GDC 2025 Session Viewer
The Synthesizer Plugins of 'COCOON'
Jakob Schmid (Audio director, Geometric Interactive)
Location: Room 3024, West Hall
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Time: 9:00 am - 10:00 am
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass, Audio Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Audio, Programming
Format: Lecture
Vault Recording: TBD
Audience Level: All
The music that plays throughout most of COCOON is generated using 5 FMOD plugins, based on a handful of synthesis techniques including granular, subtractive, and FM/AM synthesis. These plugins run on all last- and current-generation consoles and on Windows.
Composer / programmer Jakob Schmid will explain the structure and operation of these instruments, how they are set up in FMOD Studio, and how they react to input from the game, focusing on a few experimentally developed control methods that might prove useful for any music software developer.
The plugins were developed experimentally using prototypes created in Bitwig's Grid mode and then reimplemented as FMOD Studio plugins in C++. This approach allowed rapid prototyping and effective implementation. A high level description of a few key components of the synthesizers is given, along with an explanation of how a graphical patch structure can be easily implemented in code.
Takeaway
Learn how a soundtrack for a 5 hour game can be generated by 5 MB of plugins. Learn effective methods for controlling synthesizer plugins. See an example of how a synthesizer design can be prototyped in Bitwig Studio. Learn how a synthesizer can be implemented as an FMOD plugin.
Intended Audience
The intended audience is anyone interested in generative audio, and specifically composers and sound designers interested in a novel approach to generative music, and audio programmers and plugin developers interested in synthesizer prototyping and implementation.
The talk assumes some basic familiarity with sound middleware such as FMOD Studio, and does not assume any knowledge about programming, although it might still give a few tips and inspiration for any audio programmers present.