Ahoyhoy! A little disclaimer for those starting out: active listening can be hard to turn off again once it has been internalized... I often find it hard to not listen on hyper focus when I am outdoors and get exhausted pretty fast as a result, especially in vivid, busy places. Not trying to scare anyone, but active listening may come with strings attached for some people. Happy designing everybody!
As a drummer, long time lover of Benny Greb (literally one of my favs), and someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to work on sound design, I very much appreciate this reminder. Thank you!!
Loved this. I’d be interested to hear a few ideas on "actual" practicing. Explaining details like where to pick stock footage to put my sounds over, which hard skills are worth practicing, etc.
Hey! Found you from Marshall McGees channel! Dude you are awesome. I am getting so inspired to do more and just create things! Thanks for inspiring us!
I'm blessed to have three-day weekends with my job which allows for good practice time, but I'm finding that even just practicing sound design for 10 minutes a day after work has been super helpful. I think another important aspect is also documenting what you learn in those smaller learning moments.
Great points Akash! Active Listening sessions are wonderful. You can do 3 super useful things at once: 1) Listen carefully and learn how real world sounds 2) Record this sessions so you have reference material or useful material for later projects 3) Enjoy it as a mindful meditation session and take a little break. Thank you as always, and looking forward for that self-paced course:) Go pet a cat😘
I always wonder what dessert you will be 😂 Portable practice is so much more helpful than I used to think it could be. Listening to audio and/or game podcasts, using Syntorial on iPad, and critically listening to other people’s work (and sometimes giving feedback) are some of my favorites. I’ve also been using your active listening technique when spending time in nature!
Yaay awesome! And good idea on syntorial for iPad! iPad synth tools are SO underrated, and using one on a plane or on the go is such an insanely good way to learn synth design. Fun fact: I've written over 200 desserts at this point to slot into my videos and articles, so I, too, wonder what dessert I will be any given day.
Nice! How I’ve been approaching the transition from post audio for film to learning game audio. Finding more regular smaller tasks far more rewarding than overwhelming myself with a huge beginner project
Hey Akash, I was wondering if you could talk sometime about how to tell *when* a sound effect is finished. I got into sound design originally through doing a lot of experimental music, and when working on things like that I can spend hours working tons of little variations, automation, and modulation into tracks that will be, I'm sure, virtually inaudible in the final product. Obviously spending so much time on frankly imperceptible aspects of audio isn't really wise, but I'm not sure where to "call it" and decide that the sound is done, especially for more standard sounds like footsteps/etc. I *could* spend hours and hours working on adding little details and flourishes, but don't want to "overwork" the sound effects (sometimes a footstep is just a footstep, and doesn't need to be overdesigned) or just waste my time adding details that will be inaudible when everything is said and done - but at the same time, I love when I hear really creative flourishes and details in sound design, and I can't really tell where that "line" between the two is. Any help you could give on this would be massively appreciated.
That's a great question! Probably worth a video in and of itself, but I'll give you a bit of quick advice here to start out with. The first thing to think about is that finishing a sound and letting it be done is a skill in and of itself - one that almost no one practices. So, if we haven't practiced the skill of saying "yup, this is good enough" and shipping it, then we'll always tweak forever. Now, how do you know when a sound is done? Well, one of the easiest ways is a deadline. If you're working with a client, you just have to send them what you have, and let them decide if they like it or not. There are countless times where a sound I spent 15 minutes on that I think is bad ends up as their favorite sound, whereas there are also sounds I spend all day on that the client hates. Give it to the client and let them decide if it's done or not. Now, we can't always do this on our own, so then you have to give yourself an "expiry date". For example, maybe after a single 20 minute practice session, this sound is done. You can't touch it anymore. If it's bad, great, and if it's amazing, that's also great. I work with a TON of people in my online courses on this skill, because it's almost impossible for up and coming sound designers to stop tweaking. The funny thing is, as soon as they just make stuff and send it to me for review, their sound improves immensely. The point of doing this practice isn't just to practice sound creation, but to practice the skill of finishing work. Professionals are the ones who can ship things. It doesn't mean it's perfect, or even good half the time, but a high level pro can put it down and walk away, and move on to the next thing. Being able to do that often matters more on a game project than actually being the best sound designer in the world.
@@AkashThakkarAudio Thank you very much for such a thorough reply! I'll keep all of that in mind. It's very easy for me to get stuck working on a single sound for hours when I have a lot of other things to work on, I should start setting hard limits for myself sometimes to get in the habit of not letting a single sound consume an entire day.
Ahoyhoy!
A little disclaimer for those starting out: active listening can be hard to turn off again once it has been internalized...
I often find it hard to not listen on hyper focus when I am outdoors and get exhausted pretty fast as a result, especially in vivid, busy places.
Not trying to scare anyone, but active listening may come with strings attached for some people.
Happy designing everybody!
