Guild Chat - Episode 69

The following is an unofficial, player-written transcript of the episode. The accuracy of this transcription has not been verified by ArenaNet.
The 69th episode of Guild Chat aired on August 3, 2018. Host Rubi Bayer interviews some of the developers involved in the Daybreak release.
Transcription[edit]

Note: The text below hasn't yet been converted from raw subtitle text into pretty print like above.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sKv84cYon0
hi everybody and welcome to guild chat
happy Friday I'm your host Ruby and as
you've guessed we've got kind of a weird
guild chat today in a good way in a good
way we're gonna be talking to the audio
team so I'll let you guys introduce
yourselves and talk a little bit about
what you do here to read in it alright
my name is drew Katie I'm the audio
director kind of look over yours too and
Andres team makes sure they're healthy
and we're going out and recording
unusual things and having fun because
you have fun at your job right we do a
little a lot but you want to make a good
product to you know you guys do
consistently good work so yes you just
have a whole lot of fun doing it and
then we brought a few toys a few I've
adopted this one this is we're friends
now we're hanging out I can't promise to
give him back Joe okay I'm Joe Clark
kind of sound designer here dream net
HEPA so does creatures weapons mounts
you name it let's start yourself short
man says Archduke of audio that's true
it's too late we're talking about it now
this is well in 1987 yeah Chris yeah I'm
Chris Burgess I am a sound designer and
I do all the audio for cinematics and
marketing materials and when I don't
have any of those to do I jump in the
game and help out Joe and Keenan and do
some ingame sound and implementation I
know we'll say this is you know a team
effort
yeah it's also Keenan cig Damian Casper
or there's John Moses James Richter
Caitlin Isaacson yeah and yeah yeah a
lot of a lot of people behind the scenes
we could fit three in today but there
are a whole lot more who make a huge
difference in the game
yeah do really really good work so we
thank them yes
thanks all of you so what we're gonna
talk today about some of the things that
you guys do to put audio in the game and
show how you do it and have a little bit
of fun along the way let's start with
talking about the roller beetle because
we did the behind-the-scenes video a
while back on the roller beetle okay we
can go a little bit more into depth on
some specifics about that Joe why don't
you start yeah so sound design for the
roller beetle I think when I first
approached it I saw like I get a good
feel for the creature and I'm obviously
a Mike that's pretty cute same so kind
of want to go down that road with a how
it sounded and the yeah so high squeaky
little bug voice and some try get those
that kind of feeling from the creature
yeah one of the things that we talked
about in the behind the scenes video is
how we were how the designers work to
take all of these sharp edges off of the
creature and play into that cute thing
so yeah we we have a big balloon and you
have let's let's not bring it back
because Chris has already made enough
horrible noises with it last me two
whole rest of my life but we did have a
video for that I think yeah yeah let's
take a look
[Music]
[Music]
so that one was deflated a little bit
and it just had this really shimmering
low-end a rubbing of the on the rug and
so I did you use that like underneath
kind of as the glue for when you ride
correct yeah a lot of with it's like
it's engaged skill when it kind of Reds
up that's so be it
[Laughter]
I mean it worked as a good undertone I
think another feature that was a good
choice or as I had it a sound of a table
it's a Indian drum okay you hit a little
membrane you can push down into so every
time you land with the beetle it gets
kind of like a boom on it yes yeah I yes
I mentioned that you drew I was like it
sounds like a rubber ball it's pretty
satisfying satisfying like a little more
than just like I feel you makes me feel
it more
what do you Landon yeah you really do
yeah yeah yeah I mean as as you play a
game I think it's really useful to have
a little sense of humor when you're
sound designing and if you can get that
in and and it just makes it more playful
and fun and it kind of shakes things up
too so okay there's a big explosion
that's not cute
but but then there's other things to
kind of offset that and so we have a we
have a lot of fun sometimes we push the
envelope and see where that boundary is
and yes we got a pretty big boundary so
I'm I'm thankful yeah speaking of the
beetle burning out we have an entire
bicycle behind Chris that I kind of know
at least shall we all that over yeah
yeah get it there were yeah we work to
tether you guys slightly less so you
couldn't we originally did another bike
a long time ago and we did this again
just to to get some more squeaks down as
you do with by cells yeah
so you work to get some more squeaks yep
and there's a rubber band so as we
perfect sir
now we'll hold the mic go ahead oh
that's later wait your turn team effort
[Music]
oh yeah it really stinks
Burton river yeah I literally burning
rubber
did you do some other layers in there
too though on top of the bike yeah yeah
actually I layered two bike sounds kind
of like a different kind of double
vocalization thing no like yeah and then
uh he's the vocal FM to get kind of
little man ee sounds in the beginning
and end of the guttural say can I get
that breathing right make it more of an
insect yeah yeah yeah works very cool
well okay so we can talk about another
insect though that it's a it's a nice
indicator I like talking about the
Scarab because it's a nice indicator of
how unbelievably far you will go
to capture some footage and I realized
they were probably some other reasons
but let's talk about the scarab audio
let's start with a video let's server
