GamesSound

Gamessound.com

 

April 2013: My newbook, Playing with Sound, is out now, published by MIT Press. I'm working on yet another book, a new film, and my veemix company!

November 2012: I've finally made some newupdates. Sorry for the delay. I've been very busy with a lot of exciting work! I've started two companies, S is for Sound (a sound design company) and Veemix, which is building music plug-ins for games. I was recently nominated for a sound design award for my work on Small Sacrifices, at the Underwire Film Festival 2012. And I've been busy with three books!

Now available: A Bang, a Whimper and a Beat: an exploration of the links between the dystopian/cyberpunk aesthetic and industrial music (Mass Media Music Scholars' Press, Inc.). Only $2.99 for the e-book version (runs on Kindle or other e-pub formats).

Coming soon! Playing With Sound: MIT Press, 2013 (available for pre-order now!). What does it mean to interact with sound in games? Why was Guitar Hero such a big hit?  How is our relationship to sound changing as we move from button-mashing to gestural controllers like the Wii and Kinect?  How does sound enhance or contradict the graphics in games? And, how does sound contribute to our sense of “being there” in the game? Playing With Sound  seeks to answer these questions, exploring the player’s experiences with sound in video games. It examines why sound in games is important, and the impacts that sound has on the player. But more than just about playing with sound in games, Playing With Sound looks at all of the uses of game sound beyond the game: From machinima music videos, the nostalgic aesthetic of chiptunes, the sometimes bizarre modding and hacking of game software, to Alternate Reality Games played out in real life, circuit bending and hardware hacking culture, the book traces the way that musicians and fans of games have taken game sound and made it their own, beyond the confines of the game. Playing With Sound will appeal to anyone who is interested in video games, game music, or electronic music cultures by offering a peek inside the often neglected world of video game sound.

Coming Soon(ish)> The Oxford Handbook of Interactive Audio (edited by Karen Collins, Bill Kapralos and Holly Tessler)