NYC Game Industry - Be part of the evolution! Audio Engineering Society (AES) NY Convention Recap

The 127th AES Convention took place the weekend of Oct. 9th – 12^th, 2009 at the Javits Center here in NYC. With the focus on Game Audio improved greatly over previous iterations, this year there was a very strong array of sessions and representation from influential experts local to the NYC area. Here is a recap of the proceedings as related to the world of game audio, with a focus on the local participants in both panel discussions and presentation sessions.

The first panel discussion session of the conference was titled "Game Audio Education". Local members of the discussion panel included Tom Salta (CT, Persist Records, Chairman of G.A.N.G. East Coast region), Stephen Harwood Jr. (Brooklyn, Okiron Music), and Mike Worth (Philly, Game Music Inc.).

Tom Salta kicked off the panel by describing his path into the game audio industry, with the proviso that he does not recommend that others attempt to directly follow the path he took. Tom had the advantage of 15 years of experience (and connections) in the music recording industry, which enhanced his opportunities to get noticed from the start. He began his quest by composing some high quality, directly usable musical content for his portfolio, which he accomplished by recording a solo music album under the alias "Atlas Plug". The music he created was ideal for licensing in both games and traditional media. A lesson that may be garnered from Tom's story is that a high quality portfolio can create opportunities in the world of game audio.

Stephen Harwood related some of his experiences doing work for game audio, ranging in scope from composing an orchestral score for a AAA title to audio for Flash games. He suggested to those just starting out included to get involved in doing as many small projects as possible, to acquire interactive audio experience. Mike Worth closed out the initial panel discussion by strongly recommending that anyone doing freelance work for game audio "treat it like a business from the start." He emphasized taking the business aspects extremely seriously and doing lots of initial research, including reading books such as “Starving Artist No More” by Kirsten Carey.

In the third part of the "Game Audio Education" session, G.A.N.G. president Paul Lipson and the panel of experts led us through all of the roles in the Audio Team of a typical AAA title. Many students and recent graduates of traditional music programs may not know that there is a great need for Audio Integrators and Audio Programmers with skills using middleware tools such as FMOD, Wwise, or game engine audio subsystems provided by the Source or Unreal engines, all of which are freely accessible as learning tools. This panel focused on the pros and cons of traditional audio education paths, while acknowledging the inherent difficulty in learning to fully utilize such tools without working in a group environment on an actual game product.

A noteworthy observation from this panel was that the world of games for mobile devices will become a huge market around the world in the coming years. This is due to the fact that in many less developed countries, consoles game systems are not very affordable, but everyone will have a cell phone soon, which will double as their primary gaming platform. It was highly recommended to take a good look at the world-wide mobile space when planning a business venture into the field of freelance game audio.

David Nazario, a student in his last semester of Lebanon Valley College in PA who completed an internship working on the new Ratchet & Clank title for PS3 in the audio department of Insomniac Games this past summer, recommends networking at major game industry events as early as freshman year to work towards securing a killer internship in the later years of college. Similar advice was echoed by Paul Lipson and other panel members, who insist that extremely close ties between educational institutions and industry companies is needed for graduates to be in a position to transition directly into the industry upon graduation from a game audio-specific program.

The main issue facing game audio-focused education programs is the slow process of getting curriculums approved and altering existing programs, since technologies and best practices change so quickly. There was agreement that for a student with career ambitions in the field of game audio, attaining a strong education in traditional music theory and practice is critical, coupled with developing skills utilizing technology.

Dave Fraser (NYC, Heavy Melody) participated in a panel discussion titled "Leveling Up Game Audio Implementations". This session encouraged the idea of "getting less literal" with respect to audio implementations in games. Audio implementations often do not apply lessons learned from traditional media (especially film) when it comes to controlling what the player focuses on and bringing important aspects to the forefront. The emphasis was on prioritization techniques, creating prioritization systems, and utilizing techniques such as notch filtering to subtly yet profoundly improve the impact of audio presentation.

This panel discussion also brought up a very current point, that in the game audio space, there is a need for standardization of reference volume levels (minimally across each individual platform, ideally across all platforms). Most speakers on the topic agreed that Microsoft has done an excellent job in this respect with the XBox 360, where playing DVD content or switching between games doesn't require volume adjustment by the user. Many audio content developers mentioned that they hoped that an equal level of consistency could be brought to other platforms, especially the iPhone.

On Saturday afternoon, Tom Salta and Paul Lipson took us on a tour of "creative and business issues facing the modern composer for video games", in the session titled The Art and Business of Game Music. Their presentation was a lively overview of the skills and techniques used by the top professionals in the field, concluding with a very useful overview of utilizing FMOD Designer in various ways to meet customer requirements. An important lesson taken from this presentation was that sometimes the resources available for the audio implementation gets cut down to make room for other aspects (primarily memory, usually to make room for graphics textures), so maintaining flexibility in preparation for change is an important consideration early on in a project.

During this session, Tom Salta also related an excellent story about the time he lost power at his home studio the entire weekend that a large project needed to be completed. By rushing out to purchase a generator to power his equipment, he was able to ship his tracks on time. That kind of dedication to ensuring that customers are not disappointed is critical to maintaining a strong reputation for reliability, which is critical for success as a freelancer.

At the G.A.N.G. Hang Friday night (sponsored by the Game Audio Network Guild) I was fortunate enough to be the recipient of an eloquent address by Mike Worth of Game Music Inc. Mike reflected upon the ongoing problem with game developers not understanding many of the unexpected cost factors associated with utilizing cheap licensed downloadable music content over having custom interactive music created specifically for their title. He also sees as a major issue the fact that many freelance game audio composers and sound designers are charging too little for their work. Mike will be a prominent figure at the upcoming GameX conference in Philadelphia the weekend of October 23rd - 25th, where he will continue his insightful commentary on the topics of improving the world of game audio for freelancers and on bringing more high profile game development here to the northeast.

Join us at the GameX industry summit by registering at the following website:

http://www.gamexpo.us/summit/

A prevailing theme during the game audio sessions was that individuals who have an interest in pursuing a career in the game audio realm would be best served by joining the Game Audio Network Guild and becoming a member of the growing online community. The website offers a venue for amateur composers to have their work critiqued by professionals, an active discussion forum, and frequent competitions. The small yearly fee also goes a long way towards ensuring entry to excellent G.A.N.G. social events at the GDC Conferences, AES, and local chapter events on the east coast.

http://www.audiogang.org

Other active organizations in the field of Game Audio include:

The Interactive Audio Special Interest Group: http://www.iasig.org

The Audio Engineering Society: http://www.aes.org/

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