matewritesmusic

[matewritesmusic]

First note

back to school

[matewritesmusic]

The first summer plan: mdvn catalog - phase one: dreams

The first job to be done from my summer plan list, is writing new albums under the same name (mdvn) and call this bunch of albums: catalog

The phase 1 of the catalog collection, is an album I call Dreams.  Dreams is coming out in 3 weeks. As these albums are a part of my self development training programme, I aim to write 1 song per day. Today is day 11 and although, I missed one day (because, remember, I have a part time day job to do 3 times a day), I finished 10 songs so far. Here’s the song list:

1, eyes closed 2, my day 3, streams of past 4, drifting 5, dive in 6, deep down 7, in alpha 8, dream 9, bad trip 10, dream in a dream 11, glowing eyelids 12, daylight As you can see, the order of the songs are representing an average sleeping schedule. This will be an ambient/avant-garde style album, for mostly meditation, but there are songs on it that my cause difficulties in relaxing your mind :D I’m thinking that the next album will be 80 synth-cat style (you can sell anything with cats), but I have Orchestra, Electronic Explorations and Jungle style in mind to deliver in the not too distant future.  So what do I expect from these albums and why did I start with Dreams.  The idea came when I was working (from home) and was listening Spotify channels like Lava Lamp and Focus. And I was like: hey, I can do that! Let me check how many HOLY COW 250k followers??? Right. That’s why I’m doing this. Of course, I will release it on Spotify, not expecting anything really, but will create some playlists maybe message people to include my songs in their playlists. 

[matewritesmusic]

Uni 2nd year is done, self-development continues

So today 05/05/2020 is my official first day off, when I don’t have uni assignments hanging on my shoulder and I’m not at my day job, administrating court cases.  I remembered from the virtual Wwise World Conference that I’ve attended on, that Wwise’s spatial audio system has recently got a major update, and I can’t wait to test it out and maybe use it in the next project I’m going to start working on soon. It’s also good to get back into shape and freshen my Wwise knowledge up a bit, before starting my Summer Holiday Plans! I’ve got lot’s of plans of how to improve my skills and my portfolio, as this summer looks like a quite locked down one.... I just need to use my time wisely. I also need to contact the other film university student whom I promised to get back to as soon as my assignments are done. Alright, let’s get into it!

[matewritesmusic]

Finalising my 2nd year: Statement

In my assignment submission for the 1st semester I hoped that I will acquire the following knowledge and skillsets:

Expanding my portfolio: I have created new contents of a music video, a tutorial video, a sound design showreel, and I am currently working on my electronic music album.

Becoming a better audio implementation programmer: during the making of the Unity + Wwise audio implementation video and the procedural audio module works, I have been using C# programming language and have learnt new techniques to implement audio in a game. I also successfully finished the Wwise middleware’s 101 and 201 courses which made me become a certified audio implementer. I also had the opportunity to work on the audio of a brand new e-comic book (as part of the dBs Productions team) where I was the lead audio implementer and assistant producer / sound designer. The developers of the e-comic book were very satisfied with my work and knowledge, and requested a ‘How could we improve our audio engine’ document from me, which I have gladly prepared for them. The company will probably get in touch for further works.

Improving my sound design skills by creating and releasing a modern avant-garde EP: unfortunately, I haven’t had time to finish this EP, however, I have finished two songs so far, and I am currently working on the rest of them. The building of these tracks seem to be a slower progress compared to my previous songs, as I am going in deep experimentations with modular and granular synthesis that needs more time to record, select, and arrange them. This EP creation idea was my plan B, for the case if my job applications fail to succeed.

Continuing to create more connections by going on events and participating on game jams, and start selling my music and sounds using online platforms: I attended on the global game jam in January, which was a bit risky because of my recent operation on my right ear. It turned out that I was just over-panicking the situation and I managed to write 5 songs (4 level and 1 menu music) within the first day. I spent the second day creating sound effects and implementing the sounds using Wwise. I have learnt very important communication skills on this game jam. I also approached the Publishing Director of BuildBox which is an aspiring game engine that doesn’t require programming knowledge, to find out more about their audio system.                    

