Feature: Shhh: Sounds of Silence

[Alex]

Shhh: Sounds of Silence

Shut up! But please don't. Talk to us, we miss you.

[twmac]

Liked the article alot. It is something that I think that Bioshock does very well in places: No music except for incidental sounds.

It is also why I rate Halloween 2 almost over Halloween 1 as sound management in that film is fantastic.

Was the music that invasive in Gears? I remember finally reaching the mansion and there being a great 'quiet before the storm' moment as you run back out of the secret room only to have the locust at the front door. Admittedly they were a bit heavy handed in a couple of other places (the sound effect that played when you had cleared an area).

Can't remember where but I went to a talk about this on understanding the power of silence and it resonates just as importantly in games.

Also Ben, the use of the waltz in 2001: A space oddyssey was an accident. The story goes that Stanley Kubrick was playing some records he had gotten for free and he was listening to it while he was editing 2001. Some sychophants started saying that the music was perfect; best choice he could ever make. He was surprised but listened to it for a bit longer and decided they were right.

[Ben]

Thanks mate

Bioshock is an interesting study for this; Levine briefly spoke about the use of sound at the Bioshock post-mortem at GDC. I'm sure it's something Duncan could write about...

I agree there were a few nice moments in Gears in a 'quiet before the storm' way that you describe, however on the whole I did feel it was a bit too bombastic. I realise that this is very much an expected (and to some extent rightly so) part of the soundscape in that type of game; but I believe it could have benefitted from more of the quiet moments.

Re: the way that Kubrick came upon those musical choices, in an earlier draft of the article I actually mentioned that story in a bit of depth (he actually received a performance of it by the Berlin Philharmonic as an advance pressing from his friend Herbert von Karajan, and as you say just happened to be playing it during editing); but chose to cut it out for flow/length, hehe.

[n0wak]

Have you seen the movie "Du rififi chez les hommes"? It's on Criterion. It has this amazing, long sequence done almost entirely in silence and it remains, to this day, one of the most captivating and engrossing heist sequences in film. The characters communicate using looks and hand gestures and it's very clear what is going on because of it. It's the kind of nuance and subtlety that Video game characters just aren't anywhere near achieving.

[brkl]

I'll read the article tomorrow, but regarding Kubrick:

He's my favourite director, and the choice of music in 2001 is a good example of his genius. He was also a total douchebag -- the composer who scored 2001 found out his score wouldn't be used in the fucking premiere. I guess Kubrick didn't feel like telling him was important.

[vimes]

As always Ben, it's hard not to agree with your article

Speaking about Kubrick, someone made an analysis of Shining that deals a lot with the sound design and how it fills some purpose on many level. There are two things I really found interesting :

- the design of the prop sounds echoes some pieces of music : in the opinion of this analysts, Danny rolling with his tricycle matches the percussion and chords section of the music piece from the chase in the maze.

- the opening music contains clues to the underlying theme of the native-american genocide.

- fake environment sounds are inserted to create atmosphere.

Even if you consider that this analysis is far fetched, these ideas of uses for musics and sounds shows how sound design is underestimated.

Yet, I really enjoy soundtrack based on orchestral and structured pieces and there are two interesting examples of omnipresent soundtrack that I re-discovered recently :

- I've been playing Toonstruck recently and the first part of this game really immersed me in its universe, in the same way that a very good book usually does : I forgot about the medium, the interfaces and really thougt I was in there. Well, apparently, Toonstruck's soundtrack borrows heavily from popular music to strengthen the credibility of its universe. It's not really a surprise when you notice that Keith Arem - the director of the game - is also an accomplished sound designer. The more noticeable cues come from classical pieces such as William Tell, the Nutcracker and the The Magpie, yet what's more impressive is that they seem to have dug melodies from cartoons of the 30's and the 50's. This is important because most of us would have hear those while maybe not remembering them (like stuff from Raymond Scott or Laurie Johnson's Happy Go Lively). ... but still it un-conscientiously bolster the reality/credibility of the toon world described.

- the other is Arcanum, which has a very vibrant, organic and expressive soundtrack thanks to the violin quartet hired by Ben Houge.

[manny_c44]

(@ brkl about Kubrick)I've read differently: the composer was unceremoniously dumped by telephone shortly after the Kubrick-in-the-editing-room-revelation. Who knows, no one has sources...

But I'm sure some of the Gottwold and Legeti bits were originals for the film. So really he still kept some/one composers on the project, even when using pre-existing music.

More on topic: I hate to bring Lucasarts up again-- but the sound design, outside of the music I mean, was really inspired. Certainly a large number of games have patiently constructed ambient sound, but the FT/CMI/Grim games really let that sound breathe in between the spaces of the music. Rubacava was all about that kind of sound play.

Another good example of well used silence and subtle ambient noise would be the Sam and Max episode "Reality 2.0". The text-adventure ending segment specifically. That segment was completely made real by its sound design, a really interesting contrast with the games otherwise crowded and lively musical score.

[Roderick]

Nice article, and humorously, Bioshock was also the game that came to my mind about good and sparse use of music. Frequently, you don't even realize there's suddenly music playing when it does. The use of crackling music through old radios is also powerful.

The Toonstruck music is from old cartoons, eh? I thought they were stock music because that's where I found them at one time. I've heard some of the songs used in programmes on tv and elsewhere. But it worked brilliantly to give that cartoony, dopey vibe to the game.

[Marek]

Interesting topic for an article. Funny you should mention A Man Escaped... clearly you have had film class at some point, because there's no other way you would have seen that film.

