.

Shane - Firstly Aubrey, how did you get to write audio for computer games, how did you get into the field in the first place?

Aubrey - My career began in 1985 with a live performance in an international touring group called Toymaker’s Dream. After spending a few years on the road I decided to settle down in Fresno, CA. I took a job selling recording studio gear and one of my clients was Mark Seibert. I didn’t know it at the time but he was the Audio Director at Sierra Online. I got a call from Mark asking if I would deliver some gear to the studio and check out his facilities. I was simply amazed by the place and loved their products. I had actually played a Sierra game called Hero’s Quest and there I was in the studio that actually made it! It was surreal.

At the end of the tour he asked me if I would be interested in a job there. I told him that I was intimidated by all of the computer stuff and wasn’t sure if I had the skills. But, he said that he was sure I would be able to learn…but my music skills were something that were hard to find. So, I said yes and ended up doing about 20 games or so with Sierra. I have very fond memories working there…those were some challenging projects. One of which was the remake of Hero’s Quest (later renamed to Quest For Glory).

Shane - There has been great interest surrounding your work on the Playstation port of Doom and Final Doom, how did you get the job? Did you apply to do it or were you headhunted for the project?

Aubrey - I was the Manager of Music Development at Midway (San Diego) when Id partnered with Midway to do the console versions. Id was in the middle of a dispute with their original composer and decided they needed a new audio guy. After taking a tour of the Midway San Diego audio department and spending some time with me, Id decided I was the guy they wanted to do the sound and music. I was honored that the company placed their trust in me and I wasn’t about to let them down.

This track was used for the Doom demo, it still gives me chills...

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 8.0.22!

Shane - For any aspiring music artists can you shed some light on what tools you used for the audio, software etc? We understand if you want to keep this to yourself!

Aubrey - I used the development tools created for the platforms by Sony and Nintendo. Both allowed me to create sample banks and add effects and then trigger them via midi. There were serious limitations with available ram so I had to be aggressive with sample rate and sample length in order to fit what I needed. In the end, those limitations forced me to think of alternative uses for those samples which is why they sound so creepy at times. In some cases instruments are being played 6-10 octaves below the pitch they were sampled. This in conjunction with the low sample rate created a grittiness and detail that really added to the effect.

Shane - We are big fans of Doom, as most gamers are, but always felt the original heavy metal soundtrack on PC never fit what was essentially a spooky, creepy game, I for one turned the music off when playing to get into the atmosphere, however with your soundtrack on the Playstation version the music track got turned up. When you first started the project what did you initially want to do with the soundtrack, and did the end result fit this, were you happy with the final outcome?

Aubrey - In my opinion one of the most dangerous mindsets for anyone to have when doing creative development is to focus heavily on what you think people want rather than do what you think should be done. I trust my instincts. At first I was getting pressure to deliver a clone of the original. But, I had a vision for a soundscape that would enhance the tension and suspense similar to what happens in movies. To my knowledge this had never been done before in a game and I felt like game music had fallen into a rut. Everywhere you turned there was high energy, crank it all the way music from wall to wall in most games.

There were the exceptions here and there, but, never anything like what I wanted to try. There was very little dynamic range and no one seemed willing to go out on the edge. So, I started sampling weird things like a bee in a coke can or a faulty fan in a laptop and made those "instruments" to be played in my compositions. These bizarre instruments along with a core set of traditional samples gave me the textures I needed to create the first truly ambient score in a video game. Nowadays the style is used often and I am proud to have paved the way and set a high standard for other composers to emulate. The players deserve no less.

Shane - The soundtrack for Doom wasn't music in the true sense, it was an ambient atmospheric background that helped generate that true Doom atmosphere, it was so atmospheric in fact that without it the game was only half finished in my opinion, what influences, if any, have you experienced that made it into this work?

