We worked on voice editing for the announcer.
September 4, 2008 | Chris Latham
Tags: EA Sports, Engine Audio, tiger woods pga tour
| Chris Latham
Tags: dialog, madden football
January 29, 2008 | Chris Latham
Tags: awards, bioshock, Crysis, game, GANG Audio, halo 3, heavenly sword, hellgate london, ii, lotr online, mass effect, mlb 07 the show, music, orange box, shrek the third, simpsons game, universe at war
Music4Games.net reports:
“The Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), the non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of game audio, has announced the finalists for the 6th Annual G.A.N.G. Awards to honor outstanding creative, technical and artistic audio achievement in the world of interactive entertainment.”
Finalists for the 6th annual G.A.N.G. Awards are listed below by category.
MUSIC OF THE YEAR
Assassin’s Creed
BioShock
God of War II
Halo 3
The Golden Compass
AUDIO OF THE YEAR
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
God of War II
Halo 3
Mass Effect
SOUND DESIGN OF THE YEAR
BioShock
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Crysis
The Orange Box
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
BEST INTERACTIVE SCORE
BioShock
Flow
God of War II
LOTR Online: Shadows of Angmar
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
BEST HANDHELD AUDIO
Dead Head Fred
MLB 07: The Show
Shrek The Third: Shrek’s Way
Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow
Transformers
BEST AUDIO OTHER
Grim’s Downfall (online game)
Jewel Quest II
Nine Billion Miles From Earth (online game)
Treasure Tunes (online game)
Website for Halo 3 Soundtrack
BEST CINEMATIC/CUT-SCENE AUDIO
BioShock
Halo 3
Heavenly Sword
Hellgate: London
Mass Effect
BEST DIALOGUE
BioShock
God of War II
Halo 3
The Orange Box
The Simpsons Game
BEST ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL
“Welcome To Rapture”, BioShock
“Infiltrating The Eagle’s Nest”, Blazing Angels 2
“Main Menu” The Golden Compass
“Epilogue”, Lair
“The Citadel”, Mass Effect
BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL ‚ CHORAL
“City of Jeruslaem” ‚ Assassin’s Creed
“Joan of Arc”, Bladestorm
“Luck”, Halo 3
“Main Titles”, God of War II
“Divine Intervention”, Universe At War: Earth Assault
BEST ORIGINAL VOCAL ‚ POP
“Jerusalem Horse Ride” ‚ Assassin’s Creed
“Beowulf’s Army”, Beowulf
“M4 Part II”, Mass Effect
“Still Alive”, Portal
“Lament of the Highborne”, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK ALBUM
Dead Head Fred
God of War II
Halo 3
Mass Effect
Red Steel
BEST USE OF LICENSED MUSIC
BioShock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80’s
Rock Band
Skate
BEST ARRANGEMENT OF A NON-ORIGINAL SCORE
Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Purr Pals
The Simpsons Game
BEST GAME AUDIO ARTICLE, PUBLICATION OR BROADCAST
- The Golden Compass Composer Diary, GameSpy
- “The World of Game Composing”, Film Music Magazine
- “What’s The Score?”, British Academy Magazine
- “Video Games Live” ‚ Eurogamer TV Show
- “Does it Sound Next-Gen?”, Game Developer Magazine
December 11, 2007 | Chris Latham
Tags: computer voice, developer commentary, game, GLaDOS, half life, halflife 2, opera singer, orange box, text to speech
If you have played Portal, included with The Orange Box, you most certainly remember the sound of the voice of the computer that taunts you throughout the game. The computer, named GLaDOS, is voiced by Ellen McLain a classically trained opera singer. Her lines were orignally sent through a text-to-speech program, she then mimiced the tone of the computer voice while recording her part. The recording was then run through a series of pitch and modulation effects to enhance the robotic sound. The video that follows describes the entire process.
One of the best features of the The Orange Box, and most Valve games since Half Life 2, is the developer commentary feature that can be turned on from inside the audio options menu. It is like the extras features on most DVD’s, with the developers of the game describing the process of creating the final product. The game has icons that look like thought bubbles placed throughout the story that can be triggered. If you haven’t tried it you should definately check it out. This video describes how the voice of GLaDOS was created by compiling togeather all of the commetary into one video. Enjoy!
June 26, 2007 | Chris Latham
Tags: game, game composers, game soundtrack, history, music, musicians, video game music
Here is some good background on how it all began. These articles have a wealth of info on how things got started in the game audio industry. These pioneers had little resources to work with and were forging a new path as they went. Many concepts ant techniques we take for granted today were hammered out in the beginning, Learn from those that came before.
A timeline of video game music
http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/vg_music/
The Rise and Fall of Game Audio
http://www.armchairarcade.com/aamain/content.php?article.48
Want to know who worked on your favorite game soundtrack?
Check out this wikipedia list of video game composers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_game_musicians