adamdenby.co.uk

The site is finally live! Go check it out now:

 www.adamdenby.co.uk

 

Typeface Chicken Promotion

This is a video created to promote Nick Yates type face ‘Angst’. My role was the sound design and video production.

Flashback Studios Progress 3

I have finished all the Mobster levels, and created sound effects for the game ‘Lawless’. I used my microphones in my bedroom to make the sounds of various punches and hit. The gun shot sounds were from sample packs, as i don’t access to real guns, i don’t think the expected me to go out and shoot some stuff. The game should all come together soon, i can’t wait to play it.

Horror Game Progress 4

After finding some one to record the dialogue with me, David requested 6 Ambient tracks that he could loop throughout the game to create different feelings. It took me a few days to make tracks out of synth pads and low piano bass notes, but it was a pretty easy process. I held down notes with different pads in Nexus and Sylenth to create a sense of dread. I tried to make the ambience sounds have no obvious rhythm so that changes would seem unexpected and surprising to tie in with the genre of the game. I also added occasional string instruments such as a chello playing the odd note to create an uncomfortable atmosphere.

I have submitted all files to David now, with the addition of some sound effect he requested to be edited.

Flashback Studios Progress 2

After finally getting the sound that the team wanted, i made all three of the Mobster levels. Ron gave me a more detailed description of how the level should sound.

• Junkyard (Punk): Clunky, metallic, Jagged [High Priority]
• Harbour(Punk): Like junkyard, not as heavy, industrial stuff
• Sewers(Punk): Current track is good.
• Financial(Mobster): Minor blues, more noir, mostly background. One key instrument (sax?)
• Clubs(Mobster): Use current Rooftop track unless you have something else in mind?
• Rooftops(Mobster): Cool, more calm than the other tracks.
• Apartment: old harbour track with the 8bit track changed to something else. Strings perhaps?

This kind of language is what confuses me. I’m not entirely sure what makes a song sound ‘Clunky’ and ‘Jagged’, but ive decided it can make that raw sounding guitar happen by not applying too much distortion. I’ve decided that the gritty guitar will make the level feel Jagged, which is perfect for a Junk yard.

The mobster levels are sounding very ‘bluesy’. I had trouble using a new piece of software called DVS Saxophone, but i fixed it by buying a Korg nanokontrol 2, which can send additional MIDI information to change the sound of the mouth piece.

Another Short Video

I recorded this small promotional video for Jonathan Buschenfeld attempting to sell himself as a graphic designer.

Horror Game Progress 3

David has emailed me with an addition list of sounds, and review of the ones i already provided. He seems to be fairly happy with the sounds, and has praised me for my work with the effects, however no he is asking for dialogue, and ambient music. The list of lines for the voice acting seems extremely long, and i have no idea where to get someone to do voice acting. I will have to ask one of my friends to do, as if they don’t already have enough work to do already, being in their final year.

Horror Game Progress 2

After failing to get the huge hollywood sounds that i was after, i decided to look into sample packs. I searched forums and websites for free and paid samples, and got hold of a few, then made them my own in Cubase with audio processing. I also found a lot of synth patches that already had SFX settings for ghostly and haunting sounds.

The setting for the game is an abandoned train station, so i nice big reverb with Altiverb 6 really gave the sounds context. I removed the frequencies with Eq that i thought might be a little too much, for example the big ‘boom’ bottem end on some of the impacting sounds. I also used Native instruments ‘Damage’ to get huge distorted sounds such as impacts and train noises.

I am worried that David may not get he levels right when adding them into the game engine, but unfortunately i have no idea how to use UDK, so that part will have to be up to him.

Epic Horror Sounds

This morning i began building a sound libary for David’s Horror game. After meeting up with him it is clear that his level designs are not entirely finished, and it seems that i had just as many ideas for the level design as he did. I took my Zoom H2 handy recorder out last week to Picadilly train station and got some great sounds. David said the train station in his level would be abandoned, so a lot of the great crowd and ambient noises that i captured probably wont be of any use in this situation. The ticket machine sound that i got from within the station seemed to be filled with background noise too, so it will be useless. I am wondering if buying a sample pack online may be a good idea, as don’t really have the equipment to record rubble crumbling or the sound of large pieces of steel crashing into the ground. I have salvaged all that i can, but i may have to find my sound externally.

