Greetings and salutations to all audio heroes around the world! May this post find your ears glistening with a thin coating of sweet & sonic honey sauce!
That is a weird mental image. Apologies.
Henrik Nåmark contacted me recently. You may know Henrik as the owner of this beloved web site, among his many other accomplishments. He told me that he was looking for someone that he could trust to take the reins of Creating Sound, and that I came to mind.
I did what any normal person would. I asked my wife what I should do. Then I asked her again. And again and again and again. And then I said yes.
So, hello everyone! I’m Ariel Gross, the new owner of Creating Sound. I’m the Studio Audio Director at Volition, a game developer in glorious Champaign, IL. I’ve been designing sounds and composing music professionally for about 17 years. I grew up in the demoscene writing mods and s3ms and such. If you want to know more about me, just hit me up. I am more than happy to regale you with fantastical tales about my life, if that is truly your freaky wish.
Before I dig into what’s coming up, I would be negligent if I did not acknowledge the efforts of the Creating Sound crew. This team of intrepid audio heroes were driven by the love of their craft to create something from nothing. I admire this. They are all volunteers. They do it because they love what they do. Therefore, I offer my congratulations and gratitude to Henrik, George, Bryan, Ellen, Roel, Christian, and every guest poster that has contributed to this site. Thank you for caring enough about sound to do something about it.
And that is a good segue into what I believe makes Creating Sound special. It is the people. There are other sites that curate audio-related content. And we love those sites, too. But there is only one with this specific crew, and that is Creating Sound. We’re super excited to continue to engage in meaningful discussions with you about sound.
So, what’s up with Creating Sound?
You can expect plenty of the same awesome content that you have grown to love. Lots of fun interviews, plenty of educational articles, and links to information that you care about. We also have some new ideas involving podcasts, tutorials, event coverage, free field recordings, and all sorts of other stuff.
I’d also like to hear from you, dear reader. What is the content that you’d like on the site? Do you want more about game audio? Do you want more about field recording? Film sound? Audio schools? Post mortems? We want to hear from you. Please comment on this post or get in touch with anyone on staff to tell us your opinions. We do this for you. We want you to be as much a part of this site as we are.
We’re starting the machine back up, friends! Follow us on Twitter @CreatingSound for the latest updates and drop by the site to check out what’s new.
I can’t wait to embark on this new adventure and I want you all here with me.
Sincerely,
Ariel, your humble sysop
P.S. Rad super update time image courtesy of John Anderson Design.
Awesome!! Congrats Ariel! If there was anyone who could take Creating Sound’s awesomeness and make it more awesome, you would be the man to do it.
Thanks, David. I really appreciate that. I’ve got a killer foundation to stand on and a brilliant team of volunteers to support the site. I predict good things.
Friendly greetings Ariel!
It’s a delight to have you onboard. I’ve enjoyed Creating Sound for awhile and I’ve also enjoyed some of your previous writings and interviews — you seem very articulate and self-aware in a Walter Murch way when elucidating your craft, which is a solid compliment. So I’d definitely like to see more of that “behind the veil” raw, candid, process insight.
And NOT just the technical bits, but the emotional sensations too because there’s always the psychological “underscore” of being human and working on projects. I think many sonic artists are afraid to share that, for fear of appearing vulnerable/weak. But a highlight for me is your “I Feel Like a Fraud” article ( http://bit.ly/W7LFiI ), which I’m going to re-read now. Shades of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
Oh — and from the player perspective, thanks for contributing to one of the best co-op gaming experiences I’ve had in Saints Row 3. My bro and I played the heck out of that, laughing all the way through the explosive chaos. Did you choose pivotal music for key scenes too? I had so much fun dropping to the penthouse with “Power” and use of Hybrid’s orchestral breakbeat when fighting Loren AND that other scene with the sky tanks!
(BTW, this comment box doesn’t vertically resize in Chrome when typing a long-ish comment.)
Torley…
Thank you so much for these compliments and for the guidance in what you’d like to see on the site. We won’t shy away from the emotional side of things, especially with you and others reinforcing it.
I hadn’t heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect, so thank you for mentioning it. The Wikipedia page has this great Shakespeare quote: “The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” Too right?
To answer your SR:TT questions, yes, we were definitely intentional with the pivotal music. It’s great to hear that it contributed to your experience with the game. The ideas and decisions for the songs came from all over the team. I will pass along your compliments to the rest of the guys.
Also – Chrome bug noted! Thank you. That’s a funky one.
Please keep coming back and leaving more comments. Really appreciate this one.
Ariel
Torley!
I know your name from YouTube and wanted to say hi to you as personally as one can on a site such as this. You actually have served a pivotal role in helping me purchase some of my plug-ins, so thank you for that in addition to your comment. I love your upbeat demeanor and genuine love of sound and music. Really makes YouTube a little bit better.
Regarding posts that deal with human issues – I plan on writing one next month about first-time collaborations and what it’s like working with an indie developer for the first time. I hope it fits within the style you’re seeking.
Thanks again for your post and keep on being awesome.
Gratefully,
George