Game Audio Books

A selection of game audio books and other useful reads in chronological order, newest first.

Abstracts are taken verbatim from each publisher. Last updated March 2024.

Making it HUGE in Video Games: Memoirs of Composer Chance Thomas

Chance Thomas (2023)

“Making it HUGE in Video Games recounts the astonishing journey of an unassuming, middle-of-the-bell-curve young man, rising from mundane beginnings to scale the dizzying heights of artistic distinction and financial success in the worldwide video game industry.

This is the story of Chance Thomas, a moderately talented musician who struggled and grew to compose original scores for some of the most well-known entertainment properties in the world. Detailed personal accounts and instructive side bars carry readers across the jagged peaks and valleys of an absolutely achievable career in video games. World-famous IP’s get personal treatment here – The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Avatar, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, DOTA 2, King Kong, The Settlers, and many more.”

Working with Sound: The Future of Audio Work in Interactive Entertainment

Rob Bridgett (2023)

“Working with Sound is an exploration of the ever-changing working practices of audio development in the era of hybrid collaboration in the games industry.

Through learnings from the pre-pandemic remote and isolated worlds of audio work, sound designers, composers, and dialogue designers find themselves equipped uniquely to thrive in the hybrid, remote, and studio-based realms of today’s fast-evolving working landscapes. With unique insights into navigating the worlds of isolation and collaboration, this book explores ways of thinking and working in this world, equipping the reader with inspiration to sustainably tackle the many stages of the development process.

Working with Sound is an essential guide for professionals working in dynamic audio teams of all sizes, as well as the designers, producers, artists, animators, and programmers who collaborate closely with their colleagues working on game audio and sound.”

Game Audio Mixing: Insights to Improve Your Mixing Performance

Alex Riviere (2023)

“Game Audio Mixing offers a holistic view of the mixing process for games, from philosophical and psychological considerations to the artistic considerations and technical processes behind acoustic rendering, interactive mixing, mastering, and much more. This book includes a comprehensive overview of many game audio mixing techniques, processes, and workflows, with advice from audio directors and sound supervisors.

Through a series of accessible insights and interviews, the reader is guided through cutting-edge tips and tricks to equip them to improve their own mixing practice. As well as covering how to plan and create a mix that is clear, focused, and highly interactive, this book provides information about typical mixing tools and techniques, such as dealing with bus structure, frequency spectrum, effects, dynamic, volume, 2D and 3D spaces, and automations. Key information about how to deal with a large number of sounds and their prioritization in the mix is also included, from high-level mixing visions to in-depth designs with sound categorizations at the core.”

Game Audio Fundamentals: An Introduction to the Theory, Planning, and Practice of Soundscape Creation for Games

Keith Zizza (2023)

“Game Audio Fundamentals takes the reader on a journey through game audio design: from analog and digital audio basics to the art and execution of sound effects, soundtracks, and voice production, as well as learning how to make sense of a truly effective soundscape.

Presuming no pre-existing knowledge, this accessible guide is accompanied by online resources – including practical examples and incremental DAW exercises – and presents the theory and practice of game audio in detail, and in a format anyone can understand.

This is essential reading for any aspiring game audio designer, as well as students and professionals from a range of backgrounds, including music, audio engineering, and game design.”

Video Game Audio: A History, 1972-2020

Christopher Hopkins (2022)

“From the one-bit beeps of Pong to the 3D audio of PlayStation 5, this book examines historical trends in video game sound and music. A range of game systems sold in North America, Europe and Japan are evaluated by their audio capabilities and industry competition. Technical fine points are explored, including synthesized v. sampled sound, pre-recorded v. dynamic audio, backward compatibility, discrete and multifunctional soundchips, storage media, audio programming documentation, and analog v. digital outputs. A timeline chronicles significant developments in video game sound for PC, NES, Dreamcast, Xbox, Wii, Game Boy, PSP, iOS and Android devices and many others.”

Game Audio Programming 3: Principles and Practices

Guy Somberg (ed) (2021)

“Welcome to the third volume of Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices―the first series of its kind dedicated to the art and science of game audio programming. This volume contains 14 chapters from some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry. Topics range across game genres (ARPG, RTS, FPS, etc.), and from low-level topics such as DSP to high-level topics like using influence maps for audio.

