After Dark

For my final assignment in my Project and Portfolio class, I finished my audio for the Uranus Attacks game as well as recording the gameplay for it. My vision was to be a very fun lighthearted game. I wanted the sounds to be silly to compliment the gameplay. I wanted it to be entertaining, and blend nicely. I didn’t want anything to be overpowering or to stand out in a negative manner. 

For the creature sounds, I wanted to have contrast between the two as one is more high pitched and the other is more low pitched. I used my 4 year old for the barnaby’s. I distorted her voice and added white noise to thicken it up a bit. For the fnoon, I used my neighbors dog. I slowed and changed the pitch of it. 

For the teleport sounds, I used my voice. I wanted a spacey futuristic sound. I used synths to compliment the spiraling sound of my voice. I then reversed the finished sound while editing the iffy parts to make the teleport out asset. 

The engine sound was very difficult as I misunderstood the purpose of the engine. I did eventually make a loop using the sounds of a high powered washing machine. I blended it with the sounds of a synth and slowed them down to change it to a more spacey sound. 

For the planets, I had fun using the cheerful music I chose. I split it into 3 different parts to be the two separate planets and the winning music. Again, my vision was to keep it fun so this music won against a few other more serious choices. 

I thought this project was very difficult in the beginning as I had a lot of program crashes. In Wwise and in Pro Tools, I wound up having to restart multiple times which was very discouraging. After a chat with my professor, things started looking up and things started moving in the right direction. The project was definitely more fun and interesting. It inspired me to make my own video game at some point with a comic idea I came up with about 20 years ago. I will definitely be using skills I have learned here.

Week 2 Revisions 

June 12, 2016 

For the teleport out sounds, I used varify, extended the file and slowed it down. Then I faded it down to give it a powering down feel. For the teleport in, I reversed the previous file and cut off some of the "powering up" sound, as well as faded it in. For the Fnoon sound, I lowered the pitch, and stretched it out with polyphonic morph. I cut it down to just 2 barks, and faded it out. Rinse and repeat with different sounding barks. Finally, for the planet, I used Varify to shift the pitch down and slow it down. I then EQ'ed the high end to remove the beep. I was very satisfied with how they came out. My professors feedback was very useful.

Week 2 of my game sound assets 

June 9, 2016 

This time, we were instructed to make the alien Fnoon sounds, the second planets sound, and teleporting in and out. As a long time classroom disrupter as a child, I really wanted to make the sounds for the teleporters myself. And that I did. I recorded myself making the sound that I think a teleporter would make and combined them with various effects. These included my favorite (but expensive) Sonnox reverb. It's amazing what you can do to create totally different sounding environments. I also added some delay effects. I used a synth for some low end as my voice pitch was pretty high. 

For the Fnoon, I really did want to try and get my wonderful loving dog to bark again. It didn't work but I did get the neighbors dog to bark at my dog. I compiled various different style barkings and used them as the different Fnoon examples. It was sort of rythmic so I gave it a buzzy sounding synth to emphasize that. I also used phaser effects and delays. I've been really going for original sounding sounds, but finding a middle ground seems to be a challenge for me. 

For the planet, the sound of the parking garage at the VA hospital which I frequent is great. It's tough to record sound without people talking or hearing footsteps not long or consistent enough to loop but I did my best. I paired that with different reverb, delay to get the high pitched noise to blend better, and more aggressive effects like a wide slow phaser effect to make it even more space like. I used white noise with this.

Revisions to Game Sounds 

June 5, 2016 

These revisions brought out even more creativity as I was out and about gathering sounds. I managed to get some people to let me record their cars starting, a nice loud yet rhythmic washing machine at the laundromat and some other things for other future projects. The most fun I have is definitely taking my Zoom recorder around and explaining what I'm doing to curious onlookers. For my vaporizer sound, I decided to go a completely different route and used a zipper sound. I pitched it up and added some effects, along with some synths with effects, and wala (sp?) a nifty, original, vaporizer. 

