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Kitchen - A binaural Audio Experience
(HEADPHONES RECOMMENDED)
- Sound Design by Ethan C. McEwan
- FINALISED January 2021
'Kitchen', is my third take on creating sound design for the horror genre. In this sequence, we follow a character named Clancy, and his tortured awakening inside an unknown environment.
The 'Horror' Genre is something I've always been drawn to. Not because of its gory nature that most people may attribute to the genre, but due to its ability to create tension within the human mind. For this, my main focus is to create an atmosphere that people can relate to, whilst find instances of informalities within it. Whilst creating sound design for projects such as this in the past, I have always thought a sense of immersion was missing. Because of this, I have added a binaural audio aspect within the mix, allowing a deeper sense of sound for the listener.
Although I enjoyed creating this project, there were a couple of things I wished I could have improved on. One of those included the reverb that I had used. At times I felt that the reverb was a little bit in-balanced, with certain objects having more or less reverb than others, or general reverb to be placed a little better within its space. Because of this, I plan to use convolution reverb's in the future. This, combined with the appropriate impulse responses will bring a more vibrant and realistic life within the video and its sound. Another thing I wish I could have improved on was my implementation of binaural audio. Although I believe it to of worked very well with my chosen video, I feel like I lacked the tools and knowledge to implement it properly as it was my first time implementing such a feature.
Download Links:
Sound Library + Paperwork- https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17vjrVGbY59S8NebQQYw76KwwRuzHxF2t?usp=sharing
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THe Indoor Generation - Sound Design Audio Visual Experience
- Sound Design by Ethan C. McEwan
- Narrated by Erin McKenzie
- Created February 2021
(Due to copyright, the video cannot be uploaded onto YouTube. A RAW MP4 file is included within the google drive link below).
'The Indoor Generation' is my first attempt at creating a nature sound experience, with its sound design influenced by previous films such as David Attenborough's 'Planet Earth'. In this experience, we follow a group of children, peacefully playing within our world's nature. However, in today's society, this vision is now conflicted. More and more, people choose to spend their time inside, rather than experience the nature of our world, influencing further generations to do the same.
Creating a sound experience like this is something that has always interested me. Now more than ever, I feel like as humans we can all relate to this video in one way or another due to the current climate of the world, and as such, when normality continues, we can hopefully aim to fix this issue sooner. However, in the past, I believe this issue was one that not many people are aware of, one that's masked by the ever-evolving world of industry and technology no matter where you live in the world. I would like to note that the video you are seeing above is an in-progress version of what I am currently working on. The scale of the project was much bigger than I had initially realized, and although a good amount of progress has been created, there is still so much more I would like to do with it. Because of this sadly I can't promote it as a finished piece. Although this is the case, creating the sound design for this video is an absolute joy, with its narration (recorded by my wonderful friend Erin) allowing a more authentic story to be told.
Due to this being an ongoing project, it is important to highlight my next steps when creating this piece. Further sounds will be added to enhance the overall experience however it is important to note that not every element within this video has to have a sound attached within it. The priority of the video is to educate the viewer, and if certain sounds take away from that then the purpose of the video will be decreased. Audio elements within the vocals will also be more finely tuned and balanced, allowing a constant narrative to be smooth throughout. This may be done with finer EQ adjustments and automation. Another element I would love to add within this, is the implementation of ADR for the children within the video. However, the reason I have currently not done this is due to the quality of sound I would need to achieve, one of which isn't available through sound library's. For this to be included would require a recording session with real children to take place, something of which is just not available at this current time.
Download Links:
Sound Library + Paperwork -
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-MWBS5gQ9QPblinaWL7nvh3DRbINU5ZT?usp=sharing
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Germ Attack - game sound design
- Game Audio Design by Ethan C. McEwan
- Created February 2021
- FINALISED May 2020
'Germ Attack' was my first attempt at creating and editing audio within a game engine. Created during my 'Game Audio' HND 1st year class, it follows a player known as the 'Doctor'. Their objective? To eliminate the germs within the body and unlock their way to the source of the infestation. However, the player must traverse through various rooms, find keys and unlock their way to the end of the level.
