Sound for computer games

1. What is timbre? : Timbre is the character and quality of a piece of music.

2. List at least 3 games (or films) which use sound as information (speech, iconography, symbolism and or metaphors) to convey information. A game that does this is UFC which has a entrance music for your character which can be symbolized to your character. Halo is a game that portrays this well especially when you are about to get into a battle when it begins it’s epic music and makes the player that they can do anything and this is a good way of transferring the emotion of the characters and they defiance against the Covenant (Aliens) It also has epic music as you go to your next objective in vehicles which lets the player know that there is going to be a big battle which is known to all when the music kicks in. A film that uses this is Star Wars, because it uses specific music for the enemies and when you see the enemies it plays the mystical and evil sounding music. This makes the audience watching the film know that they are now looking at an impressive empire army and that this is the enemy in the movie by the by music playing.

 Using your sound examples above explain how the sound designer/engineer has communicated what the producer or director may have wanted the audience to feel or experience. They could have used the emotion they wanted the player to feel as well as atmosphere that they are feeling and what the characters are feeling. This can pull the player into the game and this is a way in which the sound designer/engineer could communicate to the producer or director. It is important for the sound designer to put emotion and atmosphere into the game otherwise the player would not feel the emotion that the producer would have wanted them to feel.

 Oxford dictionary definition of timbre:

noun
 The character or quality of a musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity: ‘trumpet mutes with different timbres’
[mass noun]: ‘a voice high in pitch but rich in timbre’