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DJ HERO (2010-2011)
Music Production Specialist, Audio Tools Developer
DJ Hero is an award-winning video game developed by FreeStyleGames, published by Activision. The game incorportes a hardware turntable controller and follows similar logic as titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band in which the player follows the on-screen cues to perform the music and score points. Unlike its rock sibillings which use existing song masters as the foundation, DJ Hero takes a new approach in the creation of unique mashups and remixes, incorporating elements from current and classic pop, dance, and hip-hop songs.
As a music production specialist at Activision, I was responsible for producing in-game remixes and mashups, as well as specifying how the player interacts with the music via the on-screen gameplay cues. Mix production also involved collaborating with music celebrity talent, such as DJ Qbert and RZA, in the creation of the mixes.
Working with the DJ Hero team and the Activision Music Department, I was also responsible for generating mix ideas and song selection for the in-game setlist, which has received many accolades and awards including:
- "Best Soundtrack" award at the Video Game Awards 2010
- "Best Soundtrack 2010" award from IGN
- 9.25 / 10 from Game Informer
- 9 / 10 from IGN
Some of the mixes I created for the game can be seen on the left.
In addition to selecting and producing music for the game, I developed audio tools for exploring new gameplay mechanics, increasing remix pipeline efficiency and maximizing creative output:
- Gameplay development tools. I developed a software platform to interface the turntable controller to MaxMSP and Ableton Live for prototyping core gameplay functionality and advancemenets for DJ Hero 3. The platform allowed us to explore real-time performance possibilities and experiment with various software control mappings and functions.
Built as a Max For Live device. Based on the Ms. Pinky device and algorithm by Scott Wardle.
- Real-time gameplay tools. Integrated as Max For Live modules inside Ableton Live, I created a gameplay cue visualizer and error-checker that allows remixers to preview gameplay mechanics in real-time directly from the production environment, without the need to export audio data to the development game console.
- Automation of audio asset exporting and naming. I created an AutoHotKey script and MaxMSP patch to handle automated exporting of final game audio assets from the mix production environment. This greatly increased efficiency and eliminated user errors. The script also supported batch processing of multiple game mixes.
Additional audio support at Activision:
- Working in collaboration with advertising agency video production team, I created the final edited remix for the DJ Hero television spot.
- Music selection and temping for True Crime Hong Kong, another game by Activision.
- Created a script for previewing licensed and scored music to gameplay video. The script automatically cues gameplay video scenes, using timestamps from a simple text cue sheet, and allows the music supervisor to select a song for previewing it to picture. Requiring only Quicktime and Windows Media Player, this enabled music supervisors without knowledge or access to advanced audio and video sequencing software to quickly assess music ideas to picture.
