An Audio Lifestyle by Chris Teixeira

OIART AUDIO LIFESTYLE

Chris Teixeira – Sound Designer – Big Viking Games

Many OIART Alumni have achieved personal goals and with dedication and hard work, get to the positions they deserve. We took some time to catch up with grad, Chris Teixeria, a graduate from 2011 to ask him a few questions about his Audio Lifestyle.

“What was it that got you started in audio?”
So, I’ve always tinkered with audio. I had a tape recorder as a kid, messed around with computer audio. So, I’ve always wanted to take that further and become a sound designer and composer.

“Why did you choose to go to an audio engineering school, and why did you choose OIART?”
I felt like I couldn’t get the skills that I needed by just learning it on my own, and I wanted to learn it really quickly. So, I felt like OIART was the best place where I can sort of use the gear that they had there, learn from all the teacher’s experience and really take my career to the next level.

“How did OIART prepare you for this job?”
OIART prepared me by allowing me to learn about all the different aspects of audio production. So when this job came around, I was ready, because I learned about sound design, learned about live audio, music production, acoustics, and a whole bunch of other things that allowed me to fit into this role perfectly.

“What was your first job after graduation?”
After graduation, my first audio job was working live sound. I worked for a couple of different companies mixing live events throughout the city.

“How did you land your job at BVG and how did you prepare yourself?”
I just worked on my skills recording bands and doing sound design on the side, until I had a friend that worked at Big Viking Games and I just bugged him until he gave me a job here. Luckily, I was ready with my audio skills, and I was ready to take on the role.

“What is a typical day look like at Big Viking Games?”
A typical day at Big Viking Games starts with me opening up ProTools and getting to work on the newest feature that we are working on, whether it be sound design work or composing.

“What is the most rewarding part of the job?"
The most rewarding part about working here is probably getting to work on a live product. It’s really amazing working on sound design and music for a game that people are playing and enjoying already, adding new features that they are going to enjoy for years to come.

“What was the most challenging part?”
The most challenging part of the job is that we are working on live games, where the game is out already, so we have to make sure that every new thing we add, meshes with the old stuff and make sure these new features are fun and people enjoy them.

“When it comes to a job like yours, what are the most important skills you took away from OIART?"
I’d say the most important thing is your listening skills, you have to make sure that you can come up with something that matches the visual style of the game. Always making sure that you have good taste and your matching the audio to the visuals.

“What are you most proud of?”
The thing I’m most proud of is that I have sound design work that can be heard on all the major platforms, PC, PS4, Xbox 1, Nintendo Switch. It was a dream come true to release games on those platforms.

“And finally, is there any advice you would have given yourself when starting out?”
The advice I’d give myself when starting out would just be to keep creating, you don’t really need to worry about what jobs are out there or what opportunities are out there right now, you just have to make sure your skills are up to where they should be and the opportunities will come.