Stephen Pryke - Far Cry [Audio Redesign] This is an audio redesign I did for a short clip taken from the game ‘Far Cry’. I recently applied for a sound design role at Ubisoft and as a part of the application process, I was given this clip to resound. All the sounds present I either synthesised, manipulated, or recorded myself. To set the scene, I first implemented the environmental ambience that is heard throughout, which I recorded during the summer. The gun handling foley was created using different parts of a Wii Guitar Hero controller, to which I applied a very short reverb to make it sound more metallic. The explosion is comprised of a few different layers; the sub hit was created by isolating a rumble of thunder I’d recorded; the mid-high layer was the sound of a paper bag being crumpled and played through a tube distortion plugin; the rest of the sound was created by hitting two baking trays together. Each element was put through a large reverb. The UI sounds (i.e., the warning notice, the inventory/weapon switch menu, etc) were glitchy sounds that I either synthesised and or made using leftover gun foley sounds played through a bitcrusher. I imagined that the main character would be wearing boots, so I recorded some heavy footsteps and layered in some rattling sounds, indicating buckles, zips, or even just rattling weapons. The grenade launcher uses the same paper bag recording as used in the explosion, but I added a subtle phaser and quicker fade-out to create a ‘whoosh’ sound. The flamethrower sound was created by spraying an aerosol can, pitch-shifting and stretching the recording, and then adding a reverb and flanger to mask any artefacts. By holding the open end of a guitar lead and adding reverb, I created a sub-station hum, and the switch sound is that of a car handbrake. For the machine gun sound, I started by synchronising a MIDI note to each bullet fired. Then, using Serum’s white noise generator, I shaped the envelope to have a quick attack and short release with every note played. This gave me a punchy transient to begin the sound. I opened up two more instances of Serum and altered the envelope of each (slower attack, longer release) to add to the body of each bullet sound. I also added some variation to the noise and subtly randomised the phase to so that each bullet was slightly different. The bullet shells were recreated by dropping coins, which I synchronised to the visuals and panned slightly to the right. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer, sound designer and sonic artist from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional music and sound work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquiries can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, ‘Lunicium’. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2023 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved. (Audio only)

Stephen Pryke - Unreal Engine 5 Reveal [Audio Redesign] This is a piece of coursework I submitted for the “Sound Design in Visual Media” topic of my "MSc Music & Sound for Film & Games" course at the University of Hertfordshire. We were given this 'Unreal Engine 5 Reveal' clip, and we were tasked with creating a cinematic ambience to go with it. We also had to create a 5-minute long version of the ambience that seamlessly loops and could be used as an asset in a game. This work is achieved a mark of 95, which is equivalent to a Distinction. Not only was this the highest grade in my class, but this is also the highest grade possible, one that is given out very sparingly by assessors and is reserved only for truly exceptional work. Link to 5-minute extended loop: https://youtu.be/FgDh7QlC4IY I created the main wind texture (which can be heard from the very start) using a feedback loop technique, whereby I played an electrical hum sound through a reverb bus that was feeding back into itself via another bus. I added a bass booster to thicken the texture and created a loop. I automated a low pass filter to oscillate between 230Hz and 775Hz so the texture could evolve throughout the loop, and I automated some mid-range resonances to fade in and out at random intervals, making it sound like the wind is blowing. I also created a higher pitched layer using the same technique, which comes in every so often to add further variation to the sound. With the setting being a cavernous Aztec pyramid of sorts, I recorded and implemented some sounds that would fit the space both realistically and creatively in the context of horror/thriller game. Water drops are sparsely placed across the loop and the 30-second clip to signify the dark, dingy, cave-like setting. The howling wind sounds were created by recording myself whistling; they fit nicely with the main wind textures and sound ghostly and eerie, making the ambience more tense. The tension is further increased with the addition of some ominous wind gusts. These sounds were recorded coming through my front door during Storm Eunice and had a dark atonality about them. After applying reverb, the resulting sound was like that of an ancient war horn, used when commencing battle. I felt that this fit well with the setting, given the soldier statues, but they also worked well as normal wind gust sounds and helped to add variation to the ambience. The 5-minute loop is normalised, as would be expected when delivering assets to be implemented in a game, and the 30-second clip has been mastered with an integrated loudness of -23 LUFS, meeting the EBU R128 standard. The 30-second clip also features some whispers as the main character walks past the statues, which along with the other sounds supports the storytelling and alludes to the idea that this place is haunted, increasing the intensity. I recorded, synthesised and implemented all the sounds myself, although I do NOT own the rights to this clip; it has been used in this instance for the sole purpose of carrying out this assignment. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer and sound designer from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2022 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved.

