AES announced a second international conference dedicated to Audio for Games.

Some details from the site:

Following the success of the last AES game-audio conference, the AES 41st International Conference on Audio for Games aims to explore further detail and explore current trends in game audio.The conference will be held 2nd-4th February 2011 at the prestigious BAFTA building, 195 Piccadilly, London.

This specialist conference provides a relevant and in-depth look at game-audio. It provides a forum for professionals and academics to communicate about issues that are pertinent in this field.The committee is working hard on a detailed content track that brings up to date information to seasoned developers and also provides the necessary starting points for attendees who are new to the area.

As previously, we’re working hard on the right balance of technical and creative sessions from the industry’s experts. Interest so far means we’re shaping up for something pretty special.The committee is has now opened the public calls for papers and sessions.

For further details click here.

Cheers!

A great new addition on my sample libraries is the first instrument of Native Instruments focusing on dark and tension-filled sound aesthetics, for the instant creation of horror-genre style atmospheres for movies and video games. Paranormal spectrums provide the modern composer with an unmatched arsenal of sounds and soundscapes ranging from the eerie to the truly terrifying. Starting from field recordings of forlorn places, or unsettling sampled sounds, Paranormal Spectrums combines these sonic images with a synthesized part, created in Absynth or Massive. This unique approach allows for a true playability that can lead you to some very dark and strange corners of this immensely flexible collection.

I’m pleased to announce the licensing of the Native Instruments Evolve Mutations Bundle sample library. This bundle includes the Evolve Mutations 1 and Evolve Mutations 2 in one package. Both sample libraries are heavily used in soundtracks for films and game music compositions and after many years of following their development I took the decision to add them on my tool-set. I will soon start producing some content with those instruments and will post some

Just added the NI Session strings on my arsenal of orchestral sound libraries. This is the description from the developer’s site: Aimed at producers looking for high-quality ready-to-go string sections for modern productions, Session strings produces immediate results without hours of fine tuning and tweaking, yet also boasts an incredible set of expressive features accessible from a highly intuitive interface. The fully production-ready sound is made up of four violins, three violas, two celli and two double basses – played as one perfectly realized ensemble. Recorded and produced by e-Instruments in one of the best sounding studios in Germany famous for its disco and pop productions during the 70s, this ensemble excels in delivering beautifully warm, punchy and direct strings. Precious instruments from the 18th and 19th century were recorded using the highest-end studio equipment. Top musicians from some of the finest orchestras in Europe performed a large number of strings articulations at the highest musical level.

I’m pleased to announce my second addition on the drum samples of my arsenal, the Native Instruments and Abbey Road second collaboration, the Abbey Road 70s Drums.

Abbey Road 70s Drums is the second of Native Instruments’ collaborations with Abbey Road Studios London. This instrument contains no emulations or modeling of any kind – Abbey Road 70s Drums is built entirely of high-quality samples of two distinctive vintage drum kits from the 1970s, made accessible via an easy-to-use interface newly created in conjunction with the Abbey Road experts. Made up of thousands of painstakingly sampled hits, every sound in this instrument was recorded in Abbey Road’s legendary Studio Two using classic vintage equipment from that period. Two highly-sought after vintage drum kits were chosen by Abbey Road and Native Instruments’ sound engineers to give two highly distinctive 70s drum sounds, first the Open Kit is a Ludwig Vistalite Tequila Sunrise from 1972 with a 26″ kick drum, 14″ rack tom and 16″ and 18″ floor toms – recorded in the legendary Studio Two of Abbey Road, this kit provides the big roomy sound immortalized on countless classic rock recordings and then the Tight Kit is a vintage 1970s Premier model with 22″ kick drum, 13″ rack tom, 14″ and 16″ floor toms – the samples from this kit were also recorded in Studio Two of Abbey Road, but dedicated acoustic panels were put around the kit to achieve the tight, punchy and dry sound that was very popular throughout the 70s. Abbey Road 70s Drums were recorded using an EMI TG MKIII mixing console and 16-track analogue 2-inch tape machine using 1970s professional Dolby Noise Reduction and Ampex 456 tape.

