Wheels 2nd Gear

Instruments:
Music Man John Petrucci Signature 7-string
1999 Fender Stratocaster
Roland Midi Guitar pickup
Maton Acoustic Guitar
Custom Made Nylon Acoustic
Custom Made hollow Aluminum body 7 string electric

By the way, that gold top looks nice - is that yours?

Yes the 57 GT re-issue is mine, I imported it from a dealer in the US mid last year ( I saved almost 4k by doing that ) . In Gibsons I also have 68 FT Custom RI and a Supreme. In other guitars I have a 2004 50th Anniversary Deluxe Strat and an Ernie Ball Music Man - Steve Morse model from 89 which I bought second hand in 92.

How does the Petrucci feel and sound ? Is the neck big and chunky like the Morse ? I haven't had the chance to play one of those or the Y2D just yet.

To be honest, I really dont worry about the 'feel' of a guitar as such. I think that it is a tool, just like a new piece of software, and if you like it then you just learn to use it. I am yet to pick up a guitar and say "man, this thing just 'feels' wrong, the neck is chunky, the balance is wrong and the knobs are in the wrong places!". That being said though, any seven stringed guitar has a noticeably larger neck but it has never been a problem. Even though I love Petrucci to death, I bought the guitar because it can do anything. 7 strings, piezio pickup, split coils and stereo output!

I have never even seen a Morse model (hes another great favorite of mine) - does that have the 600 pickups like every other one of his guitars?

The feel is somewhat important to me. I prefer rosewood or ebony over maple on fingerboards because of the way it feels, it never feels sticky, greasy or slippery to me.

The Steve Morse sig has 2 humbuckers and 2 single coil pups, the 11 switching combinations provides you with all the tones you could possibly want including some really nice out of phase/quack tones, i really like combining both bridge pup's.. that combo sounds alot like a telecaster in the bridge pos but with more bite and leaning towards a hotter sound. I believe the Y2D doesn't have the midrange single coil, Steve decided to not include it because he never uses that pickup when he plays live.

Steve is my favourite player and I have all the Dregs albums, amazing player and very versatyle guitarist.

He is fantastic. I went to a Deep Purple concert a few years ago and I was able to get backstaage to meet him. He is such a nice guy and was really willing to give out tips and tricks (I cant say it helped me much though!)

quote:Originally posted by Mick1460

He is fantastic. I went to a Deep Purple concert a few years ago and I was able to get backstaage to meet him. He is such a nice guy and was really willing to give out tips and tricks (I cant say it helped me much though!)

Steve Morse is pretty cool, had some master classes with him years ago- and did get something out of it. I know what you mean though, one of my guitar teachers was one of those incredibly natural talents who just picked up a guitar as a kid and never really had to work to figure out how to play the bloody thing! He was an amazing player but not a great teacher unless you were as natural a guitarist as him. This was Ike Isaacs btw. He'd been playing for well over 50 years when I was his student.

I prefer maple fingerboards as well, though I like scalloped fretboards too.

Maybe now we have an audio section in the forums we should have audio profiles where people can upload stuff. I'd be happy to.

You should put some of your stuff up here Lorien! Im keen to hear!

Ike Iassacs hey, the master of the chords solos. To be honest, I dont believe in natural talent what so ever. I think it is an excuse by people who dont practise 15 hours a day. (I know this will probablly start a debate so I am sorry!). I think what IS natural is the way you look at and comprehend something. So much of artistic ability comes from technical ability which is ONLY learned through hours of practice. I want to see someone, who has never played guitar before or painted a picture before, pick up a guitar or paint brush and start blowing everyone away. That would be natural talent.

Practise makes talent, not some hidden force that some people have and others dont.

quote:Originally posted by Mick1460

You should put some of your stuff up here Lorien! Im keen to hear!

