Normally, when we think of games, we think of devs and writers, but music and sound are a huge part of any gaming experience.
Somepoint Sound is the two man team of Drummond Dominguez-Kincannon and Ethan Gustavson. They are the co-founders of Somepoint Sound and the audio leads for The Edge VR experience in Westchester, NY.
Here’s how the sound engineers of Somepoint Sound made their way into the industry.
Half Glass Gaming: How did you find out about The Edge VR?
Drummond Dominguez-Kincannon: Funny story about how I found out about this project. After living in Brooklyn for four years, I decided to visit my home town. I went to a Smash Bros. tournament because I needed to show these young chumps what four years of REAL smash training looked like.
I lost. But! As I left the tournament with my tail between my legs, I saw a group of guys running around inside of what looked like a wrestling ring with VR headsets and body suits on. I took down the building info, did some research and found out it was a one of a kind VR experience popping up right in my hometown. I sent off a resume that night and got the job the next morning. Right place right time… And Smash.
HGG: How did you find your way into doing compositions and sound for games?
DD-K: It’s been both of our dreams since we were kids. We love everything relating to gaming. We both studied at the conservatory of music at Purchase College where we met. I studied jazz guitar and Ethan studied composition. We both knew we wanted to work in game audio so we decided to create Somepoint Sound together as a means to make that happen.
HGG: What are your creative inspirations as musicians / composers / foley artists?
DD-K: This release was heavily inspired by Martin O’Donnell’s work on the Halo franchise. The Edge VR shared a lot of aesthetic similarities to those games, so I studied his music quite a bit and watched as many interviews as I could.
Ethan Gustavson: Jerry Goldsmith’s Alien score was a huge inspiration for me. I had also just finished Alien Isolation, a game in which the composers leaned heavily on his prior work.
HGG: What are your favorite games?
DD-K: My number one favorite game is Shadow of the Colossus. I’ve actually got a SotC tattoo. It means so much to me. For this project I drew heavily on one of (SotC Director) Fumita Uedas’s approach to game design. Make something the best you can make it, and then reduce those elements to only the most necessary elements. I’m also a huge Metal Gear Solid fan, and I have to give a shout out to the original Deus Ex.
EG: A few of my favorites are God of War (2018), Bloodborne, Breath of the Wild, and Outer Wilds. Recently, Hunt: Showdown has its teeth in me. The sound design is immaculate.
HGG: How long have you been working on sound for film? How long have you been working on sound for games? How does our work on one inform the other?
We have been working in the film industry for a little over half a decade. Our first projects were student films at Purchase. We both have a passion for film work, but that also gave us the opportunity to learn while we earned. So working in film really helped us learn about recording, mixing, composition, SFX/ambiences/foley.
I am glad to have worked on film scores before working on the Edge VR because a lot of the moments in this game are timed events. Films and (most) games are telling a story. Our music is a supporting character, helping to tell those stories.
We have been working in games for three years. The Edge VR is our first official soundtrack release. We have two other projects currently in development. One, Kainga: Seeds of Civilization is slated for release in September of 2022, and the other is still to be determined.
HGG: What advice would you give to musicians looking to get into the game industry?
EG: PLAY GAMES! And listen critically. Learn the fundamentals of game design. Study game engines (Unity, Unreal, etc…) and middleware (Wwise, Fmod).
DK-K: Follow what you’re passionate about and just don’t give up. And make a schedule.
