Hello!
My name is Josh Bonser, I am the sound designer/script director within in the Filthy Fresh Team. This is the first sound design blog for Jeff's Tower and will take you through decisions recently made, my general workflow and prospective updates to the Jeff’s Tower experience. All existing and upcoming work is furthermore constructed through the DAW software Cubase.
As sound designer and script director I have a list of responsibilities. My first and main task is filling the Jeff’s Tower world with a full array of created sounds that will enrich the player's experience within the game, this spans from areas such as general combat noises to environmental ambient sounds and everything inbetween. Overall this is a consistent task that I will continue to update weekly until the TBD release date.
As of the release of this log I am currently completing the finishing touches to the general orc sounds (E.g death sounds, grunts and movement). This was created by a live recording conducted by myself using a Samson C01 Condenser Mic to construct the required sounds. I then took these recordings and heavily edited them within Cubase, this consisted of such techniques as pitch bending the samples to fit a deeper orcish voice and fully condensing and reverberating all sounds.
Secondly, I am also tasked with creating and mastering a full accompanying soundtrack, however to help with this process I have enlisted the help of 2 extraneous composers (Ezra Nixon and Jack Hunt) who will aid me in areas such as instrumentation, melody construction and in many places take the role of session musicians within the recordings.
As of the current iteration there are 6 tracks required for the release (1 Menu theme, 1 Death theme and 4 battle themes). As of this log 2 have been completed and added to the existing pre-alpha build of the game, however these are continually being worked on to create the perfect tone for Jeff’s Tower and if needed more could be easily be added at a later date to spice up the overall experience.
With Jeff’s Tower being within a fantasy medieval setting we have created all soundtracks to fit this style with the extensive use of traditional acoustic instruments (E.g lutes, pianos and simple percussion) and modal harmony to give a very specific and unique outcome within each track.
A early stages battle theme can be heard on our pre-alpha trailer, why not check it out?
Lastly, I am furthermore head of the creation of the overall script, the recording of said script and the decision of used voice actors. This script however would not be used for story purposes but instead to accompany the player as he defends their tower, giving information on such stimuli as the tower being in danger or a combo being completed and furthermore random moments of comedy (E.g banter between the Evil King and the Runestone) to keep the overall tone light and fun for the player.
As of this log the script for the first iteration of Jeff’s Tower is completed and has been sent out for feedback so that its validity can be confirmed. However, voice actors for both of the needed roles are yet to be confirmed.
I hope to conduct similar updates on sound regularly, so stay tuned folks!