the video yeah it's a video of Malaysia
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
this is all your footage that you
captured while you were there
correct yeah I I had a trip in mind for
like four years or something like that I
really wanted to go to a jungle feel
smell here like what what does that
really feel like we did heart of thorns
and I wanted to experience that you know
as an artist and we have some you know
rain forests around here but but you
know go dense in a jungle somewhere I
don't know different creatures I didn't
know what I was going to find or record
or anything and so I spent two weeks
went to Malaysia I went to Borneo and
came back with some really unusual
sounds and we started working on this
scarab plague cool so there was some
cicadas that the last frame there was
this really large cicada he's about 2 to
3 probably 3 inches long he's really
really large and you mostly hear him in
the background but I found one of them
and I kind of followed him around and
could have nudged him a little bit and
he'd be really itchy and I'd nudge him
again I need him again and then he
finally flew off so it was it was it was
really useful to kind of have a larger
buzzy I don't know some some fodder for
Chris to go and take these sounds and
kind of play with that as a base and
then we can
kind of find other things and textures
that sound like that and certain kind of
beefing it up so maybe Chris can
continue from there how did that give
you a starting point yeah well it had
been on our plate for a while and I
think it had been a big question mark of
what the heck are we gonna do and then
you came back from vacation and just
pulled us all into your office and we
were like I was just like oh my god I
can't believe some of the sounds were
hearing I didn't know these types of
sounds existed and so we were thinking
about that swarm and we needed it to
sound massive because the scarabs would
never exist in a singular fashion but I
think how we use like those the
vocalization you just heard it's like
that was one of the main assets I used
and I think that kind of gave a more
singular voice to the swarm to try and
focus it a little bit and give it a bit
of a hive mind idea so while you've got
this big thing coming at you've also got
that one thing just hanging and getting
at you and the other awesome thing about
working with Drew is he just like dreams
up contraptions and then shows up with
them the next day cuz he's built them
and so I think some of the coolest stuff
we got out of Malaysia was that it was
referenced for what these things sound
like right and then we said how can we
realise that in the studio to hyper to a
sort of magnify zoom in on the sound
yeah you're trying to find that texture
and then make something that you can
control and so you can get short and
long versions or looping things for the
sound designer because as a sound
designer we have to do so many different
things the cicada only does a short
little range so this is I don't know if
Joe you want to hold that this is uh
that's a it's two nails that I bent and
then you can actually change it and make
this tension a little differently but
it's just a rubberband on two nails
so that kind of has that arcing zappy or
Beadle s core scarab so we can use it
for electrical sounds for elementalists
or or scarabs and then there's this
other one where I wanted I'll be very
careful with this one this one is a
little it's the same thing right it's
got the rubber band it's got the two
nails but I want it to get more of the
shells and some plastic and that kind of
taps in and is more kind of like their
wings and I'm gonna move this a little
oh yes because this gets crazy all right
and then there's a leather strap and so
I can actually just wheel it Wow
something like that and so you know we
were able to take all that source and
especially I really loved the one with
the shells on it because it had this
clatter that we were able to put delays
on and just make it sound like a swarm
system and that kind of made the base
layer for what the scarabs were but then
Joe had this great idea because we we
have a hallway that we all hang out in
and that's one of the coolest things
about being on a team is I can just be
talking about something and somebody has
an idea and just it kind of snowballs
and he said well sure the scarabs are on
enemy characters or they're on other
player characters but or are there human
other real players but for the player
character your own player character when
it's on you you should have a special
version that sounds like they're
crawling all over you and going into
your ears and so we have a video that oh
yeah okay let's look at this video but
not too closely now it goes in in a
minute
[Music]
[Music]
yeah guys word thanks yeah so we Joe had
this idea and Jerry I I just I think I
was walking around the office saying
like I really wish we had a binaural mic
setup which Jerry just raised his hand
and said I have one brought it in and
what that capitalizes on is the H RTF
which is head related transfer function
and it simulates putting an object and
you guys correct me if I'm wrong but it
simulates putting an object between two
microphones so you actually get the the
shading and the time between from one
mic to another so it's it's simulating
being going into your ears yeah the
spatial miss and so on headphones that
specifically on headphones it really
sounds like it's coming
it's very positional around you so we
really wanted this to be creepy and have
a sense of touch on the person and so
that's why we did all this very close to
mic technique and we started with the
pinecones and I think I've put those
into the game and we said like it's
crackling it sounds like scarabs but it
just wasn't unnerving so then I said to
Jerry I said let's just get all the
fruit we
have in the kitchen and we did those
recordings and then I was also breathing
on the microphone because it just felt