I also posted an advertisement into multiple film and animation groups, offering my music composition on people’s video. I have been contacted by a 3rd year university student who needed music to her interrogation scene, which I finished on time and she was very happy with the result. There is also another video project in which I need to compose music for an office argument scene, which I’ve promised to do after the assignments.

I also found out how I can sell my sound effects and music on the Unity Asset store and Bandcamp, however, both websites need artwork for the uploaded music, and I found it difficult to find or create artworks that are free of copyrights, so I had to delay this step.                                I attended on the quarter Game Audio South West meetup, where I’ve met some new faces.                                I also attended on a Unity online meetup in April, where a funny new co-op game ‘PHOGS!’ was introduced. I asked audio related questions and made sure to make a memorable introduction to the participants, so hopefully next time when I appear on a Unity meeting they will remember me.                        

Working on getting my first paid (possibly game) audio job or internship: Although the e-comic job was unpaid as it was more of an ‘academic research’ project, given the fact that the developers were extremely satisfied with the results we provided and my relentless work for the tight deadline, I trust that they will be in touch as soon as they have a new comic book in the works, that they need music for. 

I am participating in another team, which is an Augmented Reality project for the Exeter Library. I am the audio implementer and I will use Wwise to implement sounds into the Unity AR project. This is a paid project.       

 Job and project description - i.e.: Illustrations of the kind of work carried out, analysis of what you learnt:

Rip-pair game: I have learnt that the stuff we discuss and agree in the beginning of a game jam, is very very important for everyone to follow and stick to.              If someone doesn’t do as it was agreed, it can ruin the whole game feel and aesthetics, as there is only 48 hours to get the game done, so there is no time for correction works and revisits. To ensure everyone is on the same page, small check points can be set up throughout the game creation, where everyone showcases the work they have done so far on the project. On these meetings (and generally on a game jam) using technical words and jargons are not recommended, as these can lead to misunderstandings/misinterpretations of the common goal.                          

Sound Design Showreel: I did not need to learn anything new to deliver the sound design video, although I did lots of preparation works before starting working on this video. The plenty pre-recorded sound libraries I made became very useful as there were only a few additional sounds that I needed to record to complete the work. However, after sending the video to a professional sound designer (who currently works on the new Halo game in Los Angeles, California) who very kindly reviewed my video and provided a long and detailed review, I have learnt a lot. He told me to be careful about using low frequencies for sound effects that can be triggered frequently. He raised my attention on using more cloth/leather/denim sounds especially for jumping and crouching movements.      He also pointed out the lack of footstep weighting, which needs to be considered depending on the character’s bodyweight and walking / running speed, and not just the floor surface. Sound effects in a fight scene can be overwhelming, thus the player is not expected to hear every sound in a fight. More focus needed on the sound when a combo kicks in, or when the character is famous of having that particular weapon, then the weapon is super important to have an amazing sound. (eg.: Kratos and his axe + shield in God of War). He suggested to take a step back and find the small but really important moments, and analyse them under a “magnifying glass”. Think of transients (how sharp a sound should be), frequency range, sound to be tight or loose, using single or double transient and materials/textures of a sound. Since he raised my attention to these details, I’ve been playing games on headphones and focused on the sound design very carefully. I strongly believe, that the more and different type of games I play, the more focused and analytical my hearing will become.

Sherlock Holmes e-comic book: My learning in this project was more about the experiencing of how does it feel to be in a team. I have learnt that it is extremely important to set out the job expectations and responsibilities prior the work has started, so one can avoid inconvenient situations, heavy workload and awkward meeting moments. I learnt that I have to be able to say stop for additional ‘favour’ work, and only do further work, for something in return. That doesn’t need to be money. I have also learnt that it is wise for the manager or leader of the team to have a short catch up session with the members of the team individually once the work is done, to find out how they felt, whether they have any feedback or issue they want to raise. This can help avoiding awkward meeting situations and is definitely helpful to keep the team members happy and informed.                        

