Category Archives: Personal Ponderings & Inspiration

New Post? Whoa! Lots of Voice Overs

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Hey all! So my fabulous wonderful Cyndi has really spiffed up the site and this blog, hats off to her! I’m gonna keep everything much fresher with new releases. My apologies for not updating much, but for the last year I’ve been working on several titles at once at all times! Now it’s time to communicate and share all I’ve done.

I’ve especially been doing lots of Mobile Games, and LOADS of voice over projects. The biggest ones are Dragon Nest SEA, Schoolfeed Bingo, and SD Gundam Capsule Fighter Online.

I’ve become much more efficient at producing voice overs (working with actors, recording, as well as editing.) I’ve finally really admitted and learned that there is no magic EQ or compression setting. Basically you can start with certain settings you will find through time, but in the end EVERY SINGLE FILE must be edited individually to make sure they are all the same volume and cropped properly, don’t pop or click, etc. This gets especially fun when you deal with Dragon Nest, which contains 1500 voice over files! Wowsers!

Much love to you all. Thanks always for your questions, comments, fanmail, etc. I will see some of you at GDC next week and also Casual Connect in July! And I might just be speaking in Singapore in May as well! BUSY YEAR AHEAD! 🙂

WOW how time flies!

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UM my poor abandoned blog!  I have been so busy in the last year. I teamed up with some very talented folks: Greg Rahn (composed for Broderbund and even did Carmen Sandiego OMG!!!), Barry Dowsett and Kevin Tone from Soundrangers (one worked for Microsoft and one has won prestigious awards), and Jesse Holt (audio designer for Game House for 10 years!)  Not only are they talented, they are my friends. We’ve been running all the audio presentations at Casual Connect and Gamesauce for the last few years. We decided to start a new company, the Game Audio Alliance. We each have 10+ years in the game audio industry, so we are quite the force of complimentary skills!  www.gameaudioalliance.com

What else?  I’ve been doing a lot of Facebook games… Mesmo, Mean Hamster, GSN… Those games are very addictive!  OH and I did a bunch of 8-bit music for a game called Pixel Whirled.  It is like Space Invaders, except you can flip the screen over… so you have to play two levels at once!  I also did some voiceover work, which is always great fun.

I’m trying hard to release a new single and album for nR Element, my eurodance project… and my pal Eva Maass was hired to sing for Disko Warp Records’ release of “Butterfly,” a cover of the Dance Dance Revolution song by Smile-dk. I recorded and produced the vocals. Pete made the beats sound sick, and remixers did awesome jobs.

I’m also trying to release an OST for Aveyond 1. Oh speaking of Aveyond, I finished the last tracks for the final installation coming out this winter… kinda sad, but I am so proud to have done all the tracks for the series… it is like 100 songs in all throughout the years.

I am now a board member of the chorus I sing with, GGMC. I’m proud to be more official now.  OH and this last concert, I sang the solo of “Kalinka” which is a Russian folk song that was used for TETRIS!!!  How fitting.

I have big plans and am trying to get unburied… I have certainly bit off more than I can chew! But the fire is still lit and I never ever get sick of making music. It is my life’s passion. Thanks for all of you who follow me and give me strength and feedback. I love you all! XOXO. Talk to you soon, lonely blog and abandoned fans!

An Extravagent Party at San Francisco City Hall

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OK so I thought the economy was down the pipes? You wouldn’t know it at the Intuit Holiday Party… ballroom dancers, Brazilian dancers, several live bands, amazing food and desserts, casino games and dealers and professional photographers. Performers included: Kaweh, Latin Rhythms, Eric Jarmie, Galo Rivera, Boca Do Rio, SRO, The Angelo Piano Duo & Joyce Cooling. Joyce was my favorite.

Yes, very cool party, but it makes me wonder how a company can justify laying off many people and outsourcing jobs to save money, and then spending what I can only imagine is a small fortune on a party…

But I enjoyed the great music and food. Hmm maybe one day Walz Music will have a great Holiday Party! But we would also like to be socially conscious and not wasteful. Here are some pictures and a video!

San Francisco City Hall

San Francisco City Hall

The Desserts!

The Desserts!

One Band Setting Up

One Band Setting Up

Another Band Playing!

Joyce Cooling

I Feel So Classy!

I Feel So Classy!

Vote No On Prop 8!

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If you are in California and old enough to vote… please realize PROP 8 is winning here… that means… gay marraige will be overturned and all existing marraiges will be torn apart. This is a travesty. In the past, ethnicities and mixed race couples were forbidden from marrying… this is not the first time people have fought for equal rights.

There is no reason why anyone should stop two responsible adults from getting married. They need the same rights as other couples.

If this passes, people’s beautiful dreams and weddings will be UNDONE. Young people will face a future without being supported by society or rights with their future partners. Please tell everyone you know in CA to vote NO on Prop 8.

You can also visit www.noonprop8.com to find out how to help!

Vote No on Prop 8!

Vote No on Prop 8!

Bomberman (the game!) on a plane

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So Jason and I were playing Bomberman on my laptop during a flight. We kept saying things like, “ooh, I got another bomb!” Or “I’m gonna blow you up!” ETC…

Not a good idea to play this game on a plane these days. Luckily no one even seemed to notice.

Love the game. The theme song is pretty memorable too! And the characters are so cute and their sounds are adorable.

Bomberman!

Bomberman!

Gameplay

Gameplay

Finally… I love this weather.

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San Francisco folks know that we don’t get summer suntil late August or September. Marin and Sonoma folks up north tease us as they swim in the sun and we frown in the fog. But now the tides have turned.  It gets over 100 degrees up there, and instead, here, we get the most pleasant weather ever.

It makes me feel alive and happy. Right in time for a three day weekend! Yes!

And so the BLOG Begins

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Alright!  Finally did it – created my own blog. Why? I need a place to share some good music making tips with all of you and get these passions off my chest! Well I also confess it will be a nice place to mull over personal growth progress, musings, and Self-Employment and business challenges!

For those of you who don’t know already, I’m Aaron Walz and I’m a video game music composer. I won Game Tunnel’s Best Soundtrack Award for Aveyond, which features acoustic orchestral recordings. 

Thanks for readin’ and please feel free to comment!