Charles Hardy, Unit 73, 06/02/2017 task one and two
Sound design
The music in games matters a lot because it adds emotion and realistic affects that make the game feel more alive. These following games are fantastic examples of great music and I will be comparing the music in these games.
Last of us main theme:
Dead heat (little big planet):
Both pieces of music tell different emotions and on different types of themes. There are different categories that you can judge and compare games. These are the category's to compare each of the games:
Theory of sound:
The audio for little big planet sounds like it could be made in garage band, the beat is simple and the whole thing sounds easy to make with only a few instruments in the whole song. The last of us has is very realistic and in a interview with Gustavo Santaolalla(source 5) you can see that he used very advanced recording equipment and had a very large studio and it paid off. The sounds are very realistic and they really add to the other all experience to the game.
The wavelength for different games depends on how loud and how high pitch the sounds in the songs are:
Dead heat has a large amounts of waves and has a high frequency.
Dead heat has a large amounts of waves and has a high frequency.
The last of us has less loud sounds and a lower frequency because of the different instruments used.
Psychology of sound:
The last of us makes the player feel alone, with an feel of dread that you don't get in most pieces of music. The background make you feel like there really is nothing left and the music really does make you think about the world and what has happened. It makes you also feel quite despondent which really helps the game set the mood for the story ahead.
Little big planet has makes the player feel happier as the music is cheerful yet it makes you feel like you are also in an intense boss battle that you need to be careful as the boss is attacking you. It has a weird mix to it as you want feel like you are in a boss battle but it is a fun family friendly game that is a cheerful experience.
Little big planet has makes the player feel happier as the music is cheerful yet it makes you feel like you are also in an intense boss battle that you need to be careful as the boss is attacking you. It has a weird mix to it as you want feel like you are in a boss battle but it is a fun family friendly game that is a cheerful experience.
Audio environment:
The last of us has surround sound that allows the players to hear the sounds all around them. The player can also get a better feel for the game as the sounds sound more realistic which is what the game is going for in the first place. Surround sound also helps the game feel more alive as the game needs plays on it's intense atmosphere. This type of sound is also very important because you need it to listen to the hunters/clickers that could be around any corner in a game.
Little big planet does not need such surround sound because it is a chill outed game that does not require surround sound as the game is a simple game that does not need you listen to in game sounds. The stereo-sound is all the game needs because of the simple game with easy objectives.
Sources:
Sources of sound:
The definition of "the sources of sound" is what was used to make the sounds, so here is a list of all the interments used in each of the songs:
The last of us:
a Ronroco was used (a type of guitar)
dead heat:
trumpets
drums
these interments play a large role in the song.
Games music:
The last of us has fantastic music design that really adds to the overall experience to the game, the last of us has music that sounds very wild western, like a desert waste land that has nothing left, very similar to the city's that have nothing left in them. The music in the game is so well made to the emotions in the game that in each cut scene when the music starts playing you real do feel for the characters and the music does a great job making you feel emotions. The man theme also has a "nothing left" feel, as if there is nothing or no one left out in what was once lavished city's filled with people and living things. The last of us also has a idiosyncratic feel as it has a western vibe and he comp it with only a single instrument.
Little big planets piece of music has a more upbeat, happy tone to it that really helps convey emotions that you are fighting a boss battle, as the song "dead heat" really makes it feel like you are fighting a mario boss or something of the sort. The music also has a retro feel, very similar to (source 3), with gives it a stealthy, sombre feel that makes the game more interesting. It also has repeats over and over which helps the game run it for longer if you are finding the fight hard. The song track is more light-hearted and this really collides well with the game.
Legal issues:
General problems that come along with sound design are things like copyright and trademark etc. If you are careful and not reckless with how you create your music then things like copyright should not be a problem. However, they can happen if you do some of the following:
Using the same track that someone else made without their permission.
Making a track almost the same as another track that already exists.
Using the same name as another track, i.e calling a track "jaws main theme"
If you create your own track that has no obvious copyright infringement behind it then you should be fine with using it in your game but it best to be careful about it and not be reckless as it could land you in court.
You can use royalty free music as anyone can use it because it's free and there is no penalty to using it, however the music is almost always lower quality
Both pieces of music used here do not break any laws as they are composed from scratch and they are original pieces of musics with original titles.
Task 2
Audio environment:
The last of us has surround sound that allows the players to hear the sounds all around them. The player can also get a better feel for the game as the sounds sound more realistic which is what the game is going for in the first place. Surround sound also helps the game feel more alive as the game needs plays on it's intense atmosphere. This type of sound is also very important because you need it to listen to the hunters/clickers that could be around any corner in a game.
Little big planet does not need such surround sound because it is a chill outed game that does not require surround sound as the game is a simple game that does not need you listen to in game sounds. The stereo-sound is all the game needs because of the simple game with easy objectives.
Sources:
Sources of sound:
The definition of "the sources of sound" is what was used to make the sounds, so here is a list of all the interments used in each of the songs:
The last of us:
a Ronroco was used (a type of guitar)
dead heat:
trumpets
drums
these interments play a large role in the song.
Games music:
The last of us has fantastic music design that really adds to the overall experience to the game, the last of us has music that sounds very wild western, like a desert waste land that has nothing left, very similar to the city's that have nothing left in them. The music in the game is so well made to the emotions in the game that in each cut scene when the music starts playing you real do feel for the characters and the music does a great job making you feel emotions. The man theme also has a "nothing left" feel, as if there is nothing or no one left out in what was once lavished city's filled with people and living things. The last of us also has a idiosyncratic feel as it has a western vibe and he comp it with only a single instrument.