Interrogation Scene project: I have learnt that people can deliberately provide you misleading information about their project, just to convince you to work on it. Especially, when you offer your services for free. The 3rd year uni student also asked me to write music for further scenes in her project, but I politely refused to do so, as it was not part of our initial agreement, and I can only do further works for an acceptable fee. This was the moment when I used the lesson I have learnt from a similar previous situation, to be able to say no for someone who (obviously) doesn’t appreciate my service enough to pay for it. I only spent about 6-7 hours composing the music for her interrogation scene, as it wasn’t in the dark-electronic style we agreed beforehand, and her careless attitude started to really annoy me. After sending her the finalised composition which she was extremely happy with, she asked me what kind of scene I was looking for, because she might be able to find something in her files. I politely closed the conversation, as my experience with her didn’t really go as planned, which led me not to trust in her anymore, as well as the quality of the video she provided wasn’t the type of video I was looking for to work on. In this project, I basically learned how to say no, and how to avoid unreliable people.

[matewritesmusic]

Exeter Library Augmented Reality Project

I have started working on this project around the end of last year as a recording engineer. I had to record a 1,5 hour long reading that will later be implemented in an Augmented Reality (AR) environment with some supporting artwork and music/sound effects.  Since last year, some tables turned, and the audio implementer position became available. As I have worked with the project leader earlier on this project and the e-comic book project too, I have built a good level of trust in him so he kept me on board to do the audio integration and implementation works with Wwise.  I am really excited to finally get paid for a project and I will be using my new favourite toy: Wwise middleware. 

Given the current COVID-19 situation, we are on hold at the moment, but the project is definitely going ahead, as the first portion of the payment has already been released.

[matewritesmusic]

Music for the interrogation scene

So this project came along when I posted my advertisement on a few online social film groups. My post stated that I’m looking for short films / animations that are dark, abstract, avant-garde, sci-fi maybe and not to have lots of dialogue, so my abstract electronic music can breath and shine a bit.

A 3rd year uni student approached me to write to her interrogation scene in her 15 mins long short film. I she said she need something dark and a music that has tension in it. Then she went deeper in explaining the scene, and it soon turned out that this scene will be full of dialogue. I still said okay, let’s do it, maybe I will do a different mix to go on my portfolio.  Then she mentioned another ‘News scene’ that she needed music for, so I had to explain that my time schedule is extremely tight as I do have a part-time day job, and I also have uni assignments coming up, and the fact that a ‘News scene’ music would not be a good fit on my portfolio, so in return of a small fee (and I meant really small, ‘cause I knew she’s a student, but I do need  her to appreciate my time and effort with something when she asks for more work for free. She declined, and started to explain more about the scene, and mentioned a friend that she want to introduce to me, as she also need music to her film. Then she had some trouble with further shootings because of COVID-19 and also had issues with exporting the film. A couple days later, she sent me the scene. And she sent me a temp-track, and suggested to write a track similar to the one at the 33rd minute. Oh dear. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eq8nvKQnHQ&list=PL8B4QQbTyjToi0CW4G44_5nLiCdVuGXMs

This is a big band playing some dixie /jazz music. Not just the fact that this is totally out of the dark/abstract/electronic scope, but it is a type of music that is really difficult to produce on a computer, as it is being played by real instruments with great musicians. So I got really angry. But politely said to her that this track is totally different than what we agreed on earlier, but I will do it, and it a bit difficult and will not sound like it at all. She said okay, not a problem, she just had this sort of thing in mind. I started working on the track. Recorded some guitars, played around with Addictive Drums plugin, which is an amazing live drum plugin, then laid down some double bass and some piano. But more importantly, I was frustrated. 

And this was the second project in a month that I was working on and I felt frustrated, of course not the whole time, because I love what I’m doing, I just don’t like the situation I get myself into. I expressed to her that I feel like I’ve been mislead the whole time because this kind of music composition is totally not what I advertised to do/signed up for. She then told me that she might have sent me the wrong video of temp track and now she’s looking for the correct one. !!!!!!!!  I was like, you gotta be kidding me. I told her, not to bother as I was half way through my work. I sent to 5 minute track back in the evening the same day. I just wanted to get this work out as soon as possible..... She was extremely happy and thankful for the work I’ve done, and ensured me that my name will be in the credits. I thanked her politely. Then she asked me what kind of scene I was looking for anyway. I did not reply. Quite frankly, because I think this girl will not be able to help me with a sufficient project.  Although, what I’ve learned:   I’m getting into these situations because I don’t clear the job descriptions, expectations from both sides, prior the work! I have to set these out before start working on a project. I need to collect a bunch of questions to remind myself of before doing future works. Questions like,  - how many days a week can I spend on the project? - what is the deadline? - how this will benefit for me? (a question to ask myself) - what exactly am I doing in the team (very important if working in a team)  to be continued...