Stephen Pryke - Splash Damage Industry Test [Audio Redesign] This is a piece of coursework I submitted for the “Soundtrack in Interactive Games” topic of my "MSc Music & Sound for Film & Games" course at the University of Hertfordshire. We were given this clip with no sound and we had to provide the sound design. This module was led by one of the Lead Sound Designers at Splash Damage, a game developer, and this is what they ask potential candidates to do when applying for a job there. This features clips from their game 'Gears of War: Tactics' and 'Doom Eternal'. However, the candidates are usually provided with sounds, and I had to create these sounds myself. I taught myself to use Reaper to complete this assignment as it is becoming an industry standard, plus I had to master the audio according to the EBU R128 standard of -23 LUFS (+/-1 LU). This task has given me a good insight as to what I can expect should I apply to work for a game company. This work is achieved a mark of 77, which is equivalent to a Distinction. For the Wretches, I recorded my own voice and manipulated it by lowering the pitch and adding saturation and heavy compression. I achieved the blood and gore sounds by stirring pasta in sauce and I added some bone crunching sounds, made by crushing dry leaves and twigs, to emphasise each bite the Wretches take, increasing the gory texture. Their footsteps were bass-boosted takes of me hitting my chest to replicate a barefoot sound, and I rustled a t-shirt to create the ‘whoosh’ sounds when they jump. I used a similar technique to create the roars of the Brumak as I did when making the Wretch sounds, albeit with a lower pitch shift, layers of noise filtered to blend with the tone of the roars, and frequency modulation to make the sounds even more distorted and grotesque. The overall atmosphere is grim and apocalyptic, with the sound of fire and falling rubble in the background, the latter achieved using paper bags and a cereal box. The weight of the footsteps came from bass-boosting and filtering a mattress being hit, and the mids and highs were made by walking on some plastic bags, which after some manipulation, sounded as though the Brumak was walking through debris and rubble. The final layer is the altered sound of jingling keys, used for the metallic weapons and chains worn by the Brumak. I also made sure to create a sense of space, using a reverb bus, and panning sounds according to their on-screen position. The heat blast was made by layering the sound of a flamethrower and a tank firing, then I used a phaser to distort the resultant sound and achieve the fluttering pulse-like effect. For the plasma gunfire, I mostly used the sound of a mini fan, which I pitch-shifted differently to correspond with the change in colour, and I synthesised a patch using in Serum to create a rising layer, making it seem as though the gunfire is becoming more intense and powerful. I applied a frequency modulator to create a tremolo effect and added kick sounds as transients. By using a delay on some low-level firework bangs and pops, I was able to recreate the impact gunfire hitting the mountain, which I panned as the gun moved. The gun foley sounds in the last clip were made using a door latch and keys. I manipulated the speed and timbre of an automatic assault rifle sound to make it sound slightly more like a missile launcher. Again, I recreated the missile impacts using some firework sounds I recorded and added the firework echoes to the end of the gunfire to show the distance travelled by the missiles. I created the sounds used here, but I do NOT own the rights the clip; it has been used in this instance for the sole purpose of completing this assignment. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer and sound designer from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2022 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved. (Audio Only)

Stephen Pryke - Chirality [Audio Redesign] This is a piece of coursework I submitted for the “Sound Design in Visual Media” topic of my "MSc Music & Sound for Film & Games" course at the University of Hertfordshire. We were given this animation, 'Chirality', with no sound, and we were tasked with providing a soundtrack. Throughout this project, I developed and put into practice my recording, layering and synthesis abilities. I also learnt to take a whole new approach to scoring for film, focussing more on making sure that the music is complementing the narrative, rather than composing for the sake of it. This work is achieved a mark of 65, which is equivalent to a Commendation. I interpreted Chirality as representing the conflict between happiness and depression. The crystal symbolises hope and the Enemy represents hopelessness, and throughout the animation, the Goblin (the main creature) is trying to hold on to ‘hope’ (the crystal) while being endlessly pursued by ‘hopelessness’ (the Enemy). The Goblin is symbolic of people with depression and his struggle is somewhat analogous to the experience of those people. The crystal is integral to the story, something that the Goblin’s been searching for his whole