iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Announcing my upcoming EP, #GauntletOfGods , releasing Oct 2nd! Music for the latest Pwnisher CG contest winners montage, it features heroic themes based on Fire, Earth, Air and Water to portray the diversity of the characters. Link below!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

PRODUCTION TIP: Sometimes you can automate the automation, using #ReaperDAW 's Automation Items feature to copy/paste/loop envelope shapes! .....but sometimes, manual volume/automation editing is also needed. Always worth experimenting with both! (tutorial in alt text) #gameaudio

Screenshot of an audio clip where I needed to manually adjust the volume envelope, vs. some automation lanes where I used Reaper's "automation items" feature to automatically apply the same curve over and over again every measure

Menu showing how to get to Automation Items. Just create any kinda track envelope, select the time region of where you wanna save/copy/loop your envelope points

Then rightclick --> Automation Items --> Insert New and your automation will now behave like a looping audio clip! You can move around the entire automation clip, loop it, timestretch it, copy/paste it elsewhere in the track or even to other envelopers/tracks. Your edits to the automation item will propagate to every other instance of the loop, but if you copy/paste, each one will remain unique.

And you can also save them if you want!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Join us this Wed for a #gamemusic chat about this gorgeous game, with its composer Takeshi Furukawa (of The Last Guardian fame) and the game director Klas Eriksson!

Screenshot of Planet of Lana 2. Well actually, a photo *of* my screen, with Connor Bear watching the gameplay

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

PRODUCTION TIP: In Melodyne 5, remember you can easily add shortcuts for almost anything! File > Prefs > Shortcuts, click what you want, then just press whatever key you wanna register. I use Pitch, Drift and Note Separation more than anything, so I just set those to 1 2 3. EZPZ! #gamemusic

Screenshot of Melodyne 5 preferences --> Shortcuts window.

This tip seems random but it seriously saved me half an hour of clicks in just one night!!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

We never released a #MortalKombat1 #KhaosReigns DLC OST, but it has some of my favorite dark synth designs I’ve ever done. So for now, here’s a vid of Havik’s Theme edited by @zaidtmusic.bsky.social ! (1/2) [full vid in reply] #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Just arrived in the mail ❤️❤️ So proud of our #PacificDrive team at @ironwood.bsky.social !! #BAFTA

Pacific Drive was nominated in the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards for the Best Debut Game category

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

PRODUCTION TIP: [photo] If I were to guess how often, when I turn on a synth, that I actually USE the result! Results *greatly* skewed bc some synths get way more attempts than others. But just to give an idea, if you're interested in hardware! Synth names & explanations in ALT text #gamemusic

90% = Moog SubPhatty. Great for bass drones, sub bass

65% = Arturia Minibrute 2S. Great for bass sequences, sequences, some perc loops too

40% = Arturia Microfreak. Bit of a shocker, but when I thought about it, I realized there's patches I've designed here that are indispensable and live rent-free in my imagination; I think of them as part of my palette just the same as I'd think of a trombone or oboe. Specifically, a synth low strings patch and a few blip arps

30% = Korg Minilogue. Artificially low % because this is the FIRST synth I always turn on when I want anything. It might even be my favorite really - but because I use it so much, the % is lower and the "time risk" is high. Still, this places it evenly with software synths in time risk and versatility. Amazing for arps and pads; not so great for bass stuff though, IMO

15% = Korg MS-20mini. Uh oh!! Hopefully not too offensive a score, but basically it's the biggest gamble of all. Aggressive, unruly, and inherently a bit "low fi" sound, but it's got more vibe and life than anything... Just ridiculously hard to predict or control. But when it hits, it WILL be a signature sound. Great for bass, drones, FX, and ultra vibey arps

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Recently found folders of my earliest #gamemusic, and found "Control Monger", the first game I scored that actually released! Freeware multiplayer FPS from 2005, think Team Fortress with flying robots 😆 There was a revival event 8 years ago, so I made a vid with the footage & my menu theme! (1/3)

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Oh, also FWIW Reaper will still render and auto-name tracks with invalid characters, it just changes them into underscores usually. The \ and / are the most problematic because Reaper gets confused and makes unwanted subfolders:

