The Sonic Spread is looking for casual contributors for the site.  A lot of my free time has been allocated to other things lately so the site has been suffering as a result.  If you would like to contribute please feel free to contact me. After the jump you can read a bit more about what we would be looking for, both contribution and content wise.

If you are a regular reader you probably have noticed that this site covers a broad spectrum of audio related content.  I think that’s where this site is kind of special.  There are tons of audio related sources out there, expanding multiple industries, that can be both educational and entertaining to all of us.  I would like to continue sharing these resources with the public but as I said above, my free time has been mostly taken up by other things.  This is why I am asking for help and here is what I am proposing.

I would like to get a group of people together that would enjoy posting here. In fact, they don’t even have to post regularly. The only thing I would like is that they are conscious to what the site represents both content wise and visually. As you have noticed I have tried to use thumbnails and images for most of the content.  I really think this helps make the site both easier and fun to read. I also try to add a few sentences outlining a referenced article or video.  The site needs a little personality from the authors and I would like to keep it from turning into a “bot-like” link feed.  People can just use RSS readers for that.

If you think you would like to post or share things you have found interesting from time to time on the site please contact me using the envelope icon at the top right of the page (with the rest of the social icons) or leave a comment below.  I will also still be posting from time to time and I will share my Google Reader (RSS) feed with anyone that wishes to contribute.

Thanks everyone!

Gamasutra has a pretty cool article about the design process for the original Xbox’s boot sequence.  It goes into details about the limitations and hardware used in order to match the eight second animation with a very small memory budget.  Check out an excerpt after the jump.

“For raw materials, I used a couple of different techniques.  I was able to synthesize on the fly a few very useful waveforms: white noise, sine and sawtooth waves.  These are fast and easy to calculate and also provide great raw material from which to make sequences, particularly given the signal processing available on the Xbox.  And they required virtually zero ROM memory!  But that wasn’t quite enough.  So for additional waves, I recorded 8-bit sound data, concentrating on the attacks.  In total, 3 short digitized waveforms were used, a thunder sound, a cannon sound  and glockenspeil, each recorded at a horrifyingly low sampling rates of between 6kHz and 10kHz.   I also wrote a quick piece of code to reverse the data in the thunder sound, which provided me with a 4^th digitized sound “reverse thunder” without needing any extra ROM memory which is mixed in as part of the lead-in to the big green flash about 6 seconds in.”

Read the whole article here: Gamasutra

Click here to view the embedded video.

As it grows I picture it becoming a great place to organize meets ups
and share pictures or videos from these events all around the world.

If you feel like joining, here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/136133059769967/

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a another great TED talk from Woody Norris on similar technology.

There’s a ton of information on this technology online. If you still interested in seeing more a simple Google search for “audio spotlight” will give you loads of information.

The guys over at Electronic Arts Black Box have put together a nice video showcasing the work done for Need for Speed: The Run.  I love a good racing game with killer sound work.

“HP and EA present a 4-part series covering all aspects of sound in the latest entry into the Need For Speed franchise: Need For Speed The Run. We will take a behind-the-scenes look at how the team captures everything from a super car engine to the sound effects of a tense action sequence to create one of the most well-respected soundscapes in gaming.”

via Need for Speed

Click here to view the embedded video.

via Designing Sound

What would you say are some of the greatest recent accomplishments in video game audio, focusing on games in the last 12 months that have used audio particularly well?

Kenneth Young: One of the talks with the highest attendance from last year’s audio track was Martin Stig Andersen’s session on the soundscape composition in Limbo. This is significant not only because it’s an indie game (the audio track doesn’t get many submissions from that scene, good or bad, so please shake a leg indie devs!), but also because there were a lot of non-audio people in attendance, which I’d love to encourage.

The real strength of the audio in Limbo is that it consistently reflects and supports every other aspect of the game and contributes towards a player experience which adds up to more than the sum of its parts. That’s something I aspire to in my own work, and it’s a real joy to see such a brilliantly pure example of it. I don’t think the game is for everyone, but you can’t really criticize the audio direction because it’s just so beautifully integrated in to the whole.

