AUDIOKINETIC BLOG
“Blind Accessibility – Step One: Get to know your players”
I wrote this piece for the Audiokinetic Blog to inform game sound designers about the CVAA and its updates which defined an exciting new role for text-to-speech in games. I also talk about blind consultants everyone should know and my perspective as a sighted sound designer.
MEDIUM
Design and Structuralism: Bridging the Gap Between Designers and Stakeholders
In this piece, I explore the question: how might we frame our understanding of the problem space so our decisions are aligned with the desired interactions of the people who use the technology we design?
MEDIUM
Kicking off the MHCI+D Program with a design sprint
My cohort for the Master of Human-Interaction and Design program participated in a five-day workshop called Immersion Studio. In this time, my team quickly designed an app called TasteBuds to help party hosts coordinate their potlucks.
Interviews
A SOUND EFFECT
Spoopy and serene – making the sound of Minecraft Dungeons:Hear from Mojangs audio team about how they took the sound of the Minecraft universe in a new direction – while staying true to the calm aesthetic of the original.
A SOUND EFFECT
Video: Martin Kvale on the stoic yet charming sound of Bad North – and a life in indie game audio:Hear from Martin Kvale about designing the sound and music for Bad North and his career in indie games.
A SOUND EFFECT
The Sightless Escape Room: The innovative and accessible sound design of The Owl Job:Learn about this intriguing escape room where you need to use your ears to solve the room – designed by Kyle Evans.
A SOUND EFFECT
100 episodes and counting – the Tonebenders podcast reaches a milestone:Hear from the hosts about their experiences running one of the earliest and longest-running podcasts about sound design.
A SOUND EFFECT
The Sound and the Fury – Behind the sound design of Darksiders III:Hear from Kenneth Bassham from Gunfire Games about how his team designed Fury’s powerful sounds and worked across teams.
A SOUND EFFECT
Indie Audio Adventures – Behind the supersonic speeds of GRIP: Combat Evolved:Tavis Wait and Yoshi Gans talk about how they designed the beefy engine sounds and explosions of these lightning-fast cars.
A SOUND EFFECT
Creating the intricate sounds for The Stanford Virtual Heart:Learn how Ana Monte and Daniel Deboy of DELTA Soundworks designed the sound for a VR experience for understanding congenital heart defects.
A SOUND EFFECT
These fascinating new tools let you do 3D sound mixing – directly in VR:Dear Reality’s Christian Sande talks about dearVR and Spatial Connect let you mix your sound directly in VR and in your DAW.
DESIGNING SOUND
Audio Mentoring StoriesLeonard Paul and Rachel Dziezynski were matched as mentor and mentee through the Audio Mentoring Project last year and they wanted to share their experiences.
DESIGNING SOUND
From Saint Petersburg to San FranciscoDaria Novoliantceva shares her background in music for film, television, and puppet theater in St. Petersburg and what drew her to sound design and San Francisco.
A SOUND EFFECT
Building the Dream Work Environment at ASitPGord McGladdery of A Shell in the Pit shares how he started his Vancouver-based studio, and how he keeps his team happy as he meditates over Excel sheets.
A SOUND EFFECT
Behind the Delightfully Vintage Sound of CupheadSweet Justice co-founder Samuel Justice talks about designing the truly Golden Age animation sound for Cuphead.
A SOUND EFFECT
Behind the Whimsical Sonic Surrealism of Pit PeopleHear from Ian Moreno about the fun, collaborative process of designing sound for Pit People with all its enduring and absurd qualities.
A SOUND EFFECT
Behind The Audio Mentoring ProjectAriel Gross introduces The Audio Mentoring Project, which aims to share knowledge across the game audio community through mentorship.
DESIGNING SOUND
A Look at CRIWARE – with Adam LevensonAdam Levenson from CRI Middleware talks about about CRI’s champion product with impressive tools and workflows for implementing audio and video.
DESIGNING SOUND
The Calm and the Chaos: Creating the Sound for Dishonored 2Arkane Studio’s sound team shares how they created the detailed soundscapes of the open-world stealth game Dishonored 2.
A SOUND EFFECT
Indie Audio Adventures: Behind the Delicately Balanced Sound of AragamiTwo Feathers Studio’s Nicklas Hjertberg and Elvira Björkman share the secrets behind Aragmi’s peaceful yet brutal sound & music.
A SOUND EFFECT
Creating the Retro-futuristic Sound of Event[0]Matt Bonneau and Swann Menage talk about the sound of Event[0] and how they sowed character into a sentient ship who has accepted its speckled solitude.
DESIGNING SOUND
Through the Norwegian WoodsDan Wakefield of Antagonist Games shares with us the creative ideas behind Through the Woods and how his team melded authentic Nordic soundscapes with ominous Kittelsen-inspired folklore.
DESIGNING SOUND
Role-playing with Sound – with Drew BeckerDrew shares his experience creating characters without visual references for the blind-accessible TBS game A Hero’s Call and what inspires him to work on out-of-the-box projects.
DESIGNING SOUND
Using Your Ears in Sight UnseenKedar share stories about developing the immersive ear-lead experience of the blind-accessible horror game Sight Unseen and how they took a fresh approach to design for diverse audiences.
A SOUND EFFECT
The Sound of War: Capturing Sounds of Humanity in a Conflict ZoneAna Monte talks about recording Kurish units, a refugee camp, and the Murambi Genocide Memorial for Picturing War.
DESIGNING SOUND
Accessible Gameplay for Blind and Sighted PlayersPer Anders Östblad talks about his new game Frequency Missing, a point-and-click adventure that can be enjoyed by blind and sighted players alike.
DESIGNING SOUND
Pushing the Boundary – Your Stories: SFX Creators, a 9-part SeriesHow have you pushed the boundaries of designing sound? 36 recordists share how they have been innovators in their domains.
A SOUND EFFECT
Audio Games for CharityJames Kyle, a Scottish game artist and volunteer with the RNIB, introduces the first Audiogame Jam = focused on creating blind-accessible games.