dd

Being a composer is one thing. Being a composer for a computer game sometimes also means being the sound designer, which in turn means… sound effects (sfx for short).

So far things have been simple in Resonance in terms of implimentation. Some music here, a few (let’s say a dozen) sfx there. ok.

But with this new room/scene, where things are really scary, we have been discussing forever really and only very recently (read over the weekend) we decided on the general plan: mainly NO music. Which is a pain in the arse let me tell you. No music means that sfx are out in the open! It means that you need lots more. Thus far I’ve completed more than 20 and I’ve still not touched several ‘categories’! Imagine that!

But this is turning to be a great scene! Really scary! So scary that it got my younger son scared. “Not again!” and he started crying. I wish I had a camera somewhere to prove that it is true, as nobody will believe me in the end.

We have, both me and Vince XII, realised that it is important to balance silence with music, sfx, with total silence and go for the optimal solution in every scene. And it is a pleasure working like that.

In addition to sfx, there are certain key moments in the specific scene, where music starts and is timed, as much as it can be. Which certainly creates a few problems, no? Not every computer is the same and no computer will enjoy playing 6-7 ogg files at the same time! Playing these magnificent format has one fault; it takes plenty of CPU power to playback (thus decompress on the fly) an ogg file, more than an mp3 file and much more than a wav file. If the game ends up being distributed via CD/DVD, then no problem. But if it is downloadable then there might be a few problems.

Further to playback the graphics and animation also takes up CPU power.

This certainly does not mean that the game won’t play on slower computers, but just that it will be… slower. Which is disasterous for any attempt to sync music events!

Take this simple example: A chassing scene. The hero is being chassed by vilains and everything leads to a big jump of a balcony, in a movie. The most logical thing is to start a “chase tune” which grows in volume and end it in a big bang, right before the jump. Well if this would happen in a game, it should be timed to the second in order to work. Imagine running, being chasses and jumping and the music having not yet reached the climax.

There is a way out however, by using different layers of music (this is why so many ogg files might end up being played together) which are timed backwards from the end.

I can’t say anything more without betraying the whole game, but trust me this is turning out to be a great experience for me and great pleasure to work on. This must mean something, right?

‘The City Under Different Eyes’. Catchy tittle huh?

This is a work for solo piano, with a peculiarity. While everyone I know, would have trouble placing the music outside the very general genre of concert hall music, I have my reason for precluding it.

I’ll keep the theoritical background for myself, until the right time comes, but I’ll just mention the mechanics and the difficulties that come with such an idea.

First of all, while the purpose of the track is to be heard from start to finish, as with almost every piece of music in existance, a single mp3, or wav file, or a CD player, won’t suffice, since the idea is based on the use of specific software, which is to be created along with the music.

Another major difference with any other recording you’ve heard is that every playback will be different. Pretty much like a live concert, where no two performances are the same.

Different aspect is that, not only the playback will be different, but also the place which the recording took place will change from playback to playback.

While these sound very interesting, indeed and it may very well be that some of you have an idea on what I’m after, it is still a rather difficult project to complet and needless to say, it cannot be completed without the outside help of many people.

Initially the software needs to be writen. Yes, I have a very exact idea on what I want the software to do and I even have plenty of ideas on how this can be done, but I lack the technical knowledge of coding. So I do need a coder. In all honesty, through my career in computer games I already know plenty of coders who would be willing to help, as long as the project doesn’t turn into a monsterous feat.

Then I do need as many performers as possible. If you are wondering with the term ‘performers’ I’m including digital performers, who would like to work on the music, responsobily musically, through their DAWs, or studios. Either way, I care about the ending result, which is the performance and not the process which each performer went through.

Of course I will do my best to update all details here.