AES: Audio Engineering Society

We're taking a different turn today and we're going to focus more on the Audio Industry, recent news, and primarily discussing Game Audio.

Today, I will be speaking about the Audio Engineering Society. A couple months ago they had completed their elections for the new 2010-2011 officers, with Jan Abildgaard Pedersen being elected President.

Now, there are a lot of different sections to my industry: different people doing different things. The Music Industry is taking a lot of hits right now, primarily because of illegal downloading. They have been doing more marketing through live music and merchandise, along with the help of iTunes’ bonus tracks and pre-order packages. However, at the same time, the Game Industry is thriving and because of this the Game Audio Industry is thriving.

Quality audio for video games is a must. There was a time when 8-bit, computer generated audio was acceptable but we are in the 21^st century and you can’t play “Call of Duty: Black Ops” or “Halo: Reach” with 8-bit audio (however, some bloggers believe there could still be a use for low-bit audio for phones, Wi-Fi, etc.). Games today have full quality, lossless audio and pay well to those who design it.

After reading a blog about the Game Audio/Music Composition industry, I learned quite a bit about finding work and the two career paths that one can take.

In New York, a couple years ago, the AES’ 127^th convention was held. They discussed the latest achievements in Game Audio and Music Composition through a number of various workshops. Also, there was a lot of attention that focused on interactive music [something that I’ve been known to have interest in].

There are usually two options if you pursue a career in Game Audio. You can either be an Audio Programmer or a Sound Designer. Most of these jobs are found through studio websites, Game Industry forums, and the all-powerful networking. As a Programmer, it is often necessary to have a Bachelors degree but as a Sound Designer, you may not need a degree at all (though it helps). With Sound Design, you start as an intern (like in any studio) and work your way up.

The Fall... or The Future?

On December 25, 2010, The Fall was released over the internet. The Fall is a full length album recorded by the Gorillaz. Why is this album so important? Because it is the first full length album to be recorded and released by a mainstream artist.

The Fall is a fifteen track album that was recorded while the Gorillaz were on tour. Damon Albarn (founder) recorded the album with the use of twenty applications. A number of songs were named after the cities in which they had been recorded in.

The importance of this is that it continue to prove my point. There was a time when touring was part of the year and recording was the rest. Now that has changed. The two can go hand in hand. With the use of the iPad, anyone is able to write music whenever they want.

It had been predicted that more and more known artists will begin to experiment with the iPad and use it as part of their recording process. We will see how this new & fast way of making music will progress over the coming years. The iPad will most likely be the way that we get a lot of things done: not just recording albums.

The iPad is not nearly as developed and evolved as it is meant to be, but it has already begun to change the way we live our lives.