Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/49492
OUTLOOK AUDIO mics. In the case of game companies, a lot of them will release their own tools for free to the community to do their own mods. There are a lot of resources for anyone who is looking to expand their knowl- edge, or to start building up their own set of skills." WEAKNESSES: "The industry's strength also relates to its weak- ness in a way. It's easy to get overwhelmed. Sometimes I wonder if there isn't a danger in trusting tools and software over your own ear, which should be your fundamental strength doing audio work. Relying on limiters and compression, that sort of thing, to pump up your sound or get into a loudness war situation, or trusting metering too much — it almost seems like there are so many options available, you are in danger of forgetting the fundamentals that make you a good audio engineer in the first place." OPPORTUNITIES: "We've been lucky enough to have loyal fans, which has given us the opportunity to dream big and take some chances like we have with Skyrim, the last game we just finished up. So we are not constrained into doing pure sequel work, we can continue to take big chances and change the games in drastic ways and the fans give us that leeway to do that. For me on the audio side, it has allowed me to keep experimenting and keep learning new skills." THREATS: "I worry that as game budgets get bigger and bigger, that there is almost a need for extreme success or there is going to be certain failure. The game industry can lean on sequels a little too much. There's a dependence on sequels and predictability over being able to take chances with originality. I think a threat for the industry is being a little too adverse to risk. "A lot of indie games are good in that regard, because they use a very small crew, and put together something with a lot of artist integ- rity that tries something very different in the game world. But, without taking risk, can you continue to make original creative work? It's too much of a threat to do something original, rather than just leaning on sequels over and over again." One of Bang's recent projects: a York Peppermint Patty spot for agency Arnold. RYAN BILLIA Chief Engineer/Sound Designer Bang www.bangworld.com New York Services include original music composition, music supervision, sound design and complete audio post, including final record, mix and mastering for all broadcast formats. Projects include Disney iPad apps, York Peppermint Patty ad campaign for Arnold NYC, and the TV show Say Yes to the Dress for TLC. STRENGTHS: "The ATSC's new standard for mixing levels is a strength for the industry. It adds a much-needed uniformity, instead of hav- ing a loudness war — everyone wanting to make their TV show or spot louder than the one next to it. In addition, because it is specifically for digital television, it has actually raised the true peak level and lowered the RMS level, giving us a wider dynamic range to work with. The ATSC specifically encourages you to mix with a static monitoring level, similar to cinema, so it's actually encouraging us to mix by our ears versus always mixing by meters, which for commercial spot mixers, we didn't really always mix by ear. We kind of always mixed by what the meters said — look where your needle is bouncing and that's where you went to. You train your ears to hear what -24 is and then just freely move around that. It still needs to be a balanced mix but you have a bit more freedom there." WEAKNESSES: "With the prevalence of streaming — television, commercials on Hulu, etc. — the audio quality has gone down. All the time we're spending with this dynamic range and having high-quality audio, it's getting crushed down the pipeline to the consumer, who is very often listening through laptop speakers. I mixed a project today where I was actually monitoring my mix through my laptop because that's where it was going to be played back. So it's a bit of a weakness." OPPORTUNITIES: "Streaming is a great opportunity. It is a new medium and no one is exactly sure what to do with it. It's a new avenue for revenue because there are more things going online. It offers opportunities for us creatively to try and make these spots still sound interesting even if they're coming through our laptop speakers, or through an iPhone or iPad, coming in mono. We have to go back to listening to things in mono. It's an interesting back and forth." THREATS: "Budgets are decreasing and our deadlines are getting OUTLOOK FOR 2012: "For the game industry, there has been a ridiculously good release list this holiday season. It has been one huge title after another, and there is only so much room to go around, of course. The industry is really strong for the studios that have been able to stick around and keep doing titles. On the other hand, it will con- tinue to be very stiff competition. I feel like we've weathered this round and are enjoying a recent game release, but come next year it'll be time to re-prove ourselves and reinvent ourselves with the next game. We could do the same formula and be as successful, but we will most certainly reinvent it in some way and break a few gaming conven- tions and do something new." 44 Post • December 2011 www.postmagazine.com shorter. So, unfortunately we can't always put as much effort as we'd like into having these great mixes. I had a few editor friends confess that, due to budget restraints, they've actually mixed their spots in their Avid, and that's gone to air. There hasn't been the money to go to audio. A lot of our clients understand the importance of good audio in commercials, and TV shows, but there is also the reality of watching the bottom line, and audio seems to be a place where people are willing to consider trimming back." OUTLOOK FOR 2012: "We did some kiosk sound design for people going into stores and purchasing products. There is actually a series of sound design elements that go along with that. We've been doing things like iPad apps. People are expecting higher quality in these apps and they're being treated almost like mini films or videogames, which have always had high-quality audio. These clients understand that they should go to people who know what they're doing versus just throwing some general sounds in. So in that way, it's positive, with all these added areas of revenue and different ways of exploring and creativity, I think there are some good things down the pipeline."