Music, SFX, and Voice Over for your game!

MattVollet

Hey all! I've been using Gamesalad for a couple months and I love it, more so though, I love the forums and this community. Because of that I wanted to stray away from making full games and hopefully help others make their games better. How, you may ask (did you not read the topic?)? Through sound!

A bit about me: I am a graduate from Full Sail University with a bachelors degree in recording arts. I did well there, and ended up as the only person in my graduating class with an award in "Advanced Interactive Audio". Although I wanted to break into the game audio world quick, a recording studio position that I couldn't pass up came to me, and that is where I am now.

Although my portfolio isn't huge, I would love for you to take a look at the game audio section of my website, www.MattVollet.com. There are a few videos on there about me using FMod and the unreal engine to get some great sounds that I personally made (not pulled from a library). With that being said, though, I have a very extensive sound library that me and my fellow audio nerds came up with while at school. These range from realistic explosions to hannah barbera-esque cartoon sounds.

I would love to hear from any of you so I can extend my services and hopefully get your game's sound up to the quality of the rest of it! Please feel free to post here or e-mail me at MattVollet@me.com if you're interested.

Thank you and happy coding,

Matt Vollet

AfterBurnett

As a sound recordist/boom op, I can't stress how important sound is! Not only in film and television but in videogames as well. Unfortunately, as in TV and film, most people overlook it and concentrate on visuals. BAD IDEA!

I'm interested in the MOD stuff... can you do music akin to a Commodore Amiga?

Cheers and good luck!

MattVollet

Good question! I don't see why not (and if I can't I definitely know someone who can!). I was looking for some examples on Youtube for what the expect out of that era of sound. Any games specifically I can look up that your feeling a throwback to?

Thanks for the reiteration on how important sound is, also. It's overlooked so often, even I do it sometimes when I'm knees deep in a cool project. It is crazy how much it can really bring everything together and add polish, or IMHO, how much it can make a project crash and burn.

AfterBurnett

Nothing in particular... just love the sound. I'm also a fan of SID stuff. I managed to secure the rights to music by 8 Bit Weapon for my 8 Bit inspired shooter... adds SO much to the game!

MattVollet

Oh man that's really cool. These videos have made me want to go play Lemmings in a big bad way. I love how non-ominous this music is. Since it is 8 bit no tones are extended past a quarter note it seems! It's all very quick and fun.

quantumsheep

How are you on voice overs?

My new game is here: http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=8287

I was wondering about putting it some Richard Burton-esque voice overs a-la War of the Worlds:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Wayne's_Musical_Version_of_The_War_of_the_Worlds

Cheers,

QS

MattVollet

Wow Ian knocked that art of the park, didn't he? He was definitely an inspiration for me to try and do this for sound.

It's awesome that the first two responses are for the things I am least comfortable with. I think I could pull something like that off, or find someone that can! How quick of a turnaround do you want? I would love to use an old ribbon microphone for it so get that recording style, but I would have to have it shipped from home (I am away working at the studio).

reddotinc

So glad you posted this.. I was getting angry and frustrated trawling the internet trying to find sounds for my game..

Pinging you an email now

Red Dot Inc

AfterBurnett

@ QS, I have contacts with every decent actor in NZ, many of whom would be more than capable... could probably get it recorded for you, too... but it would cost. Shame I'm not still in NZ or I could do the recording for you! Know the perfect guy/s for that style voice who'd do it for free but the sound guy would want something

quantumsheep

@Polygame

That's very kind, mate, and I appreciate the offer!

I may see how it does sans voiceover, and if I *do* make any money, I'll plough it back into the game for stuff like this. I think it'll do fine without the VO to be honest. It's a luxury more than anything, and might push the size of the game up too much. We'll see - I'll certainly bear it in mind for an update

QS

AfterBurnett

Cool... I totally forgot my mother records talking books for the blind and works with all the top voice talent in NZ. I'm gonna hit her and her actors up! LOL.

MattVollet

Hey guys! Thanks for all the interest in this. I've gotten a few emails and talked to a few of you on here. If you wanna brainstorm ideas and kick around thoughts that's cool, but if you're looking for me to actually do something for you please email me at mattvollet@me.com so I can keep everything organized!

Thanks everyone!

FranzKeller

I'm also a better musician and voice actor than coder. ;-)
Specifically techno, ambient and deep voiced heroes and villains

But ultimately, the idea is king - get that right, and everything else will fall into place