Machine Sounds

[Darkness_Falls]

Here are some new machine sounds. Wanted to add these to our sound library. I'll try to work on some ambient tracks rather than sound effects next time I fire up my music keyboard:

 

machine_hum_1.ogg

machine_hum_2.ogg

machine_hum_3.ogg

machine_hum_4.ogg

machine_pump_1.ogg

machine_pump_2.ogg

 

Thanks for taking a listen!

Edited January 23, 2005 by Darkness_Falls

[sparhawk]

Sounds good. pump2 sounds like some of the other sounds though.

[oDDity]

Sure, those are all great. I think you should start woprking in the SFX dept more.

[Darkness_Falls]

Yeah, I think I will start working with sounds more. As for Pump2 sounding like others, I guess my feelings are that for machine sounds, we probably can't overdo the number of options we make available at this point. I didn't know it sounded like something else, but it's impossible that it would be exactly like it because these are all original.

[Darkness_Falls]

Hey, wow! That T1/T2 effect sounds pretty cool! See this thread for more info:

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=938.

 

Maybe we should be doing the machine types of sounds in stereo rather than mono, to achieve this effect? What do you think we should do, Pak? Here are the above files re-done in this sweet T1/T2 style. Compare them with the original mono files posted above:

machine_hum_4-swirltest.ogg

machine_hum_3-swirltest.ogg

machine_hum_2-swirltest.ogg

machine_hum_1-swirltest.ogg

 

Also, Pak, I've made that 'wet finger around a wine glass' sound less pronounced here in this "humamb" file than in my original one, per your request. In doing this, I noticed there was a slight sparkle sound hidden in this file. I liked it, so I brought it out more for us to hear (humamb_1_sparkle.ogg). I could imagine the sparkly one used in a crystal cavern or something.

humamb_1.ogg

humamb_1_sparkle.ogg

 

And Pak, I've removed the "hiss" from the Harp sounds, per your request. Also added a new one (harp_loud_2.ogg).

harp_soft_1.ogg

harp_loud_1.ogg

harp_loud_2.ogg

 

Additionally, I've created a new Ocean Shore sound. I made this sound as though it's off in the distance rather than really close:

ocean_shore_1.ogg

 

Comments are welcome.

Edited January 23, 2005 by Darkness_Falls

[BlackThief]

Hey, wow!  That T1/T2 effect sounds pretty cool!  See this thread for more info:

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=938. 

 

Maybe we should be doing the machine types of sounds in stereo rather than mono, to achieve this effect?  What do you think we should do, Pak?  Here are the above files re-done in this sweet T1/T2 style. Compare them with the original mono files posted above:

machine_hum_4-swirltest.ogg

machine_hum_3-swirltest.ogg

machine_hum_2-swirltest.ogg

machine_hum_1-swirltest.ogg

wow - I really love this effect.

 

the other sounds are great as well - great work!

[saxmeister]

The swirl tests really do add a certain "sparkle" to the sound fx. Using Sound Forge I don't get the same effect?!?!? Weird. What software do you use for sound editing, Dark?

 

I really enjoyed all of the sfx, especially the ambient hum sounds. Great stuff! Nice sparkle to them and really warm sounding.

 

The machine sounds are good as well. The only thing I can say about them is to make the file sizes smaller. I know you were probably making the files loop so that we could all hear what they would sound like in-game, but sounds like the machine_pump_1.ogg could probably do with cutting it down ot just one iteration of the pump and letting the sound engine loop it so you get a sound file at like 3KB instead of 46KB. I keep having to remind myself of these memory tricks as well and maybe we should all have some forum post that discusses this more.

 

Some of the ambient loops could be the same way. The sounds are great! Just smaller file sizes to make the sound engine use less memory!

 

I love the new harp sounds.... just right!!! Yeah! Perfect!

 

Ocean sound.... is there anyway to add more "air" on the top of the sound? The sound itself is nice but it seems to be missing a bit of organic "splash". That's the only thing I could say about it.

 

Great work! Keep it up!!!!! More, more, more....

[sparhawk]

The ambients I have listened so far are REALLY great. Every time I listen to them I can feel the Thief in it.

