Audio Design careers query

genfu7

G
Hi,

I am interested in working in game audio. I just finished up a PhD in music tech and have done some contract work on a iOS/mobile title which has been released. Where i'm a bit stuck is how to make the next step. I've got a portfolio which i'm constantly developing that has demos in wwise and unity + my sound design on the iOS title and academic projects.

My query is this: i know this is a hard area to get into, and i'm wondering what other things i can do. Should i be looking for testing/QA jobs to get my foot in the door somewhere? Or should i look to expand my skillset into other areas so i can be a programmer or artist who can also do sound design? I'm already teaching myself unity c#, doing extra study in maths and developing my 3d art skills- but i'm not sure if this approach of trying to it all is the way to go or not?My thinking was to get a unity game together myself and release it, but this will take time...

Any tips from your audio guys would be appreciated here.
 

ED-209b

E
Hey Genfu!

I'm one of the audio designers here at Frontier, thanks for posting!

The good news is it sounds like you're totally doing the right things :) Obviously I can't comment on the quality of your work from your post, but the type of experience you described is what I would recommend anyone looking for a job in audio to have. It sounds like you have a released title, a showreel that demonstrates an understanding of audio middleware and game SDK, and you're showing interest in programming (which is a great skill to have, even though audio programming is a different career path).

The not-so-good news is that in-house audio jobs are pretty rare, as the average audio dept is only a few people. The main advice I could offer is to make yourself known to as many studios as possible, keep your showreel up to date, and keep working with indie devs to further your experience if that's possible. I'm sure most audio leads would be able to offer some advice on the quality of your showreel if you're looking to improve in any areas, and the best way to get that advice is by just showing the stuff you're proud of - keeping it short and concise.

Also, sound design jobs are rarely about music or voice acting, so keep that stuff off your showreel unless it's really necessary, or really cool! ;)

It also sounds like you're keen to work in other areas too - this is great!, but in terms of your CV and reel, be sure that you really are keeping it relevant to the job that you want. If you are able to complete a small project of your own - again, that would be a really great thing to be able to show how people your skills.

Good luck!
Ed
 

genfu7

G
Thanks for the detailed reply Ed! My showreel is here, if you have time to take a quick look i'd certainly appreciate any comments: http://www.jonweinel.com/showreel/

My current plan is to revamp it when I have some new Unity stuff ready to include and some more actual game projects. From your comments I guess possibly the main thing I need is to get it a bit more focused and lose some of the projects towards the end which are less explicitly game-sound and too music orientated.

Anyway thanks for your comments.

Jon
 

ED-209b

E
Hey no problem, good luck with your projects :)

Btw, I really enjoyed your Bass Drum Sax & Laptop video, sounds awesome!

I suppose I should retract my comment about music not being applicable. Even though it's not that relevant to the day to day job of a sound designer (your sound design should definitely be first and foremost), it is a good way to show off your skills, and music is a good indicator of someones creativity and production ethos.
 

au4049q

au4049q
Good for you. Sometimes sucess in sound depends on recieving a good specification to work to.
Having an employer is only one of several possible ways to get a good spec, and that won't happen if you have a useless boss in between you and the wider public.
Rumour has it that there is a Vogon poetry society somewhere who made up some of the best or worst pop music of the 1990's including a shouty rubgy song by Chumba Wumba and about half of the output of The Spice Girls. The Vogons are rumoured to have results of waveform and technical analysis of Donna Summer, though it it also possible they wrote that one too.

What I don't know is how you'd get a Vogon sound specification beamed to you, but since they could read these forums it doesn't hurt to ask.

I swapped in alternative ECM sound to my oolite package because the standard one just whoopled uselessly. I did not post the sound file because its size was more kb than the whole game binary on a bbc micro and it was programatically generated from a few lines of code. There is also the possibility that discontinuities in it where it sweeps up through the nyquist limit might shred expensive audio equipment. It was ok on my small cheap speakers at 20% volume but I would worry about risk of permanent harm to others if I sent that one out.
 
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