Extra week for Assignment 3- Now Due: April 23

Assignment 3: Voicework & Environment-Due April 23 Week 13

Proposal of Final Project- Due April 23 Week 13

Elaboration on Assignment 3

In Part II of your assignment, I forgot to add that you should describe what is going on in your environmental scene. Also write on what you did to create the sounds (and how you modified them to create your final product) that make up your scene in the paper which accompanies your 3rd assignment.

Don't forget too that for part 1 your accompanying paper must contain a character sketch- describe his/her/its appearance, its position in life or society, its character traits and the way your character moves.

Lecture Notes 04/09/07 Microphones and Voice Acting

This is an exploration of microphones. Please visit the below site and explore it thoroughly. It will help you understand use of the microphone in much greater depth.

Microphones

Explore this site http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/how-to-use.html

http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/how-microphones-work.html
Teaches you how microphones work

http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/directional-characteristics.html
Choose mikes based on directionality. Complete with diagrams

http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/placement.html
This provides some advice on positioning the mike

http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/stands.html
This link is all about mike stands

Voice-Acting

Remember, Voice-over is acting. You must become the character you’re trying to portray so much so that you are gone and all that’s left is the character. Even if you are nervous or shy, think about your character. Chances are that your character is neither shy nor nervous; he/she takes command of the world. Thus, you must do the same. Remember that you become the character and forget who you are.

http://www.voiceacting.com/Resources___Links/Articles_NAV/0001/0002/0003/0003.html Explore this site thoroughly. It’s chock full of useful advice about voice-acting that will help you in your 2^nd major assignment and your final project.

Here are just some of the useful articles that you should read to prepare yourself for voice-acting in your remaining assignments/projects.

1) Voice acting tips and warm-up exercises

2) The Brilliant Backstory

3) Overcoming that Demon called nervousness

4) Controlling Loud Screams and Yells

Foley Links

Since a substantial portion of your grade comes from Foley work, here are some sites I want you to read.

http://epicsound.com/sfx/
This is an excellent site which gives you many ideas of how to create a myriad of sounds.

http://mis15.ncarts.edu/film/yewdall/Web%20Pages-A/Chpt_16_TEXT_FOLEY.htm


http://www.c5sound.com/newsroom/secrets.php
Foley tips shared by hollywood foley artists

http://www.leftbehind.com/channelfree.asp?pageid=956&channelID=175
Some good practical stuff by foley artists

http://www.marblehead.net/foley/mvs.html

http://www.marblehead.net/foley/feet.html

http://www.marblehead.net/foley/specifics.html

One more point about the Foley sound sheet recording assignment

I forgot to say this but please describe how you create each sound for this assignment (Foley Sound Sheet recording): how you physically created the sound and what you did to modify it to create its final form. Great! I look forward to hearing your creations.

Exporting wav or other files to mp3s in audacity

To be able to export wav or any other files to mp3s, you need the LAME encoder.

Go to this site to download LAME. Just follow the instructions:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3

Addendum to Laughter is the best medicine

One student pointed out that some of the sounds I required of you for the Laughter is the Best Medicine response paper are very similar. Thus, you are now only required to create 8 sounds. All others will remain the same but you can now choose to create:

1) an old woman's cackle OR a witch's cackle
2) a young boy's laugh OR a young girl's laugh

If you're feeling adventurous and want to attempt all 4 sounds, it could earn you 1/2 a point extra.
If you attempt it and it doesn't quite work, no points will be deducted from your grade.

Some additional notes on assignements

Assignment 2 Audio Analysis of a Game

- Consider things like voice acting if appropriate for your game, audio for menu screens and also consider ambient or environmental sounds in the game.

- Also, focus and discuss 1 particular scene that involves gameplay in your game as well as the game as a whole.

- Follow proper formatting- number pages etc. No contractions and typos and watch your grammar.

Presentation 2

- Each person MUST present for a grade

- I require 1 paper PER group.

- Hint: Look at the history of your topic, key people involved. For example, for the Video Games Live topic, look at founders and composers featured as a start.

- Come talk to me early if you find little information on your topic so I can try and point you in the right direction.

Feedback?

Are we going to get our papers back anytime soon? I am curious to see how I did on some of them, and whether or not I remembered to make everything kosher as far as the MLA style goes.

