Audio timeline
In 1972 Nolan Bushnell released the first ever game to
feature sound. This game was Pong. It was based off the game created in 1958 by
William Higinbotham. The game only featured a blip sound caused by the ball
when hit to its opponent.
1978 saw the release of space invaders which featured basic
shooting and explosion noises along with a tempo that increases in pace as the
enemies become closer.
Pac man is one of the most well known and most popular games
to have been released. The 1980 release featured sounds which are known well
with many, the sound of collecting the dots as you move and the sound when you
fail is too one of the most recognisable sounds within game audio history.
The Nintendo entertainment system (NES) was available in
1985 and it came with an 8 bit system and it used a Motorola 6502 processor
which was also used in the Atari 8-bit family, Apple II and Commodore 64.
Also in 1985, Nintendo released Super Mario Bros for the
NES. Koji Kondo is a Japanese video game composer. Kondo has been praised for
the audio produced. The audio tone changes to match the gameplay on screen,
this creates a unique synchronisation between audio and visual. The audio
created for this game meant that game audio was becoming a more vital part to
the game itself.
Nintendo developed the next advancement in video game
history with the Gameboy. The handheld games console featured four channels for
sound where you were able to play the audio out of the left, to the right or
both of the speakers.
Nintendo continued to release ever better products with the
release of the 16-bit Super Famicom in 1991. It housed a dedicated 8-bit Sony
SPC700 sound chip with eight separate channels.
1995 has significance as the Playstation was released with
its 4-channel sound chip provides CD-quality stereo sound and has built-in
support for digital effects such as reverb and looping.
1996 saw Nintendo release the 64. It had a cartridge-based
64-bit system which required a powerful CPU to be able to play the music and
the sound effects.
The next step in development saw Sony release the
Playstation 2 in 2000. The console featured a 128-bit Emotion engine CPU. It
had 48 channels of sound and it also had 2MB of space specifically for the
audio.
2001 saw Microsoft and Nintendo respond to the release of
the Playstaion 2. The Xbox was Microsoft’s first console. It was said the
Microsoft promised movie like audio and that the system would allow audio
designer more power to enhance the gaming experience. The Xbox had a 64-voice
I3DL2 audio processor, 64MB of unified memory and 200MHz bandwidth to the CPU.
Nintendo’s release was the Gamecube which was also to have
said to be rather powerful. It had a 16-bit DSP sound processor powers 64
channels with a 48KHz sampling frequency.
Zoom recorder
We recived an induction on how to use the Zoom H4n recorder and microphones to capture audio. The Zoom recorder has two built in omni-directional microphones. These can be set to either 90 or 120 degrees angle depending on what you want to capture. this could be wide or narrow like the shotgun and rifle microphones.
Microphones
Rifle microphone
The rifle microphone has its name because it has a very narrow pick up and rejects sounds from other directions. Therefore, it is used when you want to capture a sound directly as it does not have much spread whilst capturing.
Shotgun microphone
The shotgun Microphone has its name because it has a wider spread on the audio pick up so it will pick up more audio that
SM58 Microphone
SM58 Is a professional microphone which is commonly used in live vocal applications. This microphone reduces pickup from the side and rear which helps to avoid unwanted feedback with on-stage performances.
SM86 Microphone
The SM86 is widely used for a lead vocal artist as this is most suited for performances on-stage but is also equally as good at home for use in the studio.
Composers
Hans Zimmer and worked with Lorne Balfe on the music for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which was his first video game project.
The music in this game for me has always been memorable to me whilst playing the game despite the game being released in 2009. The music in this game gives a great atmosphere whilst playing, whether it be tension or action, it makes you feel immersed in the game. Music created for this game has such an impact that it makes the player want to replay the game and experience it again with the storyline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXLY_5xaYFo#t=136
Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer has composed music for over 150 films, including
film scores for The Lion King, The Last Samurai, The Dark Knight Trilogy,
Inception, 12 Years a Slave and Interstellar. He is also the head of the film
music division at DreamWorks studios. He also works with other composers through the company that he
founded, Remote Control Productions.
Through his career, he has picked up four Grammy Awards,
three Classical BRIT Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Academy Award.
Lorne Balfe
Lorne Balfe is a Scottish composer and musc producer. He has provided music for some top video games which he has become best known for. He provided for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed III and
Revelations, and the Skylanders franchise.
Balfe is currently working under Zimmer's company, Remote Control Productions and has collaborated with him on many projects. One of which being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which has some of my favourite music from a video game.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare audio creation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etId92Qk1nE
