Recording and Production in the News

ADA-8XR converter adds computer games music to its growing list of credits

London - May 2006: Multiple award-winning composer Richard Jacques, who specialises in music for computer games, has recently completed the trailer for a new Sony PlayStation® 3 game using Prism Sound's ADA-8XR multi-channel converters and processors.

L-R: Composer Richard Jacques & Pro Tools specialist Matt Howe

The trailer was recorded in surround sound at AIR Studios in London using a full orchestra. Jacques collaborated closely with sound designer Dominic Gibbs and was assisted throughout by Pro Tools specialist Matt Howe. The trailer was eventually dubbed at Shepperton Film Studios to ensure a truly cinematic feel.

"My involvement with Prism Sound dates back to 2001 when Matt and I recorded the score for Sega's "Headhunter" at Abbey Road Studios," Richard Jacques says. "That was a first for a number of reasons: the first to use "A" list London session musicians for a computer game score; the first orchestral score to be recorded straight to Pro Tools using the Prism Sound ADA-8 converters, and the first computer game score to be recorded at Abbey Road. The audio quality delivered by the converters was so phenomenal that Abbey Road subsequently bought their own units, while the game itself won numerous awards and accolades because of the quality and cinematic feel of its soundtrack."

These days, using orchestras for computer games scores has become much more prevalent, mainly thanks to Jacques' groundbreaking work with Headhunter, which was eventually released as a game for Sega Dreamcast and Sony PlayStation® 2, as well as a double soundtrack CD.

"The computer games industry now has a much better understanding of what an orchestra can achieve," he explains. "They know that consumer enjoyment is enhanced by a great soundtrack and are therefore more willing to put budget into the audio, especially for a major game release."

For this latest project, Jacques and Howe opted for the new Prism Sound ADA-8XR converters because they wanted to capture the unique sound of AIR's world-famous Lyndhurst Hall.

"Richard wanted to work at AIR because the Lyndhurst Hall has fantastic acoustics, especially for orchestral work," Matt Howe explains. "My task was to take a sonic photograph so that we could recreate the Hall's acoustics without adding or colouring the sound in any way. Having worked with Prism Sound's ADA-8XRs on previous projects, I knew that these were the only converters on the market that could achieve what I was trying to do. They operate at sampling rates of up to 192kHz and boast even greater analogue performance than their earlier incarnation, the ADA-8s. They are also 100% compatible with my Pro Tools HD3 system, so connecting them up is a very quick and easy process."

Recently awarded the coveted PAR Excellence Award 2005 by Pro Audio Review and nominated for the 2006 TEC Awards, Prism Sound's precision eight-channel ADA-8XR is already proving popular with a variety of recording studios and mastering facilities around the world. To date it has been used for film scores and music recording projects. Now, thanks to Jacques and Howe, it can also add computer games music to its growing list of credits.