like there's a there's an intimacy and a
proximity to that sound it's like
somebody has to be breathing on the back
your neck so we layered that in there to
just try and give players a sense that
there's something crawling on them which
is which is really creepy but that's
that's I guess that's kind of what we
wanted to do and I was not expecting
that we did an art review for that and
you're like you know this other layer
here like breathing and you know you had
it textured a little higher something
and it was different as ik okay yeah I
like it it's great yeah and it totally
brings you into more of that emotional
reaction instead of just the sonic okay
it's a scarab so it worked out yeah it
works at what it gives you that back of
the neck like yeah yeah exactly
yes going for so tickle the nerves there
to tickle him a little bit more yeah
yeah and interesting I had no idea about
the microphone setup or the headset so
yeah it came from I had done a previous
project where it was a it was about a
haptic VR glove and they wanted this
they wanted that very close sensation
and and I don't know that it well I
transferred that knowledge over to this
project said we can take advantage of
this and and manipulate people through
sound yeah well good work Thanks um I
haven't note that we have another scarab
video that we want to look at yes
is this the Scarab ole wall video yeah
yeah this was another sound that was
called out this was the scarabs are such
a big part of episode three and this was
I think a very last minute thing for me
that we needed a sound for the Scarab
wall and I was talking to Kenan about it
and I think I was just asking myself
what does it sound like if Joko was
summoning these evil scarabs from like
the depths of hell and the air was
tearing open to open this dimension in
this hole and like we're in like a
convention center like ballroom sized
room and it's a wall of
stuff so it was just an opportunity for
me to make a really big distorted sound
which I enjoyed
yeah and to be cleared it's that final
fight where it's coming across the room
and you have to find the hole to duck
through yes so this video just breaks
down the the layers and what went into
that
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Applause]
[Music]
there were really a lot of parts that
went into that yeah and I have an
obsession with synthesizers and trying
to make them sound organic and Nine Inch
Nails does a lot of this and some of
their soundtrack work and I think I was
just constantly searching for layers but
just sort of have that beehive unnerving
quality to it and trying to make it
coherent and you're using kind of
pitching up and down and that kind of
that's a dissonant effect that really is
unnerving as well he's not just taking
everything and writing the same path
yeah we had several layers of the frogs
and one was going up and one was going
down so it was just this like yeah yeah
yeah and the frogs were just me camping
and you know just recording them and
then I don't know I think I pitched him
down two or three octaves or something
put that in the library and so you never
know we do a lot of stuff where your ear
hears something and you just record it
you toss it in the library and
eventually we'll get to it yeah we do
Foley Fridays where we have an intention
like the pine cones and all this that
was definitely who intentionally need
this and sometimes I don't know this is
a really cool object
we're doesn't record anyways but that's
the kind of fun of the sound designers
coming back into the library and going I
would never thought about it recording
this or what in the heck is this but it
fits my you know object there or event
that I need yeah yeah yeah and look at
some of these really cool objects yeah
we have some toys I want to talk a
little bit about Joko first because you
guys did amazing things with him and his
disgusting self pulling himself back
together after we beat the crap out of
him let's start by looking at his
cinematic because there was a lot going
on there so
immortality I'll drastically under state
so disappointed but let's be honest in
your heart not forget you it's cause
you've aroused interest spell out your
name for all to see I was happy to print
it for your victories but did you ever
stop to wonder what that says about you
but so many thought what I was selling
they called me or monster you are here
the world expects to finally thank me
[Music]
good work mark alright so jogo had a lot
going on there like you guys not just in
the story an incident cinematic but you
guys conveyed a lot as he was working
through his personal mobility issues
mm-hmm yeah this was a really exciting
cinematic that came in I think this was
the first time we had leveraged mocap or
full-body mocap and it was just sort of
a question I kept asking like was the
first time we're bringing a Guild Wars
character into that fidelity of motion
and I just wanted them to feel like a
real person so we leveraged a lot of
Foley which comes from Jack Foley so
it's a capital F and that is the
technique of recording sound to a
picture so instead of just recording
one-off sounds you're actually
performing the sound to picture which
which usually for me it just makes
editing easier because it's already
synced but what that means is that we
were doing the staff and we would record
the staff two or three different ways
which we actually have down here yeah
careful don't you got it we were doing
the footsteps we were doing the cloth
the jewelry and this is yeah this is
like a one-and-a-half inch 6 foot rebar
it's for putting in foundation so the
foundations don't bend or crack or
anything like that and I just kept one
around because you never know when you
need it yeah it's coming it's coming
handy close several times and it's
perfect for this spot right it's perfect
also for the warden in the raids the
raid boss well I think how this
conversation usually goes is I'm just in
our recording room like digging around I
