Hello!
Official JETT tsagas scrivener Dustin Harbin here, with a fresh squad profile focusing on two of the all-star contributors essential--in different ways--to defining the distinctive voice and soul of JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time. A process which, as you’ll see below, was as complex, multi-layered, and nuanced as the game itself.
Over the 10 or so years of JETT’s genesis, I’ve been involved in a few different ways: sometimes just as a friendly ear, or someone to whip up some Jules Verne-y scifi drawings, or draw stylized portraits of all the squad members. Often I’d come back to the project after long absences to discover enormous changes had been made while I was off doing… whatever a freelance cartoonist does with their time. Without exception, I was always floored by the changes, usually occurring after Craig and Patrick added some new wunderkind to the squad.
But, when I was asked to audition for the (starring, some say) role of “(Gloomy) Skeptic,” I was introduced to a whole new upgrade: someone had created an entire phonetic language for the game, and the voice actors were delivering their lines 100% in that invented language.
Whoa, what?
look for me in JETT's memorable prologue and I'll give you a word of encouragement
Fortunately, I had just 3 lines, which was plenty, because turns out it's hard to emote when you’re making some sounds nobody has ever heard before.
So, consider the plight of one Firas Momani--the ubiquitous voice of JETT scout Isao--who had a very significant amount of these lines to record, working with Priscilla Snow and Gordon McGladdery, along with Gordon’s team at noted Canadian videogame audio outfit A Shell In The Pit. It was Priscilla who developed the distinctive in-fiction language, which was referred to internally as “Volega” (more on that below).
In any case, I sat down (at my desk, via email) with Priscilla and Firas to talk about the process of doing the voice work for JETT.
I’ll start with Priscilla, because they were the inventor of the language itself, and on-hand for each (remote) recording session. Not to mention, also the voice of Caro in both The Far Shore and the new Given Time campaign, joined by A Life Well Wasted host Robert Ashley, reprising his role as Observer in the Mother Structure.
DUSTIN HARBIN: Priscilla, we met in the middle of the hustle-and-bustle of remote recording all the voice acting during Covid lockdown, and I wasn’t as in the know as everyone else about your (giant) skillset. What was your background pre-JETT?
PRISCILLA SNOW: I studied theatre in college, spending half my time studying acting, and the other half doing everything from carpentry to sound design. I used any free time I had writing and performing music at tiny DIY spaces. By the time I graduated in 2015, I’d already started working on small narrative Twine games with Kevin Snow, who was also a student at the time. Later on we got married, worked at our soul-sucking day jobs, and collaborated on games whenever we could (The Domovoi, Beneath Floes, Mama Possum, Southern Monsters).
Eventually I started doing more music and sound for games around 2018 (Voyageur, A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, Can Androids Pray), then in 2019 I took up a contract as sound designer on Iron Man VR and moved to Seattle.
DH: It’s always funny to me, how many people I know who are almost entirely self-taught in their actual jobs. This should be taught to college freshmen: don’t stress about picking a major, because in ten years you’ll just be doing whatever it is you care about then anyway.
So how did you come to be involved with JETT?
PS: It’s kind of a long story! I had just wrapped Iron Man VR; I hadn’t even posted that I was about to be looking for work, and Andy [Rohrmann, aka JETT score composer scntfc] reached out to me out of the blue because he’d seen me tweeting about Sacred Harp music (not exactly a trending topic). I’d grown up hearing about it, in part because I’m a direct descendant of Benjamin F White, the “shape note singing master” who co-published the songbook The Sacred Harp in 1844.
Well, it turned out that Andy had been using Sacred Harp and other similar traditional forms of choral music as touchstones for a piece in JETT. When he asked if I’d be interested in signing an NDA and learning about a Top Secret project, we realized we were living in the same neighborhood! So, we met up soon after. Once I knew about the project, I was excited to step in and compose a choral piece for the game, drawing on my experiences with choral music and folk music– initially that was my only task! Write one (1) song.
DH: Haha WOW that’s bonkers–I had no idea that was your original mission, considering the herculean contribution you ended up making by the end of everything. What was the thinking that went into creating an entire language out of whole cloth for the game?
PS: The first thing I did was create a set of syllables similar to solfege (used in shape note singing) or swara (used in classical indian music).
These ended up being “Vo, Le, Ga, Ni, Ha, Xi, Me, Vo.” This was the foundation of the choral music; some parts sing those syllables with their associated pitches while other parts sing over them with lyrics. I came up with the lyrics while improvising a melody over the recording I’d made of myself singing all the fake-solfege parts, then tweaked them until they felt natural to sing. Once it felt natural I was like “well, what does it mean?” and I started to give the lyrics a translation.
I presented the music demo and what I was doing with the lyrics to the team, and I was pretty much asked on the spot if I’d be interested in expanding on that and turning it into the actual language of the game, as well as voicing one of the Scouts in the cast (Caro). It was a little daunting! But I’d really enjoyed the process of creating the lyrics, and I was Available for Work, so I signed on and once the choral music was further along, I started digging through the scripts.
