Acoustic Ecology
|
| |
| The card's front face | The card's back face |
Synopsis
| Designing sound in a holistic way, as influenced by Acoustic Ecology. |
Relationships
Contexts:
Sound Design in Games 
, Sound Places File:M385px-SoundPlaces-front-v20.png, Sound Layers and Semantics File:M385px-SoundLayersAndSemantics-front-v20.png, Narrative 
, Identification 
, Character Soundprint 
, Ambiance 
, Foley 
, Sound Effects 
, Chitchat 
, Dialogue 
, Foley Music 
, Diegetic Music 
, Music 
.
Description
This card carries the most influential concept inherent to the conception of the whole set of cards in the deck. It may not be be very effective in suggesting specific explorations during sound design but it states a crucial mindset that ought to be present when considering other cards.
The acoustic ecology can be though of as the all set of sounds that are heard during the game. The reason why it is so important to design all sounds as an 'ecology' is that sounds have relationships that need to be managed appropriately, in a holistic way. Simply superimposing the sounds from the several Sound Layers and Semantics is not not adequate. To start with, sounds related to entities and events that in turn are related among themselves. But not less importantly, the reverse also applies -- the sources of those sounds should also shape their relations as a consequence of the characteristics of their own acoustic expressions, as it happens in a natural ecology [pending]. More, in addition to timmings, turns, tones and relative strengths, there is also the dimension of coherence.
Some games extend the Acoustic Ecology to other components of Sound Places besides the Gameplay (and Cut-Scenes when they exist). For instance Patapon, Half-Life 2, and Katamari, present Title Screens and Menus that, in acoustic terms, are coherent and integrated with the Acoustic Ecology of the Gameplay.
Examples
    |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Additional Comments
Coherence in the Acoustic Ecology in the subsequent phases of development
Coherence in the Acoustic Ecology is a concern that needs to be thoughtfully transmitted and carried to the implementation phases of sound in the game. We are not dealing with implementation aspects in the scope of these design patterns but we consider that, in this particular case, a remark is opportune. One bottleneck to the integration of sounds in games is the availability of sound files and the scarce ability to produce them from scratch. Off-the-shelf sound libraries are often too expensive or otherwise limited, considering the budget of small projects. Consequently developers are often challenged with the need to combine sounds from sparse origins which are highly incompatibly in aesthetics and acoustic terms (disparate levels of background noise, reverberation, etc.). In turn this may lead to a final result that fails in terms of overall coherency, regardless of the merit of the sound design that may have preceded this phase.
On the concept of Acoustic Ecology
[pending]
External Resources
- The Acoustic Ecology in Half-Life 2
- Wrightson, K. An Introduction to Acoustic Ecology. Soundscape: The Journal of Acoustic Ecology, I (I, Spring 2000). 10-13, (2000).
- Other relevant AE Bibliography [pending]
