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BIOGRAPHY IN FIVES

1) Please describe five things about yourself that help frame your journey into sound design. It may be a fairly circuitous route, but like many other sound designers, I started as a musician.

When I was an undergraduate, I was a music composition major. However, in my last 2 years of study, I started veering away from writing functional harmony for normal instruments and starting delving into electronic music (like Paul Lansky, Karlheinz Stockhausen, et al.)

When I went into graduate school, my focus was scoring for film & multimedia. To my composition teacher’s dismay, I became less interested in doing solely the music, but rather the entire soundscape for the films I worked. I ended up doing everything, from foley to VO to orchestration. Perhaps I had OCD when it came to audio, I couldn’t just have music – I had to have everything filled in.

I began drifting more and more away from music to eventually just doing sound design. It was easier to get gigs in sound as well, and it seemed like everyone I knew just wanted to do film music. Since they knew I respected the music part, they’d refer me to be the final mixer.

I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of going into films, I had merely been directed that way. My teachers would tell me “Go to hollywood and you’ll be fine”. The thought of going into video games hit me when I was passing my time playing Civilization in my apartment in Queens one cold October day, my teachers didn’t like that decision much. 2) Five words to summarize that journey are… 1. oblique 2. piquant 3. epiphanic 4. whimsical 5. autodidactic 3) Five sounds that represent that journey are… Home life: Coal tits in the woodland

beginning the journey: Obviously an Electrical flange whoosh with zaps and reverb

college time: Light restaurant, lunch, dishes, ambience

Lots of things happen: A space ship traveling at high speed, with objects flying by

The entrance into games: Definitely a Large opera house audience applause

HABITS IN FOURS

1) What four elements need to be in place in order for you to be productive? Communication

Game assets

Game design

Support code 2) In an ideal work flow, what would you like to accomplish in four hours? On my current title, doing all the sounds for a single multi-attack weapon. This includes standard attacks, any critical attack, complicated attacks, and their respective impact sounds. Then I would implement all of it. 3) If you had four hours to listen to music/sound design, what would you choose? Götterdamerung; Wall-E. They’re both incredible works of art in every aspect, yet worlds apart.

LIFE LESSONS IN THREES

1) What three sound design lessons could your younger self learn from your present self? Much like orchestration, layer your sounds. If you just have one layer, and it’s not a footstep, you’re probably doing it wrong.

no, you don’t have to make your ambient loops super long

if you make all your sfx bassy, you’re gonna have a bad time 2) What three library sounds have become cliched for you? ElectricitySpark 6039_* these electrical-ish sounds that I’ve been hearing forever

howie scream

generic phone ring, I think this one’s gone by the wayside because mobile phones have become more pervasive and old rotary phones are long gone 3) What three foods or beverages lead to great sound design work? I drink directly from a 2 liter pitcher, anything smaller is inefficient! It is my mug.

I make a wonderful blend of terrible coffee, milo, and powdered non-dairy creamer in the company pantry in the morning. Sometimes people leave candy out, I will include that in my concoction.

soup & salad combo for lunch

TOOLS OF THE TRADE IN TWOS

1) What two sound design tools do you use on a consistent basis?

Reaper, Kore

2) You have a choice of two hardware devices – what would they be?

Give me a Kyma and Zoom H4n, then we can have a magical time!

3) Record two of your favorite sounds that you can make using only your mouth/voice and describe them.

Mouth Sound 1 – the radio adjustment whistle

Mouth Sound 2 – the awooga horn

SECRET WISHES IN ONES