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

#REAPER TIP: Do not use characters like /, \, ? or ! in your track names! Anything incompatible with Windows filenames can be a headache later on, if you wanna auto-export stems. (seems obvious but I'm looking at an old project file and, apparently it wasn't... 🤦‍♂️) #reaperDAW #gameaudio

Behold the Screenshot Of Shame, where I use the / character in so many tracks

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

Heading to #MAGFest for the first time since before the pandemic! I'll be performing with Triforce Quartet and doing some panels, including a live musical-sounddesign demo with audience participation, and some other fun surprises. #Helldivers2 fans come say hi! #gamemusic

PAX West 2024 concert photo, me playing bass flute with the Triforce Quartet

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

The extraction theme “No Diver Left Behind” was one of the most fun pieces to write and record for #Helldivers2 ! In addition to orch, we also tracked drums from #JimBogios of #CountingCrows fame – so please enjoy this #pianoroll #gamemusic vid, now with drum session footage!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

“The Illuminate Cult” from #Helldivers2 has some of my most nuanced musical sound design (and one of my fave endings!) I’ve ever composed for a piece of #gamemusic, so I’m excited to share a #pianoroll vid with some synth breakdowns as well! #GRAMMYs #grammy #grammynominated (full vid in reply)

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

KONTAKT TIP: You can just doubleclick most parameters and enter them numerically. I have no idea why it's taken me TWENTY YEARS using KT to realize this, but, TIL 😆 Useful for things like setting a precise frequency for culling resonances! #kontakt

screenshot of an EQ, I've highlighted the frequency and entered it in numerically. took all my self control not to enter a meme number

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

“Lando’s Redemption” from #StarWarsOutlaws DLC is my most melodically complex piece yet – referencing Williams’ Lando & Rebel motifs as well as @joneverist.bsky.social 's Rebel theme from Outlaws, to convey his suave veneer & grave sense of duty. Here's a #gamemusic analysis of the themes!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Years ago, I did an impromptu field recording at Gasworks Park, striking and bowing large metals in this defunct power plant. Finally edited it into a FREE sample library! (requires full version of #Kontakt 6) Link below – enjoy, and Happy Holidays! #gameaudio

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Made a score reduction/analysis vid for the #Helldivers2 main theme, “A Cup of Liber-tea”! It transcribes both orchestra and synths/drums, and highlights themes. Try and guess how many times you hear the main motif repeated throughout? :-P Full vid on YT! #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

My OST to the #PacificDrive Whispers in the Woods DLC is now out on Steam! Check out this preview of the main theme, "The Harmonic Fellowship", featuring vocals by Paolo Andrea di Pietro! (and bowed strings-you're-not-supposed-to-bow by yours truly 😅) Link in first reply! #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Looking back on it, #PacificDrive was a fun but very unusual project to work on - writing the individual pieces went by pretty quickly, but creating each "instrument" from scratch could take weeks of recording, editing, programming, and looking for happy accidents out in the real world! #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

Here's a link to my aforementioned "Render Track" tracktemplate: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/twdby... Drop this in your TrackTemplates folder, which you can find by rightclicking the track view, Insert Track from Template, Open Template. Add it & select, send from whatever you wanna record, and record!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

PRODUCTION TIP: This video explains how I like to "de-noise" random phone recordings using an envelope follower!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

The nice thing about beating Silent Hill 2 is, you've just beaten one of the greatest and most thought-provoking videogames of all time. The 𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓻𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓮 thing about beating Silent Hill 2 is, ....you somehow have to figure out how the heck to convince other people to play Silent Hill 2 🤦‍♂️

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

On the subject of #IvaliceChronicles announcement, I'll again give credit where credit's due - Sakimoto's brilliant #FinalFantasyTactics score was a HUGE influence on my work on many games, including #Helldivers2 - This clip from "The Right Side of History" being a prime example! #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

KONTAKT TIP: Some orchestral/acoustic sample libraries have inconvenient slow attack times in the recordings, so adjusting the Volume Envelope won’t help. Try adding SampleStart modulation instead! Set the Source to Sampler, add a Constant mod set to SampleStart. Details in ALT Text! #gamemusic

Kontakt Screenshot, but here's a more detailed tutorial:

(you will need the FULL version of Kontakt for this, not the free ones)

1) Go to Group Editor, hold down a note, and figure out what groups are actually triggering when you PLAY a note; often there's Release-triggered groups for when you let go of a note... you don't wanna touch those