The techniques in this book are targeted at game audio programmers of all abilities, from newbies who are just getting into audio programming to seasoned veterans. All of the principles and practices in this book have been used in real shipping games, so they are all very practical and immediately applicable. There are chapters about split-screen audio, dynamic music improvisation, dynamic mixing, ambiences, DSPs, and more.

This book continues the tradition of collecting modern, up-to-date knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming. So, whether you’ve been a game audio programmer for one year or ten years, or even if you’ve just been assigned the task and are trying to figure out what it’s all about, this book is for you!”

Leading with Sound: Proactive Sound Practices in Video Game Development

Rob Bridgett (2021)

“Leading with Sound is the must-have companion guide to working on video game projects. Focused on the creative, collaborative, philosophical and organizational skills behind game sound and eschewing the technical, this book celebrates the subjects most essential to leading with sound in video game development at any level. Refuting the traditional optics of sound as a service in favour of sound as a pro-active visionary department, this book examines each of the four food-groups of dialogue, sound design, music and mix, not through the usual technical and production lenses of ‘how’ and ‘when’, but the essential lens of ‘why’ that enables leadership with sound.

Leading with Sound is essential reading for aspiring sound designers, inside and outside of the classroom, as well as experienced professionals in the game industry.”

The Cambridge Companion to Video Game Music

Melanie Fritsch and Tim Summers (eds) (2021)

“Video game music has been permeating popular culture for over forty years. Now, reaching billions of listeners, game music encompasses a diverse spectrum of musical materials and practices. This book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date survey of video game music by a diverse group of scholars and industry professionals. The chapters and summaries consolidate existing knowledge and present tools for readers to engage with the music in new ways. Many popular games are analysed, including Super Mario Galaxy, Bastion, The Last of Us, Kentucky Route Zero and the Katamari, Gran Turismo and Tales series. Topics include chiptunes, compositional processes, localization, history and game music concerts. The book also engages with other disciplines such as psychology, music analysis, business strategy and critical theory, and will prove an equally valuable resource for readers active in the industry, composers or designers, and music students and scholars.”

Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design

Jean-Luc Sinclair (2020)

“Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design is a comprehensive introduction to the art of sound for games and interactive media using Unity. This accessible guide encompasses both the conceptual challenges of the artform as well as the technical and creative aspects, such as sound design, spatial audio, scripting, implementation and mixing.

Beginning with basic techniques, including linear and interactive sound design, before moving on to advanced techniques, such as procedural audio, Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design is supplemented by a host of digital resources, including a library of ready-to-use, adaptable scripts. This thorough introduction provides the reader with the skills and tools to combat the potential challenges of game audio independently.

Principles of Game Audio and Sound Design is the perfect primer for beginner- to intermediate-level readers with a basic understanding of audio production and Unity who want to learn how to gain a foothold in the exciting world of game and interactive audio.”

The Game Audio Strategy Guide: A Practical Course

Gina Zdanowicz and Specker Bambrick (2019)

“The Game Audio Strategy Guide is a comprehensive text designed to turn both novices and experienced audio designers into technical game audio pros. Providing both a theoretical foundation and practical insights, The Game Audio Strategy Guide offers a thorough look at the tools and methods needed to create industry-quality music and sound design for games. The text is supported by an extensive companion website, featuring numerous practical tutorials and exercises, which allows the reader to gain hands-on experience creating and implementing audio assets for games.

The Game Audio Strategy Guide is the essential manual for anyone interested in creating audio for games, inside or outside the classroom.”

Game Audio Programming 2: Principles and Practices

Guy Somberg (ed) (2019)

“Welcome to the second volume of Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices – the first series of its kind dedicated to the art of game audio programming! This volume features more than 20 chapters containing advanced techniques from some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry. This book continues the tradition of collecting more knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming than any other volume in history.

Both audio programming beginners and seasoned veterans will find content in this book that is valuable, with topics ranging from extreme low-level mixing to high-level game integration. Each chapter contains techniques that were used in games that have shipped, and there is a plethora of code samples and diagrams. There are chapters on threading, DSP implementation, advanced middleware techniques in FMOD Studio and Audiokinetic Wwise, ambiences, mixing, music, and more.

This book has something for everyone who is programming audio for a game: programmers new to the art of audio programming, experienced audio programmers, and those souls who just got assigned the audio code. This book is for you!”

Beep to Boom: The Development of Advanced Runtime Sound Systems for Games and Extended Reality

Simon N Goodwin (2019)

“Drawing on decades of experience, Beep to Boom: The Development of Advanced Runtime Sound Systems for Games and Extended Reality is a rigorous, comprehensive guide to interactive audio runtime systems.

