Thurs Oct 25
9:00 - 9:15 .............	Welcome and Introduction to Day 2
9:15 - 10:15..........	Essential Game Audio Tech 2: This session will cover more advanced topics in game audio technology. Covered topics include interactive Mixing, how run-time DSP is used in games, how 3D and Real-time Surround Sound are used and how Environmental Effects are applied to games.
10:15 - 11:20............	Interactive Sound Design:Sound design for games is sometimes referred to as Interactive Foley.  This session will describe how interactive sound effects are created, using real-world examples from some of the top games.  Variability, interaction with environment from both the creative and technical standpoints will be discussed.
11:20- 11:45...........	BREAK
11:45 -: 12:45.........	Psychoacoustic Mixing of Game Audio:  Mixing is one of the biggest challenges of game audio. Unlike traditional audio, a game mix occurs as the game is being played, not ahead of time in the studio! Games are increasingly relying on psychoacoustic techniques to give their mixes depth. clarity and emotion.
12:45 - 2:00............	BREAK
2:00- 3:00..............	Game Audio Advanced Topics:TBA
3:00- 4:00................	The Business of Game Audio: The video games industry is software development, a long way from the entertainment business. This roundtable features experts in the field of game & entertainment law, performance rights, as well as game compsers and sound designers discussing everything from quoting on a game to how the video game industry views composers, rights and music and making the transition from film/TV to the world of games.
4:00- 4:30..............	BREAK
4:30- 5:30.............	Audio Director Roundtable: The job of Game Audio Director requires a unique combination of technical, musical, creative and business skills. In this roundtable, some of the leading audio directors discuss their job on issues ranging from working with the publisher to hiring external composers and sound designers
5:30 - 6:00.............	Wrapup and Q&A

 

Speakers (subject to change)

2012 Keynote Speaker Clint Bajakian: Senior Music Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment America

Clint Bajakian Clint Bajakian is Senior Music Supervisor at Sony Computer Entertainment America. A music producer, composer, sound designer and manager with 21 years game industry experience, Bajakian is credited in over 200 titles including work at Sony on God of War, Uncharted, inFamous, SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals, and earlier work on such titles as Outlaws, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and Star Wars. An original co-founder and first vice-president of the Game Audio Network Guild (www.audiogang.org), Bajakian serves on its board of directors. He has served on the steering committee of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (www.iasig.com) of the MIDI Manufacturers Association and is a peer panelist on the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences original music judging committee. Prior to working at Sony, from 2000-2004, he headed up Bay Area Sound, an independent audio production company. Through the nineties, Bajakian was Composer and Sound Design Supervisor at LucasArts Entertainment Company. Bajakian has spoken on game audio at several conferences and educational events. Originally from the Boston area where he received a double B.A. degree with honors in Guitar Performance and Music Theory from The New England Conservatory, Bajakian holds a Master of Music degree in music composition from the University of Michigan. Bajakian resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife, Deniz, and two children, Lara and Deren. .

