One of the people I follow on Twitter provided a link this week to an article published in June about the popular video game sound design software “FMOD” being available for Android systems. I found the article interesting as it details what FMOD is and how it presents a modern solution to interactive audio production. It also describes Android as “an open operating system for mobile devices by Google.”
So what does it mean for Android to carry FMOD? Well, in short, it means that audio designers can access this program from their Android devices, ultimately working on projects from anywhere including your mobile phone or tablet. As the author of the article, Peter Drescher describes it, “it’s like peanut butter and strawberry jam, together for the first time.”
Drescher continues to describe how he was able to create the interactive audio soundtrack for Vector Pinball. He mentions the use of simple synthesizer technology to create common sound effects you would expect to hear in the 1980’s style game. He also talks about how you can tune the sounds for the bumpers, flippers, etc. to a pentatonic scale, making all the sounds in the same key becoming like an interactive song.
The FMOD Designer implementation discusses the differences between data-driven game audio and algorithmic sound generation. At this point, most console games use the data driven audio, where the sound designer determines the functionality and the programmer creates the event. It is much more complex than it sounds. Whereas, the algorithmic effect uses 1 sample to play 7 different sounds, requiring less disc space. The music also becomes interactive by using the data driven or algorithmic-based audio.
Next, you can audition the audio as you are developing. By selecting Build from the FMOD designer menu, 3 files are generated that can then be shared with the audio programmer; the event file, the soundbank file, and the C header file. “FMOD for Android can not only facilitate cross-platform audio production for a wide variety of games, it can significantly advance the complexity and tastiness of mobile game soundtracks." (Drescher, Peter.)
By having this kind of technology available on any mobile Android device, it seems as though the world of gaming may see even more development and improved audio quality. Here is to hoping that FMOD becomes a fully functional app for the Android market.
Drescher, Peter. FMOD for Android. June 19, 2011.
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