How does the Black Myth Goku dub work? A full breakdown of the behind-the-scenes production process

When the voice of Sun Daisen drills into the studio: a chat about how the voice of Black Myth: Goku was made

The other day in my friend's studio tea, chatting about the recent screen "Black Myth: Wukong" trailer, my friend suddenly asked me: "Hey, you say that the monkey in this game that voice, listen to the really strong, feel the bones through the cracks of a wild, how did they come up with?" This question brought me back to the end of last year by chance to contact the behind-the-scenes drip. This thing, really not find a good voice to shout two voices so simple, inside the doorway deep it.

First of all, it's important to understand who this monkey is. He's not the familiar, somewhat mercenary and somewhat lovable Qi Tian Da Sheng from Journey to the West. Goku in Black Myths is more like a wounded beast, sharpened by age and betrayal. Voice director Lao K (as he's known in the industry) told me that before casting, the team was locked in a small dark room, discussing the finalized script and bits and pieces of the script, breaking it up and crumbling it down: is this monkey sad? Is it anger? Is it madness? Or is it utter nothingness? The voice has to carry his weight for 500 years. It's not about imitating anyone, it's about "becoming" him in that particular situation.

At the time of casting, it was said that the corridor outside the recording studio was full of people. Those who came were not nobodies, some had been cast in the classic movie and TV series Monkey King, some were veteran actors on the drama stage, and there was even a martial arts actor with a particularly good voice condition. Old K said, he does not look at the resume, just listen to the voice. Audition clip thief tricky, not a large section of lines, but some extreme emotions hissing, gasping, and even silence in the throat that kind of suppressed grunt. What he was looking for was not "like", but the kind of "animalistic" and "divine" undertones that come with the voice, as well as the ability to withstand a long time of hissing without splitting his throat.

The finalized teacher (we won't disclose who exactly), Old K slapped his thigh: "That's him! That gravelly feeling in his voice isn't a performance, it's natural!" It is said that in order to get into shape, this teacher began to "toss" himself around for half a year in advance, practicing martial arts, studying the movements of monkeys, and even deliberately drinking less water to keep his voice in a subtle "dryness" - not pathology, but the kind of thing that happens when you've been in a situation for a long time. -It's not a sickness, it's a kind of weathered coarseness.

When you're in the studio, that's the hard part. You think voice acting is just looking at the screen and opening your mouth? That's a big mistake. Many of the fight scenes in "Black Myth" are so fast and exaggerated that the voice actor has to imagine what it feels like to be smashed, burned, or struck by lightning, and synchronize his reactions. Old K and I imitated that scene: the actor wearing headphones, staring at the script or simple motion capture playback, suddenly have to burst out a muffled grunt of being hit by a golden rod in the abdomen, but also with the feeling of blood foam. An intense fight scene with down, the actor holding the wall out, covered in sweat, with a real fight no difference. What do recording engineers fear most? Not with the wrong words, is the actor is too committed, a fist smashed in the spray mask, or roar too hard to monitor the headset shocked whistle.

The details are outrageous. The monkeys jumped around in the mountains and fields, and the tiny sounds of clothes rubbing and armor clashing had to be recorded separately. The mimicry artist used all kinds of strange props: an old leather jacket to simulate the rubbing of leather, a set of rusty keys to imitate the locking armor, and even a wet towel wrapped around a stick to simulate the sound of the stick breaking in the air with a quick swing. In the fraction of a second that it takes for a monkey to land and turn around, a combination of "rustle-clack" sounds may be tweaked dozens of times by the sound-mimicry artist.

The hardest part is the state of "God". A monkey becomes a Buddha? A demon? Or something in between? At this point, K says, there are fewer lines, and it's all about breath and subtle changes in tone. The studio is scarily quiet, and the actor closes his eyes, looking for that kind of transcendence or sinking feeling of emptiness, the voice should float up, but also to sink down, can not have a "human" flavor. It is possible to record a whole day, just for those one or two phrases with echoes, as if from the ancient whispers, after recording the actor himself in a trance for half a day.