2) In the Expert tab at the left of the Kontakt UI, you can select the groups you want. There'll be a speaker icon next to whatever's making sound

3) Now set these groups to Sampler in the Source section. This allows Kontakt to seek later within the sample when triggering notes

4) Add a Constant modulator within that Source section, and set it to Sample Start. You'll probably want a fairly low % value in the slider for orchestral libraries, like 3% or lower

5) You might have to adjust the Attack time to be *higher* now, down in the Modulation section in the Volume envelope, in order to compensate (in case this causes sound to just pop in). Try setting the Curve to a positive number for a legato attack

6) Lastly, you can get a bit fancy with this via extra modulations! For instance, in addition to the Constant modulator on SampleStart, you can try adding a Velocity modulator instead, so that the harder you press a note, the further in the sample starts (ie. bypassing more attack time). You can even add a Velocity modulator to the Volume envelope down in the Modulation section, and invert it so that there's less attack time the harder you press!

7) MAJOR CAVEAT: Several sample libraries these days have complex scripts that defeat Kontakt's internal velocity, controller, and note mapping, making it impossible to edit certain things. Unfortunately you'll just have to experiment to see which libraries let you do what.

Always save backups / never overwrite the default patches - you never know what slight adjustments might royally screw up a patch unexpectedly. :-(

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: Another reminder to try transient shaping! Generally, percussive hits/impacts sound bigger and more distant when they have less transient and more sustain. I’ll use this subtly on solos / hand perc, more extreme on big hits, giant metals, or for big "stadium rock kit" snares!

Screenshot of the free Sonic Anomaly "Transpire" Transient Processor VST, turning down the attack (transient) and increasing sustain

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

So funny enough, my own random patches end up getting used the most across different scores! This is kinda what inspired the thread - it's crazy easy to design things like pads with sample-based sound sources, then make them organic with dynamic EQ, randomized samplestarts, pitch variation, etc.!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: Sike, it's actually a thread & I need your help! Please reply with any q's you have re: #NativeInstruments #Kontakt and I'll do my best to answer! KT has been the most important tool in my arsenal for years, but I know some still find it intimidating. So ask away! #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Catch me at #GDC2025 in San Francisco this week! I'm lecturing on #StarwarsOutLaws as well as #Helldivers2, and performing in this year's GDC Developers Concert!! #gamemusic

Star Wars: Outlaws "From Symphony to Scoundrel, Adaptive Music in Star Wars: Outlaws" - Wednesday 9am, Moscone West 3018

GDC Developers Concert - Wednesday 12:30pm, Moscone West Main Stage

Helldivers 2 "Scoring Satire with Sincerity" - Thursday 11am, Moscone West 3018

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: 2-for-1 tips today! 1, careful and/or weird use of volume automation can occasionally be more effective than a special effect or mixing plugin! And 2, give detailed titles to rendered audio clips! This can help you retrace your steps, especially when recording from hardware.

Wild volume automation on a synth recording from my Pacific Drive main theme, with abrupt silences to make the sound poke out randomly.

I also labelled it with the synth it was recorded from (MS20-mini), the guitar pedals it was run through (Geiger Counter and Moog MF Drive), and special effect plugin (Output Thermal)

Audio clip that uses both volume automation and an EQ with a high band gradually decreasing over time. In this case it was to make some electric piano staccatos mix better with the orchestra as the chords got lower in pitch

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

MUSIC COMPOSITION TIP: Writing can be extremely iterative; consider rendering WIPs early and often, listen in a different program for fresh perspectives. Making a task list while reviewing also helps with combating procrastination! #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

(Note that this also works on the main view’s grid/snap)

Reaper snap/grid settings menu. Looks weird cuz this is a measure of 6/8, so the quintuplet crosses an 8th note boundary

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

REAPER TIP: (I've mentioned this a few times on the other app, but) You can set arbitrary tuplets in the pianoroll! Useful for quintuplets, runs, etc. :-) #reaperDAW

Screenshot of reaper piano roll view with grid set to 1/20, ie., quintuplets

(multiply whatever you want your tuplet to be by 4)

Note that it has built-in triplets and swing too, so for instance you can set to 1/8 or 1/16 and set triplet/swing in the dropdown.... or if for some reason you want quintuplet-triplets, you can do that with 1/20 I guess? :-P