Packed with practical examples and insights, the book explains each component of these complex geometries of sound. Using practical, lowest-common-denominator techniques, Goodwin covers soundfield creation across a range of platforms from phones to VR gaming consoles.

Whether creating an audio system from scratch or building on existing frameworks, the book also explains costs, benefits and priorities. In the dynamic simulated world of games and extended reality, interactive audio can now consider every intricacy of real-world sound. This book explains how and why to tame it enjoyably.”

100 Unusual, Novel and Surprising Ways to be a Better Sound Designer in Video Games

Rob Bridgett (2019)

“A light-hearted, personal take on game audio development practice and philosophy. This unique book takes the reader on a surreal ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ through the many layers of optimism, self-doubt and luck that surround us every day inside the strange and unusual world of game development.”

Thinking In Sync: A Primer on the Mind of a Music Supervisor

Amanda Krieg Thomas (2019)

“Thinking In Sync is the perfect starting point for any artist interested in learning more about the world of synchronization. With this book, Thomas aims not only to provide answers for many of the questions music supervisors are most often asked, but also the reasons behind those answers. Readers will walk away with the following:
- Insight as to how music supervisors review music submissions from potential new contacts, how they select who receives a "music brief" or "music search," as well as the day to day pressures and responsibilities of their role in the larger film and television creation process and how these affect artists.
- A detailed overview of every step of the song clearance process from quote request to confirmation letter to music cue sheet, and why each is so important.
- Essential conversations to have, creative approaches to consider and materials to assemble before, during and after a song is recorded in order to best position your music for sync.”

New Realities in Audio: A Practical Guide for VR, AR, MR and 360 Video

Stephan Schütze and Anna Irwin-Schütze (2018)

“The new realities are here. Virtual and Augmented realities and 360 video technologies are rapidly entering our homes and office spaces. Good quality audio has always been important to the user experience, but in the new realities, it is more than important, it’s essential. If the audio doesn’t work, the immersion of the experience fails and the cracks in the new reality start to show.

This practical guide helps you navigate the challenges and pitfalls of designing audio for these new realities. This technology is different from anything we’ve seen before and requires an entirely new approach; this book will introduce the broad concepts you need to know before delving into the practical detail you need.”

Unlimited Replays: Video Games and Classical Music

William Gibbons (2018)

“Classical music is everywhere in video games. Works by composers like Bach and Mozart fill the soundtracks of games ranging from arcade classics, to indie titles, to major franchises like BioShock, Civilization, and Fallout. Children can learn about classical works and their histories from interactive iPad games. World-renowned classical orchestras frequently perform concerts of game music to sold-out audiences. But what do such combinations of art and entertainment reveal about the cultural value we place on these media? Can classical music ever be video game music, and can game music ever be classical? Delving into the shifting and often contradictory cultural definitions that emerge when classical music meets video games, Unlimited Replays offers a new perspective on the possibilities and challenges of trying to distinguish between art and pop culture in contemporary society.”

Game Audio: Tales of a Technical Sound Designer, Volume 02

Damian Kastbauer (2017)

“Game Audio: Tales of a Technical Sound Designer Volume 02 includes game audio articles posted to the Lost Chocolate Blog that span the last decade of informal writing on the topic of technical sound design. Also included are interviews that help fill in the blanks between different perspectives of game audio. Finally, there are several articles surrounding the game audio community and the value of creating an inclusive environments that can help foster professional growth.”

Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices

Guy Somberg (ed) (2017)

“Welcome to Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices! This book is the first of its kind: an entire book dedicated to the art of game audio programming. With over fifteen chapters written by some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry, this book contains more knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming than any other volume in history.

One of the goals of this book is to raise the general level of game audio programming expertise, so it is written in a manner that is accessible to beginners, while still providing valuable content for more advanced game audio programmers. Each chapter contains techniques that the authors have used in shipping games, with plenty of code examples and diagrams. There are chapters on the fundamentals of audio representation and perception; advanced usage of several different audio middleware platforms (Audiokinetic Wwise, CRI ADX2, and FMOD Studio); advanced topics including Open Sound Control, Vector-Based Amplitude Panning, and Dynamic Game Data; and more!

Whether you’re an audio programmer looking for new techniques, an up-and-coming game developer looking for an area to focus on, or just the one who got saddled with the audio code, this book has something for you.”

