The final episode of Mega Man 11’s ‘making of’ series of videos talked about sound design and sound effects, and midway through the video a sneak peek into the sound effects room was shown, which has now gotten its own ‘gaiden’ video.
The video confirms that yes, the suit of armor shown off in the previous video actually was used for sound effects in Mega Man 11, as robots in the Mega Man universe are also made of metal. However, not all of the parts were worn, as they didn’t need to capture the full clunky sounds of full armor.
The suit of armor was also used to get the staff into the right mindset, as you would feel like a robot yourself wearing it. They would also realize things like how you have very little range of movement in the armor, as planner Masakazu Eguchi found out when trying to adjust his glasses.
The helmet was also used for the sound effects for the Mettaurs that appear in the game.
Sound director Ryo Yoshii then took out a broken bass drum pedal, saying that it makes a better sound than one that still works. They would use the squeaking sound produced from a rusty broken pedal alongside a tool seen in construction sites for the sound made when robots move their knees.
However, the sounds by themselves are too raw and don’t fit with the atmosphere of Mega Man, they would add sounds from objects more familiar to everyday life (such as a tin kettle), as well as adjust it using a synthesizer, in order to ‘cute-ify’ it.
Everything in this room are materials for sound effects, and the recording is usually also done in this room as well.
When asked whether he considers what makes good sound effects in everyday life, Yoshii admits that it’s become something of an occupational disease for him. He would sometimes suddenly turn around and ask, “Wait, wasn’t that a great sound?”. One time, someone opened the cover of a lighter, and he felt the need to ask, “Hold on, what’s that sound?!”
As for the Mega Buster sound effect, or the sound effect when Mega Man is damaged, and most other sound effects that go together with visual effects, those are made with a synthesizer. So both synthesized and recorded sound effects are used in Mega Man 11.
Here’s the full video below:
Mega Man 11 will come to the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on October 2, 2018.