Chance Thomas: I’m not one for uber-violent video games, but I couldn’t resist tracking down and listening to the music score from last year’s Dante’s Inferno. The harmonic richness, tonal palettes, rhythmic interest and sheer ingenuity of that score set new standards for dramatic music in games. It’s clearly among our greatest accomplishments in recent memory.

Scott Selfon: As Kenny mentioned, I continue to be impressed with the boldness and uniqueness of indie titles and their ideas of how to make sound a key gameplay component. We see great and ever-increasing sophistication of the epic scores for AAA titles, but I love to see games push into new musical and sonic territories.

In addition to Limbo, Papa Sangre was a great mobile title that told its story nearly exclusively through sound. And the Independent Games Festival saw numerous unique and innovative uses of audio; that continues to be one of my favorite areas to visit at the Game Developer Conference.

Tommy Tallarico: The interactive audio experience in Red Dead Redemption has got to be one of my favorites. Rockstar seems to always take the time, make the resources available and spend the money to ensure the highest possible audio outcome. L.A. Noire is another great example. But the interactive music, sound design, voice-over acting and overall audio integration and mix was absolutely phenomenal in Red Dead.

via Gamasutra

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/36557/GDC_2012_Young_Selfon_Tallarico_On_Goals_For_Game_Audio.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GamasutraNews+%28Gamasutra+News%29

“Take 5 is a video web series published exclusively on the FIDMDigitalArts.com Blog by FIDM/Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising at www.blog.fidmdigitalarts.com.

Take five on Take 5 to get inspired, to get motivated, to get inside the minds of creative professionals. Join FIDMDigitalArts.com as we take five minutes to interview film directors, graphic artists, composers, illustrators, 3-D modelers, creative directors, motion graphics designers, photographers and other intriguing industry pros. Learn what makes the creative pros “tick” on Take 5.

In the video above, meet composer/sound designer, Diego Stocco, who uses cutting-edge techniques and unorthodox instruments to develop music and sound for film, television, trailers and video performances.

For more episodes of Take 5, visit http://blog.fidmdigitalarts.com/take-5-video-channel“

via FIDMDigitalArts

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Its actual location was near Antarctica’s Cape Adare where it was speeding along back in 2005 until it encountered an underwater shoal. It was shattered it into several pieces in just five hours.

The sound file has been compressed by a factor of 200 so the event can be heard in less than two minutes, according to Seelye Martin, UW research professor in oceanography. He was lead author of a paper published last year in the Journal of Geophysical Researchabout the event.

The wind-like, whistling sounds are the harmonics created as the iceberg sticks and slips over the shoal. Listen as the cracking sounds build – that’s probably fractures propagating through the iceberg like an ice cube fracturing when put in a glass of water – and then a sharp shot. The eerie moaning sounds are probably from the resulting pieces of ice rubbing against each other.”

via University of Washington

Source:  University of Washington

I’ve been pretty busy over the last couple months. In that time SoundWorks Collection have produced multiple videos I haven’t had the chance to share. In case you missed them there a slew after the jump.

Tranformers: Dark of The Moon

Click here to view the embedded video.

Michael Semanick: Re-recording Mixer Presentation

Click here to view the embedded video.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows: Part II

Click here to view the embedded video.

Dolby Presents Surrounded: 7.1 Cinema & Beyond

Click here to view the embedded video.

The guys over at Eidos Interactive have put together a video showcasing the audio for Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  They go over the development of the score, designing guns, environments and how they tried to make the soundtrack as immersive as possible.

Eidos Interactive Ltd. (/ˈaɪdɒs/eye-doss) is a label of Square Enix Europe.^[1] It was originally a video game publisher before it was acquired by Square Enix. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton.^[2][3]

Its best-known game series include Tomb Raider, Hitman, Commandos, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain, Thief, TimeSplitters, and Fear Effect. The company maintains offices all around the world, including the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Australia and Japan.

Eidos officially became part of Square Enix on 22 April 2009. Following a reorganization of the company, Eidos was merged with Square Enix’s European operations into Square Enix Europe.^[1] The Eidos brand currently lives through the development studio Eidos Montréal, and is also used as a label for games developed by former Eidos-owned developers like Crystal Dynamics and IO Interactive.^[4]

via Wikipedia