Sound Design & Music
This page contains a multitude of Sound Design demonstrations as well as Soundtracks made for Game Projects I was apart of during my studies and beyond. All Soundtracks shown here were made in GarageBand.
Reflections
The Sound Design of Reflections mimicked that of The Journey Above, due to the similar nature of the world the game takes place in.
Once again, ambience was the most important part of the soundscape in Reflections. The lush world was brought to life through the sounds of the plants and waterfalls, while the village contained sounds of windmills and water wheels.
The abilities of the player were less focused on musical instruments this time, but more on the magic of the world itself. Each ability embodied a different facet of the worlds magic, thus every ability sounded different to reflect this.
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The NPCs in the village were not voiced this time around due to time constraints, except for chief Siat, whose Voice Actor had already given his lines in lieu of the games cutscene we had made for another subject we had at the time.
The Enemies however were a different challenge. This was the first time I had made sounds for enemies since Lands of Infinity, and the ghostly, yet armored, designs of the enemies called for fitting sounds. The Peacekeeper was fitted with spectral screaming sounds, while the Guardian Boss was given more mechanical sounds to align with its less humanoid design.
The Village In The Valley
As the first track of the game, this soundtrack is supposed to give the player a feeling of home and safety. It plays in the starting village, where the player is in no danger and can peacefully explore.
Arbor And Armor
The second soundtrack of Reflections plays after the players' village was attacked and the player must now sneak through the forest and defeat enemies to continue. This is reflected in the uncertainty and eerieness of the track.
Liberation
The final track of Reflections plays during the bossfight against the Guardian. It shows the stark contrast between the nature of the world and the mechanical invasion of the enemies in its instrumentalization, combining elements of the calmer soundtracks that came before with newer, bolder themes to match the Guardian.
Sound Design Presentation
A walkthrough through the entire game without music to demonstrate the Sound Design in the world of Reflections
The Journey Above
The Sound Design of The Journey Above was a very diverse task featuring many unique challenges.
Ambience was of great importance, but due to the games different sections there were many different forms of said ambience, each of which presented its own challenge. Be it nature in the forest, the waterfalls or the industrialism of the factory.
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Using musical/instrumental sounds at the basis for the player's abilities was also very interesting to work with. My goal in this case was to create magic with musical undertones to illustrate the fantastical elements of the world .
When voicing the NPCs, I wanted to use familiar yet unusual sounds, which is why I chose to make human-like sounds myself, but not to incorporate direct words.
A Whale In The Sky
The main menu track of The Journey Above conveys a sense of happiness and innocence that the player character and thus the player still has about the game world.
Of Willows And Lillies
As the first in-game track, Of Willows and Lillies introduces the player to the lush and peaceful environment of the starting forest, while maintaining the feelings of peace and innocence from the title screen.
When The Waterfall Calls
When The Waterfall Calls starts playing when the player reaches the first NPC-Settlement at a small lake surrounded by waterfalls. It still leans into the enthusiastic and happy themes of the first tracks, as the world now starts to open up from the more enclosed space that the starting forest provided.
Perceived Tranquility
When the player first enters the factory, the peaceful and innocent image of the world starts to fall apart. The destruction of the game world at the hands of the factory starts to become clear. This is reflected in the instrumentalization of this track, which starts off still mimicking the innocence of the tracks before, but slowly transitioning into a more menacing and ominious tone.
Moments Of Withering
The players image of innocence has now completely shattered and given way to the industrialized environment of the factory. This is emphasized by a more march-like harmony and more brass instruments, completely removing any form of the innocent instrumentalization of the previous tracks.
Where The World Aches
In the last section of the game, the player has reached the deepest parts of the factory, where the world is destroyed beyond salvation. This is reflected in the soundtrack, as it now steps away from even the industrial motifs or the previous track and gives way to a melancholic and dark track that conveys a feeling of helplessness to the player.
Sound Design Presentation
A walkthrough through the entire game without music to show off the Sound Design methods previously described.
Shards of Renaissance
The Sound Design of Shards of Renaissance set me an entirely new challenge. In comparison to the natural worlds I had been designing sound for until this point, Shards of Renaissance's Steampunk world contained mostly mechanical elements, which had to be reflected in its Sound Design.
I made use of many different real life machines as well as metal objects to create the sounds for the player and some parts of the environment. The glass elements were made using real life glass and crystal objects, as well as the sounds of a multitude of wind chimes.
The enemies in the environment were made by using my voice, like the NPCs in The Journey Above, however it was layered with mechanical sounds and robotic filters to create more monstrous sounding vocals.
Due to time constraints, Shards of Renaissance contains no custom-made soundtracks.
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The gameplay shown is not up to date with the current state of the game
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Railroad 9
Similar to Prisoner's Curse, the Sound Design of Railroad 9 focused a lot on ambient horror through visual and audio cues.
The sounds of the train itself were made using sounds of old real life subway trains and other miscellaneous metallic noises. The passengers in the game were consciously left entirely silent. This, in addition to their shadowy appearance, makes them even more unsettling and untrustworthy to the player. The game in general depends on the absence of sounds more than their presence. When the player is standing outside their train, they will hear nothing but the slight humming of the tunnel around them. All of these elements create an unsettling and eerie atmosphere for the game to take place in.
Due to the mostly diegetic nature of the game's audio, no custom soundtracks are played directly by the game. The player is however able to interact with a radio in the game world to play 3D versions of soundtracks from the other games I worked on, as if they were coming from the radio directly.
Prisoner's Curse
The Sound Design of Prisoner's Curse: A Mystery in Notes revolved a lot around horror and ambience.
Due to the constraints provided by the project guidelines (not to include fantasy elements) I had to limit myself to the environment in order to instill feelings of insecurity and fear in the player.
This happens, for example, by using creaking wood, footsteps or breaking glass. Audio cues in the form of, for example, distorted guitar noises also contribute to the horror feeling without intruding in the players immersion.
A Ship On The Horizon
The main menu track for Prisoner's Curse starts to convey the eerie atmosphere of the game immediately with a jumpscare-like string and continues through its piano-heavy instrumentalization.
Aboard The Ship
This second track plays throughout the entirety of the game and thus is more focused on being a background track. It continues the piano-heavy instrumentalization set by the main menu track.
Sound Design Presentation
A walkthrough through the entire game without music to show the horror elements of this games Sound Design