tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85893027950849480142024-03-19T01:07:09.281-04:00Mike O.K.music and interactiveMike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-23712521385073625812019-04-07T23:15:00.000-04:002019-04-07T23:51:21.255-04:00WELCOME<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm Mike O.K.!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I've been making music on computers for a very long time. If you just want some of my music, maybe check out </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">my </span><a href="https://mikeok.bandcamp.com/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Bandcamp page</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Because I haven't really been using this as a blog for the last few years, I'm just going to make this post a landing page for some of the things I think are most interesting here.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Quite a few years ago I got very lucky and started working in the game industry. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I made a lot of music and other audio for games. I got involved with game design and writing for games. I had some great jobs working with amazing people, helped start a little studio of my own, and experienced all sorts of other ups and downs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Things I'm now doing:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">working at another awesome game company, <a href="https://kindlybeast.com/">Kindly Beast</a>, now as mostly a writer and game designer</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">looking after the indie dev team I co-founded, </span><a href="http://breakfall.ca/content/games" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Breakfall Inc.</a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">writing music intermittently for other cool indie games</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">trying to be a good dad to two wonderful little children</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">grappling with the nature of reality and how to be a decent person in a complicated world</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">planning to one day do another amazing project all my own... what that will be... no one knows...</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If anything on this site is going to get updated in the foreseeable future, it might be my </span><a href="http://www.mike-ok.com/p/game-gallery.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Game Gallery</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. I've done a lot of work I'm proud of, and that might be fun to talk about.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My composition portfolio is kept somewhat up to date at <a href="http://mikethesoundguy.ca/">mikethesoundguy.ca</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And as of this writing my most recent completed game soundtrack is Pizza Titan Ultra. It's like my best take on everything I loved about 90s videogame soundtracks - so, basically the most radical thing I could ever hope to achieve. Only the first one is a song with lyrics, whether that makes it better or worse for you...</span><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=2063685938/size=large/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mikeok.bandcamp.com/album/pizza-titan-ultra-soundtrack">Pizza Titan Ultra Soundtrack by Mike O.K.</a></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On and off, I'm sort of active on <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeOKeogh">Twitter</a> now.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks for stopping by!</span></div>
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Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-32810278999701047752016-06-05T20:26:00.000-04:002016-06-05T20:26:37.343-04:00Ringside for YouthJust whipped up a sweet track for the opening ceremony of Ringside for Youth XXII, a most excellent charity event I've been involved with as a volunteer for a few years.<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/267729386&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>
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Big sounds, right?<br />
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The event website is <a href="https://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20width=%22100%%22%20height=%22166%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20frameborder=%22no%22%20src=%22https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/267729386&amp;color=ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false%22%3E%3C/iframe%3Es">here</a>.Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-50254978292718071782015-08-08T13:13:00.000-04:002015-08-08T13:13:49.168-04:00Here There Be DragonsWhen things get tough, dragons steal treasure. Here's a sweet image and some crazy music.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6666669845581px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Super cool dragon art by Hoshimi Liang:</span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-bf78ad32-0e4a-6995-6b41-95842874390e"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="447px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Dzk1oQt_k2rZubMOBDhzQ8cHcdtXCxqfSwyoepBOKbrezwxETmcsZL2axCeCURGVDZ2e6Bia7RMH2x9eHQxndFyWAmio9y_ar76wyL3HtPWfnFDB5cfFClzn8zEx-b8NU492qlc" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="421px;" /></span></span></div>
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Music inspired by fun dragonses:<br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/218356613&color=828282&auto_play=false&hide_related=true&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Is this a new game I'm working on? Only time will tell.<br />
