Impulses

So now I needed to create impulses to capture the sonic difference of rooms and environments. I borrowed a Zoom H6 field recorder and bought a pack of balloons and went on an adventure around my home town Casino. I went to an old train tunnel, a viaduct, a reflective walkway, and a one-way concrete alleyway. With these recordings, using a balloon as an impulse, I was able to capture the sonic information of each environment. I sliced these recordings and then imported them into Space Designer in Logic to create the environment I was after for different sections for the gameplay.

Synthesis

I wanted to use synthesis in my project, so I used Bitwig to create a synth patch for different electrical elements. I used The Grid in Bitwig to patch and create sounds that I then recorded and exported from Bitwig. I imported them into Logic and put them into the Alchemy sampler. I could then play different notes for different lights, allowing empashes on lighting size and styles, having them sound different.

I also created a preset in Logic's Es P(Polyphonic Synth), called Gloomy which is included in the sample pack. This is to give a dark element, adding character to the gameplay with singular stuck chords. I also put these chords in a 3/4 time signature to give more of an edge and pace to the ambient chords, pushing the scene from start to finish.

Sampling and Foley

To create different character movements and actions, I had to get creative within the environment I had available to me. This project was designed for me to use my available resources (microphones and sample libraries) and creativity to capture elements for the soundscape. I decided to create some foley sounds to be sampled into the gameplay, creating footsteps in gravel, puddles, mud, on concrete and timber, as well as being waist deep swishing through water. I recorded these sounds in the hallway of my house and the bathtub. Collecting gravel from my driveway, I placed a pile on some towels in my hallway and placed a microphone in front to capture me stomping and shuffling around. The same technique was used for the concrete and timber, concrete being the hallway floor itself and timber being the office mat under my chair. For the water and mud I went to my bathroom, grabbed a hand towel and started to fill the bath. I walked around in the tub stepping, swishing and dragging my feet around. I dropped the hand towel in and let it absorb as much water as it could, I then left enough water in the top for it to stay wet, but not be submerged, and then started stepping and walking on the wet hand towel ball. To get the swishing water for the scene of the character waist deep in water, I simple added more water to the bathtub until I was shin deep in water and started kicking around.

I needed a large mechanical sound for the big blower in the game, so I used a little eco honda generator I had in the shed. I could have used a large engine with a louder exhaust like a lawn mower or even tractor or car to get the size and tone of the engine correct, however I decided to use the eco honda generator due to the way the modern age is. If someone else was to attempt this, eco generators and mowers are becoming more popular and now with battery operated equipment more popular in urban areas. I enjoyed the challenge of sampling and synthesising the generator to make it sounds larger and more mechanical.

This project has been completed over the last 5 weeks, allowing me to research and learn more about sampling, synthesis and foley. I've also picked up some tips and tricks within Logic ways around sends and the use of track stacks and creating an atmosphere of sound before it goes to the output without having to automate every track for every environment and impulse change.

The first week for me was a research and planning week. looking into post production and recording for different animations such as Cars and Wall-e, as well as game sound design for games such as Mortal Kombat. With sound for games that are dynamic and nonlinear you can use the data from the design of the game for specific elements and movements around a sound as, and to change environments sounds such as inside vs outside. But because my soundscape was based around a recording it was basically just a video. I needed to make sure that there was minimal novelty throughout the soundscape and design, meaning that elements that were repeated sounded the same, letting the audience know and understand where the sound is coming from or what it is related to. If it wasn't Kev teaching the class about Impulses and convolution reverb, I could have been searching and trying to artificially create rooms for days. thankfully Kev let the class explore Impulse Responses in class in Week 5, allowing me to spark ideas and plan more elements for this project.

The second week for me was the beginning of the creative stage for me, with music and synthesis. I acquired 12 minutes of gameplay footage from Kev and started arranging some rain and thunder samples into the session. During this week I set out my plan for recording the Impulses and decided on the locations. I also used this week to scour my shed and house for elements and decided on the little Honda eco generator and doing foley sounds in the house. I began playing in Native Instruments Reaktor for the chords, but I decided against it due to the fact of I was using Logic, so I should probably just make a Logic instrument preset rather than in another piece of software. The use of the Grid in Bitwig allowed me to understand synthesis and sampling over the first 6 weeks of this trimester. For me being a multi-instrumentalist and doing performance based music, I was always on 'analogue' instruments (guitar,bass, piano, drums), but being able to implement and use each element with a visual design and visual patching, as well as real time information was extremely helpful and I now use synthesis and sampling more in my creations.

My third week was my recording and arranging stage. I went out and captured my impulses, recorded the generator and began creating the soundscape with detail for the section of video I had selected. This was a lot of editing and automation processing. at the end of this week my layers had been created with music, weather, lights and the controller. I also created my environments using automation between my different Impulses in Space Designer.

My fourth and fifth week was more or less the same, working in Logic to arrange and create dynamics around elements, as well as work on foley sounds and create movements and actions for the character.

If I was to complete this project again I think I would try to be more Foley focused and create everything from scratch either with synthesis or recording and re-sampling, without library sounds. This was considered as a scope for this project, however I wanted to include library sounds as it allowed me to write the article on the avaliability and creative access around the world. I could also go the other way about it and limit myself to only use library sounds.

Throughout the project I ran into some issues, but most were all just me challenging my creative vision. I tried something and wanted it to sound or work a specific way but it wouldn't work or I couldn't get it to sound how I imagined so I could dive back into Bitwig and create it from scratch. This wasn't an issue, it more just added time but let me flex my problem solving and creative skills.