WRITTEN BY BEN GIESCHEN
SOUND EFFECTS EDITOR, BOOM BOX POST
One of our sound effects editors, Ben, was faced with a unique challenge recently. He needed to create 8-bit video game style sound design for one of our shows. Now if you don’t know what 8-bit video games are, check out this example I grabbed from Youtube showing a few popular games under this genre. It makes me want to play some video games right now... that is besides the point, though, so let’s dive right into what he created!
What was your brainstorming process?
I was really excited to start designing the 8-bit video game scene since the inspiration for the scene was to emulate the classic Street Fighter video games. Now that I knew it had to have a retro feel and that the show I made it for is a scifi comedy, it had to have all of those elements in it. Other than that, I really had a lot of freedom in what it sounded like! I may have also spent too much time doing “research” and watching videos of the retro arcade games.
Could you give me the step by step process of what you added first and second, etc?
There were two characters involved in the fight and they each needed their own set of unique 8-bit sound effects. So, I started with the basics for each character by designing the jumps, punches, 1 ups, special powers, etc for each person and making sure they stood out from one another. For the next step, I had to redesign the weapons that the characters normally use to make them retro 8-bit sounding. Lastly, I had to take all the elements and make them work in the scene. As with sound editing any fight scene, you want to make sure the whole thing has a nice rhythm to it, especially when there are things like combo punches, lasers, and explosions involved.
Did you run into any problems?
The hardest challenge was tweaking the weapons that the characters normally have, into 8-bit video weapons. I used my favorite pitch shift plugin, Little AlterBoy from Soundtoys, to pitch them up a bit. The plugin also has a “robotic” setting that renders sound to give it that crunchy, vocoder effect. I also ran them through Avid’s AIR Fuzz-Wah plugin to add some distortion.
Any tips on creating 8-bit video game style sound design?
Gather up your quarters and go to an arcade!! Really though, just have fun with it! If it’s meant to be lighthearted and fun, go at it with that same mindset and get creative.
What would you suggest to new editors? Any plugins to use?
Something that was really handy in designing this was a free online sound generator called Chiptone. It’s a modular synth that is specialized for 8-bit sound effects and has a lot of changeable parameters. It even has randomized presets for video game SFX like coins, lasers, win, lose, etc.
How did you make this sound design unique?
This was one of the most fun things I’ve had to sound design lately! I tried to be super detailed with it and cover every small move. It had to sound retro while also being high tech scifi so making those custom sound effects definitely made it unique.
FINAL PRODUCTS:
Ready to hear some of the elements he created? Check it out below:
If you enjoyed this blog, you should also check out:
LUNCH AND LEARN: CHIP TONE
8 BIT TWICE SHY: CREATING RETRO GAME SOUND EFFECTS WITH BFXR
FOCUS ON THE CREATIVE: MAK KELLERMAN