Game Audio Hour

Alex, Mike, and Vince enter into a month of shopping and sales and leave with various acquisitions, so of course they have to talk about the various audio related purchases they made! Other notable mentions include: Tai Chi (reverb plugin, Reverb Foundry/Liquid Sonics)Cinematic Studio Strings (string ensemble library/plugin)Dorico (music notation software, Steinberg)LilyPond (music engraving software, Free Software Foundation) Featuring: Alex May, Michael Gordon Shapiro, and Vincent Diamante Recorded December 5, 2024

This GAH has the trio joined by special guest: Stephen O'Bent! The episode features mention of all the usual stuff from the challenges of game audio education to the importance of playing Super Mario Odyssey with your kids! Other notable mentions include: Fumiya Tanaka (Music Producer/DJ)The Diplomat (Political Thriller TV series)Storybundle (E-book website)RME UCX II (Audio interface)Company (Musical by Stephen Sondheim)Fez (game by Polytron Corporation) Featuring: Alex May, Michael Gordon Shapiro, Vincent Diamante, and Stephen O'Bent Recorded November 14, 2024

The trio finally make mention of Halloween festivities... but not before talk of intimate game audio conferences, recording methodology, and gear new and old. Other notable mentions include: Goat: A Musing Whimsy (Novel, Allan Batchelder)Every Frame a Painting (Youtube channel, Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou)Creative Perspectives in Game Audio (Conference, Denmark, 2024 October 26-27) Featuring: Alex May, Michael Gordon Shapiro, and Vincent Diamante Recorded October 31, 2024

Mike, Alex, and Vince gather for an October podcast without once mentioning any impending Halloween celebrations. They do mention, however, past cartoons, past music periodicals, and a rather recent video game soundtrack release. Notable mentions include: Carl Stalling (Music composer)Future Music and Computer Music (Music periodicals)Escaping Wonderland OST (Video game score by Michael Gordon Shapiro)Solaris (2002) (Film score by Cliff Martinez)Fish Story (Film, Dir. Yoshihiro Nakamura) Featuring: Alex May, Michael Gordon Shapiro, and Vincent Diamante Recorded October 18, 2024

The GAH trio is joined by special guest: Kochun Hu! Sure, they eventually get to talking about Astroneer and music philosophy, but before that, they just have to talk about Alex's favorite subject: TRACKERS. Other notable mentions include: Peaky Blinders (TV drama and its anachronistic soundtrack)Blue Bell Knoll (album by Cocteau Twins)Skygunner (Playstation 2 action game)Impulse Tracker (software by Jeffrey Lim) Featuring: Vincent Diamante, Alex May, Michael Gordon Shapiro, and Kochun Hu Recorded September 20, 2024

Alex and Vince chat a bit about Concord despite not playing it, and now no longer having a chance to play it. Then it's off to Germany, Russia, and back to Britain as they talk cool plugins, state orchestras, and progressive rock bands. Other notable mentions include: Yevgeny Svetlanov (Russian Conductor)Lexicon PSP 42 (Delay Plugin by PSP Audioware)Day and Age (Album by Frost*)Rolling Sampler (Plugin by Bird's Things )Concord (Score by Daniel Pemberton) Featuring: Alex May and Vincent Diamante Recorded September 6, 2024

Vince returns from Japan (again?!) to describe what he saw at the CEDEC conference and chat a bit about his talk, Mike looks back with some fondness at 3+ decades of Finale's impact on the music writing scene, and the two make some decisions for their absentee cohort on what his role will be on their group trip abroad. Other notable mentions include: Ted Lasso (Score by Marcus Mumford and Tom Howe)A Haunting In Venice (Score by Hildur Guðnadóttir) Featuring: Michael Gordon Shapiro and Vincent Diamante Recorded August 30, 2024

Vince has the mic all to himself and he's reminded of his struggle with audio latency, so of course he has to inflict you with it as well! Other notable mentions include: Sony BRAVIA Theater Quad sound systemTokyo Revengers soundtrack Featuring: Vincent Diamante Recorded August 2, 2024

The duo of Mike and Vince find themselves confronted with the eternally burning question of: FMOD or WWISE? Other notable mentions include: Nothing But ThievesGodot Featuring: Vincent Diamante and Alex May Recorded July 5, 2024

The GAH trio are joined by a special guest: Almut Schwacke! They chat about audio and touch on things like: discovering foley, being a tonmeister, and getting into video games after starting in the film sound editing world. Other notable mentions include: You Suck At Parking / Happy Volcano - https://www.yousuckatparking.cc/Nuts / Joon, Pol, Muutsch, Char & Torfi - https://nuts.gameCitizen Sleeper / Jump Over The Age - https://www.fellowtraveller.games/citizen-sleeperPsychonauts / Double Fine - https://www.doublefine.com/games/psychonautsGimmick! Special Edition / CITY CONNECTION - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2131800/Gimmick_Special_Edition/Bare EP - https://muuutsch.bandcamp.com/album/bare Featuring: Vincent Diamante, Alex May, Michael Gordon Shapiro, and Almut Schwake Recorded June 21, 2024

Work habits, FMOD, and brown noise figure prominently in this episode of the GAH, with Alex in particular berating Vince for his poor attempts at work-life balance while Mike maintains order with some helpful tips. Other notable mentions include: Elden Ring (Video Game / FromSoftware)Pacific Drive (Video Game / Ironwood Studios)Solas (Irish-American Musical Band) Featuring: Alex May and Vincent Diamante Recorded April 26, 2024

The pair of Alex and Vince go back and forth, chatting about audio tools, monitoring environments, and... food poisoning?! Other notable mentions include: Designer Notes (Podcast / Soren Johnson)Horizon: Forbidden West (Video Game / Guerilla Games)Velocity 2X (Video Game / FuturLab)Joris de Man (Music Composer) Featuring: Alex May and Vincent Diamante Recorded April 26, 2024

It's a duo for this episode, and both Mike and Vince are chatting about things that they might do while in the lulls between major projects. Other notable mentions include: SSL (Audio Manufacturer)White Sea Studios (Youtuber)Dan Worrall (Youtuber)Jerry Goldsmith's rejected film score for Timeline Featuring: Michael Gordon Shapiro and Vincent Diamante Recorded April 26, 2024

After chatting a bit with him during conferences the past year, we had to invite composer and performer John Robert Matz onto the show to chat about what he's been up to lately! He talks about the score for Tchia but also about things back in the day (indie game dev!) and that GAH staple: conspicuous consumption! Other notable mentions include: UdioArtemis: Spaceship Bridge Simulatoralt.ctrl.GDCTchiaFor The King IIHorizon: Forbidden WestCommunityAlicia De LarocchaHelldivers 2Mother 3 Featuring: John Robert Matz, Michael Gordon Shapiro, Alex May, and Vincent Diamante Recorded April 12, 2024

Another GDC has come and went, and two of the GAH trio were around to partake... but that's not nearly the only game event worth going to early in the calendar year! But the real question for this episode is: Can ANY game event stand up to the inaugural edition of the Game Audio Hour Hot Take?! Other notable mentions include: Women In Games (conference)Lucas Rei Ramos (music composer)True Lies (film)Mirror's Edge (video game)GDC Main Stage: A Developer's Concert Featuring: Michael Gordon Shapiro, Alex May, and Vincent Diamante Recorded March 29th, 2024