need I need a staff I need a staff and
drew just kind of wander sin and OOP
there you go and like okay wow great but
another cool part about this Foley and
recording collaboration for cinematics
as we have team members who are
enthusiastic about different types of
sounds and I know Joe you love gore and
as soon as you heard me talk about this
you were like I'm doing the gore and I
was like great he came in with celery
and a bunch of vegetables and quick stop
of the store I'm going to work coming
over juice yeah so and and Katelyn
helped us record some of the staff Foley
so it was a real team effort to get that
cinematic done but one of the coolest
things I think about trying to bring a
character to life like that is how sound
can play off of narrative and so we have
a video that shows some of the behind
the scenes of those layers of Foley but
something like the footsteps you know
Joko starts off
he's just been defeated in battle and
he's rebuilding his body so we perform
those footsteps on a concrete floor with
some sand to give a texture barefoot and
we're sort of scuffling around and
dragging our feet and doing Shh and then
about halfway through he starts walking
a little more a little better and by the
end when he's fully recovered he's
heel-toe heel-toe very relaxed and he
does like a little pivot and spins
around so we wanted him to feel agile
and again the staff I looked at that
thing and it's huge and he's just
wielding it like it did it uh and I said
that staff should be should sound really
heavy because it just shows his strength
so that's a moment that we can play up
the narrative without having to say
anything or really telegraphed that he's
just when he goes like going we want to
hear that
yeah and as he regains his power we
actually layer more sounds into the
staff so by the end we're putting like
taiko drums underneath his staff as his
speech is getting more intense and by
the time he finally drops the staff
I think we layered like I can and
underneath it just because I wanted that
to just be like he's done and last
before we show this video the jewelry
was this is very personal to me that
like every day for years after school I
would go home and my mother and I would
watch like Oprah Ellen DeGeneres and all
my children probably in that order and
there was this character on All My
Children which was a soap opera if
nobody knows what this is there was a
character who wore so much jewelry and
she would talk with her hands and he
would just share clang clang clang clang
clang and and you could barely
understand the dialogue and this was as
a kid I wasn't even interested in sound
that much and I just it was burned into
my brain I said why is this like this
you can't understand the vo years later
this Joko cinematic comes in and and he
looks like he has some bling and I said
I want to hear how decked out this guy
is every time he moves and it just like
I was like it's that character it's that
lady from the soap opera who has all the
jewelry so I made a string I took pins
and put them on a string of yarn and got
some measuring cups and just performed
it to picture so when he's shaking his
hands you're hearing all that and I
don't know how much that adds to the
story but it like definitely satisfied
this clearly deep-seated this sound was
just in me somewhere so anyway love that
story yeah that's a good you guys know
this I had told it to true love when
that cinematic came up it was like we
got to do the poll and we got to do the
gore and I'm like and we got to do the
jewelry okay a real personality yeah
well let's take a look
[Music]
that is really good and I was saying
while we were watching the video all of
these things that you guys point out I
can't unsee them like he's just tossing
the staff around like it's made of
nothing and I heard the jewelry and I
will I will never unsee and unhear these
things we obsess over the details for
sure and it shows makes it believable
yeah really really so part of the
immersion and I given the small details
of the jewelry I gave even not really
conscious of it like now you hear it
every time but even like something like
you know unconsciously this makes you
feel more immersed yeah it makes it more
real it is what flushes out the world
yeah I'm thankful to be in a culture
that you know has that artistry that
handcrafted miss and we have the time to
really get in there and feel it and make
it really come to life and so when
you're a player you know you are in that
world right yeah speaking of being in
the world and adding to things let's
talk about the festival going on right
now
because you guys got to play around with
that and you have had a little bit of a
hand in that yeah a little bit not much
work out most of the festival I think I
work on all the festivals so this one
came back around
there's tons of it's been four years or
something so we pitched the labyrinth
cliffs it coming up with fun ideas like
you know I do the work and I get the
sounds and but I'm like what else like
what kind of love gonna add to this man
like what kind of fun stuff gonna we do
here and in the am-noon casino there is
a band we decided to add them they play
I come in a corner we called them jam
noon real name came in and I kind of
came up with this whole idea this band
and Guild Wars so here in having their
own egos you know they're typically
always playing there we decided that hey
let's bring them to the beach
hug put him on the road he's working
hard
exactly so they are performing their hit
single blast from the past year blast
from the past it wasn't called that then
it's called that yeah yes yeah so if you
hurt a little at nighttime rest in peace
in nighttime you can find them jamming
out on the islands and feel for you
dance alone or whatever yeah it's just
fun organic little thing that we kind of
want to keep around in the game maybe uh
so keep an ear out for more jam news
what did I hear y'all call what they're