Aubrey - Hmm…I would have to say that I really didn’t approach the project with any preset "style" in mind. I just had a sense of a sort of dissonance and textural complexity that I thought would sound disturbing. I then combined that weird stud with music phrases and motifs that were somewhat traditional in approach to create the end result. Since the pieces were using midi I was able to create longer compositions and vary the intensity dramatically throughout.

Shane - The ambient audio you created literally sent a chill down the spine of the player, admittedly the better sound effects (zombie groans etc.) of the Playstation version also worked with this to create a unique soundtrack to a video game, and to this day I don't think it has been bettered. Just how much did you want to invoke fear into the player with what you were creating?

Aubrey - I really tried to put the player on the emotional edge. The tension, suspense and fear comes from never really knowing what you’ll hear next combined with the dissonant and haunting sounds used in the pieces. To this day I have yet to outdo the weird stuff in those products. Hehe

From Doom 64 - This track is just evil!

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 8.0.22!

Shane - Video games these days tend to miss the mark when it comes to audio, they can have photorealistic graphics and great gameplay all day long, but without a good soundtrack, a thing you would think developers would want to nail down, the game can seem inferior to what it could have been. How true do you find this comment? Any examples of any games that you felt could have done better with better audio?

Aubrey - The soundtrack can make or break the product. Period. The synergy between what is happening in the game and what you are hearing creates the emotional response in the player. The purpose of the music should be to help define what the player is feeling at any given time. Yet, some approaches use a generic "I am playing a video game" mood that does nothing for the connection of the player to the game world.

In some cases this may work if you are talking about casual games. But, in any game that seeks to immerse the player the only result of just throwing a piece of random music behind the game is to hurt the product. There are plenty examples of this in a ton of games but I really don’t want to get into any sort of product bashing here.

One disturbing trend is the over usage of licensed tracks. In some products this seems to make sense but in others it kind of feels like the developer opted for the easy way out. I for one like to hear music that was specifically crafted for the product I just purchased!

Here are Aubrey's sound effects and music at work in PSX Doom. - Level : Entryway

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 8.0.22!

Shane - Doom was one of the first games to be released on the Playstation, we had come from Atari computers and 8 bit consoles to this new machine that delivered digital sound without compression that sounded CD quality, we weren't used to it in gaming, I come from the age of midi samples, this new sound blew me away and Playstation Doom truly did hit home with me at the time just how important sound can be in gaming. How important do you feel sound is in gaming?

Aubrey - Well…the interesting thing is that most of Doom on the Playstation was in fact midi. What made it unique was that I was able to create a custom bank of samples for each song that were designed specifically with that one song in mind. The CD quality music came in the form of the main theme, level complete, demo level, credits, and one bonus "club doom" track. So the primary experience was still using midi. One new feature on the Playstation sound chip that helped dramatically was the on board reverb…which gave the music a washed out almost dreamy feel.

Now, as far as how important I think sound is to a game…

George Lucas has been quoted as saying "The sound and music are 50% of the entertainment in a movie". What seems odd to me is that while no one can argue against this guys success his advice often gets ignored in the game development world. For anyone to ignore him or disregard his wisdom on the matter is simply proving that they have no business in charge of a multimedia product.

I have often been stunned by how many people in the game development world simply don’t value sound and music in their games. It is no shock to me that their products usually meet with failure when they clearly treat sound as an afterthought. In terms of the emotional connection I would go further and say that 80% of the emotion is delivered via audio. All it takes is some bad voice acting, inappropriate music, or annoying sounds to ruin a gaming experience.

I have never understood folks who can’t see the return of investment when it comes to audio since it costs far less to do stellar sound than it does other disciplines. I am of course biased but I am objective enough to realize that ALL of your assets need to be top notch to really create something worthwhile.

Shane - I have a site visitor who has stated he can't sleep without having your Doom soundtrack on repeat play on his headphones when he goes to bed, admittedly this guy probably has issues (!) but comments like that, people still loving a project you did over ten years ago, how do you feel about that?