Little big planets piece of music has a more upbeat, happy tone to it that really helps convey emotions that you are fighting a boss battle, as the song "dead heat" really makes it feel like you are fighting a mario boss or something of the sort. The music also has a retro feel, very similar to (source 3), with gives it a stealthy, sombre feel that makes the game more interesting. It also has repeats over and over which helps the game run it for longer if you are finding the fight hard. The song track is more light-hearted and this really collides well with the game.
Legal issues:
General problems that come along with sound design are things like copyright and trademark etc. If you are careful and not reckless with how you create your music then things like copyright should not be a problem. However, they can happen if you do some of the following:
Using the same track that someone else made without their permission.
Making a track almost the same as another track that already exists.
Using the same name as another track, i.e calling a track "jaws main theme"
If you create your own track that has no obvious copyright infringement behind it then you should be fine with using it in your game but it best to be careful about it and not be reckless as it could land you in court.
You can use royalty free music as anyone can use it because it's free and there is no penalty to using it, however the music is almost always lower quality
Both pieces of music used here do not break any laws as they are composed from scratch and they are original pieces of musics with original titles.
You can use royalty free music as anyone can use it because it's free and there is no penalty to using it, however the music is almost always lower quality
Both pieces of music used here do not break any laws as they are composed from scratch and they are original pieces of musics with original titles.
Task 2
Sound design methodology
Sound design is one the overall design of music and how it is made, in this process you would decide what equipment to use and what you are going to store all of your music on, what you are going to call the songs etc. This is like a massive brief it is open for changes if one of the other apartments fails to deliver or if something happens that changes the process. This is a key part in the creation of the games sounds and music and how you go about making it depends massively on the budget and other factors that could affect the game life. The following is a list of different things that the producers would have to keep in mind when they are creating their music
File formats
Sound design methodology
Sound design is one the overall design of music and how it is made, in this process you would decide what equipment to use and what you are going to store all of your music on, what you are going to call the songs etc. This is like a massive brief it is open for changes if one of the other apartments fails to deliver or if something happens that changes the process. This is a key part in the creation of the games sounds and music and how you go about making it depends massively on the budget and other factors that could affect the game life. The following is a list of different things that the producers would have to keep in mind when they are creating their music
File formats
Knowing the file formats that they used for the music is very difficult to find out however there are many different file types that could have been used:
These are some of the most popular ones, so I have chosen to use them:
mp3, mp4, wav, AU, AIFF etc.
Audio limitations
The last of us really did not have any limitations because the budget would have been a lot higher as the game was a triple A title made by one of the biggest game companies in the world. Little big planet has a lot more limitations because the game was made by a smaller company which means that it has less of a budget, these are some of the problems that could come up: (6)
Sound cards - weaker sound cards can not produce more advanced sounds than more expensive sound cards.
Processing power - if there is not enough power then you will not be able to create as many songs, limiting the full creative input of the artist.
Storage devices - if you are using floppy disks to store your music then you will not be able to store much as floppy disks as blu-ray disks and because blu-ray costs more then you might have to downgrade somewhere.
Speakers and headphones - this can affect the producing of music because if you have 20£ headphones then the sound that you produce will not be heard to it's full affect causing a problem as the music quality will be worsened.
Audio recording systems
There are many different sound devices that you can use to record your music with and because of the budget you would use different quality microphones to capture the sound you want. The audio recording sounds are used to changed the pitch of something and overall improve the performance of the music. This helps the overall sound of the piece of music in turn helps make the music sound more polished.
Audio Sampling
The audio in the last of us really does add to the games overall experience but the audio sampling is basic in contrast to other games, this is because the notes and frequencies of the sounds are very similar as it is only a single instrument doing the whole song. Little big planets "dead heat" however is very different because of the trumpets making the sampling rapidly change and the drums are constant meaning that because the sampling is always rapidly changing.
Knowing the file formats that they used for the music is very difficult to find out however there are many different file types that could have been used:
These are some of the most popular ones, so I have chosen to use them:
mp3, mp4, wav, AU, AIFF etc.
Audio limitations
Sound cards - weaker sound cards can not produce more advanced sounds than more expensive sound cards.
Processing power - if there is not enough power then you will not be able to create as many songs, limiting the full creative input of the artist.
Storage devices - if you are using floppy disks to store your music then you will not be able to store much as floppy disks as blu-ray disks and because blu-ray costs more then you might have to downgrade somewhere.
Speakers and headphones - this can affect the producing of music because if you have 20£ headphones then the sound that you produce will not be heard to it's full affect causing a problem as the music quality will be worsened.
Audio recording systems
There are many different sound devices that you can use to record your music with and because of the budget you would use different quality microphones to capture the sound you want. The audio recording sounds are used to changed the pitch of something and overall improve the performance of the music. This helps the overall sound of the piece of music in turn helps make the music sound more polished.
Audio Sampling
The audio in the last of us really does add to the games overall experience but the audio sampling is basic in contrast to other games, this is because the notes and frequencies of the sounds are very similar as it is only a single instrument doing the whole song. Little big planets "dead heat" however is very different because of the trumpets making the sampling rapidly change and the drums are constant meaning that because the sampling is always rapidly changing.
LINKS:
(3)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls3XsreXh_Q
(4)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TLDowHsO-Y
(5)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJr7iinMZwY
(6)https://stephencarrgames.wordpress.com/2013/11/06/sound-music-audio-limitations-of-game-platforms/