playing it's a chart are of the chart
yeah jar basins yeah
char base char base yeah yes up that was
great to bases and a drum I like chart
are the chart tire is my favorite like
it so much
alright well do we want to see what else
we have lying around here and we have
other tight um like I mean even just a
vase right fish face what's motoring
this is my friends vase I was pouring a
glass of water like can I borrow this
so it's yeah it's got a lot of character
and that that bending of the node and we
can sprinkle that into like like kind of
like the table was where it's like a
Boop and maybe maybe there's a news or
something where we want him
you know they scaled it up and we want
him to have so little character that
bounce and that's something that we
could use you never know we might use it
for literal or maybe something can you
think off the top of your head is that
something that we can hear in-game now
hmm I didn't think to ask that until
just now so that's kind of a surprise
it's a good question maybe maybe tar but
sounds bubbling to me yeah yeah we also
saw a video of a death whistle and it's
a crazy way of their pottery it's a clay
piece and it has a couple of chambers
and you blow air through it and it just
kind of it sounds really horrible it's a
it's an aztec device we're actually use
it during war yeah and as they went into
war multiple people like hundreds of
them would use these and scare you know
they're probably I can't even imagine
yeah yeah coming over a hill yeah in the
dark yeah alright so thank you
so we could have bought one but because
I like to build stuff I I bought some
sculpey which is a thing which is a clay
that you can just use and bake and you
don't have to use a kiln or anything so
here's here's a couple different ones
and you kind of just have a noise in
your lip instead of a tunnel
it's a little lower
this one's a little higher I believe
it's pretty awful so like hundreds of
those coming over the hill at you on
horseback and these are a little
different that's I think the fun of it
is they're not all the same I'm still
looking for one that's a little more
windy I know it's kind of pinching my
lip but yeah so we're gonna make some
more of these we'll figure it out
eventually
or we'll just have a whole lot of these
around Christmas gifts for everybody at
the studio yeah yeah no oh yeah yes and
tell us what it's for first so this we
had a lion Griffin the Griffon skin yeah
grand lion so yeah we were watching it
back in the day kind of like a behind
the scenes of old using the sound design
from legend Jarek Donald and he used one
of these again like that creature sounds
like the shape of this you get the
resonant and the kinda like whitens it
out here yeah
so bought one it's actually hard to find
one for some reason ball one so now I
had a client channel my inner beast I
guess and lion and kind of
[Music]
that is extraordinarily cool I started
with that for the lion so great place to
start and so I got the real meat and
potatoes and then I kind of layered in
some like I was dragging a garbage can
on a carpet um some double bass slides
and think maybe dragging a table trying
to get that like what the growl um you
kind of want to start with like a the
creature sound here like the main attack
there but you kind of want a little bit
of like the breathe in so I have a
little bit of like uh oh whatever
you know and then that sound and then
kind of fade it out with a little bit of
a growl and just really makes it kind of
feel real yeah yeah so yeah that is so
neat so that's our Griffon grand lion
yeah jeez
I'm I'm actually kind of surprised to
hear that was hard to find because those
are those like little oil lamps fine Wow
do I just make scary noises with it you
played Careless Whisper so this should
not be in my hands though this is the
otamatone buy these on Amazon you buy
them they're made in Japan a little I
touch sent the synthesizer a little face
here pinch the juicy sweet it opens the
change the for me and yeah it seemed
kind of good like a vibrato
we have recorded these good for robots
use it yet but yeah great great to have
around no I know how the fun just
randomly play so he might show up at
some point in game absolutely
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
not from if we get you to pose and hold
it we get a free one yeah that was
incredible that was wonderful thank you
all right but are we doing something
with the toenails are they just for sure
and there are they the toenails of this
is my concern there dog to toys yeah and
which their host and we got a big bin of
them and I just took him to work I
drilled a hole in each one and then made
a necklace out of it and I started using
them for mandibles for large creatures
and heart of thorns and this is not nice
clack e yeah can I get that off there I
don't know I don't know let's go get the
thing you so yeah it's it's kind of good
you know it's it's a little hollow so
it's got that shell or it's not wood you
know it has that sense of it's an animal
so when you're using them from animals
it's rooted in something it's as I got
doesn't that sounds like a two-by-four
it's like it's not a too hard work so
it's yeah it was fun to make and
occasionally everywhere it is necklace
so you know it kind of throws people off
it's good for meetings so it it says a
lot that none of us really blinked at
that and none of us really questioned it
mm-hmm and we were just kind of like
well because you do I mean sure
whoever's wearing it it's their turn to
talk
mm-hmm oh gosh what's this it's a it's
used for blowing up rafts and things
about balloons yeah but it whistles so
yeah I was going as a ghost and almost
had that song
so yeah it's it's just kind of random
throw it into the library and you know
call it good mmm
there's a lot of this makes a cool noise
let's put it in the library and see what
happens that comes back and works which
sounds like random and kind of silly but