[matewritesmusic]

E-comic book release

I had a very hectic 1,5 week as today’s deadline was rapidly approaching...

I have learnt a lot in this time: - how the audio system works in the app - you can use as low as 96kbps compression on audio files that doesn’t have to be dynamic. Although the quiet sounds will disappear. - setting a sound to mono, reduces the file size by half - I need to set out my job in advance, and when something additional need to be done, I have to be able to say stop for additional ‘favour’ work, and do further work for something in return. - When in a leading position: even if I think that the team did marvellously well and everyone is happy, BEFORE taking the team on a meeting (with the lead developers for example), make sure to sit down with each team member privately, and ask about their well-being, find out about their experience in the project, to avoid any awkward situation on the meeting.

[matewritesmusic]

Preparations for the e-comic book project

Thursday was a really productive day in terms of learning the system that I will implement the music and sounds with. There are two behaviour options when implementing, the audio can either be a loop (so it loops until you stop it with a 2 second silence loop) or a one shot sound effect. I created a test level and started to populate it with sounds to learn the system’s behaviour more. By the end of the day, we had a rough idea of what kind of sounds we need, and how big the job is going to be. We thought, at least.... Based on the first episode, we came to the conclusion that there are no major decisions in this comic book that would drastically change the game, and there also aren’t many scenes, so we decided to record and work on episode 2 and 3 as well, and we will have it finished in 2 weeks. 

I realised that my position in the team is very important, as I’m the one who’s doing the planning and understanding the working of the application, and I will also implement the sounds once they are all recorded, so I’m sure I will need to do some editing to tailor them to the game.

I spent my Saturday working on the music spotting list and a kind of a shortened version of the story (with key points) for the key instrumentalist. During my comic book walk-through, I had to realise that the story isn’t ready yet, and the e-book stops at the beginning of the second half and only the discussion bubbles stay active, but the pictures don’t change. We received a version of the original story book which is in french, but I could used the pictures and kind of tried to guess what the ending could be. This made my spotting job twice as long process, so I finished quite late on Saturday. Thankfully, the team is very happy with the work I’ve done so far. 

George and I also went to the Kayla Painter gig which is an electro avant-garde music with animated screen visuals. It was really inspiring, and made us realise how much more ones music becomes more immersive with visuals. We spent the rest of the night producing similarly fucked up music. 

Today, we will be in studio 6 (with an SSL Duality desk equipped) and will practice for the passport test we do next week. We are also going to record some cello samples today to expand our library and record more weirdness.

[matewritesmusic]

EP Start + Audio Implementation Project

I have started working on the Sound Design EP. As I have been preparing to this for a while - with recording sound libraries and write notes, tips - writing the first song wasn’t difficult however, I did feel quite the opposite way while writing it....I realised that the notes I took, are kind of leading towards to one direction. 

So the EP title I have on my mind for a while is ‘Dark Matter’, because I wanted to create something “sound designy” and also to make it feel like the music brings something from a different world / realm, almost like a  bad dream. And that’s when I remembered my childhood nightmare in an endless white area with a huge black cube over me, and the railroad switch handle in front of me. For some reason I always had the feeling that I need to grab the switch handle and change it to open the black box, that would open up releasing more nightmares(????). Yeah, it was a weird dream, but what matters is, that I can connect emotionally with this EP, and I will build the songs now in a way, that it tells my childhood nightmare from beginning (calm whiteness) through the middle (box [the unknown appears]) and here, the EP becomes more interesting. 

I’m thinking of releasing the EP in a way that the last two or three tracks will be A and B ending versions. So A, when the listener opens the box of nightmare, and B, when the box just floats there terrorising the listener sometimes. A semi-nonlinear music writing (if we think of the EP as a whole).

