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echolevel.co.uk
echolevel
@echolevel.co.uk
620 followers 180 following 220 posts
Brendan O'Callaghan Ratliff - Audio Director/Coder, Sound Designer & Composer at Cardboard Sword Games • Film Sound • BBC radio drama • Irish traditional music • chiptune/demoscene stuff as Syphus^UpRough

https://echolevel.co.uk
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echolevel.co.uk
echolevel @echolevel.co.uk · 26d
Now that our game's out, I can show off Metron Tracker running on Quest (ARM) in #UnrealEngine 5! Late in dev I whipped up a pattern/VU-meter display in UMG as a backdrop for the intro, so you can see the sample & synth notes being played in realtime. CPU usage is pretty minimal
#gameaudio #indiedev
echolevel.co.uk
I've added a macOS download for this - VST3 and AU. It's not notarised/code-signed, so you'll have to do some workarounds to get it running. I've added some instructions on how to do that.
echolevel.co.uk echolevel @echolevel.co.uk · 12d
Here's a Windows beta of that Metron distortion plugin. Works ok in Reaper and Ableton Live - please let me know if you have any problems. Should give very heavy guitar sounds for very little CPU! It also has my PS1-inspired reverb algo.

#gameaudio #gamedev

echolevel.co.uk/works/metron...
A screenshot of a VST plugin called MetronFX. It's (currently) a distortion and reverb effect, focused on high-gain heavy guitar sounds for as little CPU cost as possible
December 29, 2025 at 1:21 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Here's a Windows beta of that Metron distortion plugin. Works ok in Reaper and Ableton Live - please let me know if you have any problems. Should give very heavy guitar sounds for very little CPU! It also has my PS1-inspired reverb algo.

#gameaudio #gamedev

echolevel.co.uk/works/metron...
A screenshot of a VST plugin called MetronFX. It's (currently) a distortion and reverb effect, focused on high-gain heavy guitar sounds for as little CPU cost as possible
December 28, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by echolevel
echolevel.co.uk
Hey, who likes the electric guitar? That’s right, nobody! Nevertheless I wrote a very low-CPU, zero-latency amp sim for Metron and wrapped it up in a VST plugin so I could fart about with it

#unrealengine #gameaudio
December 27, 2025 at 7:18 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Hey, who likes the electric guitar? That’s right, nobody! Nevertheless I wrote a very low-CPU, zero-latency amp sim for Metron and wrapped it up in a VST plugin so I could fart about with it

#unrealengine #gameaudio
December 27, 2025 at 7:18 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Compelled to share the name of this actual person, Scan Tester - an English folk musician of the previous century, sadly born too early to pioneer late '80s EBM/industrial goth music. Scan was short for his childhood nickname "Scantelope". Brother was Trayton Tester. Paging @misterabk.bsky.social
The cover of a book of Scan Tester's anglo concertina music, compiled and edited by Gary Coover (the author of many such books)
December 17, 2025 at 1:35 PM
echolevel.co.uk
The ostentatiously dot-matrixed #DeathInSpace character sheet wallets have reached their final form. And I wish I’d used a sponge for the gummed paper tapes instead of licking them. #ttrpg
Cover labels for my Death In Space character sheet envelopes, printed onto strips of gummed paper tape Cover labels for my Death In Space character sheet envelopes, printed onto strips of gummed paper tape Cover labels for my Death In Space character sheet envelopes, printed onto strips of gummed paper tape
December 15, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by echolevel
echolevel.co.uk
Now that our game's out, I can show off Metron Tracker running on Quest (ARM) in #UnrealEngine 5! Late in dev I whipped up a pattern/VU-meter display in UMG as a backdrop for the intro, so you can see the sample & synth notes being played in realtime. CPU usage is pretty minimal
#gameaudio #indiedev
December 14, 2025 at 3:46 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Now that our game's out, I can show off Metron Tracker running on Quest (ARM) in #UnrealEngine 5! Late in dev I whipped up a pattern/VU-meter display in UMG as a backdrop for the intro, so you can see the sample & synth notes being played in realtime. CPU usage is pretty minimal
#gameaudio #indiedev
December 14, 2025 at 3:46 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Vaguely retrofuturistic document wallets and character sheets for #DeathInSpace #TTRPG. The easiest way to achieve it was to use appropriately obsolete stuff that doesn’t quite line things up right. I had to rewrite a 1989 printer driver for Amiga to get the correct(ish) line height. Worth it…
C6 document wallets made from card-backed envelopes and dot matrix-printed gummed tape containing 4 part character sheets for the Death In Space TTRPG, the idea being that they keep people’s sheets in one place and also impart a setting-appropriate, vaguely retrofuturistic Alien/Outland/etc vibe C6 document wallets made from card-backed envelopes and dot matrix-printed gummed tape containing 4 part character sheets for the Death In Space TTRPG, the idea being that they keep people’s sheets in one place and also impart a setting-appropriate, vaguely retrofuturistic Alien/Outland/etc vibe C6 document wallets made from card-backed envelopes and dot matrix-printed gummed tape containing 4 part character sheets for the Death In Space TTRPG, the idea being that they keep people’s sheets in one place and also impart a setting-appropriate, vaguely retrofuturistic Alien/Outland/etc vibe
December 13, 2025 at 5:17 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Delighted by this vid of a Japanese player really enjoying our game: "It's a nostalgic and unique game!" "The electronic dance music makes you move your body without thinking!" Thank you 🙏
#TransmissionShortwave #gameaudio #gamedev

