New Interview with Audio XP podcast
It’s been a while since I’ve added to my blog! Cole Harmon was kind enough to ask me to be his guest on his new podcast, Audio XP! Cole has really impressed me since we met a few years back. He shows great drive, enthusiasm and talent as he’s transitioned into game audio. We connected on LinkedIn and struck up a friendship. His new podcast is really interesting and I’m honored to among such prestigious guests!
You can check out the podcast below. I hope you find it enjoyable and useful!
I was also a part of The Video Game Composer Podcast back in April of this year. I meant to blog about it but life’s been a bit crazy!
Movin’ on up!
I’m super pleased to say I’ve been made Lead Audio Designer at Unbroken Studios! I really love working with this team and am so excited for the future. Of course, I can’t say too much about what we’re doing right now but please know it’s been a pure blast. We’ve got another closed playtest happening right now and we’re all super busy working to make Harry Potter Quidditch Champions the very best it can be!
You can check out a quick video promoting this closed playtest below:
Also, Unbroken Studios was named one of the best places to work by GamesIndustry.Biz! Congrats Unbroken! You’re truly a special place!
Class is in.
Also I’ve returned as an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, teaching my class Interactive Game Audio. This is a 14-part course that uses Unreal 4 and outlines everything folks need to know when creating and implementing sound design, voice over and music for games. Teaching is such a fulfilling experience. I often feel like I’m learning from my students while they’re learning from me! They’re killing it and I really enjoy teaching this class! I’m also already planning updates for next year’s version of this course.
Happy Almost-Birthday Madsen Studios LLC!
Can you believe that my audio company started back in October 25th, 2005?! That means that in 8 days, Madsen Studios LLC turns 18! A legal adult! Crap… I need to shop for a birthday gift! 😛
Kidding aside, I’m super grateful and proud that this little audio dream of mine has lasted this long and continues to grow. It’s taken so many twists and turns to get to this point – all of which has taught me so very much. A sincere thank you to my clients, colleagues, friends and family who have shown me so much support over this time! Here’s to 18 more years!
Wait…. does this mean I’M OLD?!
Speaking of birthdays
I’m a tad bit late on this but SkateBIRD celebrated it’s second birthday on Sept 16th. The game has grown into something I don’t think anyone on the dev team expected. We even had a SkateBIRD plush made. I remember when Megan Fox first reached out to me and asked “Hey, you wanna write one music track for a level of this prototype… with a bird skateboarding?” That one music track turned into a total of 32 tracks. And the SkateBIRD OST has been listened to on Spotify nearly 180k times since it was released. This makes it, by far, the most successful OST I’ve put out! (BTW the OST released a few months earlier than the game to help generate buzz.)
The Holidays… they are a-comin’
Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? Yep, I haven’t either. Haven’t even started! And things are rushing forward so fast. Can’t believe we’re already halfway through October. It will be 2024 before we know it! My hopes for this season are to:
*not eat every single cookie within eyesight (doubt this will be a success)
*get some more runs and workouts in
*finish the year strong with professional and personal projects
*actually read another book (it’s been AGES)
*get some well deserved downtime with friends and family in over the Xmas/NYE break
What are some of your hopes for this upcoming season?
Difficult Times For Many
Not only is this a crazy time for the game industry with so many lay offs, it’s also a very scary time in the world. I hope we can come together, unify and bring more joy, understanding, respect and peace to our lives. We all need it! If you’re struggling with unemployment right now, perhaps read over this blog I wrote in 2015 then updated in Feb 2023. My wife and I have faced unemployment as a family four times and have learned several lessons along the way. It’s super hard but I hope this article may provide some insight on what’s helped us in the past.
It’s little consolation but I would add that this market is unlike any I’ve seen before.
Give yourself some grace and space if you’re getting frustrated. It’s not YOU. It’s this crazy time! I hope things will settle down soon, for all of us.
BIO
Nate Madsen is an established composer, sound designer with 18 years experience and over 1,100 credits. He’s worked in-house at FUNimation Entertainment, NetDevil, Bee Cave Games, SciPlay and is currently a Lead Audio Designer at Unbroken Studios and is working on Harry Potter Quidditch Champions. His three recent side quests include Harry Potter Magic Caster Wand, Great Wolf Lodge’s Magiquest and Glass Bottom Game’s SkateBIRD. Nate also teaches Interactive Game Audio at The University of Tennessee Knoxville. He lives in Austin, Texas, loves craft beer and dreams of queso. He’s also scheming how to pull off the world’s largest Thin Mints heist. Be sure to reach out to Nathan with any audio needs you may have!