composing

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Still Truckin’

October 14, 2010 in Film, Music, Uncategorized | No comments

Wow, October already?  Sometimes, it blows my mind how fast time moves… having a 9-5 on top of my music and sound design stuff always seems to drain me, and I get far less stuff done than most of my audio peers, but that doesn’t mean I don’t keep trying.

In fact, I’ve been fairly busy: I’ve done two pieces of music for Elevation Studios, and I’ve been session-guitaring for Juliet Richardson’s new project.

Unfortunately, I can’t show you much of Juliet’s stuff, but, trust me, it’s awesome, but I can show you are the two Elevation Studios projects.

First up, K2.

For this, I was asked to not just emulate, but straight-up COVER the iPhone 3G commercial music — a song called You, Me and the Bourgeoisie, by the Submarines.  I ran into a problem with the drums, because midi-based drum fills NEVER feel that good, so I followed the general rule of thumb with covers and added a breakbeat instead.

After that, came ARC.

Elevation Studios has been busier than usual, too, so I was asked to write another piece of original music, within the same vein as the rest of the music I’ve written for ES.  In this project, I ran into something that was both a blessing and a curse — a track limit.  I prefer to mix my music in Sonar LE 8.5, because the interface just feels better for mixing than Sonar Home Studio, but when I transferred my project over, I lost somewhere between 4 and 10 tracks.  At first, I was upset, though I could always just mix in HS, but after I listened to the music, I was a lot happier with the stripped down version than the version that had all the extra bells and whistles (not literally).

This is the track I wrote:

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And this is what Brandon did with it.  I love being able to trust Brandon with my music, knowing that he’s not going to have any obviously bad transitions.

Thanks for listening.

As usual, let me know what you think.

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XACTing Siphon Spirit

August 4, 2010 in Game Design, Music, Sound Design, Video Games | No comments

This is a tech-heavy post, specifically regarding XNA, XACT, and the in and outs of video game sound design.
This post isn’t for everyone.

Up to this point…

All the sound in Siphon Spirit has been implemented using the basic soundEffect.Play(); functions for all the sounds within the game, which has given us — specifically me — very little control on the audio within the game.  Play, stop, loop, and volume — all with their own quirks and downfalls. Two audio files played simultaneously would never sync, things looped with an audible seam, and if I wanted to add pitch variations to common sounds, I had to make that many sound files and play them at random.  So, not ideal.

Luckily for us…

XNA Game Studio comes with a built in audio engine with far more flexibility and functionality than can be achieved with code alone.  Seamless looping: check. Automatic pitch variation: check. Ability to pan: check.  Take audio control away from the coder and give it to me, much to his chagrin: check! And, like everything else XNA, it’s free.  Not just free to download and use on projects that will never make money, like fMod and WWise, but free to every XNA project you ever build.

But…

XNA documentation is awful — Not Microsoft-awful, but awful in general — and the sections on XACT are less informative than the rest of it.  To figure any of it out, you have to be both a programmer and a sound guy, and you pretty much have to have the code and the audio library open at the same time to get things working correctly.  In our case, that means I work on the audio library at the same time as our programmer, Curtis, implements the code, and we tackle any bugs that pop up via IM, Dropbox, and Google — because, like I mentioned, XNA documentation sucks, and all of our solutions have actually come from 3rd party / frustrated-user tutorials.  And, like all things Microsoft, sometimes things will work in one build and not in the next, even though nothing was changed.

So…

  • Why not use fMod or WWise? Because we want to make money, but don’t have the initial flow to pay for licensing.
  • Why not use the built in sound functions, and just live with it? Two words… seamless looping.  Actually, scratch that.. more control.
  • What about *insert other audio middleware / library here*? Because, honestly, I don’t know of any other.

In conclusion

XACT will, I believe, reveal itself to be time well spent.  Not only can I put this experience on my resume, but the feel of Siphon Spirit, and any other XNA game I work on will benefit from the headaches I’m suffering through right now. And it’s actually really nice to feel like I’m part of the creative process beyond just the assets  I’ve been creating.

