Unit 73:
Why is music and sound fx so important within game development?
Metal Gear Solid
The soundtrack for this game is very intense and engaging. This is good for the genre of game that it is because it keeps you hooked on the game play and can lead to a very important scene of the game and not take away from any music that is playing because it shifts over so easily.
The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
This open world RPG has a very calming and mellow track for the most part. This is good because you don't want loud irritating music throughout the whole game whilst travelling across the vastness of this world. the music would pickup or stop completely when facing a very high boss to help you focus on the fight.
The legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
For the most part this game has happy and cheerful music throughout. This suits the game play perfectly because even though you are set out on challenging quests, Link manages to keep a good attitude and a different soundtrack would take away from the mood. The soundtrack is also a large reason as to why this game was so successful.
Portal
The music for this game is very electronic. the game is set in a future where you can create portals at an instant so the catchy electronic music fits in very well with the game play and doesn't take anything away from the game.
Wavelength
The wavelength of a wave is the distance between a point on one wave and the same point on the next wave.Amplitude- as waves travel they make disturbance. The amplitude of a wave is the maximum Disturbance from an undisturbed position.
Frequency- The number of waves produced by something every second or the number of waves that pass a specific point each second.
Foley
Foley is sound effects added to the film after the shooting stops, basically it is artificial sound. This includes sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, doors opening and slamming, punches hitting etc.
Timbre
Timbre put simply is the quality of sound. It is what makes two different instruments sound different from each other when they're playing the same note.
Psychology of Sound
The Last Of Us- They convey speech by talking to each other. The speech in this game has somewhat become iconic as the game is known for its great story telling and you could say that this is quite symbolic.
Super Mario Bros.- Speech is not really used in this game unless it is visual. A lot of the sounds used in the game are seen as iconic and people still remember the original sounds to this day. a newer sound used would be when Mario collects the star and becomes faster and invincible. This speeds up the music and everyone instantly knows what is going on.
Jaws- of course the Jaw's films have speech in them and this gets the dialogue across throughout the films but this film also has one of the most iconic sound effects out there. The classic jaws theme tune is made up of a deep "basey" noise that speeds up after each time its played, this builds up tension as you know something is coming by the time the music stops.
Understand the methods and principles of sound design and production
Sound file formats
Uncompressed- This means that it has not been compressed into a smaller file format, therefor meaning it is still its original size.
Compressed- This is when a file gets put into a smaller size making it more efficient for transferring it and moving it around.
Compressed- This is when a file gets put into a smaller size making it more efficient for transferring it and moving it around.
Audio sampling
How can resolution and bit-depth constrain file size?- if you have a 720p monitor and you try to watch a video at 1080p then obviously it isn't going to work and wont play the video at the right quality and this will constrain it.
Sample rate- the number of samples of audio carried per second, measured in Hz or kHz.
Mono- this means its output is just through one device, like one earphone or headphone.
Stereo- sound that is directed through two or more speakers so it seems to surround the listener and to come from more than one source.
Surround- a system involving three or more speakers surrounding the listener so it feels more realistic.
Sample rate- the number of samples of audio carried per second, measured in Hz or kHz.
Mono- this means its output is just through one device, like one earphone or headphone.
Stereo- sound that is directed through two or more speakers so it seems to surround the listener and to come from more than one source.
Surround- a system involving three or more speakers surrounding the listener so it feels more realistic.
How can the following information limit the recording of sound
RAM – Random Access Memory
File format (eg Mp3, Wav, Aiff)
Audio output (eg Mono, Stereo, Surround).
PCM – Pulse Code Modulation
In what types of scenario may you use the following audio recording equipment?
multi-track recording- it allows studio engineers to record all their instruments and vocals separately.
DAT (digital audio tape)- a signal recording and playback medium made by Sony
Analogue- this refers to audio recorded using methods that replicate the original sound waves
