Advertisement
NYU Summer Workshop in Game Audio is a Wwise Choice - Andrew Lipian
Before the snow melts, flowers bloom, and the school busses whir to a stop, up-and-coming game composers will be thinking of how to enhance their audio chops this summer. They need look no further than the Video Game Scoring Workshop at NYU Steinhardt, led by game composer Tom Salta and his team of fellow audio pros. These included Gina Zdanowicz - founder of Serial Lab Sound - who lead students through the technical side of creating adaptive music systems in Wwise, and Jason Kanter - Audio Lead for Avalanche Studios in New York City - who gave a presentation on sound design and joined in discussions regarding the business of game music.
Bolstered by such a well-rounded team, this program was unique from others. Composers usually sign up for similar workshops to master the machinations of Wwise or FMOD –audio implementation tools – but this program takes it a step further. As part of NYU's "Screen Scoring Summer Workshop" offerings, students travel from global destinations such as Japan and Israel to attend a week-long intensive workshop offering one-on-one training in Wwise by NYU faculty and staff. During the week, however, the entire group actively observes each new iteration of their individual interactive audio projects which get critiqued and modified by Salta over the course of the week. I had occasion to audit the 2018 class, watching the students' creative processes unfold until they caught lightning in a bottle, leaving with a fully functional and implemented game score.
New York University's workshop succeeded due in no small part to the inspired choice of NYU alum Tom Salta (HALO, Killer Instinct) to head the project, bringing his years of industry accomplishments to the fore. He shared his various experiences and career journey from touring with Pop music stars, record producing, transitioning to composing video game music to delivering his recent TEDx talk. Everything Tom imparted was solid gold, and he even walked students through his process of creating music for games like "Prince of Persia."
Notably, what Salta had championed with this program was unprecedented for NYU.
"This new focus on music for games was unheard of back when I was here," Salta explained. For the first program of its kind at NYU, though, it was a resounding success – here's how it worked:
The students downloaded "Angry Bots," the game they would implement their music into with Wwise. Angry Bots is a third person shooter with a solid-snake-like character, thanks to the creative voice overs scripted and recorded by fellow instructor, Gina Zdanowicz, infiltrating a Robot Laboratory as the lethal machines attempt to terminate him. Each code he cracks opens a new door, creating opportunities for the score to develop as he delves deeper into the labyrinthine facility. After also downloading Wwise, the students are then asked to begin sketching music for the game using their Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). The entire class witnessed their peers develop and conceive music in a linear fashion – structured with an A and B section with a loop, for example – into horizontal resequencing, where specific in-game actions "trigger" the next music track. For Salta, watching the students master this concept was a highlight of the course.
"This was the first time many of the participants ever ventured beyond linear composition -- as in music for TV and Film -- into the non-linear world of video game music," Salta notes; "The music needs to account for all sorts of gameplay possibilities, yet still feel like a unified, continuous piece. Seeing a student's eyes light up when they finally understand this is unforgettable."
The students – ranging from High-School to seasoned professionals – created scores as diverse as the nations they hailed from. One memorable moment occurred when a composer's use of a trailer rise (consisting of several string instruments rising to crescendo with tremolos) surprisingly fit the action every time it appeared. Another came when a student from Japan envisioned a lighthearted, comedic element to the level – opting for a jazzy track smacking of something from "The Naked Gun." Every one of these ideas changed the feel – even the identity – of the game; a reminder of the important influence music has in shaping the playing experience.
None of this would have been possible without the see-what-sticks approach of Salta and his team, who created a learning environment which encouraged inventiveness as much as it spurred technical mastery. All this was part of the plan.
"When I first spoke to NYU about putting this workshop together, my dream was to create a 'bootcamp' of sorts that would walk participants through the entire gamut of what goes into creating original music for games. I wanted a hands-on, interactive experience where students would be able to create original music from scratch and put it into a playable video game by the end of the week. Not just talking about the concepts but actually doing it."
Most assuredly, it was this atmosphere that lent so many international students their most formative experience in game scoring to that point – and that same atmosphere will continue drawing throngs of ambitious composers to NYU, ready to harness the powers of this interactive medium in immersing the next generation of gamers. These skills, Salta adds, are a must-have for those aspiring to a career in game audio.
"For anyone coming into the industry now, it's important to have proficiency in the entire
game audio pipeline as it will open up more opportunities. Composers who know both the compositional and technical aspects of game music implementation will have a leg up on those who just know how to compose music."
As the industry changes, the skills one is "expected," to have, versus those which are "desirable," shift. These days, if you want to work in video game music, you are expected to know Wwise or FMOD and understand audio implementation, a skillset this course specializes in teaching.
When today's composers are ready to take their skills to that next level, Tom Salta and the NYU "Scoring for Videogames" Workshop are there to give them the tools they need to succeed.
*Program dates for the 2019 NYU Scoring for Videogames Workshop are June 30 – July 5.