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<br />Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-54912653759340342242015-06-08T02:26:00.003-04:002015-08-08T13:13:12.980-04:00Project "Epic Music 2" is a GO!I think we have enough of these to have a playlist going:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/114854886&color=828282&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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Really gonna need a better title, even as a working title.Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-86768733523647294322015-06-01T11:35:00.002-04:002015-06-03T07:40:08.148-04:00The Quest for Epic - Part 2Things are starting to shape into a more cohesive project after the weekend, with the last track being a re-arrangement of Super Effective from The Quest for Epic. I haven't decided on a name for a new album, but I think it will be a more purely symphonic follow up to The Quest for Epic. Here's the latest:<br />
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<br />Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-88000468834680041072015-05-30T19:04:00.000-04:002015-05-30T19:04:15.885-04:00Breaking The Creative BlockFinally got this one finished. Was very stuck on it for a while, which I'll blame on lower-than-usual sleep levels.<br />
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Now that we're moving again, I have a good feeling about getting some music made!Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-60600847842439809292015-02-22T17:12:00.001-05:002015-02-22T17:13:03.602-05:00Still going!I've been pretty busy lately, with a great game I've been working on which should be announced soon, and the extended STARWHAL soundtrack imminently forthcoming. Right at the moment, though, I wrote something whimsical and pretty:<br />
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<br />Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-87254938997558852782014-09-29T13:31:00.000-04:002014-09-29T13:31:27.239-04:00STARWHAL Full Steam Release<a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/263020/">STARWHAL is HERE. Full release on Steam.</a><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kJKAeeSxWDo?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-19557337711612494282014-09-09T17:38:00.001-04:002014-09-09T17:38:54.830-04:00Nanotechnology-Infused Techno-VampiresThe second half of the prototypical CoreTechs soundtrack has come together to be a dark, cybernetic, gothic nightmare. I can't promise this will be a relaxing ride, but if you're feeling like conquering the world with Lovecraftian horrors summoned from ultra-advanced science, maybe this is your soundtrack today.<br />
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Or visit my Soundcloud page to hear this track list <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/sets/coretechs-the-technocrats">here</a>.Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-68471297550749741112014-08-29T09:28:00.000-04:002014-08-29T09:28:11.807-04:00Something Nice To Start Your FridayRendered a little music idea while having my coffee this morning.<br />
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I asked Erin for some chords, so she gets some credit here too.</div>
Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-82243797510404241372014-08-04T11:08:00.004-04:002014-08-04T11:08:30.566-04:00Cyberpunk SuperheroesThe title of this post is pretty much all the intro this music needs:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="450" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/45774393&color=828282&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe>
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Or if you don't like the embed, you can <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/sets/coretechs-the-brethren-of-freedmen">go here</a>.<br />
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This is all for sweet, sweet CoreTechs Tactics. Undeterred by an less-than-successful Kickstarter, this game is still moving along it's awesome trajectory towards epic post-apocalyptic fantastic-ness.<br />
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And now it's got the foundations for a winning soundtrack (by a composer temporarily setting aside humility).<br />
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I can report a lot of progress on the game side too, so stay tuned for this one!Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-65594562062262648382014-05-20T09:30:00.003-04:002014-05-20T09:30:36.355-04:00CoreTechs Tactics KickstarterCoreTechs Tactics is an awesomely epic cyberpunk strategy game with elements of collectible card games (like Magic the Gathering) and hex-based tactics. It's being developed by a passionate indie team in Ottawa and is coming together very, very nicely. This project aims to be massively community driven, with players collaborating on cards to expand the game. Also of interest is there focus on providing the type of integrity in a game of this type, where your cards stay awesome and they don't force you to keep coughing up cash to stay competitive.<br />
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To finish the game in any reasonable time frame (and to, *cough* pay their composer of choice...) they need help with their Kickstarter. Check it out, there are lots of awesome rewards!<br />
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<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lucidswarm/coretechs-tactics?ref=home_location">Visit CoreTechs Tactics on Kickstarter!</a><br />
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<img height="250" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/001/957/675/f80051ed5cbd82b1f02321ec14ff0677_large.png?1399048828" width="400" />Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-64851873225373261782014-03-12T03:25:00.003-04:002014-03-12T03:25:48.529-04:00WINDFORGEWindforge is released for pretty much any digital distribution system you might want. Here's <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/266170/">the link to Steam</a>. I also think Desura is a great service that not enough people use, so <a href="http://www.desura.com/games/windforge">I'll link that here as well</a>.<br />
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The Windforge soundtrack is also now available through my Bandcamp site. This is an enormous amount of content that I've spent most of the last year putting together. Please check it out and enjoy!