Laughter is the Best Medicine Due: March 26

Using audacity and your own vocal talents, record these different kinds of laughter onto a CDR. Include your original laugh track for each type of laugh. Also, indicate by clearly saying which is your original unmodified laugh track and which your modified laugh track (final product). Make sure you export the files into wav formats before saving your final version. Play with the different effects in audacity to derive the following:

1. An old woman's cackle
2. A fat man's belly laugh
3. An old man's laughter
4. A baby's laugh
5. A young girl's laugh
   
6. A woman's laugh
7. A young boy's laugh
8. Monster's laugh
9. Witch's laugh
10. Cartoon laugh

In a short paper but in proper essay form, tell me how you modified your laugh to achieve the final products. Be really precise. For example, don't just tell me, I moved the pitch up. Instead tell me, I moved the pitch up from F to C#. (Audacity tells you this when you select the change of pitch) For extra credit (1 more point for this assignment), come up with 3 kinds of laughter that is different from the list above. Again, don't forget to tell me how you modified your laugh.

Revised and Correct Due Dates for Assignments

Dear Students,

I apologize for the mistakes made in the website. Here are the actual dates that your assignments are due. Please go by this list until I'm able to update the website.

Assignment 2: Audio Analysis of any game of your choice Due: March 26 (Right after Spring Break Week 9) I expect better papers with the extra time that you've been given. Really analyze the music and sound.

Presentation 2: Starts Week 10 April 2: Watch my next blog posting for dates for presentations.

Assignment 3: Voicework & Environment Due: April 16 Week 12

Proposal of Final Project: Due: April 23 Week 13

Final Project: Due: May 14

Groups for Presentation 2

GROUPS FOR PRESENTATION 2

April 2 Week 10:
Video Games Live- Adam Sanders, Dan Dekowski, Dan Jorquera, Robert "Tom" Brandon
XNA- Lauren Bognanni, Ryan Hall, Alden Bradstock

April 9 Week 11:
Sound Card- Stephen Kramer, Jamie Frech, Ben Schaffhauser, Pat Ratanapol
3D Sound- Matt Sachse, Julia Lemich, Caleb Waggoner, Sasha Liss-Kress

April 16 Week 12:
Audio Codecs- Dan Goldberg, Mario Fusco, Zack Stickles, Kevin O'Toole, Amy Lynn

These leaves 2 people who were absent- Jon DeVriendt and Mark Thomas without groups. 1 of you needs to join the XNA group while the other can choose from Video Games Live, Sound Card or 3D sound. Discuss it among yourselves and let me know next week March 12. Thanks.

This is our first short introduction tutorial to Audacity. I will give you some guidance but for the most part just follow the instructions in this tutorial. I will come around to hear your results.

Introduction to Audacity Tutorial

You will not be graded for this in class assignment. It's simply to give you a taste of working with audacity.

Response Paper 4: Replacing rubbish music with appropriate music Due: March 5

For this week, choose a game where you think the music sucks or does not match the gameplay. (If possible and you know Camtasia or Premier, get 5 minutes of footage of yourself playing the game with the sound on.) Replace the music with appropriate instrumental music (doesn't necessarily have to be classical music but must be instrumental).

In a 2-3 page response paper and a CD-R with a few minutes of the game's original music and your selection of music, tell me the following:

1. The title of your game and about its gameplay
2. Describe the original music and tell me why it sucked
3. The source and title (if there is one) of your musical selection
4. Why your selection better suits the game's scene/gameplay
   

In class work

Either choose from 1 of these 3 games

1. Panda Run
2. Super Ninja Strike
3. Dabbawalla International

or find a game online that looks culturally different from Western games. Play the game to get a feel of it and rethink its music replacing it with traditional music from that culture. Name the game and describe its gameplay. Do some research and give credit to your sources! Be as geographically accurate as possible. Like the handout, describe the instrument/s and if possible tell me its use in different musical styles and performances. Decide if the music should be fast or slow, joyful or sorrowful based on the gameplay. Type it up and turn it in by the end of class.

Response Paper 3 Due: 2/27

Watch a movie of your choosing and analyze the use of audio- sound and music in specific scene/s of that movie. I want you to critique the use of the audio using your own voice and the way we've been doing in class. This paper is due next week 02/27.

1 more word about Presentation Papers

Hey folks,

Presentation Papers

They should be between 2-4 pages each excluding your documented sources. Try to aim for at least 3 full pages. Feel free to write more if you have good discussion. This may seem long but try to analyze the pieces of music among you like i have been doing in class. Questions to ask yourself are things like:

1. What do you think the composer is trying to convey with the piece of music used in that specific scene of the game. Like we discussed the Stormwind theme in WoW was chosen because it sounds noble especially when we consider what Stormwind represents- the last surviving human city (?) or WoW's opening screen theme speaks of an epic scope, rife with Warfare and military might.
   
2. Why do you think he chose strings over brass or percussion for example? Why did he choose a low sound as opposed to a high sound.
   
