Reel
** Warning** This is a bit outdated now – a new version incoming soon featuring all the projects from below!
About Me
I am a technical audio designer specialising in the games industry. I love working on both the creative and technical challenges that go into game development and building immersive interactive worlds loaded with detail and atmosphere.
Originally from Portsmouth, I moved to London where I worked for over 12 years as a recording and mix engineer. I worked with hundreds of incredibly talented artists and brands including A$AP Rocky, Red Bull, BBC, Skepta, Stormzy, Warp Records & Jorja Smith on numerous award winning projects.
While engineering in recording studios my interest in the games industry continued to grow, leading me to start working as a freelance sound designer on indie games. Primarily using Reaper and Pro Tools throughout my audio career I have added a strong working knowledge of developing in Unity, Unreal, C#, C++ and implementing audio using both Wwise & FMOD.
I am currently working as the technical audio designer on Hunt Showdown.
Other projects I have worked on in audio design and/or technical roles include Fabledom (Grenaa Games), Moonbreaker (Power Up Audio / Unknown Worlds) and High On Life (Squanch Games).
I also run a Sound Design Workshop and Game Audio Meet Up with Work With Indies on their Discord every other Thursday
What I Do
SOUND DESIGN
Audio immerses a player as much as any other area of game development. Due to the long timescales that game projects can span it is crucial to start right.
When I first take on a new project I like to build a shared vocabulary with the devs. By learning what the people making the game like I can to start to build ideas of how to approach the game as a whole. This allows me to have a set of constraints or themes that remain throughout the project when approaching individual assets to maintain a consistent aesthetic.
IMPLEMENTATION
Sound design is half the battle (probably even less!!). Implementing these sounds into a dynamic game world using in engine tools or middleware is about further immersing the player by helping the world come alive, responding to every movement, detail and button press.
Similarly to how I design sounds for games, when working on implementation I like to get an understanding of the technical aspects of the project. This allows me to work alongside the developers and get a feel for how to best bring the game’s sound to life.
Whether it is using in-engine tools and scripting or using middleware such as FMOD or Wwise, I aim to make scalable and efficient audio systems that can fit in with the project’s requirements to reduce the developer’s workload.
What I Use
Microphones
- AKG C414 (x2)
- AKG D12
- Blue Bottle
- Electro-Voice RE20 (x2)
- Neuman U87
- Shure SM57 (x4)
- Shure SM58 (x2)
- Shure SM7B
- Shure SM81
- Sennheiser MD421 (x2)
- Sennheiser E604 (x4)
- Rode NTG3
- Zoom H4N Pro
Software
- Reaper
- Pro Tools
- Logic X
- Extensive UAD collection
- Waves, Slate & Soundtoys
- NI Komplete
- Izotope RX
- Melodyne
Monitoring & I/O
- PMC TwoTwo 6 (x2)
- Genelec M040 (x2)
- Sennheiser DT550
- Arturia Audiofuse Studio
- Apogee conversion
Outboard
- Neve 1073 DPA
- UA 1776LN
- Emperical Labs Distressor
- Focusrite ISA 430
- DBX 160 (x2)
- Too many guitar FX
Game Dev
- Unity
- FMOD
- Wwise
- Blender
- C#
Instruments & Amps
- Fender Telecaster
- Fender P Bass
- Ibanez S1620
- Roland Juno 106
- Yamaha & Tailor electro acoustic
- Fender Deville
- Blackstar HT5
Get In Touch
If you would like to talk about your project or just say hi please email me at sam@samhouselander.com, fill out the form below or DM me on Instagram or Twitter
