Sound & Music Guidelines

Graff · Post by **Graff** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:25 pm

Just a few words of advice for anyone looking to get involved in the Sound & Music department, which will become very much active when we begin making Hammerfell for the Elder Scrolls: IV engine.

Voice Acting
Voice Acting is going to be a major sign of our transition to TES4, rather than being an afterthought as it was in TES3, voice acting is now essential to NPC dialogue. As such, voice samples need to be clear and audible.

When including a voice acting audition in your showcase thread, it is important to consider these things...

- We need to be able to hear the dialogue, so don't mix the volume so low, otherwise I'll have to ask you to record it again.

- Approach auditions as if you're recording it properly for the mod, that means no background noise, a decent quality microphone (look at the recommended equipment thread in the sound and music forum, as soon as I make it =P) and a clear and consistent voice. No muttering.

- Consider what Race/Creature you'll be best at, and use dialog accordingly, I'll put up some dialogue samples later to give you some help choosing.

***Voice Acting is not, at the moment, an acceptable area of promotion. This is due to the lack of a person capable of editing it and adding it into the game. If you are willing to learn this craft we would be very happy to have you.

Music
With our journey into TES4 and Hammerfell, we are going to be concentrating on making each region have a soundtrack that reflects that region. Look at the link below for ideas about what instruments are suitable for Hammerfell.
[url]http://www.tamriel-rebuilt.org/old_forum/viewtopic.php?t=15784[/url]

Ideally, I would like to hear music samples that are interesting and unique. Copy-and-paste phrases and variations on old music are not what we need.

(More to be added later)

Orix · Post by **Orix** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:09 pm

Graff, any indication of bitrate or file type of voices?

I remember Skogen saying that .wav is best because its uncompressed sound and good for editing (more so than .mp3).

Also, for the hardware thread, I'd recommend a Plantronics head set & microphone, its the brand I use, and as long as the TV aint on standby (ie fully turned off) it works a treat.

Graff · Post by **Graff** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 7:14 pm

WAVs of course, highest bitrate/quality possible. I'll standardise when I do volume mixing.

rowa · Post by **rowa** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 1:21 am

Do you think I could use my electric guitar for anything? Or would my viola be better? The link is broken

Post by **Haplo** » Thu Jul 06, 2006 10:11 pm

Link fixed - Viola would be better, although you can work with both if you have talent and inclination.

widsith · Post by **widsith** » Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:55 pm

Now, can anyone send me the redguard theme? I have not heard it and I want to make some music, my fingers almost itch. Send it as a mail perferrably at erik.gahl(at)gmail(dot)com

And, since as mentioned in the thred linked. Redguard music would be jass, blues inspired? So does this mean it can include instruments like guitar and bass? We do have a lute (even a fat one) in morrowind thay does look like a guitar, i have no idea what it souds like tho.

Erik

Graff · Post by **Graff** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 7:22 am

Redguard music would be jass, blues inspired?

Um, while I'm no longer Head of Sound & Music, I can definitely say this is a big no-no.

Jazz is a early 20th century invention, as is blues, and while the redguards may look similar to the african american population, culturally they are more similar to imperial asian cultures. Even without the major difference between technologies (Electric Guitar and Basses are also an early 20th century invention), the sound isn't quite right. You want to have a good read of the threads within sound & music to find out what flavour we're going for with Hammerfell.

Orix · Post by **Orix** » Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:25 am

widsith wrote:Now, can anyone send me the redguard theme? I have not heard it and I want to make some music, my fingers almost itch. Send it as a mail perferrably at erik.gahl(at)gmail(dot)com

The theme on the intro to Redguard (visible on Youtube) sounds like a midi version of pirates of the carribean style orchestral piratey music

.

widsith wrote:And, since as mentioned in the thred linked. Redguard music would be jass, blues inspired? So does this mean it can include instruments like guitar and bass? We do have a lute (even a fat one) in morrowind thay does look like a guitar, i have no idea what it souds like tho.

I aree with Graff on this, it was actually discussed more in-depth in AFFA's thread. We're aiming for a unique pseudo-eastern style for the redguards thus far.