The seed of the language was those first lyrics I’d made up:
(a screencap of the first verse, from the document I presented)
Because I am the way I am, I really just ran with it. I wanted the language to feel like it was logical, like it had history, like it was evolved from earlier languages the way our own are. I didn’t want it to sound overwhelmingly like any particular existing language, but I did cut myself slack when it came to grammar; Volega follows basic english grammar, it was going to be too difficult for me to create translations otherwise! While some words changed a bit between the choral piece and the language used in game, I justified this to myself by thinking, “the song uses archaic Volega! it’s like singing in latin during Mass! my ex-Catholic roots are showing!”
DH: I am losing my mind with this Tolkien-esque “I’ll just make up a language because this song was great” chutzpah. Were there crazy hurdles to jump (and potential pitfalls to watch out for), linguistically?
PS: I think the biggest one is just that some combinations of made up words are really hard to say when you’re used to speaking English primarily! A word might be fine on its own but then you put it in the context of a sentence it can become a stumbling block that needs to be shaved down in some way. Sometimes all I needed to do was change the “phonetic” representation of the words I prepared in the scripts we used to record from, other times it was like “ok this word happens maybe twice in the entire game, let’s change the word completely.”
But the biggest hurdle was that we did not have the time or inclination to do wall-to-wall fully translated, fully acted VO. Most of the work I did really involved handling the “fragment system” I came up with and was made possible with the work Nicholas Zhang did at ASITP creating our “voice tool.” The TLDR; most of the cut scenes or more intimate scenes inside Ground Control are fully translated and voice acted. When you’re in the JETT, we’re using the voice tool and “fragments”.
Key words like names, locations, actions, and even certain phrases, (and many variations therein) were recorded by all the Scout characters and intermeshed with “nonsense/filler” fragments. The voice tool kept track of which fragments need to play and who says them; I hand picked nearly every fragment you hear in the game. I would go to sleep and hear these fragments in my dreams… If JETT ever has a wild reboot/remaster in the future, just know I would never turn down the chance to make the whole game fully translated! Putting it out there!
DH: Oh I see–once you’d created a new language with its own syntax and vocabulary, you and Nicholas created a proprietary tool to implement it across the entire game. Haha, sounds easy-peasy! Do you have a background in languages? Do you speak multiple languages yourself?
PS: I’ve always been interested in languages and dialects. My family moved a lot (military) and we ended up in Europe for a few years when I was younger. So I picked up a little German and Italian, the English TV was all British, so my little rural south Arkansas accent got MIGHTY twisted up. Later on I studied Spanish in school, then German in college, out of nostalgia. As someone who’s found themselves living in Quebec I’m often mad at myself for not choosing French at any point. So I’m not currently fluent in anything but English and (this is a stretch) Volega. I am working on the French, however…
DH: Volega is the name of the JETT language? Where did that come from?
PS: Yes! The first three notes of the invented solfege system, “vo, le, ga,” is where I got the name for the language! Volega. Vo-lay-ga.
DH: I just read the wikipedia entry for “solfege” (well, the first part anyway, before it gets extra technical) and now it makes perfect sense.
How did the voice recording work, vis-à-vis (that’s French, by the way) working remotely, Covid, etc? I mean, I know what I did to record my little part, but I only had like three lines. Was anyone recorded in person (besides yourself), or was it all remote?
PS: It was all remote! In fact, Covid hit just after I finished writing the choral piece. I was (still am) devastated! I’d been dreaming of standing in a room full of singers, actually getting to hear this piece performed by living breathing people, and then we had to go and have a virus–that spreads on our breath–turn our whole world upside-down. So probably a good 60% of the voices in the choral piece are me singing as different kinds of people (old, young, boisterous, timid, etc) with some light re-pitching where I could get away with it. We also recruited Terri Brosius (the delightful voice of Misha, and an integral part of the game itself!!) to sing some parts. Andy brought in a few really great singers to cover the lower range parts. The piece still has not been recorded in its entirety, but I hope to make it happen, someday.
The game’s VO was totally remote, for me. But some actors actually got to record over at A Shell in The Pit in Vancouver. I was present on every single recording session, mostly using Zoom, co-directing with Gordon McGladdery, and helping everyone work through the process of performing their lines in Volega. When I recorded Caro it was a bit more solitary; I had to handle my recording setup, direct myself, and edit the takes down to the ones I thought would work. When we recorded Firas (the voice of Isao), we actually had it set up so that Gord was running Firas’s Reaper session using a remote-control feature on Zoom. So I was in Seattle co-directing, Gord was in Vancouver controlling Firas’ computer, and Firas recorded from the east coast of Canada. We made it work! It was obviously a less than ideal scenario but when you’ve worked in indie games long enough, being scrappy and making the best of what you have is never really a surprise.
DH: All this is making me feel downright lazy. I feel like I could ask questions about this all day, but on that note let me turn to the voice of Isao himself, Firas Momani.
Firas is one of those people who do everything, coming from the Toronto animation industry, along with fellow JETT alum Sam Bradley, who came on in 2019 as co-lead art director. Firas is a director, designer, storyboard artist and experimental filmmaker. We got to chatting and dug into his experience with JETT, art, animation and more:
DH: So Firas, how did you end up voicing Isao, anyway?
