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farbrausch debris Soundtrack

  • Published: 2024-03-19 11:43

Project briefing

Technically, the demo sported a new particle engine. Capable of drawing an insane amount of cubes. As well as a new bone-based(?) animation procedure. Thematically taking the cube-trope to new extremes with a cinematic approach to direction.

Overarching, technical goal: The demo, including all assets, must fit into a 100kb executable file. Soundtrack must use Farbrausch V2 without samples.

State of project at time of briefing, three weeks before deadline

  • Incomplete timeline
  • Missing scenes
  • Crashing tool
  • Preview of screenshots only
  • Along with verbal conceptualization

My decision making process

1. Identify visual key ‘agents’ from briefing

  1. Environment, sense of place/space
    1. “Dark City”
    2. Degrading from familiar > unfamiliar > destruction > noise
    3. Light & shadow
  2. Cube particles, tons of them
  3. “Alive” bridges
  4. Cinematographic arch with distinct parts
    1. Transitions
  5. Greetings, shattering glass-like\
  6. .hund
  7. Destruction

2. Synthesize cardinal sound-design decisions

  • Cubes and bridges require parametrized sounds
  • “Brutalist” hook
  • Key scene changes have a type of sound (sth sweepy?)
  • Every sound except the bassdrum “moves”
  • Avoid musical tropes as much as I can (except for a brief, fake-303)

Sound-design decisions

  • 0:57 ‘Cube particles’
    • Sound-design goals—convey:
      • A 'floating lack of weight'
      • Presence of many, uncountable amount
    • Hint at 'being many'
      • Sample & hold modulation on the filter
      • Delay to increase the perceivable quantity
    • Subtle amounts of random modulation (FM) to create further variation
    • Syncable mod envelope depth for different scenes on the filter
  • 2:03 'Snakey pipes'
    • Slow, LFO modulated high-pass filter cutoff frequency
    • Enveloped pulse-width modulation
  • 2:27 Bridges 01
    • Try low-passed, rumbling noise & FM
  • 3:15 ‘CCTV/Dancing buildings’
    • Band-pass sum, drive bus compression
  • 4:18 ‘Splashy credits’
    • Try noise, steep band-pass filter < s&h
  • 6:10 Bridges 02
    • Intensify the frequency modulation and fx
  • General decisions
    • Key scene changes are accompanied by the same sound
    • Incl a sweeping filter envelope (sweep > wipe, transition)