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<a href="http://mikeok.bandcamp.com/album/windforge-original-soundtrack">http://mikeok.bandcamp.com/album/windforge-original-soundtrack</a><br />
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<iframe seamless="" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=849358908/size=large/bgcol=333333/linkcol=0f91ff/transparent=true/" style="border: 0; height: 786px; width: 350px;"><a href="http://mikeok.bandcamp.com/album/windforge-original-soundtrack">Windforge Original Soundtrack by Mike O.K.</a></iframe>Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-76350314915396646752014-02-12T22:19:00.004-05:002014-02-12T22:19:49.787-05:00STARWHAL IS COMING.Monday the 17th is early access STARWHAL day on Steam!!!! We're pretty excited to show off what we've been working on over at Breakfall, but here's the latest addition to the STARWHAL soundtrack for your enjoyment:<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/134530987&color=828282&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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HYPE!Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-56027251371932418692014-02-08T15:09:00.002-05:002014-02-08T15:09:56.998-05:00Earning A Living With Game Audio<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">In recent years, I've had many younglings directed my way about "getting into games", or specifically about getting into game audio. It's happened often enough now that I'm finding myself spending a significant amount of time writing a lot of rather long emails (because a short email won't always do when you're trying to help someone decide <i>whether to pursue their dreams</i>). So I want to have something in the way of a stock response to filter out those who are looking at this the wrong way. I'm still happy to engage with people interested in learning more about this field, but I also want to turn away people who aren't really, really keen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>TL;DR Executive Summary</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">This post isn't about crushing anyone's dreams, it's about tempering expectations of people who think "meh, I could maybe do that." Sign up if you're ultra-committed. But don't </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">expect</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> it to go anywhere (particularly a trip to the bank with enormous bags filled with of money). Just be prepared to have fun with sound along the way, and you'll be coming at this from a better place.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Where I'm At...</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">t least in the city where I live (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), it can be pretty hard to find paying audio work. I've spent years building a network of contacts here, and sometimes I have more awesome, lucrative contracts than I can handle. But there are just as often prolonged dry spells. I rely on teaching and other game-related skills for the majority of my income in recent years</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">. I started my own game company with friends, and I currently work as a full-time designer for a really cool mobile company, and teach college courses in the evenings. So I spent 8 years with audio as my full-time job, but for the last few years, not so much.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I believe my current state of not working on sound full-time is reflective of two things: the state of the industry in Ottawa, and the over-saturation of this particular skill set everywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Game Audio in Ottawa</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">According to some, the Ottawa games biz is booming. Broadly speaking the numbers support this, there are more Ottawa game dev jobs than there have ever been. But there are also more small companies, and some of the big players in Ottawa are more focused than ever on casino games and other smaller projects that require less sound. And in particular less high quality, custom sound.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Sound design and composition are jobs that only exist as serious undertakings for larger projects. If you only make casino games, you can pull stuff off the internet or hire someone for a day to make everything you need. Even a match three game or simple platformer will need quite a bit of audio if you're aiming for any level of real production value. Simpler things, like card games, need almost nothing. You only get sound teams for larger, AAA titles or very big indie projects. This is not the majority of what's happening in Ottawa.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">To my knowledge there is currently one studio in the entire city that has full-time staff dedicated to sound. When I was the (one and only) full-time sound guy at Artech, the number of full-time sound people in town was maybe four. There are more dev jobs overall, but it's scattered across smaller studios, none of which could justify having someone there dedicated to sound. Keep in mind this is very much "at the time of this writing" - this industry changes fast.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">There are cool projects being made, but people often either go with people they know, or hire really awesome people that live in other places, and just work it out over the internet. I have mixed feelings about working off-site, but that's another discussion for another day.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>So... Many... Composers...