Flashback Studio Progress 1

My first piece of music for flashback studios was rejected, and described as ‘Too slow, and not very battle like’. After listening to all the noir sound tracks i tried to create a relaxed jazz-crossed with synths sound, to combine their idea of futuristic robots being in a 1920s type world.

It seemed that the game developers had described the sound they wanted to me using incorrect terminology, for example ‘fast but slow’ and ‘old but new’. I tried my best to make sense of their language, but in the end i just made a few tracks based on what i thought it should sound like, and they were happy with what i produced.

They told me that there were 6 levels, 3 controlled by punks, and 3 controlled by the mob. I expect that i will make the punk side using blues sounding melodies with raw sounding guitars, and the mob site as jazz pieces with instruments such as saxophones and double bass.

 

Below is an image of one of the levels from the game, Junkyard i think.

Flashback Studios Meeting

After talking to the project leader Ron over email, he told me he had fallen ill and would not be able to make the meeting, however the rest of the team came to meet me at the front of futureworks and we headed to their department. The team of three guys ran me through the game, and told me it was a side scrolling beat em up made on flash. The game will be designed for online play, with customisable weapons and characters.

They described the game as Noir, but with robots. The told me to watch a few Noir films and study the music. I felt that because the team had more members, they had a lot more artwork and planning already done. They also showed me a beta of the game, which didnt look too good. I am excited to work on this project because of it’s simplicity and design.

First Meeting

Today i met David from the Horror advert in the Futureworks student lounge. We talked about what the game would involve, and how the game involved no combat or action sequences, the main theme would be horror and that the sound was the most important part. He described his level as being set in an abandoned train station with a haunted feel. He also showed other work that he had done, and said he focused mainly on level design rather than characters, story etc.

David said that he was meeting a few other people for the job, and that he would let me know if i got it. He mentioned that there were at least 5 other, and that some of them were from my course. It might get a bit awkward if i get the job over them, but then it’s their own fault for not trying as hard.

I recieved an email from David informing me that i had got the job.

Another Poster

After accepting the Horror game job, i saw another poster a week later. The poster was for a beat ’em up, sci fi noir, retro game, looking for blues/jazz music. I thought it couldn’t hurt to do more than one project, so i took the contact details. Im aware that other people on my course may need games to work on, but i feel like i need more work to show for my FMP, and this is also one of favourite genres.

I went home and wrote 2 pieces of music. The first was a jam with myself, playing funky bass, tasty guitar riffs, and a little bit organ. I made this incase they wanted a live feel, as blues and jazz is usual improvised. The second was an 8-bit style recording, using old Gameboy tones that i had sampled. I made this piece because the poster mentioned retro games, which would fit right in with this style.

The two pieces together showed myself as a sound designer with a wide range of skills, from instrument talent, professional production, to sequencing and sampling. On top of this, i hope it showed that i have a good understanding of video game, and different music genres; after all i’ve never played jazz/blues before.

They liked the pieces and arranged to meet me next week.

Here are the demos:

http://soundcloud.com/apple-shampoo/sets/blues-demos

Game Composer Advert

Shortly after deciding to be a game composer/sound designer I spotted a poster up on the bulletin board advertising for one. The poster was made by two different people, working on two different projects, and although they were asking for a composer each, I felt I could double my chances by writing music for both projects. The first one was titled ‘Horror Game’, and although I played a lot of video games, I really have only played a hand full of the horror genre. The second was described as ‘Fantasy Game’, which is me favourite type of game, and would be easier to submit to since I already have a huge number of fantasy pieces composed and recorded on my hard drive. I tore off a contact slip and immediately ran home excited and ready to record some music.