I'll read the article tomorrow, but regarding Kubrick:

He's my favourite director, and the choice of music in 2001 is a good example of his genius. He was also a total douchebag

Douchebaggery (or perceived douchebaggery) might be a common trait amongst creative leads who are trying to make something extraordinary. Apparently the BioShock team hates Ken Levine. At GDC someone (was it Ben?) relayed an insider story about Ueda of Team Ico being basically a nazi when it comes to managing his people. I've heard similar things from ex-members of some other 'famous' teams. It's almost like you have to be a little ruthless to make something great. I hope that's not true though.

[Roderick]

Hahaha, yes, the same thought occurred to me; I too saw A Man Escaped in film class Good movie by the way, I totally enjoyed it despite having massive tooth ache which would later turn out to be a giant abscess. But I digress.

I am incapable of being a douchebag, by the way. I hate conflict. So I'm probably a very mediocre artist.

[Ben]

No film classes Marek but I used to work at Sight & Sound if you remember (pretty sure i've mentioned it to you in the past). And yes, i relayed that Ueda-san story.

PS - Your memory needs optimisation.

[Nappi]

One game where the (occasional) absence of silence really bothered me was Half-Life 2.

When I was standing in the middle of City 17 alone and confused trying to figure out what to do next, I really felt alone. My isolation was highlighted by the silence which was only interrupted by occasional sounds of Combine chatter and security camera clicks. Later when I got a gun and started shooting stuff, the only thing I could hear, apart from the sounds of combat, were those aggressive Combine radio calls that seemed to be coming from every direction. I quickly learned to fear these sounds and they made me feel even lonelier. I also felt more like Gordon Freeman, in a way at least.

But then there were times when the illusion was shattered. For example, near the beginning of the game I had to get somewhere fast as the Combine were chasing me. I hadn't felt this alone yet. Then suddenly, as I reached a tunnel or something, this strange action music began. At first I thought it was just like in action movies. Then I realized "Wait a minute. This isn't an action movie. I'm a scientist... in a very strange situation." And there I was, viewing the world through the eyes of a spectator and not through those of Dr. Freeman anymore.

It all felt really confusing as the creators had clearly done almost all that they could to make you feel like Gordon Freeman (most notably, giving you control of the character throughout the entire game). Where was this music coming from? Is there a music player in my hazard suit? Or is the adrenaline rush alone supposed to make me hear it?

[brkl]

Yeah, music is weird in the HL2 series. It crops up in 30 second sound bites and always takes you out of the moment because you aren't used to hearing music in the game.

[eljay]

Agreed, I find it interesting that the extremely sporadic music in Portal follows the same pattern, but fits so much better as it is piped out of the PA system (or from little radios)

[vimes]

Agreed, I find it interesting that the extremely sporadic music in Portal follows the same pattern, but fits so much better as it is piped out of the PA system (or from little radios)

I thought this was done to remind the player that there used to be people around.

[eljay]

I didn't comment on why it was there, merely that the game is mostly silent except for small pieces of music (just like HL2) and it is integrated into the world very well (unlike HL2).

So.... I'm not sure what you are getting at.

[Alex]

I thought there was constant music in Portal, or near constant anyway. It's a mostly atmospheric series of low bass thrumbs, like a more subtle Bladerunner. If you download the OST there are a whole bunch of tracks there.

[eljay]

What you call "music" in portal was ambient sound to me, sounded like the running noises of the facility. I never felt like music was playing until I encountered the radios, or that bit where you get the second portal gun.

[vimes]

I didn't comment on why it was there, merely that the game is mostly silent except for small pieces of music (just like HL2) and it is integrated into the world very well (unlike HL2).So.... I'm not sure what you are getting at.

Well, I might have chosen my words badly : I simply wanted to offer a possible explanation for why music was only used this way... and move the discussion along. Sorry if it appeared otherwise.

[eljay]

no need to apologise, I was just confused

[Coldkill]

Good read!

I've played a few games where silence and the arrangement of music, vocals and sound effects have made the game far more enjoyable. Most recently, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 does this excellently when travelling around the Oil Refinery level, sneaking around in the silence with the occasional hum of machinery going then turning a corner and hear two terrorists argue about their girlfriend's picture...

[Scrobbs]

Although not strictly on topic, there was a lady on R4 last night on the way home from work who was talking about silence. It was taught in schools up until 14th century, so she says. Another thing she said was that silence was felt to be subversive by governments at various points in history, and it was banned. Desmond Tutu said something similar, the point being that if humans engage themselves in periods of silence then they become more autonomous and harder to control. Anyway, she was a firm proponent that and the end of a lesson, children should be given 5 minutes or so to absorb what they have learnt, and could help with self discipline.

Slightly more on topic, when writing electronic music, you (one, I etc) quickly recognise(s) that a period of silence can be equally as good as beats before it an after it.

[twmac]

In relation to someone having a soundtrack in their head/suit there is this great little sci-fi book that I read (despite not being much of a Sci-Fi fan) called 'Red Robe' it was about a guy with a hyper intelligent gun and how he has to go to this weird religious planet to kill someone. At one point a chip was installed into his head that monitored his brain patterns and played corresponding music to whatever his physical/mental state was.

When it begins you discover that the chip is broken and he doesn't hear the music anymore, a fact that is making him increasingly depressed.

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/jon-courtenay-grimwood/red-robe.htm

Slightly off topic but the speculation on music made me think of it.