Show Us Your Rig: Composer and sound designer Adrian Talens

Adrian Talens is the Composer and Sound Designer of the Early Access game Poly Bridge—which we livestreamed here—and is also working on two more games recently greenlit on Steam: Dad Beat Dads, and Tidal Affair: Before the Storm. He's got a powerful PC that's built more for music and video creation than gaming, with an Nvidia Quadro 2000 GPU, and i7 CPU, and a whole boatload of storage. Adrian was kind enough to show off us his build, work area, and adorable puppy.

Adrian is actually our second sound designer in a row on Show Us Your Rig, so why not read what he has to say while listening to the soothing strums of one of his songs from Poly Bridge?

What's in your PC?

• CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K Quad Core Processor
• Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth P67 B3
• GPU: Nvidia Quadro 2000 by PNY 1.0 GB GDDR5 PCI-E16
• Storage: Intel 320 Series GEN3 80GB 2.5IN SSD SATA2 SSD, Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache, and four other external hard drives
• Memory: 16GB ram
• Case: Fractal Design Define R3 Black ATX Mid Tower Silent
• Mousepad: It has a picture of a tiger on it

This is my main home studio rig. My projects have me traveling often so it’s also necessary for me to be able to do my work from anywhere: game studios, co-working spaces, train rides, coffee shops, friends' kitchens, etc. My mobile rig is an Acer Aspire E 15 touch laptop with an Akai LPK 25 midi keyboard along with other goodies that fill my laptop bag to a point where it looks like it’s about to explode.

What's the most interesting part of your setup?

Even though I primarily work with audio, I think that video editing is an overlooked skill in game audio sound design. I’ve found it really helpful in communicating ideas with devs.

[A message from Ted Wilson, Director at Stellar Jay Studios: "For an indie game like Dad Beat Dads, we need to work as efficiently as possible. Since Adrian shows us the sound effects edited into videos, it allows us to instantly see how they'll play in game before even programming them in. As an indie dev, this time saving is a huge help."]

For my own workflow, it helps cut own iteration time and gives me accurate visuals to work off of. My preferred digital audio workstations are Adobe Audition and Reason.

What's always within arms reach on your desk?

• Cort X-6 electric guitar tuned in C Standard
• Guitar effects pedal board I made out of a suitcase
• Yamaha GL-1 Guitalele
• Charlie Day, my 1 year old miniature schnauzer

Sometimes my dog inspires me to write music like this:

What are you playing right now?

Other than the games I'm working on, I've been playing mostly retro games. My girlfriend is a gamer too so we have fun making Let's Play videos and uploading them to our YouTube channel. The last games we played were Altered Beast and Zombies Ate My Neighbours.

What's your favorite game and why?

Earthbound for the Super Nintendo. I was 10 years old when I first played it and everything about it was surreal, weird, and compelling. My mind was blown seeing an RPG that didn't take place in a fantasy setting. I remember fighting monsters with baseball bats, frying pans, fighting aliens, inanimate objects, and a sentient puddle of vomit. It's a bizarre and humorous adventure, and my experience with it has had a profound effect on my imagination that has always stuck with me growing up.