youtu.be/cy2mDBGaem0?...
Meta Quest 3S/3 EDMサウンドが心地よい運転シミュレーター♪【Transmission: Shortwave】
YouTube video by カエルVR
youtu.be
December 12, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Reposted by echolevel
echolevel.co.uk
Transmission Shortwave is OUT NOW for Quest! It's our lo-fi, low-stakes, high-vibes, VR courier delivery sim set in 90s Britain to a chill jungle/d&b soundtrack wot I wrote. Metron Tracker plays the music in realtime & beatsyncs stuff in the world!
#gameaudio #gamedev
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnws...
Transmission: Shortwave Launch Trailer
YouTube video by Cardboard Sword
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:36 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Transmission Shortwave is OUT NOW for Quest! It's our lo-fi, low-stakes, high-vibes, VR courier delivery sim set in 90s Britain to a chill jungle/d&b soundtrack wot I wrote. Metron Tracker plays the music in realtime & beatsyncs stuff in the world!
#gameaudio #gamedev
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnws...
Transmission: Shortwave Launch Trailer
YouTube video by Cardboard Sword
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:36 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Printing off some more #DeathInSpace character sheets on the printer that I keep maintained exclusively for this purpose
#ttrpg
December 10, 2025 at 11:27 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Never flung money at anything so fast. Absynth 6! And it's backwards compatible with 20 years' worth of my nonsense! Thanks for the heads-up, @pkirn.bsky.social

Wish it could bulk import said nonsense though. Also some knobs are vertical mouse drag while others are horizontal 🙃Stay weird, Absynth
December 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Next week we release Transmission: Shortwave, our 90s-Britain beatsynced parcel courier training sim VR game for Quest! We're confident it's the hottest addition to the increasingly crowded 90s-Britain beatsynced parcel courier training sim VR game genre that you'll see all month
Transmission: Shortwave Release Date Announcement Trailer
YouTube video by Cardboard Sword
www.youtube.com
December 6, 2025 at 12:23 PM
echolevel.co.uk
Finally I'm allowed to answer the question "why DID you write a sample/synth tracker in #UnrealEngine and optimise it for ARM?"

A: so I could beat-sync everything to everything else in our 90s parcel courier training sim VR game for Quest, out next week!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_eg... #gameaudio
Enormous VR business guy towers over you while delivering the intro VO to our game. An early 90s hatchback sits in the foreground on an infinite floor of neon red grid lines while the backdrop shows a vertically scrolling music tracker display whose note-data and VU meters are driven in realtime by the music.
December 6, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by echolevel
cardboardsword.bsky.social
Our game was featured in the @uvrshowcase.bsky.social event! Thanks again to @UploadVR.com and @IGN.com for the awesome #VR Winter showcase this year. Wishlist our game: www.meta.com/en-gb/experi...

#virtualreality #MetaQuest #UploadVR #retro #delivery #gaming #nostalgic #simulation #casual
Transmission: Shortwave on Meta Quest
Are you ready for BUSINESS? You’ve been chosen to undergo our state-of-the-art induction process. By becoming a ParcelPal franchisee, you can become your own boss by performing deliveries exclusively…
www.meta.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:01 PM
echolevel.co.uk
I ported Metron's reverb algorithm to VST3 just for the craic. It's a PSX-inspired half-samplerate thingy with a LUT-driven mod LFO that's as cheap as I can make it for runtime use in #UnrealEngine but maybe I'll want to use it in Reaper some day.
#gamedev #gameaudio

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqqd...
MetronFX Reverb example
YouTube video by Echolevel
www.youtube.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by echolevel
echolevel.co.uk
I had a bug for like 6 months in my #UnrealEngine music system that *only* manifested on ARM, and did so in a way that threw no errors or tripped any ensures - just occasional dropped notes. Drove me insane. Fixed it last week and kinda want to talk about it, but it's SO boring.🧵 #gameaudio #gamedev
November 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM
echolevel.co.uk
I had a bug for like 6 months in my #UnrealEngine music system that *only* manifested on ARM, and did so in a way that threw no errors or tripped any ensures - just occasional dropped notes. Drove me insane. Fixed it last week and kinda want to talk about it, but it's SO boring.🧵 #gameaudio #gamedev
November 2, 2025 at 8:31 PM
echolevel.co.uk
In April I made a looping resampler effect for the Korg NTS-3 Kaoss Pad and just forgot to tell anyone about it. It repeats what it hears at quantised playback pitches, but also has a granular mode with random up/down octave grains. Free:
github.com/echolevel/lo...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aEi...
Loopitch by echolevel for Korg NTS-3 Kaoss Pad
YouTube video by Echolevel
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by echolevel
danelaw.bsky.social
Out today on Evel Records: Dane Law "The Black Path"

A collection of pieces recorded in summer 2024 when I lived at the intersection of the boundary of the historic Danelaw and the Black Path, an ancient traders' route.

Max MSP controlled sampled guitar; the last solo album with those materials.
evelrecords.bsky.social evel @evelrecords.bsky.social · Jul 3
The black path
by Dane Law (｡･∀･)ﾉﾞ
Digt.ed. St/Hd 96/24
@evel_records
evel.bandcamp.com/album/the-bl...
The black path, by Dane Law
9 track album
evel.bandcamp.com
July 3, 2025 at 6:49 PM
echolevel.co.uk
My actual day job (one of them, anyway) is to compose 90s atmospheric drum and bass, in the custom tracker wot I wrote, for a video game. The game responds to the music data and vice versa. In 1994 I hoped I’d get a job doing this on the Amiga when I grew up - close enough.

#gameaudio #demoscene
September 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM