Game Audio Implementation: A Practical Guide Using the Unreal Engine (2015)

By Richard Stevens & Dave Raybould

"If you want to learn about game audio implementation, this is the book for you! Stevens and Raybould have written a thorough, practical, hands-on guide to sound and music implementation in games and, by doing so, present the reader with an excellent introduction to the concepts of interactive game sound. Speckled with humour and written in an accessible style, this book is sure to find a home in many classrooms and homes of aspiring sound designers, composers, and audio programmers." – Karen Collins

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

From the Shadows of Film Sound: Cinematic Production & Creative Process in Video Game Audio (2010)

By Rob Bridgett

"Unlike existing books which tend to focus on the history, technology and established processes of the medium, Bridgett discusses and explores its limitations, exciting possibilities and future… this collection of essays, articles and soap-box pieces is required reading." – Kenneth Young

You may purchase this book at: Blurb

Game Audio: Tales of a Technical Sound Designer (2017)

By Damian Kastbauer

This collection features Damian Kastbauer's writings from 2007 – 2017, with his contributions to Game Developer Magazine's Aural Fixation column, his Audio Implementation Greats series for Designing Sound, and numerous interviews and articles from his Lost Chocolate Blog.

You may purchase this book at: Blurb or Amazon

Game Audio Culture (2013)

By Rob Bridgett

"Bridgett boldly states that we're in a "post-sound design era… no longer obsessed with the 'neglected' art of the soundtrack. Sound designers can't play the victim anymore: sound is getting the respect it deserves, and the next stage is to become a key collaborator on projects…". There's something in "Game Audio Culture" for everyone: it's one of those books that is worth reading multiple times, as a reminder of how far we've come, and how far we still have to go." – Karen Collins

You may purchase this book at: blurb.com

The Complete Guide to Game Audio – 3rd Edition (2016)

By Aaron Marks

"A fountainhead of valuable insight, this book thoroughly demystifies the art of game music and sound like no other." – Jon Holland

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Beep to Boom: The Development of Advanced Runtime Sound Systems for Games and Extended Reality (2019)

By Simon N Goodwin

"Drawing on decades of experience,Beep to Boom: The Development of Advanced Runtime Sound Systems for Games and Extended Reality is a rigorous, comprehensive guide to interactive audio runtime systems.

Packed with practical examples and insights, the book explains each component of these complex geometries of sound. Using practical, lowest-common-denominator techniques, Goodwin covers soundfield creation across a range of platforms from phones to VR gaming consoles.

Whether creating an audio system from scratch or building on existing frameworks, the book also explains costs, benefits and priorities. In the dynamic simulated world of games and extended reality, interactive audio can now consider every intricacy of real-world sound. This book explains how and why to tame it enjoyably."

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices (2016)

By Guy Somberg

This book is the first of its kind: an entire book dedicated to the art of game audio programming. With over fifteen chapters written by some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry, this book contains more knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming than any other volume in history.

One of the goals of the book is to raise the general level of game audio programming expertise, so it is written in a manner that is accessible to beginners, while still providing valuable content for more advanced game audio programmers. Each chapter contains techniques that the authors have used in shipping games, with plenty of code examples and diagrams. There are chapters on the fundamentals of audio representation and perception; advanced usage of several different audio middleware platforms (Audiokinetic Wwise, CRI ADX2, and FMOD Studio); advanced topics including Open Sound Control, Vector-Based Amplitude Panning, and Dynamic Game Data; and more!

Whether you're an audio programmer looking for new techniques, an up-and-coming game developer looking for an area to focus on, or just the one who got 'saddled' with the audio code, this book has something for you.

You may purchase this book at Amazon

Game Audio Programming 2: Principles and Practices (2018)

By Guy Somberg

Welcome to the second volume of Game Audio Programming: Principles and Practices – the first series of its kind dedicated to the art of game audio programming! This volume features more than 20 chapters containing advanced techniques from some of the top game audio programmers and sound designers in the industry. This book continues the tradition of collecting more knowledge and wisdom about game audio programming than any other volume in history.

Both audio programming beginners and seasoned veterans will find content in this book that is valuable, with topics ranging from extreme low-level mixing to high-level game integration. Each chapter contains techniques that were used in games that have shipped, and there is a plethora of code samples and diagrams. There are chapters on threading, DSP implementation, advanced middleware techniques in FMOD Studio and Audiokinetic Wwise, ambiences, mixing, music, and more.