Aubrey - Well, I am thrilled that fans still enjoy those compositions and those products. I took a risk and it paid off in the end. I had a feeling that the gamers would connect with the material and it feels good to see that validated. I am working on a project currently that I hope will have the same lasting effect.

Shane - A personal request of mine, something that's been bugging me for years, there's a track on the 9th level of Doom - 'Deimos Anomally', and I am sure there is a time stretched sample of a voice saying "tell me why", am I right? Can you confirm this, if so where did it come from?! Any other weird samples in there you can shed some light on for the fans?

Deimos Anomally - 3mins 19 secs!

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 8.0.22!

Aubrey - I did use a spoken phrase in that piece from a previous game but I can neither confirm or deny it’s exact content. Hehe

I used the sounds of mini blinds being lowered, a defective/humming lava lamp, a baby crying, whispers, a bee trapped in a can, a squeaky old rusty metal door, and my favorite technique was to use a massive Taco Bell drink cup (like 64 ounces!) and make weird sounds into it. Most of the monsters were done using that cup.

Shane - You have worked on many projects in the gaming world, any you are especially proud of? Also, anything we can look forward to from you in the future?

Aubrey - I am still happy with the work I was able to contribute to the old Sierra games like the Quest for Glory series, Robin Hood Conquest of the Longbow and Freddy Pharkas. I feel like I was able to take the Madden franchise to the next level and provide a level of realism and immersive sound that really makes the game more fun to play.

I still have a warm feeling every time I listen to the sound and music I created for The Sierra Network’s "The Shadow of Yserbius" which was the first online game with music and sound effects. In some ways I have come full circle since my latest project is an MMO.

And speaking of my latest project…I am thrilled to be a part of 38 Studios and it’s IP codenamed; Copernicus. This is the largest project that I have ever done and will include over 50 hours of original compositions! I am doing everything from heroic grand sweeping orchestral music to tavern jigs. Also, I am taking the creepy ambience/music thing to a whole new level! I can’t say more on that although I can say that this body of work will be the pinnacle of my career.

I have never been more excited about any project. Curt Schilling has put together a fantastic company that is doing AAA top tier work. I get to work alongside R.A. Salvatore who has created the world and story. Not only is he a great guy but he along with an insanely talented group of artisans has created something truly magical here. Todd McFarlane is another of the visionaries and brings his amazing flair and creative genius to the IP. So, for me, it is an amazing experience to work in a genre that I love with such an amazing product as my sonic canvas. I wish I could share some samples but we're not ready to go that far…yet.

Shane - Finally, as this site is based not only on video games, but scary ones, do you have any favorites you would like to tell us about, with good sound or otherwise?

Aubrey - It’s hard to single out games in these terms because so many games these days have excellent audio. In terms of games that evoked a scary…almost "Doom-like" feeling…I really enjoyed the sound in Bioshock. Very dark material. Both sound and music fit the world perfectly. It was a fun game too which always helps. Fallout 3 was also very good in terms of sound and music. The voice acting was superb and well scripted. I know I am forgetting many other great products out there and I apologize for that because I know how difficult it can be to make these things!

----------------------------------- 

I'd like to sincerely thank you Aubrey for taking time out to do this with us, you sir are a legend and we wish you all the best with your future endeavors, we are especially looking forward to the epic sounding 'Copernicus', many, many thanks.

I'd also like to thank the guys at 38Studios.com for their help in making this happen, cheers guys.

I couldn't finish this article without having the 'Club Doom' track in here so here it is for a bit of fun, this level was a super secret level that you really had to work to find, and once you did you were treated to this piece of music, it literally came out of nowhere and after the chilled out haunting ambient sounds you had experienced up until this point it literally blew your head off, and if you had your speakers turned up, probably killed them too... So now turn up your speakers and listen to the awesome track for 'Club Doom':

Club Doom: Serious nose bleed gabba techno - Not for the feint hearted...

Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 8.0.22!