Jonathan Ontiveros
Jonathan Ontiveros has over ten years of experience as a sound designer and content creator in the entertainment industry, excelling in platforms of audio for music, film, and videogame production. They helped develop Audio Design Desk, an A.I software that assists in syncing audio with video faster than traditional softwares. It won NAB's Product of the Year Award in 2022 and 2023, and is being used in productions for Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Studios among others.
What first got you into music? Were there any musicians or media that inspired you?
I grew up as a musician and started playing guitar at a very early age. Being a 90's kid living on the west coast, I was introduced to grunge and punk rock as a kid and was also into the local skating scene. Being exposed to that culture is what got me into music at a young age. No particular band in mind, but the media that inspired me the most was the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games which has a perfect blend of punk, hip-hop, and metal music. Still to this day, those are my top 3 genres of music and I owe all of that to being a 90's kid growing up skateboarding.
How was your experience transitioning from film to videogame music?
It's actually been an exciting transition to say the least! I have been working the film post-production for about ten years now and it has been a great experience to further improve my audio engineering skills and techniques. But before I became a sound designer for film, I always dreamed of working in the game industry. So after my 10 years working on multiple indie films and docuseries on streaming services, I decided I wanted continue following that dream. Over the last year, I have met some of the coolest game developers and sound designers and one thing I have noticed is how nice the game dev community can be. I have met plenty of mentors who I can now call friends who inspired me to learn more about game dev and practice creating games and implement sounds effects and music to the game.
Is there any particular kind of music you usually like to work on? What is your creative process like?
I experiment with all different styles and genres of music and I just enjoy creating whatever it is I am feeling in the moment. One week I will be in the mood for some lo-fi hip hop, other weeks I enjoy making synth wave music. My creative process varies but most of my creative moments simply begin by experimenting with a plug in and asking myself, what can I do to the single sound, to make it vibrant. By simply taking things one step at a time, I eventually fall down a hole of experimenting with sounds until it sounds like melodic rhythm I enjoy.
How was your experience working on the game Zodiac Ranger 3? Is there any particular part of it that you're most proud of?
I had a great time working on Zodiac Ranger 3. The team was very easy to work with and I enjoyed my time creating the sounds effects and music for the game. I think what I am most proud of was creating the player shooting sound effects. I wanted to challenge myself to use only synthesis processing. So I created my own patch within my VST (Phase Plant) and created my own unique laser gun sound effect using multiple oscillators and LFO's to manipulate the sound source. It was a proud moment to achieve the desired sound without using any layering of pre-existing sound effects.
In which way would you say artificial intelligence impacted music production and music industry?
I think it has its pros and cons to change the industry forever. Outside of sound design for games, I have helped develop an innovating A.I software that assists editors to sync audio to video faster than traditional softwares. It was this development where I felt using A.I to assist editors was the right move towards beneficiating to use of A.I. Where I think the cons come in is the rise of A.I generative technology. Every day, generative A.I is growing larger and larger meanwhile our regulations cannot move at the same pace. The idea of a photo, painting, sound effect, etc. can be generated with a few clicks of a button raises a frightening concern for artists in the industry. In conclusion, assistive A.I in the industry can be a great thing, meanwhile generative A.I can be a negative thing.
If you could change anything about the music industry, what would it be?
I would bring back dynamic range in traditional pop culture music. In the 90's there was a theory where "the louder the mix, the better the sound." This was known as the loudness war, where every new artist would compete to have a louder album. While the arguement could be made that this theory is true, the reality is music lost its dynamic range due to loud mixing of music. If you compare Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody to any modern pop artist, you will notice a wide difference in the volume and dynamics. Today's music is mixed to sound like it is right in front of your face, as for older music was mixed to sound like you are in the room with the artist.
What advice do you have for someone that wants to get into music industry?
To follow your dreams and don't let anyone get in your way. Music is subjective and what matters the most is making music you are extremely proud of. With today's technology, you can become a musician at the comfort of your home. Long gone are the days where you would have to invest in thousands of dollars of equipment and to rent out a large recording studio, or have to hire a manager to get your music out there. You can achieve all of that in your own home thanks to rise of home studio gear without breaking the bank.
What plans do you have for the future?
I have huge plans to continue my career in game audio. For 2024, I plan to join more game jams to further improve my sound design in game dev. I also plan to attend more game dev events to network with fellow creatives and recruiters in hopes to change the trajectory of my career from tv/film sound design, to game audio sound design.
Published on 22 December 2023