You may purchase this book on Amazon

The Audio Programming Book (2010)

By Richard Boulanger and Victor Lazzarini

"This comprehensive handbook of mathematical and programming techniques for audio signal processing will be an essential reference for all computer engineers, and anyone interested in audio. Designed to be used by readers with varying levels of programming expertise, it not only provides the foundations for audio development but also tackles issues that sometimes remain mysterious even to experienced software designers. Exercises and copious examples (all cross-platform and based on free or open source software) make the book ideal for classroom use. Fifteen chapters and eight appendixes cover such topics as programming basics for C and C++ (with music-oriented examples), audio programming basics and more advanced topics, spectral audio programming; programming Csound opcodes, and algorithmic synthesis and music programming. Appendixes cover topics in compiling, audio and MIDI, computing, and math. An accompanying DVD provides an additional 40 chapters, covering musical and audio programs with micro-controllers, alternate MIDI controllers, video controllers, developing Apple Audio Unit plug-ins from Csound opcodes, and audio programming for the iPhone. The sections and chapters of the book are arranged progressively and topics can be followed from chapter to chapter and from section to section. At the same time, each section can stand alone as a self-contained unit. Readers will find The Audio Programming Book a trustworthy companion on their journey through programming audio on modern computers."

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Composing Music for Games: The Art, Technology and Business of Video Game Scoring (2016)

By Chance Thomas

"Composing Music for Games is a guidebook for launching and maintaining a successful career as a video game composer. It offers a pragmatic approach to learning, intensified through challenging project assignments and simulations. Author Chance Thomas begins with the foundation of scoring principles applicable to all media, and then progresses serially through core methodologies specific to video game music. This book offers a powerful blend of aesthetic, technique, technology and business, which are all necessary components for a successful career as a video game composer."

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

A Composer's Guide to Game Music (2017)

By Winnifred Phillips

"The core of the book is a set of chapters that delve into the actual craft of writing game music in a way that few, if any, other books have ever done… tremendously valuable to composers." – Tracksounds

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design (2008)

By Karen Collins

"Collins has written a truly encyclopedic work that wonderfully complements books on sound design in film, helping anyone in the audiovisual industry who desires to expand more confidently into teaching, designing, and producing audio in the gaming world." – David Sonnenschein

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Sound Play: Video Games And The Musical Imagination (2014)

By William Cheng

"Video games open portals into fantastical worlds where imaginative play prevails. The virtual medium seemingly provides us with ample opportunities to behave and act out with relative safety and impunity. Or does it?Sound Playexplores the aesthetic, ethical, and sociopolitical stakes of our engagements with gaming's audio phenomena-from sonic violence to synthesized operas, from democratic music-making to vocal sexual harassment. Author William Cheng shows how the simulated environments of games empower designers, composers, players, and scholars to test and tinker with music, noise, speech, and silence in ways that might not be prudent or possible in the real world. In negotiating utopian and alarmist stereotypes of video games,Sound Play synthesizes insights from across musicology, sociology, anthropology, communications, literary theory, and philosophy. With case studies that spanFinal Fantasy VI,Silent Hill,Fallout 3,The Lord of the Rings Online, andTeam Fortress 2, this book insists that what we do in there-in the safe, sound spaces of games-can ultimately teach us a great deal about who we are and what we value (musically, culturally, humanly) out here."

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Ludomusicology: Approaches to Video Game Music (2016)

By Michiel Kamp, Tim Summers and Mark Sweeney

"The last half-decade has seen the rapid and expansive development of video game music studies. As with any new area of study, this significant sub-discipline is still tackling fundamental questions concerning how video game music should be approached. In this volume, experts in game music provide their responses to these issues. This book suggests a variety of new approaches to the study of game music. In the course of developing ways of conceptualizing and analyzing game music it explicitly considers other critical issues including the distinction between game play and music play, how notions of diegesis are complicated by video game interactivity, the importance of cinema aesthetics in game music, the technicalities of game music production and the relationships between game music and art music traditions. This collection is accessible, yet theoretically substantial and complex. It draws upon a diverse array of perspectives and presents new research which will have a significant impact upon the way that game music is studied. The volume represents a major development in game musicology and will be indispensable for both academic researchers and students of game music."

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Understanding Video Game Music (2016)

By Tim Summers

"This outstanding book does much to establish an 'extended techniques' musicology, allying close analysis of music with crucial knowledge of gaming construction and procedures. Tim Summers' years of 'deep research' into the subject make this a book of extreme sophistication and erudition that will define the field for years to come." – K. J. Donnelly, University of Southampton

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

Audio for Games: Planning, Process, and Production (2004)

By Alexander Brandon

"Alexander Brandon takes the complexities of today's game audio creation and implementation and makes complete sense out of it. This is a 'must read' for anyone serious about game audio." – Aaron Marks, game composer & sound designer

You may purchase this book at: Amazon

The Fat Man on Game Audio – Tasty Morsels of Sonic Goodness (2003)

By George Alistair Sanger

"This book is unlike any other in that it not only gives readers the know-how on but it also teaches the reader how to add soul and life into their game audio by examining their personal lessons in music, science, politics, philosophy, and other life experiences."

You may purchase this book at: Amazon