Books
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Available from MIT Press or your favourite bookseller!
Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design.
"Game Audio may sound to the uninitiated to be a frivolous pursuit, but it is neither simple or trivial. Game Sound shows that this art/craft/business has an elegance and a freshly blossoming history that allow it to stand with dignity and legitimacy alongside any other human endeavor worthy of academic attention. If I were to pick a field of study today, I would certainly hope that game audio would be available as a choice. I am thankful to Karen for her contribution towards making that possibility into a solid reality." --The Fat Man, George Alistair Sanger, Legendary Game Audio Guru, author of The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty morsels of sonic goodness
“Collins has written a truly encyclopedic work that wonderfully complements books on sound design in film, helping anyone in the audiovisual industry who desires to expand more confidently into teaching, designing, and producing audio in the gaming world. This book provides fascinating insights about how game audio can enhance player involvement in story, environment, and character, with specific examples on creating a more immersive, interactive experience. A monumental contribution!” --David Sonnenschein, author of Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice, and Sound Effects in Cinema
Contents
Preface
1 IntroductionGames are Not Films! But…
2 Push Start Button: The Rise of Video Games
Invaders in our Homes: The Birth of Home Consoles
‘Well it needs sound’: The Birth of Personal Computers
3 Insert Quarter to Continue: 16-Bit and the Death of the Arcade
Nintendo and Sega: The Home Console Wars
Personal Computers get Musical
MIDI and the Creation of iMUSE
Amiga and the MOD Format
4 Press Reset: Video Game Audio Comes of Age
Home Console Audio Matures
Other Platforms: Rhythm-Action, Handhelds and Online Games
Rhythm-Action Games
Handheld Consoles
Online Games
5 Game Audio Today: Technology, Process and Aesthetic
The Process of Taking a Game to Market
The Audio Production Process
The Pre-Production Stage
The Production Stage
The Post-Production Stage
6 Synergy in Game Audio: Film, Popular Music and Intellectual Property
Popular Music and Video Games
The Impacts of Popular Music on Games, and Games on Popular Music
7 Gameplay, Genre and the Functions of Game Audio
Degrees of Player Interactivity in Dynamic Audio
Functions of Game Audio
Immersion and the Construction of the ‘Real’
8 Compositional Approaches to Dynamic Music
Non-Linearity in Games
Ten Approaches to Variability in Games Music
9 Conclusion
Notes, Glossary, References, Index
ISBN 978-0-7546-6200-6 and 978-0-7546-6211-2
From Pac-Man to Pop Music Ashgate Publishing, UK. Available now from your favourite bookseller. Edited by Karen Collins
Introduction: Karen Collins
Part One: Industries and Synergies
Chapter One: The new MTV? Electronic Arts and ‘playing’ music: Holly Tessler
Chapter Two: Marketing Music Through Computer Games: The Case of Poets of the Fall and Max Payne 2: Antti-Ville Kärjä
Part Two: Ringtones and Mobile Phones
Chapter Three: Could Ringtones Be More Annoying?: Peter Drescher
Chapter Four: Indeterminate Adaptive Digital Audio for Games on Mobiles: Agnès Guerraz and Jacques Lemordant
Part Three: Instruments and Interactions
Chapter Five: Theoretical approaches to composing dynamic music for games: Jesper Kaae
Chapter Six: Realising groundbreaking adaptive music: Tim van Geelen
Chapter Seven: The Composition-Instrument: emergence, improvisation, and interaction in games and new media: Norbert Herber
Part Four: Techniques and Technologies
Chapter Eight: Dynamic Range: Subtlety and Silence in Video Game Sound: Rob Bridgett
Chapter Nine: An Introduction to Granular Synthesis in Video Games: Leonard Paul
Part Five: Audio and Audience
Chapter Ten: Chip Music: Low Tech Data Music Sharing: Anders Carlsson
Chapter Eleven: Left in the Dark: Playing Computer Games with the Sound Turned Off: Kristine Jørgensen
Chapter Twelve: Music Theory in Music Games: Peter Shultz
Annotated Bibliography and Resources: Erica Kudisch and Tim van Geelen
Books by Other Authors
Audio for Games : Planning, Process, and Production (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735714134/) by Alexander Brandon (Paperback - 2004) As the title suggests, this book deals primarily with the planning and production workflows of game audio implementation. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the production process of game audio, and those who wish to learn the basics of audio implementation. It's fairly easy to read and follow, and is most well suited to beginners.
The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, and Game Developers (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578200830/) by Aaron Marks (Paperback - 2001) This is the book I would recommend to all beginners who want to compose or design sound for games, as it covers the basics of many different aspects--industry (how to get a job), production (a few ideas and methods for composition), and an overview of implementation. An all-rounder without getting too in-depth into any one area. New version is coming soon.
The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592730094/) by George "Fat Man" Sanger (Paperback - 2003) An easy (and fun!) to read overview of game audio from one of the industry's most famous composers. It is written somewhat anecdotally, but manages to slip all kinds of goodies by you without you even realizing you're learning. Less serious than the above books, but worth a read! Out of print so track it down now before it's too late!
Creating Music and Sound For Games: G.W. Childs IV (Thomson Course Technology) Mostly an overview of a digital audio workstation--not much specific to games composition, and almost nothing on dynamic audio. Useful if you've never used a DAW, but otherwise you may find it lacking in detail or game-specific info.
Game Audio Programming and Technology
Beginning Game Audio Programming (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592000290/) by Mason McCuskey, Muska & Lipman Publishing ( 2003)
Game Audio Programming (Advances in Computer Graphics and Game Development Series) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1584502452/) by James R. Boer ( 2002)
Audio Programming for Interactive Games (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0240519418/) by Martin Wilde ( 2004)
Make no mistake, this is a book for programmers. As someone interested in the process, I found it was a useful primer that helped me comprehend some of the technical problems with game audio implementation. I can't comment on it from the programming side, but it helped me to understand the process a lot better.
Fundamentals of Audio and Video Programming for Games (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/073561945X/) by Peter Turcan and Mike Wasson
DirectX 9 Audio Exposed: Interactive Audio Development by Todd M. Fay (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1556222882/)
Although focused on Microsoft's Direct X 9, the book is useful for any games audio composers and sound designers as it gives case studies of different approaches and shares some very useful ideas. Direct X can be a little hard to get your head around, so this is the place to begin! No longer in print.
Interactive Music Composition
Composing Interactive Music: Techniques and Ideas Using Max (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262731398/) by Todd Winkler ( 2001) Now a littel outddated, but still useful overview of Max (also known as Max/MSP) software and composition techniques.
Interactive Music Systems: Machine Listening and Composing http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0262680750/) by Robert Rowe ( 1992)
