High Score: Composition and Sound Art for Gaming took place in Melbourne on Saturday 20 May at ACMI. Across four sessions, leading composers unpack their practices, techniques and styles, and explain how they collaborate with game creators.
In his first Australian appearance, multi-award winning composer Neal Acree discussed his impressive career creating music for game franchises including World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo III, StarCraft II and Revelation Online.
He was joined by co-creator of #RESISTJAM and composer Maize Wallin; SMG Studio and Soap Creative founder Ashley Ringrose; screen composer and musician Jared Underwood; composer, games reviewer and music teacher Meghann O’Neill; and host of ABC ME’s Spawn Point Angharad 'Rad' Yeo.
A not-to-be-missed event for composers and music enthusiasts alike.
High Score: Composition and Sound Art for Gaming is presented by APRA AMCOS and supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
Composer, games reviewer and music teacher Meghann O'Neill will discuss generative music, sound design, world building, as well giving us a snapshot of the types of games being made in Australia and New Zealand.
Meghann will give examples of different styles of sound design and will discuss some of the programs used in this types of composition, such as Mini-Metro, Transistor and FTL.
Presenter: Meghann O’Neill
Game and screen composer Jared Underwood, and Game Creator Ash Ringrose from Soap Creative, will discuss the working relationship between the pair, and how the music was created for a number of iOS games that Soap Creative have released featuring Jared’s music. Jared will also perform live excerpts of some of these compositions. Some of the titles discussed will be OTTTD - Over the top total tower Destruction, One More Line, One More Dash, Thumb Drift and One More Jump. The performance will be of excerpts from One More Line.
Presenters: Jared Underwood, Ashley Ringrose
Moderator: Angharad Yeo
Maize has worked with a variety of VR/AR/MR tech, from outdoor and warehouse experiences, to home and mobile experiences. In the session Maize will talk about the different approaches she takes when working with these different forms and will be explaining the hardware and software that audio professionals and studios use, and the unique problem solving skills expected from them. Maize will also be demonstrating entry level techniques for where audio teams can get started to practice their skill s.
Presenter: Maize Wallin
Neil Acree Keynote