life, an obsession that’s taken its toll and gradually enervated and weakened him. I conveyed the crystal’s importance by revolving the music around its presence, except for the chord over the opening title, which merely establishes the mood and tonality. The music is in G minor, a key which I feel evokes a sense of wonder, longing and mystery, and ‘hope’ is represented by an ascending motif, which is teased when the Goblin initially finds the crystal, and returns at the story’s climax to reflect the Goblin’s tragic fate. The crystal’s hum as it glows is also a G note, meaning it blends with the music and blurs the lines between the diegetic and non-diegetic sound. I automated the panning and stereo width of the music, morphing it from diegetic, as though the crystal was calling out to the Goblin, to non-diegetic when the motif begins. I did a very throaty, snarly, and revolting voice for the Goblin, which was inspired by Andy Serkis’ Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. The characters are somewhat alike in appearance and personality, with both creatures being driven by an obsession that would ultimately lead to their downfall. However, I wanted the Goblin to be a sympathetic character, and made the voice more emotive while still retaining a certain repulsiveness to reflect its appearance. To me, the Goblin is a victim and I really wanted to convey his desperation and innocence, especially at the end when he’s reaching out for dear life, so that the audience can sympathise with his struggle. The Enemy is all that stands in the way of the Goblin’s ‘happiness’ and it’s the mirror opposite of what the crystal represents. While the crystal is sonically subtle and accompanied by music, the Enemy is entirely diegetic and produces a huge, rendered sound consisting of pitched layers of my own voice mixed with frequency-modulated synthesised layers. I kept the Enemy diegetic to make out that it was trying to ground the Goblin in their dark reality, in contrast to the crystal’s more fantastical and idealistic nature. When off-screen, its roars, growls and footsteps become acousmatic and can still be heard, which establishes it as a dominant force that neither the Goblin nor the audience can escape from. The abrupt blackout and silence leave the audience in a state of shock and sorrow as the Goblin succumbs to ‘hopelessness’, with the Enemy emerging as the victor and letting out one final roar. I created all the sounds myself, although I do NOT own the rights to the video; it has been used in this instance for the sole purpose of carrying out this assignment. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer, sound designer and sonic artist from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2021 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved. (Audio Only)

Stephen Pryke - Sonic Imagery Soundtrack This is a short soundtrack I put together as a part of my “MSc Music & Sound for Film & Games” course at the University of Hertfordshire. This is not a graded piece, but it was set as an exercise to allow us to test our ability to convey imagery and meaning through sound. We were given 4 clips to choose from and I saw the most potential in this one, as it seemed to have two separate moods, allowing me to experiment with juxtaposition. The brief was very open, although we were told to keep music to a minimum and focus more on the sound. For the first part, I recorded myself blowing bubbles in a glass of water through a straw. I also added a sine arpeggiator with a short attack and release to create a popping sound. The arpeggiator is playing an Amaj7 chord, which I felt matched the calm and fun atmosphere of the visuals. However, my intention was to use the arpeggiator more for its timbre than its tonality; rather than using it as a musical instrument, I was using it more as a sonic layer. At the end of this part, the ring shape is engulfed more and more by the bubbles, and I wanted to make the sounds feel somewhat warmer to give the impression that the listener is also becoming immersed in the bubbles. I added frequency modulation and morphed the arpeggiator waveform from sine to sawtooth, as well as adding a granular delay effect to the bubbling sounds, making it sound watery. For the second part, I recorded myself crumpling up a polypropylene bag-for-life to match the folding object in the visuals. As it folds in, I thought it looked a bit like some sort of spider, which made me want to explore ways of making the experience uncomfortable and unsettling. I’m a bit arachnophobic, so my aim was to convey the sense of paralysing fear I feel when I see a spider. I used an arpeggiator playing a dissonant chord that becomes heavily saturated, frequency modulated and compressed, and applied saturation to the bag crumpling sound to make it more intense and in-your-face. After putting the same recording through a granular FX plugin, I layered it over the top and used EQ and panning to boost the high ‘ear-poking’ frequencies and have them circle the listener. I intended to make it sound invasive and skin-crawling so that the listener feels as though there is a spider crawling on them. To add to the intensity, I also layered a reversed scream, provoking a primal sense of anxiety. I recorded, synthesised and manipulated all the sounds myself, although I do NOT own the rights to the video; it has been used in this instance for the sole purpose of carrying out this exercise. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer, sound designer and sonic artist from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2021 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved. (Audio Only)

