This weeks tutorial task asked that we attempt to create a small audio scene utilising sounds found at Soundsnap. Soundsnap is a website that provides a variety of sounds that any user can use given they have a license. There are many categories to choose from, so creativity for this task was really let loose. The software recommended to us was the audio software Reaper. Reaper is a piece of audio editing/recording software that has a lot of features to really style audio how you want it. not only that but I decided to install a list of extra plugins that push the editing capabilities further.
I decided on creating a horror piece, as horror to me is all in the sounds. Most of the tension on screen in horror films is accompanied by clever sound design that really pushes the fear factor onto the viewer. This sound design is even more important within games. Since the player is in full control of their actions within a game, it is important that you have other ways of scaring the player, as they can avoid some horror elements all together if they are smart.
I won't describe the scenes I created as this takes away from my goal that you should be able to picture the scenario simply from listening. Instead I encourage that you as a listener, focus in on the audio and see what pieces you can pick out.
Each audio piece is made up of a variety of sounds, which on their own don't do much. Together I feel I managed to set the scene clear for each scenario.
Above is a link to my first piece created. I recommend you listen to it, before reading on as I will break down certain elements of the piece.
I created this before my tutorial class, using several online tutorials to figure out how Reaper works.
A key part of this piece is the initial sounds of the monster/beast. This first introduction to the listener had to strike a certain fear into the listener. The piece starts of with almost no direction simply a woman walking in the snow. As soon as the monster is introduced, the listener then understands the scenario. It was key that the reverb on the monster audio was distant sounding. There was a specific echo I was looking for, and using one of the many plugins I had, I manged to create that echo. I feel this introduction is as iconic as I wanted. You can tell from the get go that whatever produced the noise, is still nearby in some way and whatever it is, it's not natural.
Creating this piece really helped me understand the basics of the software. It gave me an idea of how to navigate the menus which at first are overwhelming. This helped me when it came to creating my 2nd piece in the tutorial.
In my university tutorial I created this 2nd piece. Our lecturer showcased to us how to make use of the pan segment of a track. Essentially what this does, is allows me to take a specific track and pan the audio from right to left ear. This is even more useful in creating a horror piece as it gives the listener a sense of direction where the monster is approaching from.
For this piece I wanted to create a more psychological horror. This means, there's no real threat directly chasing the character, but there's more something chipping away at their mental state breaking them down.
My direction was to create a scenario where the listener really feels they are being brainwashed. This means there's a lot going on at once and the listener can never really focus on the one thing, just more on the experience as a whole. This is why from the start all the listener's senses are being assaulted. There is electric hums, a distorted voice and to top it all off heavy breathing.
Towards the end, the listener may pick up on a repeated breathing sound that you can tell has been looped. This isn't intentional and just s sign of my current skill level. I attempted to make this less noticeable by lowering the breathing audio whenever another loop begins but you can still make it out. Hopefully with some practice I will be able to sort issues like this.
To conclude, creating these audio pieces gave me the opportunity to learn Reaper on a basic level. It gave me a chance to familiarise myself with menu's I will be seeing a lot more of in the future.
Soundsnap: https://www.soundsnap.com/
Reaper: https://www.reaper.fm/
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