Ike Iassacs hey, the master of the chords solos. To be honest, I dont believe in natural talent what so ever. I think it is an excuse by people who dont practise 15 hours a day. (I know this will probablly start a debate so I am sorry!). I think what IS natural is the way you look at and comprehend something. So much of artistic ability comes from technical ability which is ONLY learned through hours of practice. I want to see someone, who has never played guitar before or painted a picture before, pick up a guitar or paint brush and start blowing everyone away. That would be natural talent.

Practise makes talent, not some hidden force that some people have and others dont.

[;)] I was doing 6-8 hours practice a day 7 days a week plus full-time study (rock and jazz guitar) at the AIM. Ike was just "God" on guitar. He died around 10 years ago I think [:(] He was a really kind and friendly womble of a guy (very short, bit of extra weight, Burmese ancestry).

I first saw Steve Morse at a Biff Baby's All-Stars promotional gig many years ago, I think they were promoting Ernie Ball and Peavey products. I took many pictures of the performace and group photo's with Steve, Sterling Ball and Albert Lee but unfortnately my camera was stolen before I got the chance to get the film developed..

Here's a funny story from Ike, I haven't thought of him in years, the subject he taught was Fingerboard Harmony and he told it to me in '92:

Ike used to work as a guitar teacher in Marshalls Music in London during the late '60's, in a little room out the back. He was giving a lesson when someone in the shop out front starting playing through a fully cranked Marshall stack. Ike came out, angry as hell (very unlike him) and said "Who the HELL are you! GET OUT!!".

It was later he found out it was Jimi Hendrix he'd thrown out, and he had to apologise...

Ike's style playing (fingerbreaking chords) is something I find next to impossible- I have quite short fingers... He was a truly amazing player and musician, but not a fantastic teacher (for me at least)- for one I've never been enraptured with Ike's kind of jazz: jazz-wise I prefer John Coltrane and John McLaughlin, but also he was simply too fast a teacher.

It's great to hear stories like these, I can only wonder what was going through JH's mind as he left the store.

I agree that musical talent comes from many years of hard work, having said that I don't think I could ever go back to locking myself in my bedroom for 10 hours a day just to practise.

It's a shame you guys live so far away because it would be very intersting to have a jam some time.

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone knows how to get involved in Sound design for Games?
As I Have loads of experience in using DAW and Audio Engineering software such as Nuendo, Vsti's etc...

Replied in new thread.

Hi - just thought I would drop a hello - I used to be
Serkul/Cydonia (shudder) - been releasing electronic
music albums since then under my real name - check my
site for all the blah .. great to see all the ex-CDN
people around :) Was great running into everyone in
the one place at the Melbourne games thingo a few yrs
back :)

My site
Surgery Records - The label I runTimKay2006-10-17 01:53:17

Hi Tim, nice to see you on here

Status : 2nd year Bachelor of Music Technology
Skill : Musician, Composer, Audio engineer, Audio Producer etc.
Years exp: 0 commercially, but 4 composing and 10 playing alto sax.

Currently I'm working on a few mods, as composer and sound designer, for Crysis to build up a folio/show reel.

Status: Producing for self fulfillment
Skill: Composer, Audio producer.
Years Experience: No commercial experience but around 8 years worth of dedication. Worked on afew mods over the years for games Quake 1 and 2, Half-Life and UT2004. Currently producing for a hobby.

Status: freelance, fulltime

Skills: audio post production work, creative sound designer, sound fx creator and editor, audio implementator, dialogue (ADR) editor, audio to picture, audio to video synchronization (a/v sync), field recordist

Years Exp: 4 (commercial)

Examples of games I've done sound design work for:
- NecroVisioN: Lost Company (next-gen FPS for PC)
- Remington Great American Bird Hunt (Wii)
- Shimano Xtreme Fishing (Wii)
- NecroVisioN (next-gen FPS for PC)
- StoneLoops! (PC, Mac, iPhone)
- Time Ace (Nintendo DS)

My site: http://sfx-design.com
My Mp3 Demo Reel: http://sfx-design.com/files/piotr_niedzielski-demo_reel.mp3