READING Sound Design Interviews...

Question

I don't know about you guys, but I HATE online sound design interviews when they don't even include the designers' demo reel, let alone a demo of the game / movie / whatever that they're talking about.

Sound is a completely subjective medium... how do the authors expect us to understand what they're saying when "booming" to him may just be "thudding" to someone else?

Don't get me wrong... I still read them, because occasionally I'll stumble across a real gem of a technique, but I often feel cheated. I mean, do they interview artists and modelers and not include even a single image of that person's work? No.

So, why do they do it to sound designers?

/rant

Answer 1

We know it is dancing about architecture, but it's a good dance, so we dance too ;)

Look at this very site =]

Answer 2

I don't know. As long as the interview is good, then I'm content. There was a great article on how a couple of re-recording mixers mixed 5.1 sound for the Theater Fire scene near the end of Inglorious Basterds. They talked about the pitfalls of mixing in surround and how one should refrain from putting to much busy sounds in the rear channels and keep the focus on the front.

But I enjoy a good interview with or without the accompanying sounds. It ain't all that hard to follow up on that particular artist's work.

Answer 3

Probably because you cant' listen to a magazine? Har-har. :P

I guess we're talking web stuff here, and I hear ya on that. Not having samples inline doesn't make me run away, but I'll say it does add to the experience when there is something to hear as I'm reading. Probably just taking folks a while to get on board with stuff like Soundcloud and other embedding tools. Embedding web audio was kind of a chore for non-tech-savvy people until fairly recently.

Hopefully more publishers will take advantage of the media embedding goodness of the iPad craze. Would love to view/hear/touch an issue of Sound on Sound or Mix on that device.

Answer 4

I really like reading interviews/articles with sound people. Gaining insight into how others think or how they approach a situation is really valuable. You can learn a lot from reading a good interview or article without having to hear sound samples. It's the same as sitting around having a beer and talking shop with others. The people next to you won't be showing off their tracks, but listening to their stories and experience can help you grow as an artist.

Answer 5

I find insight from the professionals to be useful. If someone makes a living at this, and they have some good credentials, I'd like to hear what they have to say.

Answer 6

There may very well be copyright issues involved. I recently did some work for Microsoft XBox and in the contract it specifically said I could NOT display the work without prior written consent from Microsoft. Some times those hoops just aren't worth jumping through for an article.

Answer 7

Good articles/interviews should have background of the interviewee.

If not, how long does it take to google the name?

Answer 8

I always find them interesting to read - not necessarily coming away with a new trick or technique but in general, I always pick up something about workflow or creative thinking - stuff that no one book will tell all on and sometimes they're just a little inspiring because they're working on something very cool ;-)

And generally, anyone who's getting interviewed is likely to be connected to a popular/high profile game/film/tv series that would be pretty easy to google or catch on tv or at the cinema?