Paul Lipson: Audio Director, Microsoft Game Studios

Paul’s career has taken him all over the world, and his lifelong passion for music, games, and all things audio has helped him innovate, lead, and advocate as a composer and audio executive in the interactive entertainment industry. Paul entered the game industry in the late 90‘s by founding Hit Point Music - an audio content development company specializing in music for games, film, and television. He has composed and worked with a dazzling array of “A-list” clients like SEGA, Microsoft Game Studios, LucasArts, 2K Games, SCEA, EA, Harmonix, etc.. Recent AAA credits include Halo:Waypoint, Bioshock 2, Iron Man 2, and Lego Indiana Jones: The Adventure Continues. Paul is extremely passionate about audio and the advancement of video game industry, and currently serves as the President of the Game Audio Network Guild (GANG) and the Chief Operating Officer/Composer of Pyramind Studios. He has worked closely with the officers of G.A.N.G. to originate the industry-first Program Partnership Initiative, and was the mastermind behind the Guild Scholarship Award for Game Audio. Paul was awarded the G.A.N.G. “Distinguished Service Award” at the 2006 Game Developer’s Conference for his work in education and advocacy for the interactive audio arts. Paul is an active speaker and presenter, and has conducted panels, lectures, and master classes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Berklee College of Music, Musician’s Institute, SIGGRAPH, GDC, GameSoundCon, Pyramind Studios, AES Conference, New England Conservatory, Art Institute San Francisco, Grammy Soundtables, The Connecticut Film Festival, and at the Conservatory of Pernambuco in Brazil. Paul has also studied music for twenty-five years, with a focus on jazz studies and classical/orchestral music. He has enjoyed a longstanding career as a performer, leading his ensembles at venues across the United States, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Brazil. He has performed and recorded with world-renowned jazz musicians including Clark Terry, George Russell, Eric Marienthal, Bob Moses, Jimmy Giuffre, Gene Bertoncini, Mick Goodrick, John Abercrombie, Tim Miller, Bevan Manson, John McNeil, and Rick DiMuzio. Paul has previously served as the Chief Academic Officer at Expression College for Digital Arts, and held the post of Director of The Learning through Music and Technology Initiative at the LCG (Boston). Paul holds a BM and MM with highest distinction from the world-renowned New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He is a member of the International Game Developers Association, The Music Educators National Conference, BMI, The Recording Academy P&E Wing Advisory Council, and the Game Audio Network Guild.

John Byrd: Gigantic Software

John Byrd is the principal and founder of Gigantic Software. He has seventeen years of experience in the video game industry. John founded the United States division of CRI Middleware, the most successful middleware developer in Japan. John has served as a director of development at Sega and as a senior project manager at Electronic Arts. John has also served as an editor for the popular “Game Programming Gems” series of books. John has a BA in computer science from Harvard College

Tom Salta: Independent Composer/Arranger/Publisher

Tom Salta is one of the most versatile and prolific music composer/producers working inmultimedia including film, television, advertising and most notably video games. Renowned for crafting memorable, emotionally engaging music for the medium, Salta has garneredwidespread acclaim for his distinctive, world-class produced scores featured in blockbuster franchises including: HALO ANNIVERSARY, FROM DUST, PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE FORGOTTEN SANDS, RED STEEL 1 and 2, TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON ADVANCEDWARFIGHTER 1 and 2, TOM CLANCY'S H.A.W.X 1 and 2. Recording under the artist name “Atlas Plug,” tracks from his album "2 Days Or Die" grace many television shows on ABC, CBS, MTV, NBC as well as national commercials. His Atlas Plug music can also be heard in the soundtracks to hit games such as CRACKDOWN, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT and PROJECT GOTHAM RACING 3. Salta's music for Hollywood movie trailers and promos include SPIDER-MAN, TOY STORY, HARRY POTTER, ASTRO BOY, andCORALINE.

Stephan Schütze: Director/Sound Designer :"Sound Librarian"

Stephan Schütze has been a composer and sound designer in the games industry for over ten years. Recently he has created the first Australian produced sound library since the 1950s, which is being distributed world-wide and will become part of The Australian National Film and Sound Archive in late 2011. Stephan has composed music for many game titles over the course of his career. He was the first person to compose a fully orchestral game score in Australia and has produced several scores working with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.  Stephan is now involved with the creation of generative musical scores that move beyond the traditional confines of time and linearity and allow for the narrative support of game titles that may have thirty to forty hours of player interaction. Stephan is considered to be one of the world’s leading authorities on working with FMOD; the game industries premier sound engine and authoring software. Through regular lecturing, conference presentations and articles Stephan has continued to share his, more than ten years, experience working with FMOD. Most recently he worked closely with the developers of FMOD to develop a series of tutorial and examples media as well as rewrite the user manual for FMOD Designer 2010. The Sound Library project represents over five years work and is nearing twenty thousand high quality sound effects online. Stephan’s ongoing work in recording and developing new sound libraries is an example of the passion he has for all aspects of audio and the driving force that motivates him creatively. Stephan is constantly researching and recording new material for current and future library collections.