Music Supervision: The Complete Guide to Selecting Music for Movies + TV + Games + New Media

Ramsay Adams, Dave Hnatiuk, and David Weiss (2017)

“The newly revised, definitive book on music supervision, which guides you through real-world scenarios and legal landmines, explores sound design, and profiles key players. Music supervision, or matching music to all the different mediums from films to ring tones, is one of the fastest-growing careers in the music industry, but finding the winning song for a national ad campaign or compiling a platinum movie soundtrack takes more than just good taste. Music supervision today requires serious multi-tasking and the ability to navigate licensing, relationships, and cultural trends with ease. This book guides you through real scenarios and legal landmines you might encounter; it explores sound design and profiles key players with insightful interviews, while providing project form templates that will save time for seasoned music supervisors.This is the only guide to the career of music supervision and is ideal for the music student, musician, industry executive and of course, for those who want to break into the field of music supervision.”

Introduction to the Study of Video Game Music

Alyssa Aska (2017)

“This text is intended to serve as an introduction to the study of video game music. It was initially conceived as a companion to an introductory video game music course that takes a multi-faceted survey approach to the material. Therefore, this text can be used in accompaniment with an academic setting. It can also be useful for anyone that is generally interested in learning about video game music, but does not have a very solid musical or technical foundation. As it was intended to accompany a course in which non-music majors could freely enrol, the text is accessible to nearly everyone, and covers the topic of video game music very generally.”

Composing Music for Games: The Art, Technology and Business of Video Game Scoring

Chance Thomas (2016)

“Composing Music for Games is a guidebook for launching and maintaining a successful career as a video game composer. It offers a pragmatic approach to learning, intensified through challenging project assignments and simulations. Author Chance Thomas begins with the foundation of scoring principles applicable to all media, and then progresses serially through core methodologies specific to video game music. This book offers a powerful blend of aesthetic, technique, technology and business, which are all necessary components for a successful career as a video game composer.”

Game Audio: Tales of a Technical Sound Designer, Volume 01

Damian Kastbauer (2016)

“Game Audio: Tales of a Technical Sound Designer - Volume 01 includes articles written for the Game Developer Magazine: Aural Fixation column and cover topics ranging from the value of history to our interactive audio future. Additionally, the entire Audio Implementation Greats series from DesigningSound.org is reproduced and stands as a testament to technical sound design in games.”

Music Video Games: Performance, Politics, and Play

Michael Austin (2016)

“Music Video Games takes a look (and listen) at the popular genre of music games video games in which music is at the forefront of player interaction and gameplay. With chapters on a wide variety of music games, ranging from well-known console games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band to new, emerging games for smartphones and tablets, scholars from diverse disciplines and backgrounds discuss the history, development, and cultural impact of music games. Each chapter investigates important themes surrounding the ways in which we play music and play with music in video games. Starting with the precursors to music games - including Simon, the hand-held electronic music game from the 1980s, Michael Austin's collection goes on to discuss issues in musicianship and performance, authenticity and selling out, and composing, creating, and learning music with video games. Including a glossary and detailed indices, Austin and his team shine a much needed light on the often overlooked subject of music video games.”

Ludomusicology: Approaches to Video Game Music

Michael Kamp, Tim Summers, and Mark Sweeney (eds) (2016)

“The last half-decade has seen the rapid and expansive development of video game music studies. As with any new area of study, this significant sub-discipline is still tackling fundamental questions concerning how video game music should be approached. In this volume, experts in game music provide their responses to these issues. This book suggests a variety of new approaches to the study of game music. In the course of developing ways of conceptualizing and analyzing game music it explicitly considers other critical issues including the distinction between game play and music play, how notions of diegesis are complicated by video game interactivity, the importance of cinema aesthetics in game music, the technicalities of game music production and the relationships between game music and art music traditions. This collection is accessible, yet theoretically substantial and complex. It draws upon a diverse array of perspectives and presents new research which will have a significant impact upon the way that game music is studied. The volume represents a major development in game musicology and will be indispensable for both academic researchers and students of game music.”