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 22/12/2024

We recorded interactive cues, character themes and cities in Nashville (63 players, striped strings vs winds+brass), and Imperial cues, major cutscenes, and main themes in Glasgow (76 players tutti)!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

#PacificDrive OST won @ the #indiegameawards ! Grateful for this honor, & the chance to write a score so different from my others. Thanks to @ironwood.bsky.social for trusting me with this, soloists D’Anthoni Wooten (vocals) & Sam Suggs (doublebass), & engineer @jordanfehr.bsky.social ! #gamemusic

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

....whiiiich, coincidentally was gonna be one of my next tips! Rendering and making a list helps so much when working on a track. Somehow the music always sounds different when you're not watching it scroll by in your DAW...!

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: Whatever you *just* worked on? ....is probably too loud. :-) We have a tendency to lose perspective, especially when working on details, backgrounds, ear candy etc. So try instinctively turning whatever you just did down a few dB, taking breaks, and listening in mono!

Not-particularly-related screenshot of Reaper, but including a hardware synth pad I recorded and then immediately turned down like -9dB.

Also, it's fun to just make a track with a trancegate effect and run synth pads through it! Kilohearts has a free VST one if you wanna check it out. https://kilohearts.com/products/trance_gate

(it's so damn spacious in these ALT Text regions! I better shut up and get back to work though :-P)

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

MIXING TIP: You would be amazed how many problems can be solved with transient shaping! It can enhance attack to add bite to a rhythmic synth, dampen attack to give snares a roomier feel; always worth experimenting! I use the free Transpire Transient Processor VST: plugins4free.com/plugin/2777/

Screenshot of Transpire Transient Designer, increasing attacks (transients) and decreasing sustains

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: Got a repetitive riff that you'd like to sound sharper, more precise? Try subtly adding in a trance gate! I use Tremolator for this, low Depth + slight rush to the Feel to preserve acoustic instruments' attacks. Sounds more synthetic, but sometimes that's the goal for motors!

Screenshot of my Tremolator patch that I use for this purpose. Note the depthmod/ratemod/accent are set to 0, rate is tempo-synch'd ("MIDI"), rhythm set to 16ths, and shape is a simple custom curve.

I have a tiny bit of Width added just to sound a bit more natural, but it's not necessary at all.

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

Here's another example - cell phone recording of some annoying construction drills that I turned into a pad for #PacificDrive !

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: Continuing from the previous tip, don’t be afraid to record any cool sounds you hear out in real life; even if just with your phone! You don’t necessarily need perfect quality recordings to make an expressive, unique sample instruments :-) #Kontakt

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Hey of course we remember ♫ Fan-TAStic MAX!! ♫ (...I don't remember it necessarily being any good tho 😆, just that it's one of many kid shows where the hero was a kid named Max. Mighty Max was the 🐐 )

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Addendum - I've even seen some of the stock pad patches from ZebraHZ use built-in continuous diminuendo, programmed in the volume envelope itself! This ensures that no matter what, the pad will always move dynamically

Screenshot of the ZebraHZ "Sad Strings" patch, showing the sustain set low and with a lengthy decay

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: Try letting your synth warmpads “move” in some dynamic direction, gradually cresc/dimming throughout the chord. Subtle pitch wavering with LFOs is useful too, or even randomized sample starts for sample-based patches; anything to give each note life! #Kontakt

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

MUSIC PRODUCTION TIP: Try designing melodic signature sounds in two layers - first a pluck/attack, then a totally different sustain from a completely different source. For instance, often in my #MortalKombat scores, the pluck is from a world instrument, but sustain is a synth! #gamemusic #reaperDAW

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Will Roget @wilbertroget.bsky.social · 10/11/2024

Hey y'all! I'm Will Roget, composer of #StarWarsOutlaws , #Helldivers2 , Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance ( #G_RFV ), #PacificDrive, #MortalKombat1 & 11, Call of Duty: WWII and others. Looking forward to hanging out more on Bsky!

Found a copy of Helldivers 2 in an electronics store in Tokyo!

On the rare occasion of all 6 Star Wars: Outlaws composers being in the same room (or even the same continent), we took a shot. In the Mos Eisley Cantina no less!

(aka Scum & Villainy, in Hollywood CA)

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