SONIC DESIGN/ FINAL ASMT

Naura / 0356798 / Interactive Spatial Design
VSA60304 / Sonic Design
Final Assignment: Game Audio

Instructions:

• Students will be given a choice of gameplay videos.
• They need to create the sound and bring the game to life.
• Students must plan and organize their studio recording session for:
  • Foley sound recording
  • Voice recording
• Portable recorders will be available if required.

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JUMP LINKS:

• Player
• Enemy
• Ambience
• Video
• Google Drive Files

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I chose Child of Light because it features echoey sound effects. Since I discovered in my last assignment that my recordings also sound echoey, I decided to select a game that naturally includes that kind of sound, so I don't really have to process the recordings a lot.

I then reviewed the video provided to us and began audio spotting using the Hayao Miyazaki method. I started by analyzing each sound effect in the game clip, including its timeline.

Fig 1.0 | Child of Light Gameplay w/o Audio

Here is my audio-spotting cue sheet (please sign in, but if you're unable to, it's also available in the Google Drive):

Fig 1.1 | My Audio-Cue Spotting Sheet

Here are the audio recordings I created and used:

Fig 1.2 | Studio Recordings

Fig 1.3 | Chosen Recordings

PLAYER

The first audio processing I worked on was for the player's Sword Slash and Clash. The slashing sound, which accompanies the player's swinging arc, was initially too short and didn’t align with the duration of the swing in the game. To fix this, I applied the stretch and pitch effect, adjusting the audio file to be twice as slow, ensuring it matched the swing's timing.

Fig 2.0 | Player Reaction - Slash Stretch and Pitch Effect

Additionally, I felt that both the "clash" and "slash (shwingg!)" sounds lacked impact. To enhance them, I layered different sections of the recordings with varied EQ settings. I then applied reverb using the Big Drum Room preset to create a sense of depth and intensity, aligning with the scene's tone. Additionally, I added a chorus rack effect with the Subtle Vocal Chorus preset, as I felt the sound still lacked a certain fantasy richness to it. 

Fig 2.1 | Clash and Slash Adjustments

When I asked for feedback, it was suggested that the swinging sound should be more prominent. To enhance this, I applied the amplify rack effect to increase its volume. Additionally, I added another layer without any effects, and slightly shifted the audio to the left by about 50 ms to create a more dynamic feel.

Fig 2.3 | Amplify Rack Effect on the Sword Slash

I think the most challenging part of the game was creating soft, twinkling sounds that captured the right tone. For the initial audio, I used an instrument (not sure of its name—it belonged to a friend) and a ceramic cup, which I tapped lightly to achieve a crisp sound. However, even after applying effects like pitch shifter, chorus, and flanger, the result still didn’t match what I had envisioned. To refine the sound, I turned to an online music creation tool called BandLab. There, I composed the desired tunes bringing the twinkling effect closer to what I wanted.

Fig 2.4 | Glockenspiel Bandlab settings for Twinkles

I created a tune specifically for the leveling-up UI and for interactions between the blue flying object and the glowing flowers in the game.

say goodbye to this audio processing chaos:

Fig 2.5 | Initial Light Particles Rack Effect

ENEMY

The enemy in the game is a grasshopper, but for some reason, the alien from Alien vs. Predator stuck with me, so I drew inspiration from its sound for the enemy's audio. To achieve this effect, I used a body tape measure that makes a "clicky" sound when the lock engages as you pull it. One particular take from the recording session stood out, where the clicks weren’t too fast or too slow—it struck the perfect balance for the unsettling vibe I was going for. I EQ'd the effect using the Rap Vocals preset, then added reverb with the Thickener preset, making adjustments to the decay time.

Fig 3.0 | Enemy Roaring/Wailing Reverb Effect Settings

Fig 3.1 | Enemy Roaring/Wailing EQ

Then because the audio started to clip, I had to add in hard limiter with these settings:

Fig 3.2 | Enemy Roaring/Wailing Hard Limiter Setting

The enemy's footsteps didn't sound quite right; the heavy bass made it unpleasant to listen to. So, I used one of Renee's audio recordings (aft landing jump) because it had the clacking sound I imagined a grasshopper-like monster would make. Since there wasn't much variety in the sound, I had to cut one of the recordings and manually adjust it to fit the game's visuals. I also tweaked the EQ, reverb, and pitch—bringing the pitch down by 6 semitones since it was too high-pitched.

Fig 3.3 | Enemy Footsteps EQ

Fig 3.4 | Enemy Footsteps Reverb and Pitch Shifter

Since I don't think a monster would stay silent while moving across the terrain, I added softer chittering monster sounds to accompany its movement. I used time-stretching and pitch adjustments to make the chittering last twice as long as the original audio snippet. Additionally, I applied reverb and EQ for further enhancement.

Fig 3.5 | Enemy Chittering EQ and Reverb Settings

For the sound when the enemy's body crumbles, the audio source was me ripping a piece of paper. I picked a section that matched the game's visuals and applied a chorus rack effect using the Project Nightmare preset. I didn't add reverb, as the voice setting of 12 already gave it an echoey effect—adding more would have made it sound distorted.