Scott Selfon: Microsoft, Advanced Technology Group

Scott Selfon is a lead program manager in Microsoft’s Advanced Technology Group, where for the past ten years he has assisted composers, sound designers, and programmers with technical and creative challenges in developing audio for games. In this position he also played an active role in the development of the Microsoft Cross-Platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT) for Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, and XNA Game Studio titles. He is a lecturer in the Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program, and an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California, where he developed and taught the university’s first course in audio for interactive media. He organizes the Game Developer Conference’s annual “Audio Boot Camp” tutorial session, and is a frequent lecturer and panelist at interactive media and sound-focused conferences worldwide. Scott has composed music for a wide range of media, including film, television, video games, and live performance. He is the principal violist of Seattle’s Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with various other ensembles in the Pacific Northwest. He is a member of the Seattle Composers Alliance and is on the advisory board of the Game Audio Network Guild. Scott is an alumnus of the University of Southern California, where he obtained dual degrees in music composition (film scoring emphasis) and computer engineering/computer science

Brian Schmidt: GameSoundCon Founder and Executive Director

Brian Schmidt is the founder and creator of GameSoundCon. The 2008 recipient of the Game Audio Network Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Brian has been creating game music, sounds and cutting edge game sound technology since 1987. With a credit list of over 130 games and a client list including Zynga, Sony, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Sega, Microsoft, Data East, Namco, SounDelux and many others Brian has used his combined expertise and experience in music composition, sound design and his deep technical knowledge to change the landscape of the game audio industry.  Brian is a frequent and in-demand speaker on the creative, technical and business aspects of game audio, having given literally hundreds of educational and inspirational talks at conferences all over the world. Events such as the Game Developers Conference, Microsoft’s Gamefest, Sega Devcon, the Audio Engineering Society Conference and esteemed institutions such as Yale University, Northwestern University, and Digipen have invited Brian to share his knowledge and insight into the industry. Brian began his career in game audio in 1987 as a composer, sound effects designer and music programmer for Williams Electronic Games in Chicago writing music and creating sound effects for pinball machines and coin-operated video games. While there, he was the primary composer of the video game NARC.  His main Theme from NARC was later recorded and released by The Pixies; his other work has been featured in the CD set, “Legends of Game Music.”  In 1989, Brian left Williams and became one of the industry’s first independent game audio composers and sound designers, where he worked on such games as John Madden Football, the Desert Strike Series, and the award winning Crueball.  Other credits include Guns and Roses Pinball, where he worked closely with Slash to create a truly interactive Rock and Roll game experience. In 1998, Brian was recruited by Microsoft to lead the direction of game audio technologies. While there, he joined the then-fledgling Xbox organization as the primary architect for its audio and music system. Brian has been credited with bringing Interactive Dolby Digital Surround Sound to interactive gaming through his efforts at Xbox  where he also created the original Xbox startup sound. During his 10-year tenure at Microsoft, Brian continued to drive and advance game audio technologies through tools such as the award-winning “XACT” (Xbox Audio Creation Tool); the first-of-its kind tool to provide interactive mixing for video games.  Brian was also responsible for the overall audio system of the Xbox 360 game system, including the XMA audio compression format, winner of the G.A.N.G “Best New Technology award” and finalist in IGDA’s “Best new technology” category. Brian is currently a consultant to the video game industry working with companies large and small. Brian received undergraduate degrees in music and computer science from Northwestern University in1985,where he created the first dual degree program between the School of Music and the Technological Institute. He went on to complete his Masters degree in Computer Applications in Music in 1987, where portions of his thesis work was published in the prestigious Computer Music Journal and presented by invitation to the AES specials conference on Audio Technology.  While in school, Brian worked as an apprentice to film and jingle composer John Tatgenhorst, where he learned to appreciate the art and science of putting sound to picture. Brian currently sits on the advisory board of the Game Developer Conference, is a founding board member of the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.) is a former steering committee member of the Interactive Audio Special Interest Group (ia-sig) of the MMA, and has been a featured keynote speaker at The Game Developers Conference and Project BBQ.  Brian was also a member of a select group of ten game audio professionals who successfully lobbied NARAS into making video game soundtracks eligible for the Grammy Award in 1999.