Next, I wanted a beefy engine sound. For this, I used a pick up truck in which the owner helped point me to the best spot for sound, which was the exhaust. I loved the way it came out. I wound up using the engine idling with effects for planet ambience as well. For the engine, I added a triangle wave with effects to give it more of a spacey feel. For the planets ambience, in addition to the idling engine sound, I used a sine wave and phaser effects to make it feel more out of this world. 

Last but not least, I again had fun with my toddlers animal like sounds out of her very own mouth. I attempted to get my dog to bark or growl, but her sheer love for me from recently rescuing her from the animal shelter has her being the most loveable little dog. She only bark if she senses an intruder, and definitely not with me and a recorder in her face. I tried my own animal noises but they weren't the most realistic so I left them to my toddler. She is great at making them as well as changing them. I used them along with lower pitched synths to even out her high pitch, and added varying distortion to her voice.

Barnaby's- 4 year old squeals, fan FX, varying distortions 

Planet 1 Ambience- Air conditioner processed through alchemy with synths 

Engine- Carpet Cleaner detuned and sped up, synth, and vacuum  

Vaporizer- Fan with FX and synths

Assignment 07: Music Direction Track Template 
  
Music Track Name: A Matter of Funk 
  
  
Track Composer: Stephan Sechi 
  
  
What story and emotions does this track provide? 
  
This track provides a very fun energetic mood. It represents a constant movement, got to get the job done vibe. 
  
  
Describe how the score relates to the visuals?  (Does it complement the visuals or is it the polar opposite?  Is it upbeat or laidback? Etc.) 
  
It is upbeat with a retro vibe which relates to the visuals. I feel like it adds to the energy to make it more entertaining since the game is so simple. For some reason it reminds me of the old game Toe Jam and Earl escape from planet Funkatron. 
  
What is the function of the music score?  Does the score highlight the tension of the game, or is it more comical? 
  
The function of the score is more comical and adds excitement to the game 
  
How are your Sound Effects affected by the music key and instrumentation of the music score?  How will your Sound Effects need to be adjusted? 
  
This is more busy and might be hard to hear the sounds. My higher pitch sounds should be able to stand out. 
  
Music Track Name: Collective Insanity 
  
  
Track Composer: Joseph Rusnak 
  
  
What story and emotions does this track provide? 
  
This tracks provides emotions of momentum and gradual feelings of accomplishment. It seems to be taking the listener on a trip in confidence. There is a build up that seems to add to the tension from playing to keep the players hit streak going. 
  
Describe how the score relates to the visuals?  (Does it complement the visuals or is it the polar opposite?  Is it upbeat or laidback? Etc.) 
  
This score is upbeat with the electronic spacey feel. I believe it compliments it nicely. The enemies move pretty fast so I think it fits. 
  
What is the function of the music score?  Does the score highlight the tension of the game, or is it more comical? 
  
I think the score highlights the tension. It seems like a futuristic space war. 
  
How are your Sound Effects affected by the music key and instrumentation of the music score?  How will your Sound Effects need to be adjusted? 
  
This seems like a track that would fit in with the pitches of sounds I’m already using. There is a lot of open space. 
  
Music Track Name: My Windup Toy 
  
  
Track Composer: Duffin 
  
  
What story and emotions does this track provide? 
  
This is a very fun, lighthearted track. It provides a fun story that’s not overly serious. 
  
Describe how the score relates to the visuals?  (Does it complement the visuals or is it the polar opposite?  Is it upbeat or laidback? Etc.) 
  
The choppy movements, the comical backstory and the not-so-wowing visuals definitely correlate with this score. It is upbeat 
  
What is the function of the music score?  Does the score highlight the tension of the game, or is it more comical? 
  
The score is fun and does not highlight the tension of the game. It is extremely comical. 
  
How are your Sound Effects affected by the music key and instrumentation of the music score?  How will your Sound Effects need to be adjusted? 
  
Some of my lower pitched Fnoon sounds may have to be louder. I’m not sure how ambience works along with music.