KmaG Music: Custom Beats/ Engineering Services
Creation Process:
Once into the Project I was provided placeholder assets to serve the dual purpose of having a raw sound to edit, while providing a template of what an ideal raw sound would be for this particular game.
In all there a total of 12 assets that were required for this body of work including: Creature sounds (Fnoon & Barnabys; 3 of each), a space ship engine (loop), ambience (2 planetary loops), a weaponized vaporizer, a teleport in & teleport out
ZOOM RECORDER I started my edits capturing raw samples of live sounds from around the house & city with
Kraktoh & Dkuk Ambiences
Goat Picture Courtesy of wix.com
Horse Picture Courtesy of wix.com
I started with the Ambience sounds out of all of my assets since it would represent the base of gameplay. The descriptions of the planets, Kraktoh & Dkuk stated that each was desolate with spacial winds. The choice of words caused me to think about what could compare. So for both Kraktoh and Dkuk I sought out sounds that could be warped with a filter to reduce to a low rumbling windy timbre. Ultimately the Kraktoh ambience source sound was that of an open deep freezer while the Dkuk ambience was created from an operating blender. The Dkuk loop was ideal after the first edit per client but the Kraktoh ambience had a very minor click at the point of looping in which I addressed by repairing the loop ensuring a seamless playback.
Fnoon & Barnaby
For my creature sounds I had a great time being creative and editing. This was something that didn't require going to a farm but still utilized the standard practice of using animal sounds to form "alien" sounds. For my Barnaby asset initially I edited a cat's pain cry from there with use of TCE tools I transposed the tone and elongated the clip. After the initial edits i received client review that the creature needed an even more realistic body. So I decided to find a sound with more character and richness. This resulted in the raw sounds being replaced by the pained bleat of a goat. While the edit formula did not change the new sound met the expectation of the asset for the client. For the Fnoon asset I utilized the sound of Cattle yelling in pain. this turned out to be a stellar asset but after peer & client review it was determined that the sound was too drawn out after the edits. This was an easier repair in Protools by modifying the length of the assets without changing pitch. In addition a painful horse yell was used as an additive for the asset. Each group of assets had automation and plugins applied to create the a vaporizing effect.
They truck used for source sound of Vaporizer
Vaporizer
The Vaporizer was probably my favorite asset of the game and also to create. This particular asset is described as a futuristic weapon that eviscerate enemies to the point of vaporizing. I had an ideal sound in mind to create this asset from a toy truck. The truck itself has a friction motor which gave a very ascetically pleasing decay so once capture the editing and automated effect was straight forward. With the second draft of the assets and after peer and client review I receive suggestions to give the sound more body to align with the idea that in this game the vaporizer is both massive and the "lead" asset that will be heard the most. With this constructive feedback I tweaked the EQ and layered it with the sound with a blunt impact strike to a metal pot rack. This enriched the sound and gave more a massive blast suited for a futuristic weapon.
Dishwasher Used for Tel In/Tel Out
Teleport In/Out
When creating the Teleport in and Teleport out assets it required more detailed editing but was achieved from the unique sound emitted from a dishwasher starting and stopping. This edit included both the start and the stop of the dishwasher together and was modified as a book end asset. After the edits when to specification I was able to again apply automation to bring the sound to life for the game. This wasn't without it's own challenges due to the sound needing to be spliced and reassemble for a one shot effect. Many of the constructive criticism received was about volume levels which was corrected during revision in Wwise.
Engine
Lastly for the engine loop when approaching this asset it important to seek out a sound with and exciting rhythmic patter n that occurred naturally. For this I tested numerous sounds but each had an asymmetrical rhythm which I knew would affect the impact of the asset on the player. So after a number of kitchen item trials I decided to apply edits to my electronic can opener. I applied andEQ to pull out some high frequencies, then applied various other effect until I was down to just the essence of the rhythm within the raw sound. From that point I created a loop doing multiple playbacks ensuring seamless integration. Once reviewed this asset was determine to lack body with the initial edits and was overpowering to the other sound during gameplay. Too remedy the problems I spent more time to balance sounds and eq to bolster more body.