I found this theoretical excerpt about sound in video games and interactivity to be captivating. I have read and reflected on a few points. Overall the interesting points it made around what makes a user interact with sound? The types of listening do that occur during interacting with audio?
The article begins by stating a hypothesis that interacting with sound is fundamentally different in terms of our experience from listening without interacting; that there is a distinction between listening to sound, evoking sound already made (by pressing a button for instance), and creating sounds ( making new sounds). I completely agree with this point, I do find interacting with sound lends to a whole different experience. Interacting means you are almost a co-author in what is about to happen in the interactivity. If you choose to press this button or perhaps button two. The spatialisation of the sound as well brings immersion.
The excerpt makes a reflection on sound effects and music in an interactive context. And gives us a quote from Walter Murch.
sound effects fall midway between music and noise.
Something I wanted to understand perhaps a little more and the excerpt continues by showing an interview with a games designer. It speaks on a game with bees and how the buzzing of the bees was made in time to the music, this made the whole world music and the sound effects to be part of the song. Every ambience in the game is rhythmic. Wood creaks and crickets and all the insects are making a beat. And everything is localised so it’s spatialised.
As well as this the excerpt makes notes on using pitch to showcase weight and size in characters. For example, in Mario Bros, the smaller enemies make a higher squeaking sound in contrast to an enemy the size of Bowser that has a deeper noise.
I have found the sound to be very similar for the screen as for video games. And the sound for screen module will come in very helpful when using sound and its motifs in the world.