</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Game audio is a skill set that </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I'm starting to believe this is one of the most over-saturated and competitive fields in game development.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Proliferation of audio tools and high quality libraries of sound effects, music samples and loops make it easier than ever for people to break into this field. You can sound great with less effort than ever! (There's the unfortunate issue of piracy plaguing all things sound, but again... another discussion for another day.) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">More and more people are getting interested in audio, and writing music for games specifically. Established composers look to games as a new area of media to work in. Generalist game devs find these great tools and hack together their own content. There is a seemingly never-ending supply of home enthusiasts and fresh graduates from game development and music programs from various post-secondary institutions.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">During the Kickstarter campaign for STARWHAL, we received many offers to have sound done for us. Even though it was obvious to anyone actually reading the information there that STARWHAL has a complete soundtrack and lots of sound already, many still threw their hat in the ring to provide audio assets for the game. There are a lot of people out there who are trying to get into this field. This makes it very, very competitive if you don't have any experience.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><b>Getting Your Big Break</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">The two steps to entering this field are:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">1. Develop your skills.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">2. Meet nice people.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">I think most people get work based on social networks rather than just being skilled. However if you don't have a kickass portfolio, you need not even apply. If you're willing to move to a new city (or country) for an entry level job at a larger company, that opens up some possibilities. But you still need to develop a pretty significant level of skill at the craft.</span><br />
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<b>But I Can Make A Ton Of Money, Right?</b></div>
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Another question that I get asked is whether or not it's worth the money. Are you paid well? This is a pretty subjective question, but my new answer is the question "how desperate are you to do audio?" I love audio, and<i> I do it whether or not I get paid</i>. I spend enormous amounts of time on personal projects and indie projects that are unlikely to net me a lot of cash. I do this to keep my skills current, but even more so because I love doing this stuff. It's important to get paying gigs, but it is often essential when you're trying to build your portfolio and resume to do things just because you want to, and because you need to gain experience.</div>
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I don't advise anyone enter this field unless they have to. And by that I don't mean they lack other skills, I simply mean that they're so passionate about audio they can't imagine not doing it. That's where you should be if you want to see real success in this field. In my opinion, that's basically what it takes in any creative field.</div>
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So if you're wondering if this is a great way to make money because it's an easy win, then no. If you're wondering if it's a great way to make money because it's possible to eke out a living doing this <i>because you care more about game audio than anything else in the universe</i>, then yes, it <i>can</i> be. Pursue it if you love it. Get in touch, I'll listen to your portfolio if I have some time and offer advice on what I think you should be doing with it!</div>
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Another thing to mention is that I keep reading salary surveys that make it sound like game development, in general, pays really well. I find the numbers I see are inflated compared to those that have been shared with me by friends and colleagues.</div>
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This is NOT a way to get rich quick.</div>
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<b>Sound Effects? But I Wanna Write Music!</b></div>
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One final note on what's in demand. My current understanding is that sound designers are in much higher demand than composers. As mentioned I've seen floods of resumes come in for even small projects on Kickstarter when it comes to doing music. A good sound designer can be harder to find, though, and many indies and smaller studios might be willing to pay for those skills if you can cultivate them. I've heard many indies saying it's hard to find someone who "gets" sound. Sound design is another really fun and creative skill. I came to audio world only interested in music, but discovered a real passion for finding and recording original material and using digital sound manipulation techniques to create exciting and unique effects. If you have any interest in sound design, consider investing some effort into that field and looking for indie developers who need help there.</div>
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<b>Conclusion</b></div>