And the real reason I wrote this post…

Was to link this blog post by Kevin Gadd about simple dynamic audio within XACT.  If I didn’t find that, everything XACT related would never have made any sense.  If you found this post because you’re frustrated with XACT, check out that link.

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GEEX Music

August 1, 2010 in Music, Video Games | 5 comments

I only wrote two pieces of music during the GEEX 2010 Game-in-a-day. Considering I had 24 hours to do it, a lot of people would say I did great, but I probably could have pulled off another game if I didn’t want to actually see the convention.

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The first piece I did was for my team… Have I mentioned I’m totally in a hip-hop mood, lately? If this doesn’t prove it, I don’t know what does. Also, I tried to incorporate some Akira Yamaoka style guitar in there.

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The second piece I did was supposed to be a Victorian Era piece that reminded the player of the sea. I got to use Bellows by Detunized.com in this, and I’ve gotta say, I’m really happy with it.

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Oh, wow… you’re still here.

July 28, 2010 in Film, Music, Sound Design, Video Games | No comments

Last time we met, it was April — for those of you who are like me, that last post three months and twenty one days ago — and I said I’d give you two blogs that week.  Let’s pretend I did that, and kept doing that all this time, so there’s no hard feelings.

So, what’s happened since I dropped off the planet?

Lots, actually, but only a few things are really worth mentioning, and I’ll do that in bullets, because I’m feeling neat, tidy, and list-like today.

  • Someone actually validated my least-popular blog where I said you should work for free.  Until I read that, I’d been wondering if I was all wrong… now I know I’m not.
  • Siphon Spirit is going strong, though our release is looking farther and farther away, thanks to feature creep. But it will be awesome, I assure you.  One thing I’m incredibly happy about is that I’m getting to use XACT for the first time, and finding it really helpful.
  • Violet Kiss (the website is down, apparently) was finished — I may have mentioned that — and is being submitted to film festivals around the country.  If you’re interested in seeing it, let me know, and I can try to find out the dates and locations.
  • I participated in the 48 Hour Film Project, and though my team didn’t win, I had a great time. You can watch the final video here, and our practice run here.

And now, the bigger news.

In Salt Lake City, there is a gaming and electronics expo called Geex (if you’re in Utah, are a games publisher, or an electronics manufacturer, you should check it out), where, at the very least, there were a bunch of sweet game tournaments and contests, one of which was a Game-in-a-day, where I wrote music and sound effects for a small number of games (two with music, three with sound effects).  My official team came in third place, and one of the teams I did sound for came in first.

Rick Bradshaw, Dave Matney, Chance Thomas

But that’s not the big news… See, at Geex, there were a myriad of panels, one of which was Audio in Games, featuring some pretty big names in the local, and even global, game audio community.

Hosting the panel was Mike Neilsen, from Wahoo / NinjaBee, who did a great job and kept things rolling.  On the panel with me were Rick Bradshaw, a sound designer from Disney Interactive, and Chance Thomas, from HUGEsound.

My initial thoughts on the panel were that it would be dull, and we’d have maybe ten people in the crowd, and we’d probably end up finishing early because of lack of interest.

Boy, was I wrong… there were probably 20-30 people in the crowd,with every one of them asking incredibly good questions and keeping things moving — Mike only had to step in a few times to offer new topics.  We were given an hour, but since we were the final panel of the day, we ended up going somewhere between 30-40 minutes over.

The best part of the panel experience, in my opinion, was that there was a mutual respect between us, and we all seemed to really get along.  Though Mike and I only have a few years experience, against Brad and Chance’s twenty-plus years each, both Mike and I were able to have valuable input, with none of us really taking center stage.  I particularly liked that, for almost every question, the panel would end up discussing it like we were talking over coffee — someone would ask a question, one panelist would offer their opinion, then turn to the rest of the panel, and we’d discuss it with each other.  It felt really nice to shoot shop with people who have far more experience and shipped titles under their belts, and not feel like I was the odd man out.