Since I already had tons of fantasy music on computer, I thought I better have a go at some horror music to submit. I am aware that there are different levels of horror when it comes to video games, from the quieter, suspenseful Resident Evil games to epic, adventurous Dead Space, and so I decided to make 3 different recordings of different levels. The first was ambient and creepy, with very little rhythmic elements, mainly made up of pads and piano notes. The second was a little more energetic, a pushing bass line that sounded like it could be used in a crime drama. The third was almost a loud orchestral piece that might be heard in one of the Silent Hill films. Doing a variety of styles within the genre increased my chances of the project leader finding something he liked, so I felt pretty confident about it. I sat at my computer listening to old fantasy pieces I had made, and wondered if they were good enough.

Hours after sending the files he replied and told me in great detail all about his project, from his research to his hours in the game department. He also said that there were a number of people applying for the collaboration, but he was interested in me because he liked my recordings, especially the ambient one. Things we’re going so well with the Horror project I forgot to submit to the fantasy one. I’m really glad that I put the time in making multiple pieces, as one of them suited his game perfectly. Being able to produce 3 recordings a few hours after seeing his poster was also a skill worth having, to show how efficient and determined I am. Later I was told a time and a place to meet him, and that he was seeing a lot of other people that day. I was a little nervous about competing with others, but at the same time it might make me stand out against people who aren’t too bothered. I went to see him a few days later.

Click here for the 3 demos i sent:

horror-ambient

horror-dramatic

horror-moderate

Typeface Video

Recommended by a friend, I worked with Nick Yates on a video and sound design project. Nick’s idea was a short video promoting his unique type face ‘angst’ which was inspired by clockwork parts inside an egg timer. The video would show a small chicken shaped egg timer looking progressively worried as the camera zoomed in on its face. Ticking noise from the timer itself would begin to get louder, until it exploded, and left its insides scattered across the worktop. The film would be mixed with bits of flash animation, showing elements of the type face early on to increase the tension of the count down.

We filmed and directed the movie together, but it was left with me to edit and finish with sound design. Worrying about the small resolution of the camera was not a problem, since Nick only needed it large enough to be played on a laptop. The shots that we took looked fine in Avid Media composer, but with a bit of colour correction they looked vibrant and clear, it was amazing how much it improved it. After the video was cut and edited with bits from flash player, i used PreSonus Studio One for sound design adding explosions, and coins dropping for the falling of metal debris. The ticking was recorded from the actual egg timer, which made the piece feel much more unique.

Sound Design Proposal

Aims: Over the course of the next year I would like to have as much experience in sound design as I possibly can. This includes all film, animation and game projects that require music and sound effects. One of my strongest skills is composing, and I have always wanted to work with video games. A lot of people I know aim to become a sound engineer in the game industry because there is money in it, however they’re quite technical and often lacking in creativity. My strength is writing music, and I hope to compose some for a video game project as I am very enthusiastic about them.

Obstacles: One thing that has been a problem in the past is my inability to compose a wide range of genres. I hope to take on different styles as a challenge, and research the different elements that make up each musical style, for example Blues music using ‘Slide Guitar’, or dubstep being a certain tempo. However, I have worked on various projects over the years and gathered more of an understanding of creating different music, and always rise to the challenge of writing something new. A lot of people have informed me that composers often fail to understand the way a game works, and can’t get their head round sounds triggering within the game depending on the players actions. I have been playing games since an early age and have completed hundreds of them, so this really is not an issue for me.

Objectives: Ever since I started writing music I have been searching for jobs within games companies that enable me to use my compositional skills and have had very little luck. My biggest objective of all is to write music for a video game project, and perhaps the sound effects too.

Methods: The simplest way of searching for game sound design jobs is the internet, but it tends to be a ‘first come first served’ type situation. For example a lot of people make projects on a site called New Grounds, and post their adverts up on forums. The problem is that the project leader settles on the first person to reply, and leaves everyone else out in the dark, so unless I happen to be on the net at the right time I won’t be a part of any projects.One of my main focus’ will be getting a website up and running that shows off my talent as a sound designer. This could be a massive struggle if I decide to make the website myself instead of paying to do it for me. Either way, I would like to have a digital portfolio allowing the public to look through my work and seeing if they’d like to hire me.

Expected Outcomes: By the end of the year I hopefully will have written and recorded music for a games company, and have a website showing off my portfolio. I will have learned about many different styles and have the ability to