Sound in Games

Sound is a very important aspect in games and is often a rather overlooked part of video games. It has many purposes from increasing the immersion and realism of the game, to inducing emotions in the player. When playing a game you are constantly hearing different sounds, things like footsteps, explosions, dialogue and many more. All these sounds are important to the environment of a game, it makes the game more realistic and makes the player feel more in the action. Sound is also used for events, to induce emotions in the player. One example of this could be in a horror game. There are often creepy sounds coming from unseen places, that without would make the game much less scary and tense.

As well as the sound coming from the game environment itself, there is also often music that accompanies them. Music in games is very important and can be used in many different ways. It can induce emotions in the player and also set the mood of the location or event in a game. An example of music being used to induce emotions could be at a sad moment within a game, there will more than likely be sad music playing at the same time. Music is also used as an extension of the visual aspects and locations of the game, so if there was a scene set in a foreign land, the music will often sound foreign too.

In order to put sounds into a game, first they have to be recorded, that is the job of a Foley artist. In order to create these sounds, the Foley artist will often record or recreate the event itself, however they will also have to come up with quite creative ways of gaining some sounds. One example of this is the sound of feet treading in the snow. Snow isn't always available, so the sound has to be simulated using something else. One common way of creating this sound is by crushing corn starch within a leather pouch. The event it is representing is rather different to how the sound was obtained, however when playing the sound over a video of the event happening, it would be very hard to hear the difference. Sometimes the original sounds recorded will sound nothing like the event it is intended for and will be manipulated using computer software.

Physics of Sound

What is sound?
Sound is vibrations. It travels through air but it can also travel through other mediums, both liquids and solids. The vibrations are transferred by being passed on from particle to particle. When these vibrations meet your ear they travel through the ear to the cochlea. The cochlea is filled with fluid and when the vibrations reach it, they transfer to little hairs that are connected to the auditory nerve. The vibrations are then converted into nerve impulses which are sent to the brain where you perceive them as sound.

Waveform Properties
Sound travels in waves. There are a few aspects to these waves that affect how the sound is heard.

One aspect of the wave is it's amplitude. This is the height of each wave and determines how loud the sound is. The higher the amplitude the louder the sound will be. Amplitude is measured by the amount of force it applies to an area. The most commonly used unit for this measurement is decibels, however it is also measured in newtons per square meter (N/m2).

Another aspect of the wave is it's length. The wavelength is the length of each wave and is the main aspect that effects the pitch of the sound. The shorter the wavelength, the higher pitched the sound will be. Wavelength is measured in normal units of distance measurement.

Another aspect of the wave is it's speed. The wave speed is the speed at which the sound travels and has an affect on the pitch of the sound. The speed of the waves is determined by the density of the medium the vibrations are travelling through. For example, sound travelling through air will travel slower than a sound travelling through water.

The fourth and last aspect of sound waves is the frequency. Frequency is the number of waves per second and is affected by both the wavelength and the wave speed. It is the main way of displaying the pitch of a sound, the higher the frequency, the higher the pitch. The unit of measurement of frequency is Hertz (Hz).

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