Procedural Now!

Procedural Sound is a topic that I feel has a great potential to solve some of the challenges facing game audio. Whether it's the dynamic composition of music in real-time, geometric sound propagation modeling , or harnessing already available simulations to create approximations of sound using synthesis, there exists a tremendous amount of solutions to the problems of how to make our virtual worlds more directly reactive and immersive.

It's with optimism that I set upon trying to raise awareness of some of these techniques and technologies available outside the confines of console specific runtimes. It's my hope that by looking outside of our industry we can catch a glimpse of the future for game audio, and set our sights on some new ways to provide engaging, dynamically reactive, and emotionally resonating interactive sound.

In an article entitled "Procedural Sound Now!" at DesigningSound.org as part of the Audio Implementation Greats series, I've made a case for a return to the formative years of game audio with an eye towards new developments in synthesis and procedural. The article wraps with a QA with three audio professionals working with procedural sound in some capacity.

This article is being released in conjunction with the Game Audio Podcast Episode 4: “Procedural Game Audio” which brings to the table Andy Farnell, Francois Thibault, and David Thall, who all work in different areas of the gaming and audio industry. What starts out as a definition of procedural audio eventually ends up as a speculation of sci-fi proportions.

I've also posted a round-up of related links over at the LostChocolateLab Blog which should help fill in the gaps. Please drop by to explore additional Procedural Audio articles, video's, and white paper links that I've collected during my research.

With that in mind I encourage you to explore all of the different materials presented: the Procedural Sound Now! article, GAP#4: Procedural Game Audio, and the collection of procedural related links at the LostChocolateLab Blog.

I look forward to the continuing discussion!