Understanding Video Game Music

Tim Summers (2016)

“Understanding Video Game Music develops a musicology of video game music by providing methods and concepts for understanding music in this medium. From the practicalities of investigating the video game as a musical source to the critical perspectives on game music - using examples including Final Fantasy VII, Monkey Island 2, SSX Tricky and Silent Hill - these explorations not only illuminate aspects of game music, but also provide conceptual ideas valuable for future analysis. Music is not a redundant echo of other textual levels of the game, but central to the experience of interacting with video games. As the author likes to describe it, this book is about music for racing a rally car, music for evading zombies, music for dancing, music for solving puzzles, music for saving the Earth from aliens, music for managing a city, music for being a hero; in short, it is about music for playing.”

Game Audio Implementation: A Practical Guide Using the Unreal Engine

Richard Stevens and Dave Raybould (2015)

“Game Audio Implementation offers a unique practical approach to learning all about game audio. If you've always wanted to hear your sound or music in a real game then this is the book for you. Each chapter is accompanied by its own game level where you can see the techniques and theories in action before working through over 70 exercises to develop your own demo level. Taking you all the way from first principles to complex interactive systems in the industry standard Unreal Engine© you’ll gain the skills to implement your sound and music along with a deep transferable knowledge of the principles you can apply across a range of other game development tools.”

A Composer's Guide to Game Music

Winifred Phillips (2014)

“A comprehensive, practical guide to composing video game music, from acquiring the necessary skills to finding work in the field.

Music in video games is often a sophisticated, complex composition that serves to engage the player, set the pace of play, and aid interactivity. Composers of video game music must master an array of specialized skills not taught in the conservatory, including the creation of linear loops, music chunks for horizontal resequencing, and compositional fragments for use within a generative framework. In A Composer's Guide to Game Music, Winifred Phillips—herself an award-winning composer of video game music—provides a comprehensive, practical guide that leads an aspiring video game composer from acquiring the necessary creative skills to understanding the function of music in games to finding work in the field.”

Music in Video Games: Studying Play

K.J.Donnely, William Gibbons, and Neil Lerner (eds) (2014)

“From its earliest days as little more than a series of monophonic outbursts to its current-day scores that can rival major symphonic film scores, video game music has gone through its own particular set of stylistic and functional metamorphoses while both borrowing and recontextualizing the earlier models from which it borrows. With topics ranging from early classics like Donkey Kong and Super Mario Bros. to more recent hits like Plants vs. Zombies, the eleven essays in Music in Video Games draw on the scholarly fields of musicology and music theory, film theory, and game studies, to investigate the history, function, style, and conventions of video game music.”

Sound Play: Video Games And The Musical Imagination

William Cheng (2014)

“Video games open portals into fantastical worlds where imaginative play prevails. The virtual medium seemingly provides us with ample opportunities to behave and act out with relative safety and impunity. Or does it? Sound Play explores the aesthetic, ethical, and sociopolitical stakes of our engagements with gaming's audio phenomena-from sonic violence to synthesized operas, from democratic music-making to vocal sexual harassment. Author William Cheng shows how the simulated environments of games empower designers, composers, players, and scholars to test and tinker with music, noise, speech, and silence in ways that might not be prudent or possible in the real world. In negotiating utopian and alarmist stereotypes of video games, Sound Play synthesizes insights from across musicology, sociology, anthropology, communications, literary theory, and philosophy. With case studies that span Final Fantasy VI, Silent Hill, Fallout 3, The Lord of the Rings Online, and Team Fortress 2, this book insists that what we do in there-in the safe, sound spaces of games-can ultimately teach us a great deal about who we are and what we value (musically, culturally, humanly) out here.”

Game Audio Culture

Rob Bridgett (2013)

“A book exploring the newly emergent collaborative, inter-personal and cross-disciplinary role of audio within a video game development team. Exploring some of the ways in which design thinking can be applied to sound and offering fresh perspectives on the way audio can function inside a team, from conception to execution. This book encourages a complete re-thinking of everything from studio architecture and team spaces to budgets, schedules, team skills as well as crafts such as sound design and mixing for any developer, no matter how big or small.”

Playing with Sound

Karen Collins (2013)

“An examination of the player's experience of sound in video games and the many ways that players interact with the sonic elements in games.

In Playing with Sound, Karen Collins examines video game sound from the player's perspective. She explores the many ways that players interact with a game's sonic aspects―which include not only music but also sound effects, ambient sound, dialogue, and interface sounds―both within and outside of the game. She investigates the ways that meaning is found, embodied, created, evoked, hacked, remixed, negotiated, and renegotiated by players in the space of interactive sound in games.

