April 2021
Paul Deakin is an award-winning composer and Audio Director at Sony Bend Studio and on 2019's Days Gone. He’s also the writer and composer of Off-Broadway musical Spellbound which was nominated for the New York Lark Play Development Center New Musical Award.
Here we chat about his game audio journey so far and he reveals some great behind-the-curtain details of his award-winning work…
MASA: How did you get your first break into the world of game audio? Do you remember when you first felt this was the industry for you?
Paul: I actually started out as a designer when I worked on Evil Genius at Elixir Studios in London. That was in 2001. I always knew I wanted to do sound and/or music and would spend time creating my own sounds and music for that game at home, for fun. I did provide some of the minion voices in EG. As far as knowing this was the industry for me - I think it was when I was coding music on my Commodore 64 at the age of 13. Yeah, old. I know. :)
MASA: Can you tell us a bit about the structure at Bend Studio, where you’re currently working? What does your role as Audio Director entail?
Paul: I can't really discuss internal structure. My role is to work with our sound, music and dialog teams to ensure a cohesive aural experience for the players. I like to be hands-on when possible and really enjoyed working on some of the systems for Days Gone.
MASA: You worked on 2019’s award-winning Days Gone, for which you and your team won a Webby for Best Sound Design and Music. Can you give us an outline of the different processes and stages of audio production?
Paul: Oh boy! Not sure we have enough space here for that! Here are some of the 'adventures' that Days Gone's audio took us on: recording several Harley Davidson motorcycles, a grizzly bear, cougars and wolves. Working with world-class musicians in amazing studios. Editing and implementing about 5 hours of cinematic dialogue! And my favourite: recording my dogs and putting them in the game. Our white boxer, Bella, provided the snarls and growls for the runners (infected wolves). Our other two boxers (Bugsy and Rocksy) can be heard barking at freakers in the distance!
MASA: Did you do a lot of recording during the production? Did you use sample libraries too? If so, which ones?
Paul: We record what we can (see above!), from foley to vehicles, ambience and scary wildlife, but occasionally we will supplement and design sounds with the help of libraries if we think they can be useful.
MASA: The Freaker’s blood-curdling shrieks and screeches are so eerie and chilling! How did you go about creating them?
Paul: A lot of very granularly recorded vocalisations from voice talent! Then scripting these to work with animations. Some were also performed to animations that were ready at the time of recording. Almost all freaker sounds are unprocessed and actual sounds created by actors' vocal chords. We wanted to keep that human element prominent. The newts and the screamer are some great performances! The screamer's signature scream is processed a little but the actor who played her really can make those sounds with her own voice!
MASA: Which sounds in Days Gone were the most difficult to achieve? And which are you most proud of?
Paul: The rager bear! It was so easy to go in two WRONG directions: sounding too much like a regular grizzly bear by using the bear recordings.... and sounding too much like a fictitious monster, demon or alien! We ended up with a unique sound for the rager which is instantly recognisable (I think?)
I'm proud of the dynamic ambient wildlife (the "Deaco-system"). We have so many different types of animals: birds, insects, amphibians, reptiles etc that 'live' in the world and they all react to changes in weather, region/altitude, day/night cycle, player actions and a bunch of other game data. There are even around 10 different types of crickets spread throughout the world of Days Gone. The idea was to make the world sound organic and not completely bereft of life (since it's set only 2 years after a pandemic) but also not repetitive or monotonous.
MASA: And last but not least, can you tell us what you’ll be looking for when judging this year’s Music+Sound Awards?
Paul: Two things: Innovative use of sound, dialog and/or music. And immersion. Sound that feels like it belongs in the space and propagates effectively and realistically. Or, for non-realistic, stylized games, a signature, unique sound design. I'm always amazed by what audio teams are accomplishing and love hearing how the bar is continually being raised year after year. With next-gen hardware now available, I'm excited to see what teams do next!
MASA: Thank you Paul for this fabulous insight into your work. It’s an honour having you on this year’s Music+Sound Awards jury.