Fig 3.6 | Enemy Body Crumbling Chorus Adjustment

AMBIENCE

For my ambience, particularly the rain sound, I initially attempted to recreate the effect by recording the sound of rice pouring in the studio. However, I wasn't satisfied with the results, as it sounded too artificial. I then decided to try again at home by frying eggs to mimic the sound of rain. Unfortunately, the popping sounds were quite distracting, and since I only have an electric stove, there was additional background noise that made it difficult to isolate a clean noise print.

Realizing these methods weren’t working, I asked a friend (Natania) to record actual rain for me, as my location posed challenges—I live near the LRT, and when I tried recording, honking cars and other urban noise ruined the takes.

From the recording session, I made some adjustments to the audio, including adding chorus to make it fuller and add depth and movement. I also applied the denoise effect to reduce the hissing sound of the rain.

Fig 4.0 | Rain Ambience EQ and Reverb Settings

Fig 4.1 | Rain Ambience Chorus and Denoise Settings

I live in a condominium, and my area doesn’t have parks where I can capture bird noises. The next best thing I could think of was using my friend's whistle, recorded during our studio session. I applied a pitch shifter to make it sound somewhat like a bird screeching or twittering. Thankfully, her whistle had a natural warbling quality, which closely mimics the movement and sound of a bird twittering. 

I used this processing settings to create what I have in my audio project:

Fig 4.2 | Bird Calling EQ Adjustments

Fig 4.3 | Bird Calling Chorus Adjustments

Fig 4.4 | Bird Calling Reverb Settings Adjustments

For the first half of the game, I still felt the ambience was missing something, so I added a gentle forest-like humming to enhance the atmosphere. To create this, I generated tones in the effects rack, setting the primary frequency to 150 Hz for a low, calming hum. I kept its volume at -6 dB to ensure a soft presence that wouldn't overwhelm the scene. Additionally, I created two other tones at different frequencies and volumes, layering them to add depth and subtle variation to the ambience. 

Fig 4.5 | Creating the Lower Harmony Tone

Fig 4.6 | The Gentle Hum of the Forest Layering

In the second half of the game, during the fight scene between the player and the grasshopper, waterfalls are visible in the scenery. Thankfully, Natania helped by recording the sound of water in a bucket, which turned out to be the perfect cascading waterfall sound. I didn’t have to do much processing—just some reverb and EQ adjustments.

Fig 4.7 | Waterfall Ambience EQ and Reverb Settings

In the foreground of the game, we see two shimmering plants, and I wanted to give them an energy, staticky sound. To achieve this, I generated three tones using a triangle/sawtooth wave shape with frequencies ranging from 1500 to 2000 Hz. I then added white noise at 150 Hz to give it an airy, ethereal feeling (though I forgot to screenshot this part).

Fig 4.8 | Shimmering Plants Pulsing Glow Frequency

Fig 4.9 | Layering of the Plants' Ambience

Each layer has distinct effect settings to create a sense of "movement."

Fig 4.10 | Sparkle 1 Analog Delay Setting

Fig 4.11 | Pulsing Glow Phaser Setting

Fig 4.12 | Airy Noise Phaser Setting

This is how my multitrack session looks like:

Fig 5.0 | Multitrack Timeline pt.01

Fig 5.1 | Multitrack Timeline pt.02

Fig 5.2 | Multitrack Timeline pt.03

While I have highlighted my top 5 audio creation processes, here is a detailed documentation of my overall game audio processing workflow:

Fig 6.0 | Audio Journal 

Final Video Outlook:

Fig 7.0 | Audio mixdown + video combined

Reflection:

This final assignment has truly felt like a culmination of everything I’ve learned so far, and it’s been one of the toughest challenges I’ve faced. From the initial planning stages to syncing all the elements, every step has been stressful, especially knowing that everything had to be created entirely on our own. But in hindsight, it’s also been an incredibly rewarding and reflective learning experience.

One major challenge I encountered was how audio that sounds perfect during the recording process—seemingly a flawless fit for the environment—sometimes feels off when fine-tuned to blend seamlessly within the game’s atmosphere. The journey to make everything sound "game-like" doesn’t always go according to plan, despite the best attempts to use rack effects. This has really sharpened my problem-solving skills and taught me to think more critically about how sounds interact within the game world. Often, I’d realize that a sound from one piece of equipment might be exactly what I need for a particular moment, forcing me to think outside the box. It’s been a great opportunity to build my intuition for sound design.

The added complexity of being away from home and working with limited equipment has certainly been another learning curve. With fewer resources at my disposal, I had to get creative, often working with what I had and figuring out how to make it work.

Looking ahead, there are a few areas I’d like to improve in the game. For example, the twinkling effects could be more prominent—perhaps Igniculus’ flying trail could include a shimmering sound to better complement the visuals (specifically like the one in barbie princess and the pauper opening movie scene). Additionally, the plant sounds feel a bit too subtle right now, so enhancing their presence would help make the environment feel more alive. I think adding more ambient layers overall would deepen the immersion for the player, helping them feel more connected to the game world.

Ultimately, this assignment has stretched me in ways I didn’t expect, but it’s been an invaluable experience for honing my skills as a (sound) designer. It’s shown me how much creative problem-solving goes into the process, and I’m excited to continue building on what I’ve learned.