Drawing on disciplines that range from film studies and philosophy to psychology and computer science, Collins develops a theory of interactive sound experience that distinguishes between interacting with sound and simply listening without interacting.”

The Game Developer's Dictionary: A Multidisciplinary Lexicon for Professionals and Students

Dan Carreker (2012)

“The Game Developer’s Dictionary is the first attempt to collect the terms and phrases used within all avenues of game development, and define them, with hundreds of definitions covering game art, design, programming, production, writing, and sound. Terms are categorized alphabetically and by discipline so that entries can be accessed quickly and easily. The book emphasizes creating an understanding between the game development disciplines – great care has been exercised to define terms in ways that someone outside the related area of expertise can easily grasp. A survey of game industry job titles and their descriptions is also included.”

Pro Tools 10 for Game Audio

Greg deBeer (2012)

“With a basic understanding of Pro Tools, and the information in this book, you will be on your way to joining the exciting world of producing game audio. Pro Tools 10 for Game Audio covers the world of Pro Tools audio production in the gaming environment. In this book, you will be guided, step-by-step, through eight different components of game audio, including music, dialog, and sound effects. You'll also cover using Pro Tools to create audio assets, and you'll learn how to implement them in Unity, an open-source game engine. With its practical, hands-on, full-color approach to game audio, the book lets you see your work in action as you progress through the lessons. Learn game audio production on the industry standard audio application, Pro Tools, with Pro Tools 10 for Game Audio.”

The Game Audio Tutorial: A Practical Guide to Sound and Music for Interactive Games

Richard Stevens and Dave Raybould (2011)

“Design and implement video game sound from beginning to end with this hands-on course in game audio. Music and sound effects speak to players on a deep level, and this book will show you how to design and implement powerful, interactive sound that measurably improves gameplay. If you are a sound designer or composer and want to do more than just create audio elements and hand them over to someone else for insertion into the game, this book is for you. You'll understand the game development process and implement vital audio experiences-not just create music loops or one-off sound effects.”

The Audio Programming Book

Richard Boulanger and Victor Lazzarini (eds) (2010)

“This comprehensive handbook of mathematical and programming techniques for audio signal processing will be an essential reference for all computer musicians, computer scientists, engineers, and anyone interested in audio. Designed to be used by readers with varying levels of programming expertise, it not only provides the foundations for music and audio development but also tackles issues that sometimes remain mysterious even to experienced software designers. Exercises and copious examples (all cross-platform and based on free or open source software) make the book ideal for classroom use. Fifteen chapters and eight appendixes cover such topics as programming basics for C and C++ (with music-oriented examples), audio programming basics and more advanced topics, spectral audio programming; programming Csound opcodes, and algorithmic synthesis and music programming. Appendixes cover topics in compiling, audio and MIDI, computing, and math.”

From the Shadows of Film Sound: Cinematic Production & Creative Process in Video Game Audio

Rob Bridgett (2010)

“As a practitioner in video game development, Rob Bridgett has explored and written about the connective tissue between film sound production and a newly emerging video game audio production culture. This new volume brings together, for the first time, freshly edited writings with many previously unpublished articles, documenting his work and thinking over the past ten years. This book is equally suited to film sound designers intrigued by game sound production as much as those in game sound wishing to further explore the meaning of cinematic sound. A fresh, insightful, and long overdue volume offering nourishment for students of sound as well as ammunition for sound artists working on the front line of development.”

Game Audio Essentials: Game Audio Development

Aaron Marks and Jeannie Novak (2009)

“Create game audio from the ground up with this comprehensive, multi-faceted resource designed for industry beginners and professionals alike! Game audio makes up one-third of the overall game experience: an experience that is part of the larger, multi-billion dollar video gaming industry. Game Audio Development tackles the complex world of audio by addressing all three major game audio disciplines: music composition, the creation of sound effects, and dialog performances. It begins by providing readers with a solid background and history of the discipline, and then progresses into equipment, techniques, skills, and coordinating these factors to produce effective audio that will enhance the gaming experience. The book concludes with a forecast for the future of game audio.”

The Complete Guide to Game Audio

Aaron Marks (2009)

“Turn your musical passion into a profitable career with this exhaustive, indispensable resource for game audio. Develop the business and technical skills you need to succeed in the multibillion dollar games industry. Step-by-step instructions lead you through the entire music and sound effects process-from developing the essential skills and purchasing the right equipment to keeping your clients happy.

