61: David Thiel Audio Party
Its been a long time in the works and I'm super excited to have one of pinball's most celebrated sound/music designers David Thiel join the show! We talk all things pinball audio from the evolution of pinball audio (software and hardware) to his favorite projects to what BEEEP he's working on next;) Email: pinballpartypodcast@gmail.com
Kineticist’s take
David Thiel on pinball audio design: constraints, evolution, and creative problem-solving across manufacturers.
Synopsis
David Thiel, a legendary pinball sound designer, discusses his extensive career spanning video games, Microsoft Research, and nearly 30 pinball machines since 2006. He covers audio system evolution, the constraints of pinball audio hardware across manufacturers (particularly Stern vs. Jersey Jack Pinball), technical challenges in EQing and speaker design, and his creative philosophy for composing under licensing restrictions. Thiel reveals emotional investment in his work, particularly Star Trek, and how manufacturer support and hardware capabilities fundamentally shape audio quality.
Entities
- Alvin Gottlieb· company
- Flippino Pinball· company
- Incredible Technologies· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Microsoft Research· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Iron Man· game
- Pirates of the Caribbean· game
- Qbert· game
- Reactor· game
- Star Trek· game
- The Hobbit· game
- Tron Legacy· game
- Wizard of Oz· game
- Chris Granner· person
- David Thiel· person
- Jason· person
- John Borg· person
- Lyman· person
- Pat Lawlor· person
- Ramin Djawadi· person
- Steve Ritchie· person
- Tim Skelly· person
- Daft Punk· person/group
- Cakewalk· product