Other than the EP ideas, I received an academic research project with short turnover. In this project, I will be implementing the sound to a new audio/e-comic book. This weekend, I need to make a spotting list of the 27 minutes video, and decide where to put sound and what kind of instruments and feel that sound need to be. This is a perfect task to practice the detailed recording spreadsheet - with the freshly acquired microphone techniques - we learned to do on Studio Techniques module.  Then next week, I need to record the sounds with a multi-instrumentalist and learn the e-comic book engine to see how can I implement the sounds. This project needs to be done by 15th March, and it is a perfect opportunity for me to learn further implementation techniques that I can use in future projects. Also, I will be introduced to the developers as well, who might need further music in the future... ;)

[matewritesmusic]

Sound Design Reel

Okay, so the video with my soundworks were done yesterday 16/02/20 as I promised in my gantt chart. George, my friend from EMP course, came over to help with the panning automations (as my right ear is still useless and is currently recovering) and mastering the track. I’m overall very satisfied and the improvement in sound quality is audible compared to my previous works. This is definitely going to be a good showreel on my portfolio landing page. 

In all 138 tracks(!), I was constantly using my sound libraries that I earlier and recently recorded for the purpose of this video and the upcoming EP. These recordings have taken up to 90% of the total sounds used in the final piece! By following this etiquette, I also enhance the ‘Handcrafted sound design’ idea, and I will work on, to somehow make it visible on my website, as a proud trademark. :D

Today, I thought I will be able to upload the video onto youtube, but I realised that I don’t have a beginning or an ending for the reel. So I had to create that, using Premiere Pro, and as was also working today from the morning, that was pretty much it for tonight. I also started working on a stinger for the beginning where the logo shows up, but unsure whether it’s the right one there. Tomorrow, I will definitely finish it in the afternoon, as I need to present it on Wednesday in  front of the class.  PS.: I also realised that I focus too much attention to the Work Based Learning module - i.e. my sound design portfolio - and I will need to find time to work and prepare for the remaining modules. 

[matewritesmusic]

SFX Showreel in the works

I hosted a leaving party for two of our classmates Dominik and George. It was a great night, we played with different type of party-games on PS4 and Switch. Proper nerd night. The next day, when I started organising the remaining of the apocalypse in my living room, I realised that I could make a nice metallic clanging sound library of these beer cans, which will be a great addition for my SFX Showreel video and the upcoming EP. It turned out to be a quite big sample-pack of 621 sounds. I did the recording in Pro Tools, as I understand that it has a better and warmer sound in terms of Audio to Digital conversion. 

On Tuesday, I passed the passport test for the biggest live room in uni, Studio 3. I have been recording in that studio earlier, but didn’t have this much knowledge of the API 1608 desk before, this will definitely be helpful when recording my instruments and sounds for the EP.  Today, I will be working on the SFX Showreel video, which includes four gameplay video of Tomb Raider, God of War, Horizon and Detroit (become human). The full video is only a minute and a half long, as this is what was suggested by the Sound Designer friend I found on Twitter (the one who I mentioned earlier that he’s working for EA games). So far, I laid down all the footsteps and I’m almost finished with the Tomb Raider scene. I have to finish it this weekend, so I can start working on my EP from next week. I think it’s doable.  We also had a meeting with the team from Global Game Jam, and we discussed further details of our game. As the music and SFX part is mostly done, and I will revisit them anyway, once the art and game mechanics are done, I will be planning out and working on the level challenges, puzzles for the game. Mate Moldovan Level Designer if you will. :D 

[matewritesmusic]

Global Game Jam

As a last minute decision, I ended up going to the Global Game Jam (GGJ). I teamed up with 3 programmers and 2 artists (who are really helpful and nice people by the way) to create a game in the theme of repair. We discussed that our multiplayer game will be about 2 imprisoned axolotls, who are escaping from an industrial level to reach the final freedom in the nature, through 4 levels. So I composed 4 songs for the levels, 1 loop for the menu and a few necessary sound effects, totalling at 126 sounds. Unfortunately, our artists did not follow what we discussed in terms of level background art, so my music ended up being a little outworldy in terms of aesthetics. As we couldn’t finish the game on time, we decided to carry on working on it, and we will have our first meeting next Monday the 10th, to discuss further details and timeline for creation of the game. 

Given the above example, I learned that the stuff we discuss and agree in the beginning of a game jam, is very very important for everyone to follow and stick to. If someone doesn’t do as it was agreed, that can ruin the whole game feel and aesthetics.