it seems like it has done you a lot of
good yeah yeah and been super useful in
game up to know and it's you know it's a
realistic sound is something that we've
recorded we have the control over so
instead of sometimes a library has like
one one version or a couple versions but
it does the same thing and we can do all
these different you know going up and
going down like I said positive and
negative and kind of guide it this I was
replacing my dishwasher this is a
dishwasher hose and to go to the outside
you know to drain the water and you can
get like elk bleats or you can go really
really hard and get that whistle so if
you want to do some cave drone maybe do
it really slow
[Music]
and then pitch that down
[Music]
[Laughter]
[Music]
some energy you kind of do beat tones
with singing into it as well yeah I've
got four different things dishwasher oh
you want to hear it it doesn't know it
does one more thing to like you were
saving the best for last
you can swing it you mean you can blow
through it but like you can swing it and
hopefully I I trust you
[Music]
the breeze is so nice right now thank
you for so yeah then they you can get a
constant cave drone if you want instead
of trying to blow through it circular
breathe that's hard how many sounds do I
have a girl like this sounds cool what
else can we do this all possibilities
yeah what what is the object that you
brought it in for and then what else
does it do that I have no idea right and
if you can't find anything you just
smash it and you smash it and then you
make smaller pieces and then you smash
the smaller pieces into smaller pieces
so there's a progression careful at how
you smash yes yeah and then you walk on
them for footsteps yes professionals
though right do not work on things at
home where where the proper shoes yes
so speaking of getting lots of uses out
of thing here's my question I've been
trying not to be very self-indulgent and
like look at all of these other things
first do we have any things that we're
looking at or I feel like we've like
pulled up all the weird crap that we're
going to because I'm scared to try to
get that giant double bass thing that's
just for show at this point
now it lives it that's its home now and
I don't think there's much with the Devo
hat other than just wear it cuz it's
neat it's it's above the fireball and
yeah that was used for the Phoenix
glider oh right yeah that was in those
videos but yes but not we're not doing
that in here because it involves setting
it on fire no I'm sorry I don't want to
be the fun killer
I was promised fire well and you can go
back to the actually not allowed to set
things on fire here there's actually
rule about that that I didn't make I'm
sorry fair enough I'm sorry but here I
can all right so here's my question and
by the way if you guys have questions
put them in chat and we'll try to answer
some at the end but I have a question
because I know this was used for the
skimmer and I want to know what else it
can be used for what else it can be
useful it was also used for the beetle
actually it was yeah yes okay roll Biel
is also interesting in the sense of like
two months and one so while designing
the creature and the sounds that the
Foley it makes the sound it makes
I also had to kind of figure out what
this bike sounds like you're riding and
then how those two work together and
don't like crap yeah not sound like crap
is always an amazing goal that's my
check my first yes baseline
yeah turned her on my chair my sense my
theremin is always in my room so I could
go to and then I has okay so tell us
what this is and get us started cool
talked about this many times
yeah I had a thing at PAX last year
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
okay so the theremin this one is the
mogh theremin II it has tons of
different presets we have the classic
they arm inside a spaceship II pretty
much the soundtrack to all scifi movies
yes
[Music]
yeah so we have the theremin ah you
right antenna is for pitch 1110 is for
volume so you get closer to this one
higher further way lower and volume is
to kindly move your hands around like
that kind of dampening yeah it's in a
very interesting instrument because
unlike other hands but you don't
actually physically touch it it's kind
of a MIDI this changes volume pitch that
gives me a lot of great room to kind of
get those gestures the skimmer hold on
bear with me yeah see I feel like the
lab coat should be happening at this
point we didn't think this through
yes I mean kind of going through these
and that could be aware of what this can
do you I just need like that's a whale
sound as well so kind of fits that
aquatic skimmer thing and I became that
I can't get those gestures like mmm well
I kind of curious and then like sad oh
[Music]
yeah for the beetle is this I like to
imagine he's putting it to say roller
beetle roller beat yeah I get that bike
kind of sound oh hey
yeah that's extremely cool
absolutely would you like to try it I
would love to try I'm actually more
tethered than you guys I have less leash
than anybody so I can bring it there we
go
okay so you want to keep it hand here it
silent okay so as you pull your hand
away and this pitch yes oh my gosh
I made a fifty spaceship excellent I
really get that fifty spaceships on you
want to add a little vibrato yeah yeah
natural got it
okay this is amazing you want this back
right cuz you're I just drive everybody
in our pod crazy
okay that's extremely cool absolutely I
won't drive everybody insane but this is
an amazing toy to play with how do you
not just put I would want to put whale
song in like all the whales around
lion's arch I'd be okay I have to I have
to do more any more of this I do try to
add some whale calls and in some in
deeper water areas oh really
yeah you should because that's
incredibly fun and I'm very very bad at
it but I would want to play with that
all the time the thing you guys have all
the best toys in the whole building so