FM: I was told that my voice was internalized into Craig’s mind-space after some lengthy discourse involving space, its fabric, worlds, myths and ancient scriptures. Craig and I are old friends, and I’d helped him with some voices on a JETT prototype, back when he and Patrick were working on a VO proof of concept. I'm told my voice then became inextricable from the character. When the time came to record voices for real, Craig reached out and we booked it. Initially there was a plan for me to go over to Jim Guthrie's shedquarters to record alongside Sam Bradley, but then COVID hit. So instead, Priscilla and I got the work done, working entirely remotely. So, Isao emerged from that space, and once he had my voice he took on his final form. I feel like he and I are one, working together to satisfy my dream of traversing a sci-fi space epic.
DH: What is it you do when you’re not voicing a very chatty co-pilot character in a scifi videogame? My understanding is that you’re not normally a voice actor.
from Firas’s sketch blog
FM: I wear many hats: I primarily do storyboards for animation and film studios, do character designs and take on Assistant Director positions.
I have a sketch blog where I do illustrations and character designs, while making my own short films, that I write and direct myself, that range from live action to stop motion and traditional 2d animation. I also make my own techno beats in my studio.
DH: Now I’m just scrolling through all these super lively drawings, zowie! Looking at your site, and from what I’ve seen of your work from talking with Craig, you go all over the place stylistically, both in your 2d lineart for concept stuff, and your more involved animation and film work. What are some of the influences that got you to where you are currently? Or, that inspire you currently?
FM: I’ve been drawing as far back as my memory can go. Then I got into art within a timeline format and how that’s used to convey narratives. I found that aesthetics contributed to the feel of a film for example. I pick the visual style to reinforce the story and the feel of the films I’m making.
For example, in the surreal short film, A Half Man, we have a man who is only half there, that is trying to keep his life together. Symbolically trying to keep things from falling apart. He’s split in half in a way where his organs are exposed making him feel vulnerable, and the puppets built were a little rough around the edges making them feel unsturdy. Even the film had grain and scratches to convey the feel of the main character, that his world is rough and at the edge of falling apart.
from the film A HALF MAN. Watch on Vimeo.
** Hi-- JETT creative director Craig Adams here, writing from the editing room to note that Firas and I go way wayyy back, The last time we worked together I was contributing to one of Firas's project: I did a bit of concept art for his award-winning short film THE ADDER’S BITE back in 2010. It's a vivid experience! You can see the video on Firas’s Vimeo site. **
My illustrative drawings are my own personal style though, and I’m currently working on a videogame with that signature style.
DH: Oh man I would kill to see a whole project in this style. Speaking of, er, personal style, have you done any other voice work besides Isao?
FM: Only in a limited capacity as part of my filmmaking, in an experimental film I had shot playing myself as the filmmaker behind the camera for a moment. But no, not for video games, until JETT.
DH: Wow, from there to getting thrown into being a voice actor as one of the main characters in a game being recorded in three cities at once. Was it bonkers to play the game for the first time and have yourself teach…yourself…how to fly the jett?
FM: Yes. Bonkers is the appropriate wording. Other fitting words can be: radical, trippy, mind blowing, fantastical and woohoo. Having my own voice speak back to me through a space scifi videogame is truly strange and is as personal an experience as it gets. I’ve only (mostly) heard my voice in my own internal monologue or through my mouth, so hearing it externalized through something else but also directed at me was truly a mind bender. I love it.
DH: How long did it take you to get into the flow of “speaking” Priscilla’s Volega language?
FM: I didn’t take too long, being familiar with different languages and having an interest in them made me incorporate some of my knowledge into it. I treated it mostly as sound and rhythm and my knowledge of languages and obsessiveness with etymology made me familiar with some of the phonetic roots which helped me contextualize the dialogue.
DH: Now that you’ve been a main character in a videogame, do you think you’ll pursue more voicing work?
FM: I’m open to it, though I don’t see myself as such really. This was just an exceptional and personal project that I couldn’t say no to. I’m forever grateful for this incredible experience.
Thanks to both Priscilla and Firas for sharing their time with me and answering these annoying invasive perfectly reasonable questions. I don’t really work in video games myself–I just occasionally draw 2d lineart assets and conduct the odd interview–so it’s always incredibly eye-opening, the number and complexity of all the elements that go into every corner of a game’s creation.
You can check out more of Priscilla's work at their website, Twitter, and Instagram; and Firas can be found at his sketch blog and Vimeo page. And of course, you can read more about JETT: The Far Shore and jump on the semi-regular newsletter list at jett.fyi, and follow along on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
With Given Time’s January 31st release just days away as of this writing, I’m excited to sit down again with the game knowing everything that went into the voicing. As it is, I’m only now getting around to listening to that Scooby-Doo foley podcast everyone was talking about back when. Always one year behind the zeitgeist, that’s my rule!
See you on January 31st for JETT: The Far Shore + Given Time’s release on Steam!