Unit 73: sound for computer games
Aims/: To Understand Sound Design Theory
P1
A: listen to 5
songs/ music that have been used I games
1: The Mario theme
tune/ super Mario bros
The Mario theme tune has been used for years starting with
the first game of Mario in September 13th 1985 and the mood of the
music is generally happy and adventures to try and get the player into the
right mood for the game as it is for the whole family. The music is usually all
happy and joyful and creates a happy and joyful atmosphere but when you get to
a boss level of into bowsers castle the music changes to give the player an
intense atmosphere and an evil mood as bowser is the bad guy. At the end of the
levels Mario climbs a flag pole and enters a castle. When he does it the music
lightens up and is a triumphs victory music.
2: Call of Duty
Zombies Map Moon Soundtrack
The soundtrack of the call of duty zombie’s map moon is a
game where four characters teleport to the moon which has been infected by
zombies in a space centre based on the moon. This soundtrack made by avenged
seven hold called nightmare is perfect for the game because it starts of quite
spooky which is what you want when you are playing a zombie game as it adds a
horror atmosphere to the game. Then the soundtrack intensifies the game by adding
a rock effect to it which is also perfect for the game as what you do in the
game is find loads of weapons and your main objective is to survive from the
wave of zombies which since the soundtrack is rock it gives the player
adrenaline to carry on and play the game.
3: Pac-Man Main
Tune
The game Pac-Man was released in October in 1980 and is an
iconic game not only for the game but also for the iconic theme tune of the
game as it makes the game a lot more fun to play even though it is a three
second loop of the same repetitive tune on repeat till you die. The objective
of this game is to be Pac-Man and you are to collect all the tokens without
getting court by four ghosts who circle around the map to try and get you. The
music makes just a joyful mood to the game but as you progress the same tune
just gives you momentum to complete the game. It is aimed for all family’s and
at the time that is was made it is now considered retro style of music.
4: The Last of Us soundtrack
The last of us is a
game that was released by naughty dog and was released in 2013 and it is an
incredible game now, of course, there is music in The Last of Us, but the music
in the game is really just the sprinkles on top. The soundtrack uses just
enough to invoke an atmosphere. The music works so well that sometimes, that
you’ll find your pulse quickening without even realizing that a song has
started playing. For example Joel’s “Focused Hearing” technique brings sound to
the forefront in the game. As the player, you use sound as a sword and a
shield, hiding from threatening noises, tossing bottles to divert guards’
attention to another direction and identifying positions of enemies you can’t
see yet. It’s implemented into the gameplay smoothly and it works really,
really well. There’s an eeriness about the game that just couldn’t be realized
fully without the incredible sound design that Naughty Dog put into this game.
5: Turok
The soundtrack to the game Turok is more of a tribal
atmosphere to the game as you are in a rain forest with dinosaurs and enemies
as well so the music has to be intense and try to get the player to feel the
games atmosphere and the music does quite well with it. As you get closer to
danger the music starts getting faster and louder and intensifies the game for
the player like one level you have to get through a gate and then a raptor
shows up and blocks the door so you have to fight it, and the music turns in
tribal music with the drums getting faster and louder which really notches up
the intensity.
Subject Terminology
Waveform
A curve showing the shape of a wave at a given time. It is
how we read the sound that is being made
Wavelength
The wavelength of a wave is the distance between a point on
one wave and the same point on the next wave. It is often easiest to measure
this from the crest of one wave to the crest of the next wave, but it doesn't
matter where as long as it is the same point in each wave.
Amplitude
As waves travel, they set up patterns of disturbance. The
amplitude of a wave is its maximum disturbance from its undisturbed position.
Take care, the amplitude is not the distance between the top and bottom of a
wave
Frequency
The frequency of a wave is the number of waves produced by a
source each second. It is also the number of waves that pass a certain point
each second.
Pitch
The pitch of a sound is the ear and brain interpreting the
frequency of the sound. When there is a high frequency, the ear interprets the
sound as a higher pitch, and when the frequency is low, the ear hears a low
pitch.
Hertz
The hertz is the unit of frequency in the International
System of Units and is defined as one cycle per second. It is named for
Heinrich Rudolf Hertz, the first person to provide conclusive proof of
the existence of electromagnetic waves.
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