3xBlast
3xBlast is Harm-Jan Wiechers, an audio and music producer from Groningen, in the Netherlands.
I’ve helped out numerous developers with everything from simple soundeffect production to full audio design, production and implementation.
SOUND EFFECTS
Good sound effects help a game live.
I produce everything from 8-bit sound effects to custom recorded sounds.
MUSIC
A memorable game deserves memorable music.
I like to make the most of the dynamic nature of games with adaptive music systems.
My Work
Below are some of my previous works. From jam games to shipped titles.
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Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga - TT Games (2019 - 2021) As sound designer working at TT games, I helped created, implement and mix sounds in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Working with propriatery middleware and game engine, I did things like setting up reverb zones, implementing sounds on animations and mechanics and editing and implementing existing and new music. Creating new sounds that worked well with the existing soundscape of the Star Wars universe was also a big task, since my original sounds got to be heard next to original source sounds from the movies. (Audio in the linked trailer was not worked on by me) -
Koi Farm
Koi Farm - Job Talle (2021) Koi Farm is a casual koi fish breeding game for PC. The game features 1 screen where you can move your fish around and breed new mutations. The main challenge for me when working on this game was that the 1 screen and limited actions the player could take needed to feel nice and relaxing, while also sounding full and interesting without any music, but would also not get annoying after hours of having it open. Without any middleware, and the game being made in a propriatery engine without any bells and whistles, I worked closely together with the designer and programmer Job Talle to implement audio features. -
Bark Souls
Bark Souls - GameJam (2021) During the 2021 online version of the Global Game Jam, I did sound, music and implementation through Wwise in Unity. The game is an online experience where you walk your dog through a big forrest map with other players, where you can only communicate by placing emojis and whistling. I spend a good amount of time tweaking attenuation curves, setting up reverb correctly, and getting foley and ambience sounds to sound nice! Under "View more" you can find a walkthrough of the wwise project file where I explain some of the processes I used. -
Creator Kit: FPS
Creator Kit: FPS - Unity (2019) Another Unity example kit! This one is an FPS set inside the human body, so there were some nice opportunities to make a couple of gross squishy sounds! Just like all the other Unity projects, there was only time for the bare minimum, so I spend some extra time making fun looping sounds for the different parts of the bodies, and setting up some reverb zones to make the handfull of sounds that are in the game extra fun! -
Creator Kit: Beginner Code
Creator Kit: Beginner Code - Unity (2019) Another official Unity tutorial project I got to provide sound and music for! This one had a focus on code, and students wouldn't need to implement sound, so I got to set up a bit more sounds. It was still on the minimal side because of budget and time, but it had some little details like ambience changing depending on the zoom level, and there was some time to do a couple of fun enemy and player vocals! -
John Lemon's Haunted Jaunt
John Lemon's Haunted Jaunt - Unity (2019) I worked together with Unity, creating sound effects for their 3D beginner project. This project is free to download, and is meant as an introduction to 3D principles in the unity engine, which also means implementing audio. The turnaround and budget for this project was very tight, which for me meant I only could provide the bare minimum in terms of audio. I focused on the sounds and implementation techniques that would require the smallest amount of effort from both the team at Unity, and the people that would download the project to expore the engine for the first time. -
Aldarix the Battlemage
Adarix the Battlemage - Nikodemusp (2019) A small rougelike puzzlegame. I produced the music for the game. -
Kickblips
Kickblips - 3xBlast (2018) Kickblips is a cover album featuring music from the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series and features a supplemental game. I was the lead organizer responsible for this project. I took care of communication, distribution, and production of the game and 2 tracks. -
Alien Defense
Alien Defense - Free Roam VR (2018) A VR multiplayer shooter made for room scale VR. For this game, I created soundeffects, music, and implemented it using Wwise. I also provided the voices of the aliens! [Sound effects, Music, Implementation, Unity & Wwise] -
Dana Alink Animation Showreel 2018
