Job Roles

Submission Guidelines

JOB ROLES
Back in the day (as with many aspects of game production) one person, normally a coder who had some musical inclination, typically undertook the entire audio creation and implementation of a project. Any music, sound design, sound implementation or voice recording, would be done by that one person. With the size and production values we have now, this simply isn’t possible. So audio work now is typically split between Sound Design and Music Design. However, each of these disciplines contains distinct areas of expertise. Furthermore, as the size of projects increases, these areas are likely to become even more specialised.

Junior Audio designer
Audio Designer
Senior Audio Designer

Junior Audio Designer
This is the entry-level position in the audio department. Junior sound designers are responsible for:

• voice editing
• sound editing
• music editing
• sound creation

The main tools will be sound editing software such as Soundforge or Wavelab, but also Vegas and Acid for music editing. Typically this person will be assigned to a specific project and will be given tasks by the Audio Lead/Senior Audio Designer and Project Manager. However, there are also audio department duties such as creating sounds for the audio library, which are part of the role too.

Good experience in recording, microphone techniques, audio manipulation and editing, foley techniques / recording, field sound FX recording, dialog recording and editing.

Although this is the first step on the ladder, there is plenty of opportunity for creative work and creating new sounds.

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Audio Designer
The next step up from the Junior role, this will typically be someone who has had some previous industry experience. Key responsibilities include :

• Sound creation
• Sound implementation
• Voice recording
• Voice editing
• Music composition
• Music editing

The art of sound creation and implementation - actually putting the sounds into the game - go hand in hand for this role. The Audio Designer will be responsible for working with the Audio Lead/Senior Audio Designer, level designers, animators and coders to create content and make sure it plays correctly in-game. It’s thus essential to be able to think creatively about audio and to communicate those ideas to other people.

The main tools for content creation by the Audio Designer are the same as for the Junior role, but they will be expected to use more plug-ins. The main tools for implementation will be in-house. Typically this person will be assigned to a specific project and will be given tasks by the Audio Lead/Senior Audio Designer and Project Manager.

Experienced in audio production, recording, editing, mic techniques; experience in film sound a bonus but not essential. Highly skilled with audio software, plugins, sound creation through location recording, foley, synthesis etc. The ability to compose music in a wide range of styles is also important.

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Senior Audio Designer
Generally someone with over 2 years experience working for an in-house audio department. Duties include:

• Recording, design and editing of sound effects
• Sound effect file management / organisation and documentation
• Managing the outsourcing / recording / editing of voice recordings
• Composing interactive music scores
• Music, sound and voice production for Full Motion Video
• Testing and identifying any problems with the implementation of the audio assets into the game
• Improving the audio department’s resources / documentation
• Management of multiple audio projects including effective communication with all project managers and senior management and maintaining audio manpower schedules
• Ensuring that all audio assets are delivered on schedule and to the highest possible quality

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GUIDANCE & ADVICE

Sound Designer
Skills Required:
Doing sound design for games is one of the most varied and diverse fields of audio production and as such you need to have a broad knowledge base. Your work will be varied, from the creation of individual sounds right up to full and highly complex mixes accompanying the imagery of the game. Because game audio always accompanies a visual, it is important to understand the complex relationship between image and sound. The right sound may originate from a completely different object to what you see on screen, for example. Therefore doing any work to picture, such as films, can help you learn skills and techniques that will be very useful for games.

Sound design is part technical and part creative and so you need to be able to think pragmatically whilst also having a high level of imagination. Not only is it useful to know how to use audio software, but also how audio and sound works in both the real and digital worlds. A great deal of a sound designer’s time will be spent implementing the audio they have created, so a high level of computer proficiency is required; level designing experience is also useful as you will be using similar interfaces to implement the audio into the game worlds. You should also have experience in sound and voice recording, surround sound systems, data reduction techniques and various forms of synthesis.

Best Tip:
Do as much and as varied work as possible; this will increase your knowledge and open your mind to different ways of tackling things. Take a scene from a film or capture some game footage and recreate the audio for it; once you've started, fight the urge to listen to the original audio. Then once you've completed it, go back and compare your audio with the original and see what is different and why. Learn as much audio software, plug-ins and processors as you can; countless freeware software is available on the internet, so you don't need a large budget.

Music Designer

Skills Required:
Music for games is a hybrid of film-score, making tracks and creating music that is interactive. You should know how a film-score works: what tricks composers use to highlight an action, underscore a scene, mimic an on-screen action. You should also have an understanding of how interactive music can work and what methods there are of creating it. You’ll also need to find ways of translating this into our video games.

You’ll need to be able to compose, arrange and produce music in styles ranging from epic film score to electronica to 1950s big band, and most things in-between. You’ll need a good working knowledge of sequencers, vst instruments, midi, plug-ins etc… Coming from a film-music background helps, as you will have already developed many of the skills required.

Although it’s not essential to play an instrument, it does help. Even with the best programming it’s always better to have live elements in a piece. A broad knowledge of music, instruments, and being able to think creatively is essential.

Best Tip:
Try to actively listen to as much music in as many different genres as possible.
Try and deconstruct pieces that you think work and see what harmony, chord changes, rhythms etc. the piece is using. Don’t aim to emulate another composer, but it can help you learn about how you come to write your own music.

Although there are so many methods of composition, a useful tip is if you’re writing a piece of music it can be beneficial to sketch it on piano first, then work out your arrangement later.

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Sound Designer
Sound design is about creating a reality and environment through audio, as well as guiding the player's emotional journey. Any submissions should aim to achieve this; just having good quality audio is not enough. Recreating a sequence from a film or game creates an opportunity to do this. It should be made clear what you did to create the audio so that we know exactly what to evaluate. Try to send examples covering as many different styles as you can so that we can judge your flexibility and imagination. It is an advantage if you can avoid using sound libraries; most sound designers know them very well and they tend to make your work sound generic, so original recordings are always best.

Music Designer

• Please submit showreels on disc.
• You should be demonstrating that you can score to picture, write in a few different styles, and create music that’s interactive.
• Take some game, film, animation footage, and try re-scoring in your own way.
• Do try and avoid over-using sample libraries.
• Don’t just send in a collection of dance tunes created in Reason/Acid etc.
• The pieces don’t have to be long and they don’t have to be overtly complex, just enough to demonstrate your skills.

Good luck!

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