THE EPIC SOUND BLOG

Our collection of bite-size, audio related stories from around the web.

10 tips for effective web sound design


April 7, 2010

Everyday Listening has a great list of things to bear in mind when working with sound for websites. Here’s a selection:


    Unobtrusive interface sounds
    Adding sounds to user-interface items can absolutely enhance the usability of your site. Try to keep these sounds unobtrusive in a way that a user can still hear them, even while listening to music, but without being disturbing while browsing in a quiet environment.


    Keep sounds short
    A good way to prevent sounds from becoming annoying is by keeping them short. Imagine navigating a website with a second-long sound playing for every link your mouse cursor touches, that wouldn’t be a pleasant experience, would it?


    Use the right frequencies
    The human ear is most sensitive to sounds between 1kHz and 5kHz, so if you want people to hear the sounds, even on crappy laptop speakers set to low volumes, focus on this frequency range.


    Add extra functionality
    Do it right or don’t do it at all. If you decide to use sound on your website you can give it extra functionality, more than just providing auditive feedback. Variations in timbre and pitch of the sounds can be used to tell the user more about the menu or the page he/she is browsing.


Read the full list here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category sound design Tags , , , ,

Behind the scenes on the sound for God of War III


April 6, 2010

Here’s a behind-the-scenes feature on the score for God of War III:



Also, Mix Online has taken a detailed look at the development of the sound for God of War III:


As you might expect, the sound team on GOW3 really had their hands full. Between the staggering array of battle weaponry (much of it with enhanced, nearly supernatural qualities, like the Blades of Athena that Kratos wields against his foes and, new for this game, the giant over-fist battering gauntlets known as the Cestus), the fires, explosions, creatures/monsters and ambiences required, there was an amazingly detailed sonic world to create.


Read the full feature on the sound for God of War III here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio Tags , , , , ,

Recording the whooshes of a Kung Fu Panda


April 3, 2010

Designing Sound has posted this exclusive video from the recording of various whooshes for ‘Kung Fu Panda’.



View the full post here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category recording Tags , , ,

Real-life sound design tools, part two


March 26, 2010

Following up on yesterday’s post, here are five more hands-on sound design demonstrations by Roger Greer.


Part 05:


Part 06:

(more…)





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category sound design Tags , , , , , , , ,

Real-life sound design tools


March 25, 2010

Here’s four great, hands-on sound effect demonstration videos by sound designer Roger Gregg.


Part 01:


Part 02:

(more…)





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category sound design Tags , , , , , , , ,

The music and sound of Flower


March 19, 2010

Joystiq takes a look at the work that went into creating the sound for thatgamecompany’s Flower – a great game with a unique vibe and a great soundscape.


Both of the developers gave some interesting insight into their respective designs. Diamante talked about how he’d assembled the music for the game, tying it to various flowers and hits in the landscape, layering it down so that as the player opened up new areas, new parts of the soundtrack would not just appear but actually take the lead. First the violin would lead the melody, and then the clarinet would take over, without the violin changing parts.


Johnson spoke at length about how he manufactured the game’s sound effects. At each menu screen, he talked about the ambient sound he’d placed in the game and where it came from. The game’s first menu screen has a heavy room tone, as it’s meant to show claustrophobia and a sense of being trapped, but as the levels progress, the room opens up. The next menu screen plays traffic from Chicago, and then later, a storm playing throughout a city. He talked about how he hid things in the background — in one menu screen, he’d placed some voicemail messages in very quietly at about eleven minutes in, but he thinks the developers later removed them.



Here’s some footage from the game:




Read the full post on the sound for Flower here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio Tags , ,

The sound of ‘Transformers’


March 15, 2010

Designing Sound has a special feature on the sound of ‘Transformers’ – and here are three videos that go behind the scenes on the audio for the franchise.





Check out Designing Sound’s full feature on the sound for “Transformers”, including an interview with film sound designer Erik Aadahl.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , , , , ,

Video: The sound for ‘Alice in Wonderland’


March 8, 2010

Soundworks Collection has a great feature up on the sound for Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ – check it out below:






  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , ,

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