I created soundeffects for Dana's animation showreel in order to give it more life and to make it stand out above other animation showreels. Dana chose the music and made one final edit on the video. [Sound effects, video] -
Bird Game
Bird Game - Bryan Tabor (2018) Bird Game is zen-like fly 'em up where you controle a bird as it flies through a black and white painted world. I created all the sound and music and implemented it through Wwise in Unity. [Sound effects, Music, Implementation, Unity & Wwise] -
Game Bakery Masterclasses
For a series of Game design and development classes, I was asked to create a small track to go along with the trailer. [Music, video] -
ViRTuE WindTech
ViRTuE WindTech - Stark (2017) A VR training game inteded for use in the wind energy sector. The demo goes through several locations and scenarios. [Sound effects, implementation, Wwise & Unity] -
Arelite Core
Arelite Core - Dragon Slumber (2017) An old-school turn-based rpg. For this project, I created sound effects that were inspired by old SNES games. [Sound effects, custom engine] -
Mitten
Mitten is a little Tamagochi-like cat game where you care for a virtual cat. The music was co-written by Star https://soundcloud.com/starhasalolipop [Music, Custom engine] -
Laundromallard
Laundromallard - GameJam (2017) Catch, bath and dry ducks before they eat your catch. All music and soundeffects made and recorded at the GGJ 2017. Winner of "best game overall" and "best audio" on-site. [Music and sound effects, GameMaker] [Music and sound effects] -
Super Flippin' Phones
Super Flippin' Phones - Blauwprint (2016) A full version of Flippin' Phones, the gamejam game we made at IGL14. We improved on all aspects that made the original fun! You can play it on pc an android! [Music and sound effects, GameMaker] -
UnderWater
UnderWater - Sfinx Games (2016) A training tool for ultrasounds. I've contributed music for videos and gameplay. The game is still in production. [Music, Unity] -
Wingman
Wingman - GameJam (2016) GGJ 2016 - Competative dance-off, where players have to seduce birds by performing a mating dance. Winner of "best game overall" on-site. [Music and sound effects, GameMaker] [Music and sound effects] -
Flippin' Phones
Flippin' Phones - GameJam (2014) IGL 2014 - The original prototype for Flippin' Phones and Super Flippin' Phones. Players flip phones to save humanity from a disaster! [Music and sound effects, GameMaker] [Music, art, design and sound]
About me
I’m Harm-Jan Wiechers and I love making music and producing audio for games. The seeds for this love were planted a long ago when I would spend days playing Playstation 1 games like Spyro and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, or going through the large pile of demo disc my uncle brought over. I then got to expand my love for games with my interest in music and sound when I started taking guitar lessons; classical at first but that switched over to electric soon. It didn’t dawn on me that I could be doing something professionally with either of these hobbies until I found out about the Hanze University of Applied Science and their 4-year game design and development course. During this time I got to learn about game design and serious game design in a professional setting, but I also noticed a huge lack of audio-focused theory and lessons at the school. I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could about that by focusing on audio design and production each time a new project started. I taught myself to produce music and sound effects with FL studio, record voiceovers, and implement them in Unity. This was all through trial and error and a whole lot of YouTube tutorials and Gamasutra articles. At the end of the 3rd year of college, I decided I wanted to start my own company, and at the end of the 4th year, I released my first game with two college friends: Super Flippin’ Phones. I then continued to do freelance audio work, creating music and sound effects for multiple different projects ranging from VR training simulations for the wind energy sector to small mobile titles.
After a couple of years of doing freelance work, I started to notice my skills in sound design weren’t progressing as quickly as they used to, and I felt it was time for a new challenge! I started applying to big studios, with the hope that being able to work with other sound designers on big projects would further my skills as a sound designer, and give me experience with working on large projects that target multiple platforms. I got hired as a Junior Sound Designer at TT games in late 2019 and got promoted to Sound Designer in 2020.
Some of my favorite games are:
- Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
- Dark Souls
- OSU!
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
- SSX3
Articles and blogs
Here, you can read some of my blogs and articles about game development and audio.