I agree, though I've also been using it as a form of meditation. Focussing on specific sounds has a very calming effect to me.
+
You run the risk of becoming "that guy" at the club who complains about the hihat harshness at 7.36kHz...
yes. I confirm. it's a blessing and a curse but it's a package deal
As a drummer, long time lover of Benny Greb (literally one of my favs), and someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to work on sound design, I very much appreciate this reminder. Thank you!!
To quote Jack Black: "ALWAYS RECORD! ALWAYS RECORD!"
Loved this. I’d be interested to hear a few ideas on "actual" practicing. Explaining details like where to pick stock footage to put my sounds over, which hard skills are worth practicing, etc.
I love your videos Akash, and tried to subscribe to your course but unfortunelly it was sold out fast. Hope it opens soon, keep the good work
Hey! Found you from Marshall McGees channel! Dude you are awesome. I am getting so inspired to do more and just create things! Thanks for inspiring us!
Awww thanks so much! Marshall's the best!
I'm blessed to have three-day weekends with my job which allows for good practice time, but I'm finding that even just practicing sound design for 10 minutes a day after work has been super helpful. I think another important aspect is also documenting what you learn in those smaller learning moments.
Great points Akash! Active Listening sessions are wonderful. You can do 3 super useful things at once: 1) Listen carefully and learn how real world sounds 2) Record this sessions so you have reference material or useful material for later projects 3) Enjoy it as a mindful meditation session and take a little break. Thank you as always, and looking forward for that self-paced course:) Go pet a cat😘
I always wonder what dessert you will be 😂 Portable practice is so much more helpful than I used to think it could be. Listening to audio and/or game podcasts, using Syntorial on iPad, and critically listening to other people’s work (and sometimes giving feedback) are some of my favorites. I’ve also been using your active listening technique when spending time in nature!
Yaay awesome! And good idea on syntorial for iPad! iPad synth tools are SO underrated, and using one on a plane or on the go is such an insanely good way to learn synth design.
Fun fact: I've written over 200 desserts at this point to slot into my videos and articles, so I, too, wonder what dessert I will be any given day.
Thank You!
Thank YOU for watching!
Nice! How I’ve been approaching the transition from post audio for film to learning game audio. Finding more regular smaller tasks far more rewarding than overwhelming myself with a huge beginner project
Akash, your campaign seems to have the momentum of a runaway freight train. Why are you so popular?
Hey Akash, I was wondering if you could talk sometime about how to tell *when* a sound effect is finished. I got into sound design originally through doing a lot of experimental music, and when working on things like that I can spend hours working tons of little variations, automation, and modulation into tracks that will be, I'm sure, virtually inaudible in the final product. Obviously spending so much time on frankly imperceptible aspects of audio isn't really wise, but I'm not sure where to "call it" and decide that the sound is done, especially for more standard sounds like footsteps/etc. I *could* spend hours and hours working on adding little details and flourishes, but don't want to "overwork" the sound effects (sometimes a footstep is just a footstep, and doesn't need to be overdesigned) or just waste my time adding details that will be inaudible when everything is said and done - but at the same time, I love when I hear really creative flourishes and details in sound design, and I can't really tell where that "line" between the two is. Any help you could give on this would be massively appreciated.
That's a great question! Probably worth a video in and of itself, but I'll give you a bit of quick advice here to start out with.
The first thing to think about is that finishing a sound and letting it be done is a skill in and of itself - one that almost no one practices. So, if we haven't practiced the skill of saying "yup, this is good enough" and shipping it, then we'll always tweak forever.
Now, how do you know when a sound is done? Well, one of the easiest ways is a deadline. If you're working with a client, you just have to send them what you have, and let them decide if they like it or not. There are countless times where a sound I spent 15 minutes on that I think is bad ends up as their favorite sound, whereas there are also sounds I spend all day on that the client hates. Give it to the client and let them decide if it's done or not.
Now, we can't always do this on our own, so then you have to give yourself an "expiry date". For example, maybe after a single 20 minute practice session, this sound is done. You can't touch it anymore. If it's bad, great, and if it's amazing, that's also great. I work with a TON of people in my online courses on this skill, because it's almost impossible for up and coming sound designers to stop tweaking. The funny thing is, as soon as they just make stuff and send it to me for review, their sound improves immensely.
The point of doing this practice isn't just to practice sound creation, but to practice the skill of finishing work. Professionals are the ones who can ship things. It doesn't mean it's perfect, or even good half the time, but a high level pro can put it down and walk away, and move on to the next thing.
Being able to do that often matters more on a game project than actually being the best sound designer in the world.
@@AkashThakkarAudio Thank you very much for such a thorough reply! I'll keep all of that in mind. It's very easy for me to get stuck working on a single sound for hours when I have a lot of other things to work on, I should start setting hard limits for myself sometimes to get in the habit of not letting a single sound consume an entire day.
cool video, cool advice!