The Game Composer’s Blog

Game music, a matter of life and death.

GDC 2009:Interesting-looking audio sessions

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I won’t be attending the Game Developer’s Conference this year in San Francisco but that won’t stop me from going through the list of audio sessions and picking some of the more interesting-looking session ideas. Since GDC is coming right up next week, tonight I thought I’d share my recommendations for what you might want to check out.

There are 38 sessions at this year’s conference and I’ll highlight five of the most interesting sessions here. I’d love to hear any attendee’s thoughts on the sessions. And now, in chronological order:

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Procedural Speech Generation: How to Achieve Open Ended Dialog in Games Using Speech Technology (Wednesday 2:30-3:30pm, Paul Taylor lecture) Overview: In this talk we show that game dialog need not be restricted to simply playing back recordings of actors reading lines. By using modern speech algorithms, new lines can be spoken, new virtual actors can be created and the range of style and expression in a game can be greatly enhanced.

Game Music Contracts: Live, Licensed, and Beyond (Wednesday 4-5pm, panel) Overview: Game music contracts and business practices have evolved for next-generation development, and this panel will illuminate the latest developments, best practices, and current trends for engaging audio professionals in the development pipeline. Building on last year’s successful AFM contract announcement, a panel of top execs, union leaders, and dynamic independents will update GDC attendees on the evolution of audio business practices.

Weapon Sound Design (Friday 11:10-11:30am, Chris Sweetman lecture) Overview: This session presents an overview of weapon sound design in action games, sharing design and implementation procedures as well as giving recommendations on how to achieve audio clarity in multiplayer and single player environments.

Recording and Mixing Music for Games: Get that Hollywood Film Score Sound! (Friday 2:30-3:30pm, John Rodd lecture) Overview: Effective music recording and mixing techniques can increase the impact and quality of any game music production. John Rodd will discuss maximizing game music quality, regardless of budget. Hybrid productions, virtual instruments, recording venues and 5.1 surround music mixing will be discussed. Recent game projects will illustrate key points.

Adventures in Voice Acting: Raising the Bar on Voice Acting for Video Games (Friday 4-5pm, panel) Overview: In this interactive and informative session, participants will gain useful tools to increase creative communication between game producers and the creative talent in the studio to better storytelling, improve quality of performances in games, and develop a more efficient process – enhancing both the creative and financial bottom line.

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And my takes on these:

Procedural Speech Generation: How to Achieve Open Ended Dialog in Games Using Speech Technology: Now this technology is very cool sounding. I’m sure in the next ten years many games are going to head in this direction. No more canned responses and chatter, NPC’s are going to get a little life breathed into them. It should be interesting to see the current state of this sort of game dialog. (Paul has interviewed me a couple times and I’m sure he knows what he’s talking about)

Game Music Contracts: Live, Licensed, and Beyond: The business of game music could get a week full of its own sessions, but an hour will have to suffice for GDC. We game composers must not sit idly by as game dev companies get contracts skewed more and more in their favor. Signing unfavorable contracts not only hurts the composer who signed, but all of us composers.

Weapon Sound Design: This one is a bit of a surprise appearing on the list. Sounds kind of mundane but considering the importance and sheer quantity of games requiring weapon sound design, this should be a must-see. It’s a shame it’s only a 20 minute lecture. Seeing how another sound designer approaches this issue should be illuminating.

Recording and Mixing Music for Games: Get that Hollywood Film Score Sound!: Who doesn’t want a Hollywood sound, at least sometimes? I’m always up to see how other composers mix their music. It’s quite the black art. Mr. Rodd has mixed many Hollywood movie soundtracks and should be a good source of information.

Adventures in Voice Acting: Raising the Bar on Voice Acting for Video Games: Surprisingly, the bar for game voice acting is still set pretty low. I hope the panel gets into what to communicate and not just how to communicate to voice actors. Many game producers don’t seem to know what to ask for from the actors or don’t know (maybe can’t hear) common problems with game voice.

Well, there you go, my recommendations. There are many other interesting topics on the schedule and it was hard to keep them off the list, but these five stood out as having great potential to help improve your game audio and your business. Have fun down there! Maybe I’ll join you next year.

March 15, 2009 Posted by | Developer Music Tips, The Business Side, Voice Acting | , | Leave a Comment

My Seattle orchestral conducting debut

This Saturday (March 7) I’ll be conducting Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra as the orchestra’s founder and usual conductor, Alan Shen, takes a seat at the piano to play this masterpiece. Our rehearsal last night went very well and the piece is coming together nicely. I have many friends who play in the orchestra and it’s been a joy to work with them on this piece and hear how much the piece has improved over the weeks. This is the first time the orchestra has been led by someone other than Alan, so I feel very honored.

This has been a great experience to help me grow as a musician, but it’s also been very beneficial for my game composing career. Always dealing with sample libraries, sometimes you forget what a real orchestra can sound like. An orchestra is the only ensemble that is capable of both huge power and extreme precision. You lose some of that spectrum when dealing only with sample libraries. But hearing real players play music reminds you of the full potential of music. I do play tuba in a couple of orchestras, but there’s nothing like standing in front of an orchestra and hearing them play, with such amazing music making potential resting in your hands.

On a personal note, I wish Lucky Mosko were still with us. He was one of my composition teachers and my conducting teacher at CalArts. He was an accomplished composer and conductor and taught conducting in a way that made complete sense: be clear and be efficient. He learned how to conduct from Antonia Brico, the first female conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic… if you want to hear an interesting story, read more about her or watch the documentary they made about her in the 70′s. It was always interesting hearing what Lucky had to say about Ms. Brico and I can only hope that one day I conduct half as well as either of them. I can’t help but think of Lucky at some point during my conducting day… imagining him feeling the tension in my upper arm (should be none!) or analyzing my pattern.

Anyway, you’re all invited to come watch us! The concert also has Barber’s School for Scandal Overture and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony #2. Tickets are cheap, $7 online or $10 at the door with discounts for students and seniors. Find out more about the concert and the orchestra at www.psso.org.

March 3, 2009 Posted by | Ponderings, Random Fun | , | Leave a Comment

   

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