Another sample library is added on my arsenal of drum samples, this time its the Native Instruments and Abbey Road first collaboration, the Abbey Road 60s Drums.

Abbey Road 60s Drums is the first of Native Instruments’ collaborations with Abbey Road Studios London. This instrument delivers expressive acoustic drums that combine detailed realism with flexible and nuanced control. Containing no emulations or acoustic modeling of any kind, this instrument consists entirely of high-quality samples of two vintage kits – beautifully recorded with period equipment in Abbey Road’s legendary Studio Two. The heart of Abbey Road 60s Drums consists of two highly sought-after vintage drum kits, first the Gretsch round badge White Marine Pearl (Jasper Shell) from the early 60s includes a 24” kick drum, one 13” and one 16” tom and the second kit is a Ludwig Hollywood from 1967 with a 22″ kick, and 12″, 13″ and 16″ toms.

After long research on a way to control and handle the vast majority of virtual instruments a sound designer and composer can have in his disposal, I decided that the best solution would be Native Instruments’ Kore 2. Native Instruments’ Kore 2 is the Next-Generation Workstation – a powerful software / hardware system with a versatile library structure in which the user can load, save and control the majority of virtual instruments and effects. This piece of software together with hardware approach allow me to load, configure and save countless presets and retrieve them instantly for any need my productions may have. No need to say that I’m very happy to add this piece of equipment/software on my tool-case of sound mangling tools.

The Native Instruments’ Komplete 6 Bundle is now a part of my sound design arsenal, everything from detailed sampling to extreme sound synthesis and all in between can be achieved with this bundle. The list of products includes: Kontakt 4 – The industry standard sampler, Absynth 5 – The legendary synthesizer, Guitar Rig 4 Pro – The ultimate all-in-one guitar and bass solution, Battery 3 – A dedicated drum sampler with a vast library of premium drum kits, Massive – The formidable sound monster for fat basses and piercing leads, FM8 – Crystal-clear, airy, and razor-sharp digital sounds ideal for melodies and percussion and last but not least Reaktor 5 – An extremely versatile instrument studio with modular architecture. Komplete 6 brings together seven cutting-edge products that no studio should be without. Containing groundbreaking and multi-award winning samplers, synths, guitar/bass amps and creative effects, this collection represents Native Instruments’ most powerful software tools.

It’s time for SAE Athens to open its doors for the public once more, on the annual Open Day of the Athens Department. On the Open Day people get to know the school of Audio Engineering SAE from top to bottom, by touring through the institute’s studios, facilities and classroom, and they get to experience free lessons for various topics including one that I’m teaching and is my favorite.

Sound Design and Adaptive Music Production for Games and Interactive Media. The specific topic is of great importance to me, because not only teaches the disciplines of one of the most modern sectors of Audio Engineering, but it also gives the Engineer the tools and knowledge he/she needs to become productive and efficient using the latest tools and technologies available.

The lecture went great and I had more visitors than expected, the hours passed very quickly as the classroom was filled with people full of pure interest for the subject, and I’m very sure that many of the people I met on this day will come back for more!

A big thank you for the great help I had from the SAE Athens Supervisors, Stuff and Administration. Looking forward for a great lecturing year!

Today at Aventurine’s Headquarters the whole team gathered to celebrate our main project’s birthday.

Darkfall Online is celebrating 1 year from release and everybody was very happy. We had a little office celebration with gifts, cake and wine, it was great.

After many years of hard work, we achieved to gather many happy players around this great game. As the Sound designer I’m feeling proud that this MMORPG gives people a very vivid experience of PvP game play and everything seems to be going ok, the future is very promising and the team is bonded, working like never before.

Once more, Happy Birthday and Long Live to Darkfall!