The sound mixing is even more metaphysical. Just a monkey's voice, in the open valley, closed cave, fierce battlefield, illusory spiritual realm, the hearing is completely different. The mixer has to use EQ (equalizer) and reverb plug-ins to "pinch" the sense of space layer by layer. The roar of a monster may have several layers of sound superimposed on it: the low roar of a wild animal, the distorted wail of metal, or even the weird low frequencies made by synthesizers, all of which are mixed together to create that kind of inhuman horror. What's the biggest fear? Too clean a sound! You have to intentionally add a "dirty" undercurrent to simulate the rough texture of the old legends that have been passed down by word of mouth.

So yeah, the next time you hear that wild and bleak hiss of a monkey in a game, don't just get all hot and bothered. Behind it is a room full of people who are almost paranoid: from understanding a broken soul, to burning themselves in front of a microphone, to building a whole world with the magic of sound. It's not something that is "matched", it's something that is "plucked" from the bones. In this job, technology alone is not enough, you have to have the heart, but also a little crazy.

About the Black Myth: Goku dub you may be curious about

Q1: Why don't you use the familiar voice actor of the TV version of the Monkey King?

A: It's a completely different direction! The TV version is an operatic, relatively bright rendition of the classic, closer to the familiar image of the public. The Goku of "Black Myth" is darker, more complex and heavier, requiring a new, more primitive impact and vicissitudes of voice temperament, more like an untamed master popping out of the stone. It's not a matter of who's good or who's bad, it's not the same "monkey" at all.

Q2: Why are the voices of the demons in the game so scary? Are they really human voices?

A: Most of the core demon lines are definitely dubbed by real people! The techniques are very specific though. The voice actor tries all sorts of ways of distorting the vocal cords (while protecting the voice), such as pinching the nose, squeezing the throat to vocalize, or incorporating special breathing patterns. A great deal of processing is then applied later: speed shifting, pitch shifting, overlaying animal growls or ambient sounds, and even modulating non-human frequencies with synthesizers. The final effect is to "alienate" the human voice so that you don't hear it as a human being, but with the emotion of speech.

Q3: Do voice actors need to know kung fu? How do you synchronize the voices during fights?

A: Knowing kung fu is certainly a plus, but not necessary. The key is strong imagination and body control. When recording, the actor may have a simple video reference of the movements in front of him, or the director may be guiding from the sidelines with verbal vehemence: "Quick! Heavy blow to the left! Dodge! Kicked off!" . The actor has to synchronize his or her body memory and emotions, imagining the point of force, in order to make realistic sounds of force, muffled grunts from the blow, and gasps. Sometimes they have to match their body movements to "move" themselves to find the sensation.

Q4: Are the environmental sound effects in the game (such as the wind blowing the leaves and the clash of weapons) also done by the voice-over team?

A: Strictly speaking, this belongs to the category of "Foley" and "Sound Design", which are closely cooperated with Voice Over, but with different division of labor. Under the same audio team, there will be a specialized Foley Artist responsible for recording physical sounds such as footsteps, clothing friction, props collision, etc., while the Sound Designer will be responsible for collecting, producing or synthesizing more complex environmental sounds, magical sound effects, and so on. Character voices focus on character lines and emotional vocalizations. The three are ultimately blended together by the sound mixer.

Q5: I heard that the dub was recorded in many versions, how did you finally decide which one to use?

A: Yes, important lines are often recorded dozens or even tens of times! The decision is mainly in the hands of the dubbing director, who will listen to it together with the creators of the game (director, screenwriter, etc.). They don't just listen to "is it right", they listen to "does it feel right". Sometimes a technically perfect recording may be passed over because it's "too refined" or "lacks a hint of emotion", and the final version chosen is often the one that hits the heart and best matches the character's soul state at the moment, even if it may have some minor flaws (such as a hint of authenticity). Even if it may have some minor flaws (such as a hint of real huskiness or wheezing). Artistic choices are subjective and critical.