It blows me away to think back to when I first started these classes. I realize now how little I knew about audio recording and production, yet how much I’ve learned over the course of these past couple years.  I had the opportunity to work with some great instructors, and had some awesome classmates to keep me company for the ride.  Now it’s time for me to get out there and put these skills to use!

Anybody out there hiring for audio?

The week started for me on Tuesday, where I spent all day in Audio Boot Camp. Here we were treated by an amazing panel of speakers including Lennie Moore (3l33t Music), Guy Whitmore (PopCap), Kenny Young (Media Molecule), and more! The topics discussed throughout the day included the current state of game audio, adaptive music, creative processes, and procedural audio. There was tons of information for one day, but at least it was all in one room and I wasn’t on my feet all day.

First thing Wednesday morning, all attention was in Hall D for Satoru Iwata’s keynote address. This was quite a way to officially kick off the main conference!

Later that evening, Hall D was once again the center of attention as everyone filed in for the 13th Annual Independent Games Festival, followed by the 11th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards. As I expected, Minecraft and Red Dead Redemption were pretty much the center of attention. Although Amnesia: The Dark Descent made quite a strong showing in the IGF.

I spent most of Wednesday and some of Thursday making my way around the Career Pavilion talking to a number a representatives from all varieties of game companies. I also spent a lot of my time in some great sessions. Some of my favorites from the week were Interactive Scoring Methods for Mass Effect 2, VO Session Live, Composer Challenge GDC 2011, and of course both of the GANG Demo Derby’s.

By Friday, I had finished my rounds in the Career Pavilion and decided to spend any free time not in sessions roaming the Expo Floor getting some hands-on time with the latest gaming technology. I was able to scope out Crysis 2 in stereoscopic 3D, and see the latest model of the Sony NGP. I also got my hands on a Nintendo 3DS and played Kid Icarus 3D and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D!!

Overall, it was a fantastic week. I met a lot of wonderful people, made some great connections, and learned lots of valuable information. I was exhausted by the end! GDC is an amazing experience. Everyone who wants to be or is involved in the game industry should make every effort to attend. I hope to be there next year!

We had two weeks to complete this project. This included recording vocals, writing music, creating sound effects, then editing and mixing everything in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound.

Check out the video below, or over on my Sound Design page.

Compared to my last song, “What Lies Ahead”, this one is on the complete opposite end of the emotional spectrum. I think I can safely say I surprised at least a few people with how happy it is overall. I had a lot of fun working on it and listening to it grow.

There are a few different opinions out there regarding what images it brings to mind, or what people can see it being used for.

In the end though, what matters is that it is being enjoyed and that I am progressing in my composition and understanding of the digital audio world.

Head on over, check it out, and tell me what you think!

When I began working on this project, I made the decision to incorporate and work with a persistent, droning bass. That was the first part I recorded, and the rest grew from there. It also incorporates some pretty interesting rhythmic elements, and overall has some pretty dark undertones.

I wrote this song in a very non-linear fashion. While it can certainly grow from its current state, it was written with the intent of being able to loop from multiple points and fade out at any time.

This provides the flexibility of working well in a situation where timing is unknown. For instance, a gamer has just been given control of his party after watching a cutscene, and now has the long awaited opportunity to “level up” his characters and decide what to do next.

Head over to the Music page and check it out!

I’m looking forward to running Amber’s vocals through some interesting effects to enhance the overall mood of the song. I can’t wait to share it with you all once it’s complete!

As I like to do for anyone interested, here’s the setup I ran:

Amber was placed in isolation with an AKG C414 microphone set to a cardioid pattern.

The microphone was patched through a Great River preamp, followed by a Chandler Limited Compressor.

I brought my brother-in-law Anthony in to play the piano and set up a number of microphones throughout the room. He played a section of the piece “Heartsounds” by David Lanz.

It was a great experience for the both of us, as Anthony had never been in a professional recording studio, and I had never engineered my own recording session before! All in all, I have to say it was a success.

We did manage to take some pictures, although of course it was after the fact I caught myself saying “Oh man we should have snapped pictures of (insert awesome picture moment here)!” Either way, here’s a few of the pictures we did take.

For those interested, here’s some of the details on my setup:

I fully opened the top of the piano and placed a pair of Sennheiser MD 421′s as a close spaced pair over the strings going into a pair of API preamps.

I also had a pair a Shure KSM 137′s in an XY configuration about 5 feet away from the piano going into a pair of Great River preamps.

A single AKG C414 set to omnidirectional at the far end of the room that was going into the C24 console.

Here’s how it sounded all said and done with very little mixing and processing: