Watch a piano get used and abused to make Halo Infinite's sound effects
Dry ice, hammers, golf clubs, and pianos don't usually mix, but 343 Industries brought them together to create audio for Halo Infinite.
What you need to know
- 343 Industries used a piano to create several sound effects for Halo Infinite.
- The team drills into, cuts up, and destroys the piano to create the sound effects.
- At one point, they put dry ice onto the piano's wires to create a unique sound.
Piano lovers may want to avert their eyes for this one. To create sound effects for the upcoming Halo Infinite, the 343 Industries team used a piano. They didn't, however, just play the piano. Instead, they drill into it, snap its wires, and stamp dry ice into it. By the end of the video, the piano is in pieces. On the plus side, the team creates some incredibly unique sound effects while destroying the instrument.
Yesterday, our Brendan Lowry covered an in-depth look into how 343 Industries created music and sound effects for Halo Infinite. Details about the game's audio come from a lengthy Inside Infinite article. Within that article is the video of the 343 audio team pounding the piano.
The article outlines how the team created and captured sounds from the piano:
At different points in the video, the audio team places a subwoofer inside the piano, hits the piano with bats, golf clubs, and hammers, and snaps its strings. They even take dry ice run it along the piano's wires to create screeching, sizzling, and more.
While sounds can be digitized, this throwback approach is also common for audio experts. It's reminiscent of old-time radio broadcasts in which people had to create analog audio using all sorts of contraptions.
Halo Infinite is expected to launch in Fall 2021 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Xbox One consoles. It will also launch on Windows 10 PCs. Multiplayer for the game will be free to play, but the full game will likely cost $60. If it lives up to the hype, it should be among the best Xbox One shooters.
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Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He's covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean's journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.