So, now what?

Back to working on Siphon Spirit, most likely, as well as a few MonkeyEgg projects that haven’t really taken off.  I’m also working on a bid piece for a short horror film, and I should be officially compiling my demo reel over the next couple of weeks.  In the mean time, I’ll try to update here, more often… and I’ll get some music uploaded so you can hear what I did for the Geex Game-in-a-day.

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Time to start taking myself seriously.

March 18, 2010 in Film, Game Design, Music, Sound Design, Video Games | 1 comment

The Complete Guide to Game AudioRecently, I picked up The Complete Guide to Game Audio and I must say, it’s an amazing book.  It’s answered just about every question I’ve had that I couldn’t find in an article, forum, blog, or otherwise, and I highly recommend it.  But this isn’t a book review, this is a realization. The realization that I wasn’t taking myself, or my future as a career composer / sound designer, seriously.

In fact, I was treating it as a pipe dream — something that would be nice to have, but not something I could ever get.  And that was effecting everything I was doing outside the actual music and sound design.

Once I realized it, I made a vow to myself and the world (via my Twitter account):

[Dave Matney] will be living entirely off money made through music and sound design by 2013.

On January 16th, 2013, I will be turning 30, and I don’t want to be the 30 year old that doesn’t at least have a foot in the door toward the career of his dreams.  The career I’ve been working toward since I was six years old when  I first started writing goofy little songs on my mom’s piano. (Sure, I wanted to be a rock star, but, in 1989, I didn’t know people even made video games, I just thought they existed.)

So, I need to make some changes.

First off, I’m done working for free.

I’ve advocated working for free in the past, despite all evidence to the contrary, and I’m now realizing that I was wrong.  With few exceptions (Open Source projects, for example, where everything is strictly voluntary, or one-time personal favors), no one should ever work for free. Even if you’re working for a church or other non-profit, you can still get a letter of charitable contribution, which is a tax write off.

So, it comes down to this: If the person I’m doing the project for is getting paid, and/or if anyone else working on the project is getting paid, I am getting paid. I understand each project is different — students don’t have the kind of money a corporation has, and some projects pay on the back end instead of up front — but the fact of the matter is I have worked twenty-one years of my life toward this goal, and I deserve it.

Second, I’m done taking on new work until my demo reels are complete.

I have enough experience, and almost enough footage, to put together a demo reel.  So, as I polish off my plate I will begin the process of putting together my demo reels, both for sound design and music.  I need to show the world that I am worth what I am charging.

Finally, I will be overhauling my site, and blogging regularly.

My brother and I have been kicking around ideas for this site since I started it, and that’s been keeping me from moving forward with business cards and such, as I’ve been waiting to get everything properly, and uniformly, branded.  So, when I roll out my completed demo reel, I will roll out a new site.

In the mean time, and even after then, I will be blogging regularly.  Not every day, but I will promise at least weekly updates.  I won’t be don’t weekly links, and sometimes my weekly updates will be slightly anorexic, but there will be a weekly touch down from me.  Probably every Friday.

All in all, I think these are the best moves for me, my family, and my career. And, like I said, by my 30th birthday, I will be living entirely off money generated from music and sound design (and, if possible, game design and game writing, but that’s not my focus.)

Here’s to moving forward. ►►

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Huge!

February 17, 2010 in Film, Music | No comments

HUGE! from Brandon Thomas Irwin on Vimeo.

This video easily signifies my greatest work, to date.  Brandon gave me a spoken-word version of the poem over a year ago, and asked me to write music, because he was going to make a video for his girlfriend, Abbey.  He didn’t know, at the time, that he was going to propose, but I knew exactly what it was going to be when I listened to it.

I haven’t talked about this, because it was supposed to be a secret.  I’m still not sure how Brandon got Abbey to be in a couple of the scenes without her being wise to it’s end purpose, but I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty awesome.

Eric Santoro played drums, but, otherwise I wrote, sequenced, and recorded all the music.

