Vanessa Theme Ament

The Foley Grail: The Art of Performing Sound for Film, Games, and Animation

Create custom sound effects that are the mainstay of soundtracks for films, broadcast, animation and games. Learn how Foley is designed, crafted and edited for any project- right down to the nuts and bolts of spotting, cueing, and performing sounds.
An array of techniques is illustrated with artists presenting their own methods for selecting and handling props, “walking” various characters, and other tricks of the trade. Various renowned artists, editors and mixers contribute stories and perspectives on what is necessary for a film or media project, and how technology has changed the craft over the years.

Alexander Brandon

Audio for Games: Planning, Process, and Production

Tired of video games in which the sound lags far behind the rest of the user’s experience? If so, and if you’re ready to do better, you need this forward-looking volume! In these pages, sound artist extraordinaire Alexander Brandon provides a broad-ranging exploration of how game audio is created today and how it should be done in the future in order to create groundbreaking audio.
Alexander takes a good, hard look at the heights to which video-game audio can be taken in chapters on ideal workflow, technology, and production. Throughout, the focus is on the practical advice you need to create better (and better!) sound!

Rob Bridgett

From the Shadows of Film Sound

As a practitioner in video game development, Rob Bridgett has explored and written about the connective tissue between film sound production and a newly emerging video game audio production culture. This volume brings together freshly edited writings with many previously unpublished articles, documenting his work and thinking over the past ten years. This book is equally suited to film sound designers intrigued by game sound production as much as those in game sound wishing to further explore the meaning of cinematic sound. A fresh, insightful, and long overdue volume offering nourishment for students of sound as well as ammunition for sound artists working on the front line of development.

G.W. Childs

Creating Music and Sound for Games

Get ready to step into the mysterious world of the video game sound designer and composer. Creating Music and Sound for Games examines the responsibilities associated with each of these roles and offers tips and insight for breaking into the business. With focused sections for each of these important roles, this book offers an insider’s look into how the sound designer and compositor fit into the game production team and how these roles interact with one another. You’ll cover the essential tools of the trade and will examine sound design and compositional tips that can save you time and make you more efficient.

Karen Collins

Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design

A distinguishing feature of video games is their interactivity, and sound plays an important role in this: a player’s actions can trigger dialogue, sound effects, ambient sound, and music. And yet game sound has been neglected in the growing literature on game studies. This book fills that gap, introducing readers to the many complex aspects of game audio, from its development in early games to theoretical discussions of immersion and realism. In Game Sound, Karen Collins draws on a range of sources–including composers, sound designers, voice-over actors and, of course, the games themselves

Frank Dorritie

The Handbook of Field Recording

“The Handbook of Field Recording” is the essential book by author Frank Dorritie on the topic. Coming complete with an audio CD, this book will teach you how to make good field recordings in any situation. Getting a good recording in the field is still one of the most challenging tasks in the recording industry. From environmental factors and room acoustics to equipment problems, field recording can be filled with potential roadblocks. This book provides you with the knowledge of how to excel at making the best recording possible of any subject at any location. In clear terms, the book explains how to record documentary audio, film sound, underwater sounds, and much more.

Aaron Marks

The Complete Guide to Game Audio

Turn your audio passion into a profitable career with this exhaustive, indispensable resource for game audio. Develop the business and technical skills you need to succeed in the games industry. Step-by-step instructions lead you through the entire music and sound effects process-from developing the essential skills and purchasing the right equipment to keeping your clients happy. Master the exacting specifications for creating sound effects on the various gaming platforms and systems. Technical considerations are explained in detail so that game audio professionals can make sense of complicated systems and create high quality audio without a hitch.

George “Fat Man” Sanger

The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness

The guidance provided in this book is badly needed by the industry and can only come from someone who really knows and understands the intricacies, history, and challenges of game audio. George “Fatman” Sanger reveals both his soul and talent in this documented journey of what it takes and means to be successful with game audio. This book is unlike any other in that it not only gives readers the know-how on but it also teaches the reader how to add soul and life into their game audio by examining their personal lessons in music, science, politics, philosophy, and other life experiences. This book is an inspiration to all audio developers.

Ric Viers

The Sound Effects Bible: How to Create and Record Hollywood Style Sound Effects

The Sound Effects Bible is a complete guide to recording and editing sound effects. The book covers topics such as microphone selection, field recorders, the ABCs of digital audio, understanding Digital Audio Workstations, building your own Foley stage, designing your own editing studio, and more.
This is not a book to simply glance through and then put on your shelf and pull out now and then. If you’re involved in sound at all, I doubt you could do that. This is a book to carry with you in the field, have next to your computer, in your editing suite and taped to your cereal box so you can read it while you have breakfast.

Richard Boulanger and Victor Lazzarini

The Audio Programming Book

The Audio Programming book is a comprehensive handbook of mathematical and programming techniques for audio signal processing. Topics covered include programming basics for C and C++, audio programming basics, and more advanced topics including spectral audio programming, programming Csound opcodes, and algorithmic synthesis. An accompanying DVD provides an additional 40 chapters covering musical and audio programs with micro-controllers, developing Apple Audio Units plug-ins from Csound opcodes, and audio programming for the iPhone.
The book is a great introduction into the world of audio programming and digital signal processing for anyone wishing to get involved in this are for video games, including audio implementation. The many examples and source are a great way to practically pick up and learn basic signal processing functions that can be built upon and advanced, including an entire section dedicated to programming a VST plug-in.