Stephen Pryke - Ailurophobia [Sonic Storyboard] This is a short sonic storyboard I created as a part of my “MSc Music & Sound for Film & Games” course at the University of Hertfordshire. This is not a graded piece, but it was set as an exercise to allow us to put our sonic storytelling skills into practice. We were given 5 different scenarios to choose from and I chose the scenario where the main character is lost in the woods and seeks shelter in an abandoned barn. It had to 40 - 60 seconds long and we weren’t allowed to use any dialogue, except for non-verbal sounds like breathing. And with the scenarios being quite vague, we could go in any direction we liked. I wanted to play around with the heightened sense of fear and anxiety that someone would feel when lost in the woods on pitch black night, surrounded by the unknown. I wanted to represent feeling of being so on-edge that every tiny sound seems amplified, and how fear can lead to the mind playing tricks on us. This narrative follows someone is trying to find a way out of the woods and hears some kind of beast following them through the trees. Frantically, they escape and come across an abandoned barn where they proceed to hide. Suddenly, the beast approaches the barn and enters, revealing itself to be a cat. I don’t know why I chose a cat as the creature, but I found the idea quite funny and, as my aim was to do something interesting and different, I thought that little twist would add a little lightheartedness to any otherwise fairly intense and dramatic piece. For the beast sounds, I put some cat sounds through a pitch shifter and added some frequency modulation to make them sound distorted and monstrous. This is to reinforce the idea that the whole time it’s just a cat making the sound, but from the perspective of the main character, who can’t see where the noise is coming from, his mind tricks him into thinking it’s some horrendous creature, initiating his fight-or-flight response. I relied heavily on panning and mixing to localise certain sounds in order for the audience to understand what’s happening. As there are no visuals, the whole story has to be conveyed entirely through sound. I would advise listening with headphones to get the full experience. “Ailurophobia” (pronounced: eye-lure-o-phobia) is the term used to define the fear of cats. I thought it was an interesting name as it hints towards twist the end of the piece without directly spoiling it. I recorded and manipulated all the sounds myself, apart from the cat sounds, the door creak and the night ambience, which were royalty-free third party samples. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer, sound designer and sonic artist from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2021 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved.

Stephen Pryke - Fractalis [“Brief” Commentary] "Fractalis" is OUT NOW! Buy, download and stream here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/stephenpryke/fractalis This is a “brief” commentary on the coursework I submitted as my Final Major Project for my "BSc (Hons) Music & Sound Design Technology" course at the University of Hertfordshire, entitled ‘Fractalis’. In this video, I’ll be discussing the following: [0:00] Intro [2:30] Background [5:08] Challenges [7:30] Synopsis [10:12] Themes [14:54] Inspiration [16:16] Title [17:34] Artwork [18:16] Outro Sidenote: If you’re wondering why my voice sounds a little bit deeper and cooler in the last four parts, it’s because I’d been recording myself pretty much all day the day before. In the first five parts, my voice was nearly dead from doing endless takes, so in the last the four parts, my voice had been able to rest overnight. There are no issues with the audio and I didn’t have a cold or anything, it’s just my normal, unstrained voice. I can already hear the ladies swooning over it. Link to Contextualisation Essay (via OneDrive): https://1drv.ms/b/s!Aid_c42JwohLvXVg3yCQ2_T7H_ET?e=bx90ss Link to ‘Fractalis’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yngJq-U81RI&t=24s MENTAL HEALTH ORGANISATIONS: Mental Health UK: https://mentalhealth-uk.org Mind: https://www.mind.org.uk Rethink Mental Illness: https://www.rethink.org Samaritans: https://www.samaritans.org YoungMinds: https://youngminds.org.uk The images used in this video (expect for the Fractalis artwork) were found on Google Images. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer, sound designer and sonic artist from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2021 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved.

