Rachel Simpson is a musician and video game sound designer that has worked over 15 years in the biggest names of the video game industry. From composing video game sound tracks to carefully designing diegetic sound to shape and bring to life a video game. The guest lecture with Simpson gave me a deep understanding of the role of a sound designer inside a video game project, she explained us her path through the industry and described her role across her work experience. She has worked in famous projects such as: Sim Social City, Guitar Hero 5, Peak and Lego AV game.

In the lecture Simpson deconstructed the different roles needed to create the sound for a video game, she explain that the main where: Gameplay SFX, UI Audio, Music composition, Dialogue, Foley and Voice Over implementation. Her work had led her to participate in all those roles across her career and she further explained how of those roles change depending the video game time. She discussed about the two different types of game creation that are Console vs Live. In a console game, there is a set deadline and when that deadline is met the video game is no longer modified or developed. Live games in contrast with console games, never become a final product, new updates and modifications are added to the game in a short a consistent period of time. The sonic resources of video games change depending the type, she gave us the example that when she was working for Sim City, she had to frequently add new SFX for new concepts and ideas added to the game.

Furthermore Simpson talked about the different softwares and tool she has used and learn to create the games. She explained that at the start her work was made in DAW’s and then the audio was exported and added to the video game script by another engineer. After more experience in the field Simpson had to learn tools such as Wwise, FMod, XML and Unity to have a greater control in the development of the soundscape of the game. Sound in video games work as a library, when a specific moment in the narrative of the game happens, a specific sound of the library is triggered to fit the correct scene. Simpson explained that to work in the medium a relevant amount of knowledge in code and digital technology is needed to meet the needs of the game.

Currently Simpson has faced the challenged of doing less commercial works, video games that have an artistic and experimental objective instead of entertainment. She is currently working in a VR game that is going to be dedicated for people in the autism spectrum, this game will have as purpose to help them explore their condition, finding new ways for them to perceive the world. This game is a challenge for Simpson because the game will utilised ambisonic, a format that models a 3D perception of sound. This model opens up sound to a more interactive way, narrowing video game experience more similar to real life.

I found this lecture of great help because it gave me a perspective in how the industry works and what are the tools used in it. As I might later in life indulge in the creation of games I found it adequate to start researching the different aspect of video game sounds. A concept that I had not seen before was UI Sounds, that stand for user interface sounds meaning all the little sound effects that are triggered when the menu settings are selected and modified. I’ve never thought about those sounds as an aesthetically resource of a game, but know reflecting on it I think UI sounds are a great tool to characterise a game and make it become unique. I found the following video that gives a good explanation of UI sounds and gives a description to how to create these sounds.

Virtual reality, contemporary dance and sculpture are some of the building blocks that Leslie Deere uses in her sound art pieces, creating virtual realms used to provoke alternative states of being. Deere has both an origin in sound arts and performing art, she recurrently explores where these two mediums overlap, using technology to translate the forms of the mediums and create something new. Her tools have shifted from using sensors connected to Max MSP patches, where her dance movements are used to trigger and modulate sound objects, to exploring the realms of VR to create performance art. Visual media is always present in her work, manipulated to mirror or highlight sound with a dynamic nature, creating a final form where all mediums coexist symbiotically, thriving to a common goal.

In the performance above, Deere attempt to create illusions and magic through digital audio-visual media. The piece is called Modern Conjuring For Amateurs and it consist of a piece of performance art where she explores different dance moves that are then translated into visuals (projected in the wall) and sound. She performs in-front of her laptop that contains a Max patch that collects input from the camera of the laptop, and modulates parameters with such. In the performance we can see her silhouette multiplied in different colours, echoing her movements. The patch detects her moves and recognises different patterns, for example raising the hands or crossing them through an x and y axis, that are then linked to parameters such as amplitude and reverb in the patch. A couple of weeks ago we managed to have a guest lecture with her, where she explained that the theremin and magic practice where some of the inspirations behind this performance.

Array Infinitive could be argued as Deere’s most ambitious work. It consist of a series of guided meditations taken place in virtual reality. Where the audience sit in a circle around the performer (that is Leslie Deere) with VR head sets and are taken through a guided tour in a created virtual world. Through out the session, Deere uses sensor in her hands and she moves along the meditation, this sensors are also mapped to an axis and her movements affect the timbre of the sound in the meditation. This piece explores themes such as colour-therapy, media-introspection and psychedelia, relating them in the context of a meditation. The objective of the meditation is to help the individual reach a state of alternative consciousness, this is meant in some-what a spiritual experience. For this piece an integration of multiple softwares and mediums was needed. As in the end of the video Deere explains that OSC data was used to communicate the different softwares, and the overall project was a collaboration of multiple talents working with creative digital technology.

In the recent time I have been exploring sound for video games and mediums such as VR, I have not encountered any work such as the one by Leslie Deere. She manages to utilise the tools of video games design to create complex art pieces and experimentations. My knowledge in video games technology and its development as an art form was very limited before encountering her work, I had the perspective that the medium was just used for entertainment. I found it fascinating to find a practitioner to explore themes as meditation and altered states with a medium I thought it was only used for games. The two conclusions I got after her guest lecture where first: I have to find a way to experience a performance such as Array Infinite, to discover by my self the expression capabilities of VR art. Second: I would love to learn how to use softwares outside the main mediums I work with (Sound and Music). Learn OSC data and experiment with creating art pieces that create a complete sensorial experience.