alright well do you guys want to answer
some questions from viewers and I'm just
gonna go over here I guess that bottle
one here's all what is the relationship
between audio and programmers like when
employing sounds so we have our own tool
set that we've created and worked with
the developer to create that and then as
we kind of go through different episodes
and sometimes we need new functions but
a lot of a lot of programming has been
done and giving us the kind of keys to
the phallus so we can do anything that
we need to do so we take a lot of Rights
creating the sound you know fooling
creating the asset itself and
implementing it like a designer would
and so we do have a relationship but but
it's very empowered for us as an audio
sound designer yeah I think this far
along trust us
yeah I mean you still do want to
continue to collaborate and collaborate
with the designer and excuse me the
developer and the designer too because
the designer comes to you with the
stream narrative comes with the story
and then we help realize that whole
thing with them and sauna PHY it and
make it feel right so it's definitely
it's definitely a team effort so I can't
say
we are using developers yeah the
conversation I think has just shifted a
lot more - please help me hook this up
to more how does it feel how does it
work how does the player in our ethic do
give me the emotional context to go say
okay it needs to be scary and fast or
yeah it's more it's more getting the
detail than toss it over the fence and
and trigger it
you know which was you know 10 15 years
ago 20 years ago was really you created
assets you lobbed it over the fence and
you came back later and got okay whoo
everything's hooked up everything sonna
fine but um yeah now we can really spend
that time and work with the entire team
and make sure it's really stitched in
and feels right yeah how about there's
one from a viewer they want to know are
there any sounds that stand out and
having needed multiple revisions all the
time thousand yard stare yeah I guess in
a single tear yeah yeah yeah that's it's
a different in this genre we we have
some flexibility like that I think it's
it's really powerful to create it get it
in listen to the feedback play with the
fans you know I think that relationship
is wonderful so we have come around and
iterated a few times as actually age as
Jose was saying he's added some well
sounds into the deep waters we actually
changed the water so instead of it just
being thick all the time in a small lake
or a deep you know ocean we've made it
dependent on how deep you are so it gets
heavier and heavier and less detail at
the top at the bottom than the top and
it's subtle but we've iterated on that a
few times Keenan did a big pass on like
all the water in the entire tyria which
is impressive oh you have any iterative
sounds that you've okay maybe that
wasn't perfect but no it is yeah
recently we put out a new verdict for
Horne
yeah I kind of hit the the sound of it
like the tuba kind of feel and I felt
like I was missing a little bit of
something and I added so you get the big
horn blast and then as that kind of
fades out
I have fade in kind of like a spooky
spirit kind of wailing sound so you get
that boom in the tail of it I think that
is really this beam that from the weapon
itself of being this like Crypt creepy
tuba thing you know whatever it should
be yeah I feel like that really added a
lot more to it other than just like the
initial sound of it yeah nice oh I see
one that I'm very interested in that
last one in the cinematic who did there
was a reed eating Joko noises there was
a chop which I did but then it
transitions to in games spoilers in the
transition and Kenan did excellent work
with like all the gulping and chewing
and he had it I I would keep going into
service like turn it up man turn it up
sounds so good I hope so yeah he did all
the in-game stuff
good work Kenan yeah the screaming that
was funny cuz we were working on that
cinematic for a while and I think I told
the team I was like I want the most high
pitched scream from Joko like the last
thing this guy does in the world is just
totally like lose it and so we recorded
me doing some very high screams which of
course was just a joke but then we got
the recordings in from nolan north and
there were some like some serious ones
and then there were just a few really
just like and it was like yeah we can't
not use those and i think we were a
little afraid because I was auditioning
I'm with the cinematics team you know
like can we use these sounds like they
recorded and approve these and sent them
to us I'm gonna use the most like scream
yeah that's that push the boundary and
hope everyone likes it go through all
the stakeholders yeah because it does
punctuate sit you know like there is
some yeah he's going through a time
trying to imagine the last thing you see
is just this mall opening yeah there's
gonna be a it's gonna be pretty good
scream for that I think that that brings
a question from me how often do you send
stuff off and just sit there like too
often yeah I mean I feel pretty
confident usually that's going out there
you should be yeah I mean as as hard as
you guys work and as well as you work
together it seems like it would feel
pretty good mm-hm
and I actually didn't think of it until
you said that about setting that scream
off and it was like I think I know I
know marketing and cymatics material go
through a review process like two times
a week and there are a lot of people who
are listening to that and have opinions
which we want to include everybody and
create something that the studio is
really happy with and when I'm working
in game it is a lot more of just me and
checking with my audio team members and
the specific designer so there's only
usually two or three people so there are
less stakeholders on those sounds for me
yeah that I need to get approval from it
makes sense alright what else do you
