Eric Houchin is a sound designer and music composer that specializes in video game audio. He is also an avid gamer that is passionate about the emotional power that music and sound can invoke on a visual medium. As a single image can invoke an emotional response, that same image with the right music and sound can turn an emotion into an experience. This experience is then heightened by the immersive and interactive design of video games.
Eric began his musical journey from an unconventional path. He wasn’t classically trained in a structured learning environment. Rather, it was electronic music that sparked his interest leading him down the rabbit hole of music theory and self-study. His instrument of choice is a synthesizer where the sounds and timbres created our only limited by his imagination and experimentation. This appreciation and expertise in synthesize opened the doors for further study in the various arts of sound design and audio manipulation.
After years of producing electronic music, Eric’s skillset evolved allowing him to merge his passions of creating music and sound with his passion for video games. Eric has completed the certificate program from Berklee for Orchestrating and Producing Music for Film and Games. He has also studied with the School of Video Game Audio, under the guidance of Leonard Paul. He was a featured student for his sound design replacement work and implementation in the brilliant game Limbo using Wwise. He is a Wwise Certified End-User and an FMOD Certified End-User. He has also completed multiple certification courses from Point Blank Music School including sound design, the art of mixing, audio mastering, and a wide range of electronic music production.
As part of the discovery process, I will have series of questions that I will ask about the project to make sure that I am able to meet your creative, technical, and scheduling needs. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll let you know upfront. I believe in the full transparency of skillsets, and while I have a wide range of capabilities, there will be projects where I am not best suited.
I have flexible pricing, ranging from a full buyout (work for hire) to a non-exclusive license agreement. I also have flexible payment models that are open to negotiations to meet the needs of the project and the developer.
The developer obtains the rights associated with the music and/or sound, and has the exclusive right to the use the audio however desired. I will have no claim to ownership in the work; the cost is based on the terms of a buyout and not a license agreement.
I maintain complete ownership of the audio, but the developer obtains exclusive right to use the audio in a project as desired. The term of exclusivity can range from being industry specific to being time-based (i.e. 1-5 years). This option provides a healthy balance between cost and control.
I retain complete ownership of the audio, but the developer will obtain quality custom audio with unrestricted use in their project, at the lowest cost. But I also have ability to the license the audio to someone else without any restrictions.
The additional factors that have an impact on price are when a projecct requires additional artists to complete, such as for dialogue casting/recording, and session musicians. For projects where I am able to complete all the sounds and music in-house, or with limited assistance from other artists, there is greater flexibility in pricing and payment models as I am able to assume the risk for taking on the project. However, this can’t be assumed nor expected from other artists. There are also rush fees for projects that require quick turnaround.