Create music and sound effects for games. Master the exacting specifications for composing music and creating sound effects on the various gaming platforms and systems. Technical considerations are explained in detail so that game audio professionals can make sense of complicated systems, learn about the highly involved programming elements, and create high quality audio without a hitch.”

Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design

Karen Collins (2008)

“An examination of the many complex aspects of game audio, from the perspectives of both sound design and music composition.

A distinguishing feature of video games is their interactivity, and sound plays an important role in this: a player's actions can trigger dialogue, sound effects, ambient sound, and music. And yet game sound has been neglected in the growing literature on game studies. This book fills that gap, introducing readers to the many complex aspects of game audio, from its development in early games to theoretical discussions of immersion and realism.”

The Sound Effects Bible

Ric Viers (2008)

“The Sound Effects Bible is a complete guide to recording and editing sound effects. The book covers topics such as microphone selection, field recorders, the ABCs of digital audio, understanding Digital Audio Workstations, building your own Foley stage, designing your own editing studio, and more.”

Creating Music and Sound for Games

G.W. Childs IV (2007)

“Get ready to step into the mysterious world of the video game sound designer and composer. Creating Music and Sound for Games examines the responsibilities associated with each of these roles and offers tips and insight for breaking into the business. With focused sections for each of these important roles, this book offers an insider's look into how the sound designer and compositor fit into the game production team and how these roles interact with one another. You'll cover the essential tools of the trade and will examine sound design and compositional tips that can save you time and make you more efficient.”

Music for New Media: Composing for Videogames, Web Sites, Presentations and Other Interactive Media

Paul Hoffert (2007)

“Videogames, web sites, and other new media are creating more opportunities for contemporary music writers than have ever existed before. In this book, you will learn to write effectively for these new forms, mastering the devices, sounds, and techniques for supporting stories and responding to user actions. It details the technical and dramatic requirements necessary for each type of new media. In engaging language, illustrated by countless real-world examples and practical workshops, writers at all levels will find ways to create music for new markets, and find new opportunities for creative expression. Guided hands-on projects will help you create music in all these forms.”

The Fat Man on Game Audio: Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness

George Alistair Sanger (2003)

“The guidance provided in this book is badly needed by the industry and can only come from someone who really knows and understands the intricacies, history, and challenges of game audio. George "Fatman" Sanger reveals both his soul and talent in this documented journey of what it takes and means to be successful with game audio. Much like big screen movies, audio can leave an audience with either a sense of intense emotion or it can destroy their overall experience. The same is true of games. Audio is a key component of game design but there are a select few who have truly mastered the art and technique of enhancing a game players overall game experience. Read this book and learn from the master. This book will reveal what it takes to be a highly sucessful audio developer. It reveals the unique problems facing the audio developer and then teaches them the most useful, efficient, and direct ways to overcome these problems. This book is unlike any other in that it not only gives readers the know-how on but it also teaches the reader how to add soul and life into their game audio by examining their personal lessons in music, science, politics, philosophy, and other life experiences. This book is an inspiration to all audio developers.”

Break into the Game Industry: How to get a job making video games

Ernest Adams (2003)

“Find out from an industry veteran exactly what you need to do to become a game designer, tester, artist, producer, programmer, writer, soundtrack composer, videographer, or sales/marketing professional. You’ll get full-spectrum coverage of positions available within the game industry as well as details on how a game is created--from start to finish--and much more.”

Sound Design: The Expressive Power of Music, Voice, and Sound Effects in Cinema

David Sonnenschein (2001)

“Offers user-friendly knowledge and stimulating exercises to help compose story, develop characters and create emotion through skillful creation of the sound track.”

Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen

Michel Chion (1994)

“In Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen, French critic and composer Michel Chion reassesses audiovisual media since the revolutionary 1927 debut of recorded sound in cinema, shedding crucial light on the mutual relationship between sound and image in audiovisual perception.

Chion argues that sound film qualitatively produces a new form of perception: we don't see images and hear sounds as separate channels, we audio-view a trans-sensory whole. Expanding on arguments made in his influential books The Voice in Cinema and Sound in Cinema, Chion provides lapidary insight into the functions and aesthetics of sound in film and television. He considers the effects of such evolving technologies as widescreen, multitrack, and Dolby; the influences of sound on the perception of space and time; and the impact of such contemporary forms of audio-vision as music videos, video art, and commercial television. Chion concludes with an original and useful model for the audiovisual analysis of film.”