I also met the Director of Publishing for a new game-engine that doesn’t require code, the Buildbox, I explained him what a middleware is as Buildbox is lacking of audio implementation options. We agreed with Sean, that this would be a game changer for game audio people who wants to build games for their portfolio, to showcase their music. I will schedule up a meeting with Sean again to talk about this in more details. 

Meanwhile, I’ve posted an advertisement on several social media sites, in which I’m looking for animation / short-film creators for my upcoming sound design EP. So far, I’m emailing with one short film editor who has already sent me his video, but it’s full of dialogue lines, so it’s not too ideal to showcase my music. He also mentioned that he has another video that would be a better fit for this project, which he will send me later. 

[matewritesmusic]

John LEMON is out there

This week, I finished the John LEMON sound implementation and I have uploaded the gamplay and tutorial videos as planned. I received and incredibly positive feedback, as I posted the videos on multiple social sites, as well as in the Wwise Wwizards and Wwitches facebook group. A few new people started to follow me on these social sites, and one also said that it’s really nice not to watch implementation videos of Viking Village again, but to have a video of a new game that no-one has done before. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wol4NACF8eg

We also received back the tutors feedback for our university assignments, and I received some really good advice that points me in the right direction of how to continue with my works. I received firsts in all 3 modules, that shows that I’m on the right track, and the feedbacks will help to clear many questions / doubts I had. In the upcoming months, I will need to do major amendments to my portfolio website, so I need to have a good think and research on how am I going to freshen it up. I will introduce new components like a dedicated tab for my Blog (this thing here), separate the composition works from the sound design ones, and will have to start doing a RoadMap that shows my improvement and work in progress.

My classmates convinced me to take part in the Global Game Jam that is happening this weekend, regardless of my hearing state. I was worried, that if I won’t be able to mix the music and sounds properly in the game, it will leave a scar on my reputation. Hopefully that’s not the case, and I hope that I will find a positive and helpful team to work with. I’m really excited to meet new people and to work in a new ad hoc environment. Who knows, the game I will be working on, might going to be released this time :D 

[matewritesmusic]

John LEMON in the works

The John Lemon game is going really really well, I think I will be able to finish it before the deadline, which will leave me additional time to make a short (1.5 minute long) sound design showreel. If everything goes as planned, I will be able to finish the game and the sound implementation this weekend, so next week I can focus on the video making process. I will create two videos, one is a simple gameplay video, and the other will be a ‘How to’ video in which I explain the creation process.  In the winter break I’ve been emailing with multiple game audio people, one of them in particular, was working for Microsoft games and now working for EA games in LA. He suggested that I need to separate my Composition and Sound Design portfolio, so that’s what I’m going to do, but in order to have enough video for each category, I need to focus more on creating sound design assets! So creating that sound design album in May for Work Based Learning module will be super useful for this.

[matewritesmusic]

So the pack/stuffing has been removed from my ear, but I still cannot hear. It’s a bit unexpected turn, as I scheduled a few projects to start working on from Monday (06/01/20) but I can’t listen to music in stereo, so I gotta focus on my education instead. I attended on the Pro Tools crush course held in dBs, a nice head start, just enough to get my head around, record and edit, adding inserts. 

In the weekend, I will focus on working on the 301 wwise course, so as soon as I finish it, I can start working on the John Lemon Unity project.

[matewritesmusic]

Well, I guess I decided :D 

I did both. And I’m currently working on 301 which is Wwise integration with Unity.

[matewritesmusic]

Wwise Up!

Woohoo. My ear operation is done and was (according to the doctor) successful. The issue is, that they have left a pack/tube in my ear canal, which blocks my hearing for my right ear. 

Thus, I cannot really write music in the winter break, so I decided to do some Wwise training, and I’ve finished learning the 101 fundamentals of Wwise yesterday. Throughout this course, I also create a separate training sheet, tailored to my present knowledge, for the future me. :) As part of my Work Based Learning assignment plan, I promised myself to become better at audio programming and middlewares. Now, the big question is whether I should become a certified Wwise 101 user, or should I get this certification later, when it becomes more important to have it. 

Also, a funny thing about my composition to the earlier mentioned painting (with a deadline of 7th January), is that I have to write that soundscape using ONE EAR....well, wish me good luck on that.