Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries broke a piano to pieces to record sound effects, the studio revealed in a new blog detailing many aspects of the game’s audio production. I really recommend watching the piano break video at the top of this post. It is quite satisfactory.
But the 343’s audio team didn’t just use the piano as a target for several blunt instruments. Before breaking it, they placed a subwoofer on the piano to use it as a resonator. And after destroying it, they put dry ice on several pieces of the piano’s remains, “which yielded a great offer of songs, screams, squeaks and everything,” the developers said. Some of the resulting sounds are spine-chilling. (Interestingly, the audio team for Death Stranding also played with a piano to record a variety of sounds for the game.)
In addition to detailing the destruction of the piano, the blog delves into things like the difference between some shooting effects Halo 5 and Halo Infinite, the acoustic system that simulates how sound travels through game environments and how sound design differs between a player and a multiplayer. 343 also revealed that Halo Infinite will support Dolby Atmos, Windows Sonic and DTS Headphone: X virtual surround sound technologies, which will allow you to hear spatial audio even when using stereo headphones.
If you love learning about sound and music in games, you should definitely take the time to read the entire blog and hear what 343 is working on. It is something fascinating.
Halo Infinite is scheduled to be released this fall.