Stephen Pryke - Fractalis [BSc Final Major Project] "Fractalis" is OUT NOW! Buy, download and stream here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/stephenpryke/fractalis This is the coursework I submitted as my Final Major Project for my "BSc (Hons) Music & Sound Design Technology" course at the University of Hertfordshire. I wrote, recorded, designed, narrated, put sound to, mixed, and mastered this project myself. I wanted to create something to showcase my creative sound design and composition skills that was unique, innovative, and experimental. I found that the best way to combine music and sound was to go down the sonic art route. It would allow me to take a narrative and add sound design, like in an audiobook, but also allow me to experiment with more abstract sonic ideas and production techniques, such as synthesis, audio manipulation and effects processing, along with metaphorical/symbolic storytelling, like a concept album. I think of it as being like a film without visuals, so all the audience immersion will be done through sounds, and they can use their imaginations to visualise what’s going, making the experience unique to each listener. This work achieved a mark of 85, which is a high First Class, securing my First Class BSc (Hons) degree. Link to "brief" commentary on Fractalis: https://youtu.be/GWO2DaSZVZs Inspired by Lovecraftian cosmic horror and bleak works such as "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison and "1984" by George Orwell, "Fractalis" follows the Protagonist, spoken mostly through his inner monologue. After waking up from a nightmare in an unfamiliar room, he explores his surroundings, desperately seeking answers as to why and how he where he is. Throughout his journey, he finds himself in increasingly impossible situations and starts to lose his ability to rationalise the experience. He begins to question his own reality, when in a final confrontation, the terrifying truth is revealed. I decided to write a narrative set in a dark, nightmarish world as I wanted the project to be a metaphorical depiction of our negative thoughts and emotions, and how we let them control us. Everyone struggles with varying degrees of negativity. The piece focuses on symbolizing what can happen when it builds up and begins to take control. It depicts the downward spiral that can lead to depression, anxiety, and irrationality, represented in the name and the artwork. It can feel cyclical, almost like there’s no escape, represented in the ability to loop the piece. The name “Fractalis” (pronounced: frak-TAR-lis) is a portmanteau of the words “Fractal” and “Spiralis” (Latin, meaning Spiral). Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are “self-similar”; this means that parts of the pattern will look identical to the whole pattern, and within those parts there will be parts that also look identical, and so on in a recursive infinite manner. These types of patterns can be found in nature, for examples in snowflakes, flowers, trees, and leaves, in mathematical concepts such as the Mandelbrot Set, and in shapes such as spirals. I drew inspiration from the recursion and endless nature of these types of patterns as a metaphor for the bleak, hopeless themes of the piece, the idea of always thinking that you’ve found a way out but ending up back where you started. The artwork I created for this piece depicts a self-similar spiral that begins to decay as it gets bigger. The orange, fiery colour and fragments of the decaying spiral form flame-like textures which represents the fire at the end of the piece, which is in turn a representation of the chaos and madness. The spiral itself represents the Protagonist’s journey and its fractal nature symbolises the themes of hopelessness, Kafkaesqueness and futility depicted in the piece. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer, sound designer and sonic artist from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2021 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved.

Stephen Pryke - Infiltrator [Ambisonic Audio Redesign] This is a piece of coursework I submitted for the “Spatial/Immersive Audio” topic of my "BSc (Hons) Music & Sound Design Technology" course at the University of Hertfordshire. We were tasked with creating sound design for this game cinematic. Then, using Reaper and ambisonic spatialisation plugins, we had to localise the sounds corresponding with their position in the video (so wearing headphones is advised in order to experience the full effect of the panning). Ambisonic spatialisation allows you to pan sounds in 360° by controlling and automating elevation (up and down) and azimuth (left, right, forwards and backwards) settings. This is similar to binaural spatialisation, which works in a stereo format (2 channels: left and right), whereas ambisonic spatialisation works in a B-format (4 channels: left, right, elevation and azimuth). This was a great exercise that allowed me to learn about ambisonics, get to grips with Reaper and create an immersive experience. This work is achieved a mark of 85, which is equivalent to a high First Class. I created and implemented all the sound, but I do not own the footage. It was supplied solely for us add the sound to. ——————————————————————— My name’s Stephen Pryke and I’m a multi-genre composer, sound designer and sonic artist from Hertfordshire, UK. This channel acts as a portfolio for my professional composition and sound design work. Any Sound Design or Composition related business enquires can be sent to the following email address: stephenpryke.musicandsound@outlook.com I also have a personal music project, “Lunicium”. The project combines my composition and sound design skills to create immersive, atmospheric and cinematic music in a variety of genres: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMHZLWseNGrG2qG9bMd6n_g SOCIALS: Website: https://www.stephenprykemusicandsound.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ViKHVuU2wUjd98I4I10Fm?si=2T5vCD9_TwimZwwpBvqfcg Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/stephen-pryke/1513248036 LinkedIn: Stephen Pryke https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-pryke-16981719b Like on Facebook: Stephen Pryke Music & Sound https://www.facebook.com/stephenprykemusicandsound/ Follow on Instagram: @sjpryke_lunicium https://www.instagram.com/sjpryke_lunicium/ © 2021 Stephen Jon Pryke. All rights reserved. (Audio Only)