Creating audio to be used within a game is something I've always really wanted to do, however, before the creation of this project, I had never been able to due to my lack of experience with game engines. Video games are something I have always extremely enjoyed playing, so knowing that I could create a project dedicated to one was something I was really excited about. Unity's tools are simple to use and learn, something I wish to learn more from with creating similar projects in the future. However, as we only used Unity for this project without any middleware, audio was sometimes frustrating to implement and lacked the freedom that I wish I had. Due to this, my next time game audio project will include audio middleware, allowing sound to be implemented more appropriately, freeing some of this frustration.
Due to this being my first implementation of game audio, there are of course many things I wish I improved on within this project. The overall balance of the audio mix when a player loads into a game should be a smooth interaction with the sound design, however with my implementation, at times the audio can be quite jarring, with everything being in your face at once. I also believe the footsteps could be a little louder, emphasising the squishy feel of the players surroundings.
Download Links:
Sound Library + Paperwork + Windows Game Version - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RPkk1oZidn_jUK8T5iTQ3KcZsBdUUPYz?usp=sharing
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Kart Racer - game sound design
- Game Audio Design by Ethan C. McEwan
- Created February 2021
Kart Racer will be my second attempt at creating and implementing audio within the unity game engine. Its premise is to complete a three-lap race around a course, allowing the player to compete with there selves and others to gain better finishing and lap times.
The above sequence you are currently watching isn't the final implementation of the game's sound design. Instead, it is a template created through video sound design, aimed to show the overall experience I wish to create, including all the various sounds I wish to add within the game itself. In doing this, it will help me and others visualise my idea more appropriately, including how and where I wish to implement certain sounds within the world. As mentioned above, the sound design will be implemented into the Unity game engine, however, using a process that includes the software FMOD, a middleware that allows greater freedom and versatility when inserting audio within the engine.
Although the video above is structured to look and feel like the final product, there definitely will be changes that I might make during its sound implementation process. Including how certain reverbs may act within the world, and the game's progression of its music, which I wish to make interactive. This will allow sections of the song to move and change depending on where you are on the course. Sounds such as the car engine will also sound a lot better when implemented into the game, allowing itself to change dynamically depending on the speed at which the kart is driving.
Download Links:
Sound Library + Paperwork - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ktwxZjgFyXpvi_jz8wKWunBqhIa8sgNc?usp=sharing
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Dead Electric - INTO THE BLUE - Mixed
- Recorded by Dead Electric
- Mixed by Ethan C. McEwan
- FINALISED February 2021
Dead Electrics's 'Into the Blue' single features itself as a punchy indie rock single, displaying key attributes to its genre within its sound. Given as an assignment for the class 'Independent Studio Project', my task was to perform a standalone full mix of the song, along with attending to the clients requirements.
Due to the pandemic, this year we sadly never had the opportunity to record and mix our own songs within the college's facilities, of which is normally the case. I did do a cover of the song 'Roar' by Katy Perry last year, however I felt that the the quality of the finalised mix I created was somewhat lacking due to it being one of the first things I created during that first year. Because of this, I wanted to pick a music piece that showed my current mixing abilities, whilst also promoting a genre of music I enjoy. Due to currently being at home, the mix was performed 'in the box' using the latest version of Pro Tools. From there, standard editing and processing procedures were applied on a per-instrument basis, allowing for either an enhancement in quality or creative effect. A more detailed evaluation on how this was done is shown below, including images of the processing made, however, this wouldn't of been possible without the initial creation of a mix plan. The mix plan was created once the audio files had been sent to me, allowing myself to plan ahead, and think about the certain methods I wanted to purse, knowing they would help me achieve this required sound.
Although I believe to of created a good-sounding mix of the song, I can't help but think of a few I would have loved to of changed. The first, relating to the ending of the song. Although at times a common feature within many songs, I feel like the ending lasts a bit longer than it should, making the guitar sound jarring and unpleasant. I would have also loved to of used an out-of-the-box mixing practice for this song, however, I realise that sadly isn't in my control. However, in doing that, the song would have more of a smoother analogue sound added within it due to the use of outboard EQs, noise gates and compressors. A better judge of audio would also be given with the use of studio monitors.
Download Links:
Paperwork + 24 bit 48kHz RAW WAV Files -
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-viH_hAoYbXUUItrGkHrGHYuREh3Tp8u?usp=sharing