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Sound is cool, but to make money at it takes a lot of perseverance and a little bit of luck. Don't be discouraged if you're really passionate, but also don't expect to see a six figure income because you spent a week on your portfolio. Managing even a sustainable income can be tricky until you've invested a lot of hours of your life into this.</div>
Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-1671378127591742192013-12-30T14:24:00.000-05:002013-12-30T14:24:27.756-05:00Title Theme and Boss Battle Music for Sword & Penguin<object height="165" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/18617230&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/18617230&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="165"></embed></object><a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/sets/sword-penguin-title-and-boss">Sword & Penguin Title and Boss Battles</a> by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a>Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-82169426419202665112013-12-14T15:38:00.000-05:002013-12-14T15:38:42.895-05:001 Hour, 2 TracksI'm a busy guy with a lot of real work to do, but I took an hour out of my Saturday afternoon to remix a couple of seconds of noise made with <a href="http://www.mike-ok.com/2013/07/sound-designers-need-good-tools.html">my trusty 3/4 chrome-vanadium wrench</a>, a 15 pound weight, and an old Toyota key.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xqnGryaZJ0s7RuHspFaIBerkUmHXjA8BShmJ3P26JEIglLNAyLCulwbIZMALpFVVLrhNROxOymfmVXSYR57hZRcgKmK-VcREE2uQtox5AGsO88LY4DwjiWwaHPS5tM4vQtlQqDxw7by1/s1600/2013-11-22+12.22.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2xqnGryaZJ0s7RuHspFaIBerkUmHXjA8BShmJ3P26JEIglLNAyLCulwbIZMALpFVVLrhNROxOymfmVXSYR57hZRcgKmK-VcREE2uQtox5AGsO88LY4DwjiWwaHPS5tM4vQtlQqDxw7by1/s320/2013-11-22+12.22.27.jpg" /></a></div>
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Two new wrench tracks resulted.<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/124851928&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/124851928&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchstuff07-1">WrenchStuff07</a> by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a>
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/124851032&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/124851032&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchstuff06">WrenchStuff06</a> by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a>
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The best part of all this stuff with the wrench is that I'm not sure if I've attained a new level of depth as an artist, or just started to lose my mind. I'm ok with either.Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-18083611994912124412013-12-05T03:34:00.002-05:002013-12-05T03:34:40.024-05:00<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/123335014&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/123335014&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><span><a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchstuff05">WrenchStuff05</a> by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a></span>Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-46239970347851121502013-11-27T23:22:00.003-05:002013-11-27T23:22:53.172-05:00STARWHAL KickstarterSo Breakfall launched our <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2026326625/starwhal-just-the-tip">Kickstarter for <i>STARWHAL: Just The Tip</i></a> today, and it was certainly an encouraging Day 1!<br />
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The big news we're releasing at the same time is that we have a spot on Steam, and we're developing Wii U and PS4 versions of the game. STARWHAL has come a long, long way from its 48 Global Game Jam roots, and we're all very excited to see where this crazy game takes the team! To celebrate, I've changed my profile picture for everything to this image of Mike The STARWHAL Rider.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqzAGaE8Oa3gnN1b1URJeAL0e7csEe3RJKAd4iXDbtF7DEkKSVazCbmSJZHXk5TiVIzwxKt38RNBArgydIfWEzI1RwhgvkVHljWezW-iDtE7-eOZCHXXM4HxNmbC63iUKL_3PnR5LePek/s1600/MikeAndHisMightyStarwhalSteed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvqzAGaE8Oa3gnN1b1URJeAL0e7csEe3RJKAd4iXDbtF7DEkKSVazCbmSJZHXk5TiVIzwxKt38RNBArgydIfWEzI1RwhgvkVHljWezW-iDtE7-eOZCHXXM4HxNmbC63iUKL_3PnR5LePek/s400/MikeAndHisMightyStarwhalSteed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Thanks for the all the support, and please continue to help us by getting the word out there!Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-27747879761347992182013-11-10T23:57:00.001-05:002013-11-11T00:02:30.966-05:00Today The Wrench Is CalmerLast few Wrench tracks were getting pretty intense, so I dialed it down and chilled out a little bit this weekend. Would have liked to spend a bit more time in this happy place, but it was back to grading student radio plays after this nice little distraction. Still, I rather like where this ended up:<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/119558392&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/119558392&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchstuff04">WrenchStuff04</a> by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a><br />