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Global Game Jam, 2010

February 2, 2010 in Music, Sound Design, Uncategorized, Video Games | No comments

This last weekend I had the privilege to participate in the 2010 Global Game Jam, held at our local branch of ITT Tech building.  It was a lot of fun, overall.

This year’s theme was “Deception,” and the area restraints were “Trades, Raids, or Maids.”  Some teams were formed before the opening night, which I feel took away from the overall experience, but those teams still had the experience of cranking out a game in 48 hours.

I was officially part of one team–made up of Tim Tillotson, Mark Schmelzenbach, and Jacob Kinney– at the start, with a self-imposed time limit of being done at Saturday by noon, which worked just fine for me, because I wanted to do audio for as many people as I could. We cranked out as much as we could, and when noon came around we saw that we weren’t close to finishing our project, but we saw an end in sight, so Mark and Tim both agreed they could work ’til 3, which we worked to and had to simply cut our losses; it was close, but it still wasn’t a playable game.  With Tim saying he was going to work on it a bit more that night –which he did– he, Mark, and Jacob all went their separate ways, and I stayed behind to do sound for anyone else who wanted it.

I could give you tons of stories, but I’ll just get onto the games and audio.

First up, is The Ant Thieves, the game that my team put together. You can play it here.

I am really happy with my audio for this game… I took The Ants Go Marching, and blended it with the James Bond and Mission Impossible themes, for an ant-spy feel.  I made two versions, one with a subdued chord progression and one made to feel victorious.  As for sound design, I pitched up a scream sound and made a “stomp” sound with some impacts and a drum, then added some distortion.

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Next up, Treasure Raiders is an XBox 360 game with a rock-paper-scissors mechanic and some campy art.  It should be mentioned that none of the people on their team were artists.   I hung out with these guys almost exclusively after my team left. You can download the Windows version of the game from the link above, or you can wait for it to show up in the XBox Live Arcade (it won’t be free… but all the money is going to charity.)

I had a lot of fun writing the music for this project.  They wanted something like Castle Crashers, giving the game a cheesy epic feel, and I was loving me some French Horns when I wrote the music.  As for sound design, I tried to use musical instruments for as much of it as I could, to keep the campy feel, but had to resort to recorded sounds for the combat.

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Third up is Dust Bunnies. I really don’t know what to tell you about this team.  They were mostly ITT Tech students, with two exceptions.  Every time I went into their room, I never knew what to expect; someone could be sleeping on the floor, or someone could be rapping, and over the Saturday-to-Sunday crunch, they had rap music videos projected on their wall.  It was a blast, and you can play it here.

These boys didn’t know what they wanted… they first asked for elevator music, and then something by Ry Cooder.  By the end of it, they had settled on a Sim City-sounding reggae tune that I had actually cast aside, because I didn’t think they’d want it.  I’m glad they did, though.. I always ove writing reggae.  For sound design, I took two vacuum tracks, layered them, and trimmed them so the start and stop would be shorter, and cleaner.

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Finally, I did sound design for two additional games.

For the first one, Maid of Discontent, built entirely by one man, the sound was almost an afterthought.  He had asked me for two sound effects earlier in the night, but he insisted it wasn’t a big deal, so I focused on everything else.  If he hadn’t had trouble uploading the file, I don’t think I would have even been able to get the two sounds in.  Yeah, that’s right… two sounds.  A coin dropping into a vending machine, and a door closing, both FreeSound sounds that I simply cleaned up and balanced out.

The second sound-design-only game, and final game I worked on, was ConRaid, a fun flash game where you hide crowns from raiding orcs.  I feel I had more making these sound effects than any other project, due to their simplicity and speed.  I simply played guitar, then bitcrushed and downsampled them ’til I was happy.  Because of their melodic roots, they give the game a sense of having a soundtrack, even though there’s not one there.  You can play it here.

