I knew I wanted to learn more about it, and be able to spend time getting good at it. We had one class that was Sound Design focused, and I fell in love with it. I’m a musician by training, and was curious about audio engineering so I signed up for some classes.

It took me a little while to find game audio as a career. How did you get started as a Sound Designer? Once the audio is created, a Sound Designer implements it in audio middleware like Wwise or FMod, hooks it up in the game engine, and tests it in gameplay. See also How can I stay healthy while spending all day at a computer making video games? Creating content that matches an already-established aesthetic or, if you are in a position to do so, it’s essential to also set your own audio aesthetic that works in tandem with the gameplay and art style. It’s essential to set your own audio aesthetic that works in tandem with the gameplay and art style.Ī Sound Designer also creates content, which often involves recording audio elements and crafting them in an audio workstation to match animations or environments in the game. This gives the designer an understanding of what audio content needs to be created for the project, and how best to implement the audio in the game. How would you describe what you do every day as a Sound Designer?Ī Sound Designer’s job can vary depending on what company you work for, the needs of a given project, and what the exact role is that one fills on a given team. In general, it offers a combination of a few different elements.Ĭommunication and collaboration are key, both with any audio colleagues you may have and with the rest of the development team. But if you’ve got a knack for creating emotion through sound, this might be just the job for you. Jaclyn says that in addition to having audio engineering talent, you must also be willing to put in the time to master your technical chops. If you thought that creating game audio is an easy job? Well, think again.

In fact, chances are good that you’ve personally enjoyed her work: since becoming a Sound Designer in 2006, she’s done audio for major game series including Peggle 2, Plants vs Zombies, Fable Journey, and Kinect Star Wars and many others. Meet Jaclyn Shumate, Video Game Sound Designer Put a face to the audio: Chances are good that you’ve already played some of Jaclyn’s games. To read the others, visit Which game job is right for you?.

The following article is just one of over 30+ interviews with professional game developers.

How to create your own game sounds