Audio QA at Harmonix

July 27, 2015

I am very happy to announce that I have accepted a contract position to work as an audio QA tester at Harmonix.

I'll be helping the audio team with the solo features for Rock Band 4.

One good example of the solo feature is seen in this TechCrunch video below:

This opportunity is amazing because I have loved rhythm games since first discovering Flash Flash Revolution online, leading me to be obsessed with Dance Dance Revolution, and then games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Rock Band 4 will have incredible solo features in its different instrument parts, and I'll be really happy digging deep on contributing to a music game releasing very soon. If they need me to test out the guitars by smashing them like an ultra enthusiastic player would, hey, I'll do that, too. :)

Some of Harmonix's games/franchises include:

Dance Central

A City Sleeps

Fantasia: Music Evolved

Amplitude

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The Freelance Life

June 28, 2015

I've been hard at working doing many small part-time jobs for folks in addition to my work on games as a composer/sound designer.

I'm very excited to say that I'm working as a Cinematographer and Audio Editor for a documentary of MassDiGI's 2015 Summer Innovation Program

The social media pages of Music Republic Records will be managed myself as the label's Community/Social Media Manager.

I'm currently locking sponsors as a Sponsorship Sales Associate for the Boston Festival of Indie Games.

For a couple of days, I'll be assisting Laila Shabir in the Boston camp of Girls Make Games as an Assistant Coordinator.

Lastly, I'll be working with Berklee College of Music as a temporary staff member for their Summer Programs office, assisting as an Attendance Manager for the 5-Week Summer Program.

Apologies for the lack of updates! Just got back from a fantastic trip from Peru as well. Always nice to take some time off. The trip itself deserves a blog post of its own. Even recorded some claps in the main square of Machu Picchu. Great echos. Would make a great impulse response...

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Motivation

May 30, 2015

This was my main focus the entire semester and the one I presented on May 6th's EPD Senior Showcase. This was one of 3 projects I made for EP-491 at Berklee College of Music, which assigned work to create a senior portfolio summarizing the work I created for the Electronic Production & Design degree, titled "Motivation".

This was such an amazingly fun project to make and I wanted to share it with all of you. Motivation is set as a short 2:30 film/documentary where I interview 5 people the question: "What motivates you?" This question has always fascinated me, as it seems to tap into the driving force and energy of people. What makes you wake up? What makes you happy and want to enjoy your day? Why do you even bother with the day?

1.) Cierra Louise (music performer)
2.) Jesse Hartov (game/film composer)
3.) Addie Anderson (game composer)
4.) Emily Joseph (film composer)
5.) Erica Meerbach (musical theater performer)

CINEMATOGRAPHY: SAMUEL KIM

SPECIAL THANKS TO: Steve Maclean

The project itself greatly benefited from the feedback and critique I got along the way. Recording vocals properly is still an element of audio I really need to work on (especially for my podcast), and it shows here that I should invest in a better microphone than a Zoom h4n and work hard to get the perfect environment for people to interview. The way I recorded everyone was in a quiet locker room in the Berklee Performance Center. No noise leaked, but I did need to EQ the dialogue heavily due to the poor acoustics of the room, resulting in dialogue that doesn't sound super pristine.
The reason for this, though, was to make the interviews feels totally natural! The room, even with lockers, was spacious, warm, and helped make everything feel like a conversation. Looking back, giving a comfortable environment can absolutely be done in a studio, and will be something I will pursue next time.

The result, overall, is a project I am proud to have as my summary of EPD and the mental and emotional knowledge I have gained from Berklee.

Enjoy.

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First-Person Student Podcast

May 21, 2015

Oleg Brodskiy, Maxine Rock, and myself have recently formed First-Person Student, a podcast that discusses game development for a target audience of aspiring indies who want to learn about the different aspects that go into creating a game. It's a fantastic experience with the both of them because as a person with an audio background, I can learn from two other colleagues who are greatly enthusiastic about games and who have their own unique backgrounds. I've had a ton of fun with them already.
It's a new process, and I need to thank Ken Gagne of Gamebits for assisting with giving feedback on how to upload a podcast in the first place :)

If you take a listen, give us any feedback! It'd be incredibly appreciated. I hope you get a great experience out of the podcast as well. I personally co-host with the three of them and also do the audio editing and the little piece of music for the intro and outro.

Here's the first episode, recorded in April and uploaded just today:

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Graduation from Berklee College of Music

May 15, 2015

It's been such an incredible journey. I may not have a proper way to summarize it, and I know that it's common to look ahead after college graduation, but I have so much to appreciate from these past 5 years of studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA.

After attending since September 2010, as of May 9th, 2015, I'm officially a graduate with:
- Bachelor of Music in Film Scoring
- Bachelor of Music in Electronic Production & Design
- Minor in Video Game Scoring

Here are some of the aspects of the school I gained immense knowledge and skill from that I hope to always remember and appreciate:

Video Game Music Club

*The VGMC when a game night was held in the Learning Center. Yes, we are in a school's computer labs playing a Team Fortress 2 deathmatch.*

This is a club I've attended ever since acclaimed composer/sound designer Akash Thakkar ran the club. Other awesome folks such as Steve Goldshein, Rachel Dziezynski, Alex Cote, and Chris Burgess have helped run this club. Whether it's learning about the history of video game composers, the progression in game audio technology, or making Mario sound effects with your voice for a full hour (*warp pipe* Byup, byup byup), this has been such a big part of my Berklee education.
Honored to have been the president of the club for the Spring 2015 semester. To everyone who was in the club and is still there, thank you being amazing, keep having fun, and make the most out of the club!

The other awesome clubs I've attended/been a part of:
Berklee CARES

Berklee Sound Design Network
(headed in the past by Richard Ludlow, Richard Gould, Austin DeVries, and David Lin)

Women's Film Initative
(headed in the past by Emily Joseph, Jess Disraeli, and Elisa Rice)

Film Scoring Network
(headed in the past by Andy Forsberg, Juan Carlos Enriquez, and Alexander Artzen)

Berklee Performance Center

*The folks in the front sure are fighting for those good seats :)*

The Berklee Performance Center is the college's biggest venue, where concerts, recitals, and other types of shows happen here. I've worked as an usher since November 2011, an usher supervisor since September 2012, and a Front of House Supervisor since September 2013. Here, I've helped look over the usher team and have ushered for sold-out shows like George Clinton of Parliament, Steven Wilson, Welcome to Night Vale, Esperanza Spalding, Tim & Eric's live comedy tour show, and even a StarTalk Live event with Bill Nye the Science Guy.

The shows were great, but the coworkers and managers I worked with are what made this job absolutely incredible. I worked with the box office in my position as well, and the clerks and managers were amazing as well. Here, I learned about what it means to provide great service to people, and how to be an effective leader with a team. I still have much learning to do, but this job literally helped me enjoy working with people, and I will always thank the people I have met there for what they have given me.