Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound!

August 2nd, 2016 | By Lance Hayes

I‘m very proud to be featured in the new book Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound! A labor of love for Karen Collins and Chris Greening that has spanned half a decade of work and dozens of interviews with the top game audio talent of this and previous generations. Here’s more info from the Beep site:

The Beep Book is transcripts of interviews with over 100 game audio professionals from a range of areas of game sound’s history. The majority of the interviews were conducted as part of the Beep documentary film project by director and author Karen Collins. These are supplemented by interviews done for Video Game Music Online by Chris Greening. The book is ~410,000 words in length–a huge volume of material spanning decades of video game and pinball audio history. Interviews include artists such as Marty O’Donnell (Halo), George “The Fat Man” Sanger (7th Guest), Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts), and many, many more. The interviews aim to explore the changing nature of game audio over time. Interviews are with people from all over the world, including Japan, USA, Canada & Europe, and took place from October 2014 to July 2016. They cover a range of expertise and experience levels, and include composers, sound designers, voice actors and directors, record labels, conductor, orchestrators, chip musicians, hardware and software creators, and more. 

If you’d like to check out my input, head over to Volume 1 page 215. Truthfully the whole thing is a marvel of deep dives and forward thinking that spans the entire history of games. A worthwhile read for the game audio enthusiast as well as students and anyone interested in hearing from a unique perspective on the development of the video games that have shaped our lives.

Beep is currently available on Amazon.

What Can We Do For You?

January 27th, 2015 | By Lance Hayes

Over the years I’ve had the good fortune to work on projects of all sizes for developers and publishers such as Microsoft, Activision and Nintendo. To assist me I’ve assembled a crack team of audio professionals and contractors. I’ve worked with the best on projects ranging from composing 8bit to orchestral soundtracks, creating original sound design and field recordings to implementation and more.

As an independent contractor I’ve spent years crafting audio that fits perfectly into titles so my team and I are focused on delivering great audio experiences. With award winning talent from projects that span next gen consoles, handheld and PC titles our skills range across the entire spectrum of audio disciplines, (a list of some of the titles we’ve worked can be found here). We specialize in bringing the sound of the games we work on to life.

We’re available for new projects, no game is too big or too small, Indie to Fortune 500. Please contact djdm at djdm.com for more information to make your project’s audio stand out!

For the latest updates about the studio please see our Twitter and Facebook pages.

A Year of Highlights and Updates

March 3rd, 2014 | By Lance Hayes

Doing a little website housecleaning and since I’ve been having a busy year, I wanted to consolidate some related posts into one place.

• Audio Media Looks at Forza Motorsport 5
• Speaking Engagement at Game Developer’s Conference 2014
• McDonald’s Forza Xbox One Ad Campaign Featuring Music by Lance Hayes
• Game Audio Network Guild Award Nomination
• Forza Motorsport 5 Soundtrack and Game Now Available
• Forza Motorsport 4 Soundtrack Release Announced
• The Forza Motorsport 5 Soundtrack: An Insider’s View
• Music for Xbox Fitness
• Nominations and specifics on FM5’s Game Developer’s Choice “Best Audio” award nomination
• BJ Shea’s Geek Nation Interview
• Game Music Articles for Andertons Music UK

In related news my Game Developer’s Conference 2014 updates are here.

Other site updates include new content on the Media and Music Page (If you want to skip the videos scroll to the bottom for music links). Also check out the newly revised Articles/Awards page as well as an updated Bio/Credits.

And finally, you may also want to check out Twitter and Facebook for more info as I’ll post breaking news and asides there regularly.

Cheers!

Game Audio Network Guild Award Nomination

February 19th, 2014 | By Lance Hayes

My “Next Level” series over at Andertons Music UK is designed to help newcomers to the game audio field find information that will be of service as they navigate their way though the beginning of their careers.

I’m humbled and honored that one of the articles from this series has been singled out; “How to Write Compelling Music for Games“, has been nominated for a Game Audio Network Guild Award for “Best Game Audio Article/Podcast/Publication”. Thank you to the Board at GANG, I look forward to the awards in San Francisco at this year’s Game Developer’s Conference!

Cheers!

Game Music Articles for Andertons Music UK

July 23rd, 2013 | By Lance Hayes

Series Update: The article “How to Write Compelling Music for Games” was nominated for a 2013 Game Audio Network Guild Award for “Best Game Audio Article/Podcast/Publication”. More info here

Original Post: Are you interested in learning about game audio and composing for games? How about a little dash of game business advice? Then I have just the articles for you! I’ve partnered with Andertons Music in the UK for a series starting with game audio basics and heading into other areas of interest. You can check it out here on the Andertons Music site. I’ll be posting weekly so check back often for updates and, if it helps, I’ll be posting when new articles go live on my Facebook and Twitter pages.

Cheers!