Found my fit!
For this activity I found that more generalized search terms actually worked better for me. My initial searches of, “video game sound design” and “game sound design” did not provide any results. However, on OASIS I searched, “audio” and “sound design” which yielded useful material.
When searching “audio” I first found a full course from MIT called “Music and Technology: Recording Techniques and Audio Production.” The material of the course are not specific to video game music, but still has a lot of useful information, particularly around the usage of microphones and how sound works. There are some major differences, in that this course focuses more on physical recording techniques (microphone placement, signal flow, etc.) whereas video game sound design is very digital (MIDI, DAWs.) The principles of this course could be useful!
The next useful result I found was a book on ambisonics called “Ambisonics: A Practical 3D Audio Theory for Recording, Studio Production, Sound Reinforcement, and Virtual Reality” (phew!) Ambisonics is a very important aspect of audio for virtual reality, as the 3D sound is key to immersion in that medium. The book is quite scientific throughout, but I could absolutely curate this information to make it digestible for video game design students. Great find!
The third result was found when I searched “Sound Design.” There was another course from MIT called “Music and Technology: Sound Design.” This course is quite reflective of the course I teach in the first half, introducing the science of sound, sound recoding techniques, and how sound design differs from generic composition. However there is a heavy focus on the scientific aspects here, which I don’t think is necessary for my version of the course. Still, useful information here again!
TweetExample for "Found my fit!":
https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/21m-380-music-and-technology-sound-design-spring-2016/pages/syllabus/
Leave a Reply