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Every now and then I try the HTML5 player from Soundcloud, but it still doesn't work on my Android phone. Follow the link if that's not working out for you on some iDevice or some such thing.Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-10680687489183495132013-10-21T11:46:00.000-04:002013-10-21T11:46:19.051-04:00Windforge Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViTO3FNCgLvalHv1zgBFvnLN_18uAVMdmLvl-v3EijJdUHl-UvhUa-gLfHMzD8BPgwnznGQOye6Fvd0u8FJXH85Cazb-TtGkPW6080VWSaYYL_bZvaf7SQQ8c_xAR3_D37gnpzPo48qo6/s1600/WindforgeLogoFromTrailer.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgViTO3FNCgLvalHv1zgBFvnLN_18uAVMdmLvl-v3EijJdUHl-UvhUa-gLfHMzD8BPgwnznGQOye6Fvd0u8FJXH85Cazb-TtGkPW6080VWSaYYL_bZvaf7SQQ8c_xAR3_D37gnpzPo48qo6/s320/WindforgeLogoFromTrailer.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Windforge is 2D building block destruction, collection and creation mixed with run and gun (and fly and gun) action. It's really one of the most unique original games to come out of Ottawa in a while, with an epic scope and fascinating emergent gameplay. My recent experience with the latest developer version was the first time I really lost myself in the game - intending to test a few SFX and instead exploring several maps, fighting off creatures and enemy soldiers, crash landing more than once, repairing my ship, and finally getting a feel for grapple-slinging your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman would be proud of.<br />
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The reason I'm graced with this early build, if you didn't figure it out from the above, is that I'm responsible for the sound in Windforge. I still have a lot of work to do on both sound design and music, but sharing some of the original soundtrack is long overdue. I already have the better part of an hour of music produced, but here are a few highlights I'm very proud of.<br />
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<object height="165" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/12742201&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/12742201&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="165"></embed></object><a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/sets/windforge">Windforge</a> by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a><br />
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Sandbox games are a hard thing to score, but I think I'm fast approaching a point where the epic and ambient are blended in the right proportion for flying custom airships through an exotic jungle world of floating islands and treacherous wildlife.Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-56166354800315845342013-10-12T00:51:00.002-04:002013-10-12T00:56:23.800-04:00Bizarre ExperimentsI'm just about the busiest I've been in my entire life. Busy is good, but this sometimes leaves precious little time for strange nocturnal experiments in wrench-based sound design. Let us together remedy this situation!<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F114968473&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F114968473&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchstuff03">WrenchStuff03</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a><br />
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I know I feel better, do you?<br />
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Remember that the entire track played above was created using only a 3/4 chrome vanadium wrench, struck on metal and finger tips. The wealth of sonic variation here is thanks to the many marvelous miracles of modern music making machinery (software is more accurate, but once I have a good alliteration going, it can be hard to stop). We're in an age of technological wonders!<br />
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If the wrench is leaving you cold, I'll be back soon with update on the Windforge soundtrack.Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-81447092566335962402013-09-18T13:53:00.001-04:002013-09-18T13:56:36.391-04:00LOKTAR, Emissary of The Prophets, Guardian of the West<div>
It's been an incredibly busy few months over here, but I'll start doling out updates as exciting projects get released. Pretty excited to share some of the music I've been working on!<br />
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Today we'll start with a really fun animated short by the hilarious and talented Andrew Morrow and Jeff Nuyens - LOKTAR!!!</div>
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Through the technomagic of the internet, you can watch Loktar right here:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="316" src="http://www.filmannex.com/embed/M38172" width="560"></iframe><br />
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For the theme song, the only guidelines were epic and awesome, and the creators of Loktar felt this piece fit the bill. I've enabled download of this one if you want to download it and make it a ringtone for your smartphone or creating a Loktar morning alarm to start your day like a mighty hero.<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F111111909&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F111111909&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok/loktar-main-theme">LOKTAR Main Theme</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a>
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(if the download button isn't working in the Flash player above, follow <a href="https://soundcloud.com/michaelok/loktar-main-theme">the link to Soundcloud</a> to download the mp3 there)<br />