find yourselves focusing more on audio
during your off time entertainment
watching movies playing other games
except etcetera answered yes uh I would
like the answer to be no it's it's yeah
yeah it's definitely uh it's a wave with
crests and and low points Crescent
troughs where I do love hiking we live
in the Pacific Northwest there's so much
beauty to go and enjoy I ride my bike
and do film photography but I've got a
lot of audio gear at home that if I
don't use it I just the self loathing
starts to creep in and I I have to turn
it on and play with it until 1:00 in the
morning
making some sounds and I I do when I go
to the movies I try and like I don't
care if the sound has good movie it has
to be a good movie like it has to work
together as a singular package I don't
wanna go see a movie just because it has
great sound and usually after the first
viewing then I will go back and say I'm
gonna study this scene and break it down
but that first viewing I try and I try
and be a consumer because that's who we
make this for and we want that we want
the quant the I want the experience to
read for a consumer or not my three
audio friends who are like oh yeah I
heard that you did I'm going to therapy
for it I'm much better now recovering
yeah about your basement my basement
it's the little lab that I have yeah I
mean I can listen to stuff in there but
yeah I'm not I guess I do enjoy watching
different media or playing and and kind
of taken it in holistically and I think
I've learned to enjoy it more and take
it in as a whole and then on next passes
you kind of dig in and or or pause go to
that chapter and like play this one
thing we as a team as well do play test
where we're playing other games or you
know kind of focusing on you know what
what do we really like about this like
what's working or what's not working or
or it's it's cool Wow my mother's
watching and says yeah the jewelry
lady's name was opal alright did you get
all your questions I think so yeah I
forgot we we didn't talk about there's
like this weirdness behind me we didn't
talk about what this is for what does
this do we can finish off with this
first the story my favorite part of this
was I will come into the hallway one day
and Jerry is just at the end of the
hallway pulling VHS tapes like this like
he's lost his mind and then go so it's
been used
there's Lee for years and years and
decades to do wind sounds through leaves
or or fully like walking on leaves and
it's just it's it's really controllable
that's extremely cool yeah this is one
yeah yeah there's a cassette tape in
here but you know that's like it's it's
so so quiet and yeah VHS but yeah you
can get more out of that to like not
just your Foley are you yeah right
so can't you get some you know extra
scarab stuff or a beetle I don't use any
that but at the end we we did kind of
get a bunch of more screeches and toss
them in the library and yeah that's
pretty yeah happy accident so you have
to kind of what else could this make
speaking of Jerry and Jerry speaking of
you congratulations on ten years in an
attic you yeah thank you so much you
just celebrated his 10th anniversary
here with us at our reading it yeah 14th
July 14th Wow and yeah I'm so grateful
to be here on part of this amazing team
this culture I mean I came here to to
you know work on a great product and and
grow and the culture allows me to be
empowered and grow and and it's been a
lot of it's been a fun ride and it's
been fun to play and and be with the
fans and kind of get that feedback so
here's to 10 more yeah thank you
and so later he was here eight years he
is he just moved on and went back home
and so we we did a send-off for him a
proper audio team send-off we went
hiking we took the entire team because
you never know what's out in the woods
that you need the entire team to work on
you can actually help you record I know
it's not just there's not just frogs and
squirrels out there there's like ghost
towns and and train turntables and
things like that so so Joe had gone on a
hike four years or years ago we yeah and
he's like yeah drew there's this ghost
town and we got to go in there sometime
yeah yeah totally totally didn't go that
year the next year they closed it down
yeah
oh no serious okay that's a drag yeah
look back into it okay we're back on
then and then Jerry says leaving and
we're like okay we're gonna send him off
we're gonna go to Monte Cristo this goes
town and it turned out to be better than
we had imagined and we brought a lot of
gear so yeah we were ready for it we
just didn't know what was gonna happen
right totally yeah in four years I think
I've been gone yeah main attraction was
the turntable sounds so it's probably I
would say 50 60 feet I'm not sure how
long a train car is but you know you
know is the length of that it pivots
around one bearing and because it's been
there so long and it's really rusty it
it groans it ticks it growls it clangs
you can drop the edge and kind of cool
so we have sounds for Citadel we have
sounds you know char stuff we have
things for creatures from who knows what
they might end up to be but they are in
the library now and
we have a little video let's take a look
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
so that included everybody like Damien
and Joe and I were in the middle it was
John and Keenan were at the end you
didn't see Keenan he was behind Joseph
and then when we looked back the other
way
there was Jerry and kaitland and Chris
so yeah it it was very cool it's a team
effort
yeah yeah thank you for everything they
slept in yeah Damien's here and yeah
thank you thank you so much Jerry yeah I
already miss you lots so and thank you
guys for spending some time with us
today and we will see you next week
External links[edit]

Guild Chat Episode 69 - The Audio Team on ArenaNet's official channel on YouTube
Guild Chat - Episode 69

Transcription[edit]

External links[edit]

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