Oh, and one more thing:

The games posted in this entry use the following sound files from Freesound (http://www.freesound.org):

Woman Scream AAA, Thijs loud scream, from thanvannispen
Wilhelm from SweetNeo85
Scream Boom 01 from studiorat
Scream from analogchill
banda fort sample from snog
Door Creak Short from Percy Duke
Single Coin Return from tweeterdj

I’ll happily do this again, next year.

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One Hour Audio pt. 2

December 28, 2009 in Music, One Hour Audio, Uncategorized, Video Games | No comments

Tonight’s One Hour Audio was a bit of a disappointment, at least to me. A bad choice of synths to work with, a major key (C Major at that… the cheesiest of all keys), and an attempt at something with a little more structure all lead up to me writing something I’m pretty sure will hit the scrap pile.

As always, let me know what you think.

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One Hour Audio pt. 1

December 27, 2009 in Music, One Hour Audio, Video Games | No comments

So, I’ve finally decided that I should stop putting things off, and start practicing my composition. Like all things, composition can only get better from practice, right?

The reason I’ve finally given in to what I know I SHOULD do is the Global Game Jam, which is coming up in almost exactly a month from today. I’ve got to be fast for that, especially given that I’ll be one of few composers, if not the only one, available for that event, and I suspect I’ll be approached by more than one group to make music for their games.

Also, in composing, I’ve heard that you get paid by project, not by hour you put into something (which makes sense), so the less time you can spend on each project, the more you can make in the long run.

So, I gave myself an hour to start from scratch and write everything I could on one idea, followed by 10 minutes to do final arranging, mixing, and mastering. It was chaotic, loop based, and, overall, turned into something I could probably use in the future with a little refining.

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Let me know what you think.

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ReWire Project

November 28, 2009 in Uncategorized | 1 comment

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been battling my computer… specifically, Komplete 5, and Sonar LE.

The issue with Komplete was my own fault; I opened (at least) one of the instruments as a plugin before I opened it as a stand alone version. I don’t remember that being written anywhere obvious in the installation manual or anything, but it’s what happened. And, admittedly, I’ve been fighting with this since the day I got Komplete. That is, until two weekends ago when I started the LLLOOONNNGGG process of uninstalling all NI products, and reinstalling them, opening them, updating them, and opening them again. It’s taken 2 weeks, because I have a life away from this particular computer (though you’d never know it.)

The issue with Sonar is simply this: it’s a demo version, and it’s not made to run in Vista. Yeah, I run Vista. So, it crashes unexpectedly, and without consistency. Luckily, it’s that time of year where both Christmas and my birthday fall, and hopefully I’ll be able to move away from demo products, or at least some of them.

Well, because of the battling, while I’ve been doing all this mucking around to get my computer back to where I can work on Violet Kiss (which I’ll be doing minutes after I hit Publish, get a beer, grab my guitar and stuff from the car, and… well… about 30 minutes to an hour after I hit Publish), I’ve been playing around with Ableton Live (Live Lite, to be honest… another demo product, but with A LOT better support).

I’m still not a Live expert, but I no longer hate the program now that I know 3rd party Live Sets exist. But one thing I can now do is ReWire Sonar and Live together, which opens up a new realm of possibilities — Live Lite is limited to 8 audio tracks, which just isn’t enough for large projects, but it IS enough to bring a smattering of Live-exclusive sounds into a larger, Sonar-hosted, project.

So, this is my first experiment with ReWire.

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All melodic instruments are played in Sonar, while the percussion is in Live. Sonar was the Master, Live the slave, though the only thing that really changed there was which program I used to bounce this down.

The music box sound is from Kore, and so is the reverse delay; The bass is from Massive. There are 3 different drum kits used, Carbonized, Latin Percussion, and a Bright British kick… everything but Carbonized was ran through a delay, and Carbonized has it’s own.

Also… regular listeners to this blog will recognize the melody from the Churches – New York track. I’ve been kicking this melody around for awhile, and I initially intended it for a PARPG song, which is where the music box tracks came together. Now I’ve pretty much kicked this melody around to the point of never being able to use it again (which isn’t a bad thing.)

As always, let me know what you think.

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