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Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-15162340066705655602013-07-20T15:33:00.001-04:002013-07-20T15:35:46.686-04:00984 Milliseconds In A Vice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I thought I would get a more springy, textured sound by putting the wrench in a vice and flicking it. My cell phone caused interference with most of the recording, but I took a single sound and manipulated into a harsh industrial mess.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0F4zWooeeyz2_UxA8R0Vjou82BNULS9YKxCAiCT68A44AOUERbl6K7XJoawtVqjIjFNTv8gF-99DdjPrw-sYt6AJFuxH_91AbfGQxARuFwAvEGVaNRhdbpXjFJCDluIfTH6ILBjvZabd/s1600/Wrench3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0F4zWooeeyz2_UxA8R0Vjou82BNULS9YKxCAiCT68A44AOUERbl6K7XJoawtVqjIjFNTv8gF-99DdjPrw-sYt6AJFuxH_91AbfGQxARuFwAvEGVaNRhdbpXjFJCDluIfTH6ILBjvZabd/s320/Wrench3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The remix of this one sound has some interesting things going on, especially if your speakers can handle deep bass. The track starts with that sound, then pitching it down, adding delay, and running it through various distortions and effects until it's just a big rumbling noise, played on top of itself with extremely distorted versions of that first hit serving as percussion. Keep in mind I used NO OTHER SOUND, just the 984 millisecond sample heard at the start.<br />
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You <i>could</i> make the argument that half of that original sample is hiss from the ventilation system at my grandparent's cottage, so it's not even about the wrench, and that's where a bunch of this texture comes from. You COULD make that argument, but I'd call you nitpicky. I'd like to see you make some music from less than a second of source material. Actually... I kinda would! Join me! And stop being nitpicky!<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F101876965&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F101876965&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchstuff02">WrenchStuff02</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a><br />
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To rough for your tastes? Or just rough enough?Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8589302795084948014.post-18354290218332570202013-07-09T17:27:00.003-04:002013-07-09T17:27:46.117-04:00Sound Designers Need Good ToolsA good tool like a solid, chrome vanadium, 3/4 wrench found in a surplus store on the cheap. Though it came as a package, the estimated post-tax cost of this wrench is around 75 cents.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio97EUCdWNthdBuX1ECl36OaBcybuU4EZZvUkRkN2UpwexDj8XNKpBCj6k0gCm0ozZQLS-IPyJfTNKM_M7-rKT3sqSKbn0nstu9xkIg44Sr2Rrm4oQmr9PVmfvJNSgBuZEb0ojwG72XVdF/s1600/Wrench2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio97EUCdWNthdBuX1ECl36OaBcybuU4EZZvUkRkN2UpwexDj8XNKpBCj6k0gCm0ozZQLS-IPyJfTNKM_M7-rKT3sqSKbn0nstu9xkIg44Sr2Rrm4oQmr9PVmfvJNSgBuZEb0ojwG72XVdF/s320/Wrench2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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To challenge myself and push the limits of creative sound design, I'm going to see how many and what sorts of interesting musical tracks I can create with just this tool. I want to do something more experimental, and the goal is to avoid using any additional synthesizers or samplers.<br />
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Partly, I'm following in the footsteps of one of my favourite electronic musicians, Amon Tobin, who made incredible sonic worlds by chopping up tiny samples of various source sounds (mostly old jazz records to start, but increasingly all sorts of sound in recent years).<br />
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Partly, I'm doing it as a passive aggressive counter-argument to people who claim you can't "do anything" with this sample pack or the other (a perspective in music making I find decidedly devoid of creativity).<br />
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Mostly, it just struck me during a morning commute that I needed a new personal project, and this popped into my head as something tricky and fun.</div>
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So what sorts of sounds can you get, just from a wrench? Just tapping it, flicking it with my fingernail, and throwing it on the car seat next to the microphone, I made these.<br />
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F100366334&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
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<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F100366334&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchsourcefortrack01">WrenchSourceForTrack01</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a>
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Alright, so on their own, those are rather unexciting. But in the wonderful world of digital audio manipulation, those simple sounds, and no others, yielded this range of textural delights.</div>
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<object height="81" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F100366154&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false"></param>
<param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param>
<embed allowscriptaccess="always" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F100366154&color=828282&auto_play=false&show_artwork=false&show_playcount=false&show_comments=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%" height="81"></embed></object><a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok/wrenchstuff01">WrenchStuff01</a> by <a href="http://soundcloud.com/michaelok">Mike O.K.</a>
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So there's a track. Is it just noise, or a sublime tautology of profound acoustic beauty? Whether or not its your cup of sonic tea, you have to admit that the world of digital audio is just pretty neato, right?<br />
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Welcome to the audio life of the wrench. It will be back shortly.</div>
Mike Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811682479589419048noreply@blogger.com