Are You At GDC '15? Here Are The Game Audio Top Picks From Damian Kastbauer, Jack Menhorn & Frank Bry:

Going to GDC 2015 next week (March 2-5th)? I’m not going myself, unfortunately – but for those of you who are, I figured an overview of some of the great GDC audio sessions and events could come in handy.

So I decided to reach out to game audio guru Damian Kastbauer (aka @Lostlab), – as well as sound designer Jack Menhorn and field recordist Frank Bry – for some of their top picks this year.

Oh, I also came across an overview of all the parties and mixers that are happening at GDC too.

You’ll find the whole lot below – hope you find it useful!

Damian Kastbauer's Top Picks (in order of appearance):

Monday:

Creating Hyper-Adaptive Music on an Indie Budget

C. Andrew Rohrmann(scntfc / 17-Bit)

Tuesday:

Audio Bootcamp : Technical Sound Design

Mark Kilborn(Raven Software)

Audio Bootcamp : The Sounds of Year Walk and DEVICE 6

Daniel Olsen(Independent)

Wednesday:

All Style, All Substance: The Audio Journey of the Vanity and Traversal System for Sunset Overdrive

Kristen Quebe(Microsoft), Bryan Higa(Obsidian)

Creating an Interactive Musical Experience for Fantasia: Music Evolved

Jeff Allen(Harmonix Music Systems), Devon Newsom(Harmonix Music Systems)

Thursday:

Peggle Blast: Big Concepts, Small Project

RJ Mattingly(PopCap), Jaclyn Shumate(PopCap), Guy Whitmore(PopCap)

Getting Buy-In: How to Give Your Game Audio Style

Joanna Orland(Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)

The Evolving JRPG Audio Culture

Tomohiro Yajima(Square Enix), Yuichi Nishimatsu(Square Enix)

Implementing Adaptive Loudness and Dynamic Range for Mobile Games

Rob Bridgett(Clockwork Fox Studios)

Smart Sound Design Using Modularity and Data Inheritance

Martin Loxton(Frostbite)

Women in Game Audio

Corina Bello(High Moon Studios), Penka Kouneva(Kouneva Studios), Laura Karpman(Laura Karpman Music), Paul Lipson(Microsoft Studios), Benedicte Ouimet(Ubisoft Montreal), Belinda Van Sickle(Women in Games International)

Friday:

Audio Tips for Public Betas, Alphas and Early Access

Matthew Marteinsson(Klei Entertainment)

Hohokum: Adventures in Music and Sound Design

David Collins(SCEA)

Where Does the Game End and the Instrument Begin?

Matt Boch(Harmonix Music Systems), Jon Moldover(Smule Inc.), Nick Bonardi(Ubisoft), David Young(Smule Inc.), Brian Schmidt(Brian Schmidt Studios)

See the full overview of audio related sessions at GDC 2015 here.

Top Picks from Jack Menhorn and Frank Bry

Top Picks from Frank Bry:

Women in Game Audio • Audio Bootcamp : Technical Sound Design •
The Neuroscience of Game Audio

Top Picks from Jack Menhorn:

Audio Tips For Public Betas, Alphas and Early Access • The Evolving JRPG Culture • Women in Game Audio

Like to party? Here's where the GDC parties are at:

If you’re looking for some festive stuff after a long day at GDC, I’ve come across this overview of all the parties and mixers that take place during the event, maintained by Pedro Chavez.

See the continuously updated list of GDC parties and mixers here.

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