This episode I’m chatting’ it up with Bioware’s Matt Besler! Matt has a had a varied career in film, television, and gaming with such titles as the Mass Effect Trilogy as well as Dragon Age: Origins, 2, and inquisition along with Mass Effect Andromeda which will be dropping the Winter of 2016. Matt has specifically been an audio lead on Dragon Age: Awakening and Origins DLC.  Show Notes:   Where are you from originally? — this also leads into Matt’s career path (1:31) Matt started at...

This week’s episode is with Frank Petreikis who is currently the audio lead on Rise of the Tomb Raider. Frank’s also worked on The Punisher, Saint’s Row 1 and 2, Red Faction Armageddon, Mass Effect 2: Arrival DLC, Mass Effect 3, and Dragon Age Inquisition. Frank’s background is seriously one of the most interesting I’ve come across, but that’s all in the interview.  Show Notes   Frank went to school for Elementary Education (2:04) How Frank got into Sound Design (2:38) The transition...

Today, I’m speaking with a sound designer who’s doing things a bit differently. His name’s Austin Shannon. Typically we imagine going into a studio, and doing our long days work, but Austin does his work remotely. And I think that… is rad.  Austin has worked on such titles as Justice Lead Doom, Starhawk, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Omega Quintet, There Came an Echo, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and most recently King’s Quest. Show Notes:   Austin works...

This week I had the massive honor of speaking with 343 industries Sound Designer and Audio Lead Kyle Fraser. Kyle has some incredibly high standards for his work, and an especially keen ear for what he’s going after along with an unquenchable thirst for continuing to improve his craft and deliver an even more epic final product. Halo 4 garnered a ton of audio awards when it released in 2012 including but not limited to IGN’s Best Audio All Platforms, Best Audio Viewer’s Choice, and Game Audio...

Today I am chattin’ it up with the amazingly talented Jared Emerson-Johnson. Jared has composed music for a ton of awesome titles including Jurassic Park the Game, Back to the Future the Game, Telltale’s The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead Season Two, Game of Thrones, plus Tales from the Borderlands!!! Jared also worked on many of the Sam and Max games. Another really cool aspect of Jared’s work is that he not only composes but has worked as a designer on many of these...

This week I had the absolute honour of talking with field recordist, musician, and audio ace Chris Watson. For those unfamiliar with Chris, he is considered one of the top field recordists in the world. He’s worked on Frozen Planet, The Life of Birds, Big Cat Diary, Life in the Undergrowth, Nature, Autumnwatch, and many more. If you want a bigger impression of this amazing artists work check out his website at www.chriswatson.net and you’ll get an even better picture. Needless to say, he’s...

Today I’m interviewing Drew Medina from Headtrip Games. Little about Drew, and this is from his website, but Drew has been a game artist for 14 years, developing console games at Atari, Pacific Coast Power and Light, Shiny Entertainment,  EA, Angel Studios, Crystal Dynamics, MadDoc software, Rockstar New England, and now of course Headtrip Games. Game Credits: – Gauntlet Legends (Arcade)  – Jet Moto 3 (Playstation 1) – Road Rash 64 (N64) – Smugglers  Run (Playstation 2) – Test Drive...

This week I sat down with Sound Designer Derrick Espino. Derrick is not only an amazing human being, but has also worked on Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, God of War: Chains of Olympus, God of War III, Twisted Metal, Soul Sacrifice, God of War: Ascension, The Last of Us, The Last of Us: Left Behind, and so many more. You can check out all of his titles here. It’s really incredible stuff. Session Notes: Originally from Modesto,...

Today I’m sitting down with Joel Green. Joel is a professional sound designer, helping to generate amazing audio for game titles such as Need for Speed: Undercover, Mass Effect 2 and 3, Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition, and is currently the Producer / Audio Director at Cloudhead Games working on the VR title The Gallery: Six Elements. Show Notes   Graduated from Vancouver Film School Worked on Need for Speed: Undercover Worked under Charles Deenen  From there got hired onto Bioware’s team...

Today’s guest is Garry Schyman. Garry has composed for many mediums, but as of late has had an epic streak of video games. To name a few: Destroy All Humans! , Bioshock, Resistance: Retribution, Dante’s Inferno, Bioshock 2, Bioshock Infinite, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea, and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Garry has also received a staggering amount of awards for his work, but I’m only gonna toss out a few: The Bafta Awards 2014 Winner for Best...

Today I had the chance to sit down and talk with one of my industry idols: Jeremy Voillot. Jeremie is a graduate of the Vancouver Film School where he studied Sound Design. Since graduating Jeremie has had an amazing career working as a sound designer on Mass Effect, senior sound designer on Dragon Age Origins, then continuing onto such titles as Dragon Age 2 & 3 plus Mass Effect 2 & 3. Jeremie is presently  Audio Director 2 at Bioware. Show Notes DJ’d for a number of years...

This week I had the absolute privilege of sitting down with Scott Stackhouse. Scott is assistant professor of theatre in acting and voice at the University of Missouri Kansas City where he teaches acting, directing, and voice. He earned his MFA at the lovely University of California – Los Angeles and has worked regionally and nationally as an actor, director, vocal coach, and fight choreographer. On top of it all Scott also works as a professional voice actor booking gigs and continuing to...

This week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Greg Mackender. Greg is the associate professor of sound at the University of Missouri – Kansas City where he teaches Hard Disk Recording and Sound Scoring. Professor Mackender has a long history of music, audio exploration, and being at the breaking edge of audio innovation where he was one of the early implementors of digital audio.    Notes * Greg works primarily in theatre as a Sound Designer * Started out with a love for science...

Sound Design Academy sits down with Production Mixer and location sound man Joe Elfanbaum to discuss his recent success and growth as an audio expert within SCAD. Within 2 years of attending the Savannah College of Art and Design, Joe has managed to jump start his location audio career, and is currently working on a number of professional gigs. Listen in to learn how you too can break into the location sound industry, get tips on how to succeed and so much more! Show Notes:  Joe is a...

Sound Design Academy sits down with actor Michael Pauley to discuss his recent success and growth on acx.com. Within less than a year Michael has managed to rack up over 70 titles on ACX, and made the leap to full time voiceover artist through September of 2015. Listen in to learn how you can do it too, and much more!  Summary Originally from Chicago, Ill Worked at the Southwest Shakespeare Conservatory University of Arizona – Undergrad Moved to New York City directly after...