3. What could the use of strings mean for example? Think back to the Psycho example- he wanted to imitate stabbing sounds yet set your nerves on edge, therefore he has the violins play at such a terrifying/unnerving register.
4. Did the composer simply want ambient music, (music that envelops the listener without drawing significant attention to itself) or is he using the music as a symbol- think themes like the piano/keyboard melody for Halloween, the jaws theme or Jason's breathing theme.
5. What is the role of the choir/singers if there is one?
   
6. Does this theme represent a character, event or emotion that happens each time the character appears?
   
7. Why do you think the composer chose an orchestral score as opposed to a rock band, modern hip-hop music, jazz, new age and vice versa?
8. How does the music work with the gameplay or cut scene? You can describe the gameplay and talk about how the music adds or detracts from it. In other words ask yourself: Are the musical decisions effective/ineffective?
   

If you listen very carefully and analyze the music really well, you could easily write 2 pages about the music itself. I'm not looking for you to nail all the sounds of the instruments but you should be able to discuss them intelligently such as the way described above. I will post more ideas for musical analysis on the blog as I think of them but this should give you a good start. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or you need to bounce something off me. This is important so I will also EMAIL it to each and every one of you.

Reminder 2 readings due next week: Feb 13

Just a reminder that you have 2 readings due next week. They are fairly short and can be found on our syllabus.

Change in Assignments Page

Please note that there is a change in the Assignments Page of our class website. It should read

Presentations will start on February 20

The line up is as follows:

Feb 20: Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu (the group that was doing Shimomura is now taking Uematsu becuase there is too little to be found on Shinomura that is in English)
Feb 27: Winifred Phillips, Jason Hayes
March 5: Peter McConnell, Gary Schyman
March 12: Marty O'Donnell

I know this does not give the Feb 20 folk as much time to prepare than the March 12 folk (your 2nd assignment is due on that date) ; thus, I will take that into consideration when grading. Basically, the later your presentation, the more I expect from you. The aim is for each of you to become experts about your composer and teach the class about him or her. Scour the web for interviews and biographies about the composers and you impress more if you tell me more facts than i'm asking from you including things like what the composer him/herself thinks of his/her own music, their thoughts about the composing for games industry etc. Finally, please reply to this post telling me the names of your group members and your composer.

Peter and the Wolf Assignment Due: February 20

Here are the questions for this 2nd Response Paper

From listening to Peter and the Wolf, answer the following questions:

1. What character traits come to mind when you hear each character's music?
2. Critique the musical portrayal of each character

a. Is it effective? Why or why not?
b. How would you improve it?

3. Each member of the group needs to compare the musical theme of 1 character in the music (can be different) to 1 character in games you have played and please name the game.

Bird: Flute
Duck: Oboe
Cat: Clarinet
Peter: All the strings in the orchestra
Wolf: 3 horns
Grandpa: Bassoon
Hunters: Kettle drums also known as timpani and bass drum

Notes:

1) Remember, this is a paper. Don't give me a list
2) I will try my best to put the mp3s of the music on our class website but I might
not have access to it at all. If that's the case, I will change the due date of this
assignment. Keep your eyes peeled.
3) Between the links provided by your classmates, you should be able to complete this assignment although I'd still see if I can get the mp3s up on the servers. First click on Kevin's link to get the theme of each animal, then watch the 3 you tube videos from Lauren's links for the entire piece.

Just to match blog names with full names

Hey gals and guys,

Since some of you have accepted my blog invitations with different email addresses from the ones you provided me during class, I'm unable to distinguish who is who. So please in this post, blog on your posting name and provide me with your full actual name too. This is to aid me in keeping track of who's doing the blog assignments and who is simply blowing them off. The short is, if you want credit for your work on this blog, reply to this post. Thanks!

Syllabus

Until our syllabus gets posted, follow this link to view the class website.

http://iat.ubalt.edu/courses/cosc414.001_sp08/index.html

Also, I did not go through our syllabus for this class. Please look it over closely and ask me any questions you have about it. You can find it at:

http://iat.ubalt.edu/courses/cosc414.001_sp08/sp08syllabus.html

Response Paper 1

Response Paper 1- Introductions- Due February 6

Remember students, your papers should be 2-3 pages long. In this first paper I want each of you to:

• Introduce yourself to me
• Discuss your cultural background and any music that is specific or central to your culture. Also, tell me if you like or dislike it and why.
• Play a game this week concentrating on the music and the sound effects in one particular scene that strikes you. You may tell me if the scene is effective or ineffective and why.
  

The First Beat Due: Feb. 6

Welcome to our class blog, students of Game Audio COSC 414.101. Your first blog assignment is to seek out strong and credible game audio and film audio sites on the internet and post on them. Please provide a short blurb about the contents of the website and why you think this is a good site for our class purposes. Feel free to comment on each other's posts as well.