Chris Jojo first began engaged on online game audio within the early 90s and has carved out a profession that makes a speciality of genuine automotive recordings for movie, simulators and gaming, amongst different issues.
Chris Jojo just isn’t your common audio technician. He’s a person who’s absolutely tuned into the scream of straight-cut gears and the whispered harmonics of turbochargers discovered on among the world’s main racecars, to ship true-to-life racing expertise… in video video games!
In a world the place gamers obsess over body charges and ray tracing, Jojo helps folks really feel the roar that makes their palms sweat on a digital steering wheel. His pioneering use of DPA microphones ensures that the video games will not be solely visually beautiful however acoustically true to the expertise of racing on the highest ranges. Each howl, gear whine and deceleration pop is actual — recorded within the discipline and combined by knowledgeable sound designer, who brings gamers nearer to the blacktop than ever earlier than.
“I’m obsessive about delivering a visceral, true-to-life racing expertise. It’s not nearly creating results, it’s triggering recollections and sensations,” says Jojo. “It’s sound design on the ragged fringe of engineering, physics and uncooked emotion. That low-end rumble, the high-frequency scream, the best way the exhaust echoes off a tree line — I need to put you there. Utilizing DPA microphones permits me to isolate and reproduce the advanced layers of automotive sound with astonishing readability and precision, capturing the automotive’s soul.”
Jojo, who first turned conscious of DPA microphones by means of F1 broadcasting within the late Nineteen Nineties, credit the model with offering the ruggedness, sensitivity and tonal accuracy required for contemporary racing video games. “It’s not nearly sticking a mic close to an exhaust and hoping for one of the best. Whether or not recording turbo blow-off valves with a 4011 or the excessive harmonic scream of straight-cut gears with a 4062, DPA constantly delivers,” he continues. “My go-to will at all times be the 4007. Whether or not it’s a drum equipment or a automotive, close-miking will get you punch, nevertheless it’s the overheads — the ambient mics — that provide the realism, the atmosphere.”
Past the technical wizardry, Jojo’s actual mission is emotional authenticity. When a participant flooring it in a recreation, Jojo needs their coronary heart to race — not simply from visuals, however from sound. Not too long ago, Jojo was tasked with capturing high-speed audio from a uncommon Ford RS 200 Group B rally automotive at BGM Motorsport, which adopted a high-speed recording session at Millbrook Proving Floor’s Mile Straight circuit. To make sure the exact element wanted for such distinctive purposes, Jojo opts for his trusted assortment from DPA Microphones.
Jojo makes use of a strategic multi-microphone setup that includes DPA’s 4007 Omnidirectional Pencil, 4011 Cardioid and 4062 Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphones to seize engine, exhaust, induction and transmission sounds from each onboard and exterior views. Every mic placement is calculated to keep away from bodywork reflections and guarantee most constancy in high-SPL environments, which is important when working with the explosive sounds of high-performance race vehicles.
“On the exhaust, I’ll run a DPA 4007 positioned off-axis to keep away from distortion and to permit the sound to breathe,” explains Jojo. “Over the cylinders, the wastegate and even contained in the transmission tunnel, I deploy numerous DPA fashions to get as shut as potential to the supply with out compromising security or audio high quality. All the pieces is off axis. You may’t be on-axis with an exhaust until you fancy melting your mic, however that’s the place DPA mics shine. They deal with 165 dB SPL with out flinching and nonetheless offer you a flat, pure sound. For motorsport audio, you simply can’t beat that.”
Jojo’s meticulous use of DPA microphones extends to particular tasks as nicely, similar to a singular F1 sound design session the place microphones captured the influence of a carbon fiber nostril cone slamming right into a barrier. Utilizing bespoke mounts, Jojo crafts environments the place sound can breathe, explaining: “While you file one thing like that from a distance utilizing DPA mics, you’re not simply getting the crack, you’re getting the room, the reflections, the entire story. That’s what makes it really feel actual. It’s not about quantity, it’s about character — timbre, overtones and environmental reflections.”
Along with being a sound designer, Jojo can be a composer and automotive fanatic. He first began engaged on online game audio within the early 90s and has carved out a profession that makes a speciality of genuine automotive recordings for movie, simulators and gaming, amongst different issues.