[Darkness_Falls]

Ocean sound.... is there anyway to add more "air" on the top of the sound? The sound itself is nice but it seems to be missing a bit of organic "splash". That's the only thing I could say about it.

Yep, definitely. While I was tweaking the sound I actually had a version with more splash but then felt I didn't want to make it sound like we're right next to the water. I think we should have a few different ocean shore sounds. I'll work on tweaking the one above to add more "air" to it.

 

make the file sizes smaller.

Will do. Yeah, I wasn't really sure how long the loops should be, so I erred on the safe side to have more randomness in the sounds. I'll work to make them smaller files and try to post smaller ones in the future. I'm sure the ones I converted to stereo to get the 'swirl' effect are larger than the original mono version.

 

I don't get the same effect?!?!?  Weird. What software do you use for sound editing, Dark?

I just use Goldwave v5.08. They have a free shareware version you can get from their website (http://www.goldwave.com/). The shareware version has full capabilities, but limits the number of commands you can do per session. Just have to close and reopen the program when this happens, or deal with the "want to buy it now?" pop-up notices it gives you. I've never had a fully professional audio editor. Can anyone say how "worth it" a more professional one would be than Goldwave? Hmm, I just dug up an old "Cakewalk Musician's Toolbox III" CD that my bro gave me a long time ago. I should try this to see if it's any better than Goldwave. In addition to telling me whether or not a "professional" audio editing program is worth it, let me know if you have any experience (good or bad) regarding this Cakewalk software.

 

Saxmeister: To clarify, here's what I did to make the machine hums better.

• Open the original mono sound file (e.g., http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/audio/unf...hine_hum_3.ogg) in your audio software.
  
• Do a "File > Save As" and make it be a stereo OGG file (rather than mono) instead.
  
• Select only the LEFT channel (or right, doesn't matter). In Goldwave, I just right-click the left channel and select "Channel". That selects the entire left channel.
  
• Use "Effects > Reverse"
  
• Voila! That should do it! Just play the file and it should now sound spicy!!
  

I remember looking at the screenshots you posted in the other thread and feeling as though they weren't representative of the process. Like your screen labeled "The Original File" should've had the left and right channels more aligned, but they weren't.

 

Hope this helps!

-DF

[saxmeister]

Hey Dark,

 

Very cool about the different levels of high airy stuff on the waves. That would work out great for being at different distances from the water! Another option would be to muffle it more through EQ and do the "underwater" effect cranking up the bass and low mids while sloping off the highs. Just another way of doing it, I guess. It's always good to have options! And I'm open to learning because we are always students of our art!

 

The example file I posted in the T1/T2 Sound thread was actually a bit weird to show, sorry! It was a similar sound on both channels but with a delay so that's what made it look like it was off by a bit. Next time I'll pick better reference stuff!

 

I did the same exact thing you did reversing one of the channels, but when I do it it sounds reversed... GoldWave seems to add some shimmer or sparkle to the sound when it does that. Maybe I'm just hearing things in a strange way, but that's what it sounds like on my machine???? But, it sounds like GoldWave and Sound Forge are extremely similar interface and featurewise so I wouldn't feel at a loss for not having a "professional" program.

 

I have only used the Cakewalk Home Studio and Sonar apps. Many moons ago I used the Cakewalk basic sequencer that came with my old sound card on Windows 3.1, but it was terrible. The other products are excellent. Even the Home Studio version is extremely versatile and powerful. I actually do most of my sound design within the sequencer and layer different plug-ins/virtual instruments and recorded effects together to create the sounds I'm trying to get.

 

I really like the sound you get in GoldWave, though. Have you tried Audacity as well? I've got it downloaded but haven't had time to try it yet.

 

-sax

[pakmannen]

I've used Sound Forge, Audacity and Goldwave, and I like the latter best. Can't really say why though since yes, featurewise they are pretty much the same. I just like the Goldwave interface (even if the latest version is pretty weird if you're used to the previous)

[pakmannen]

Okey, and now for some comments:

 

Machine_hum

Yes, I do like the stereo effect, and sure, why not. But you need to shrink the filesize before I put them on CVS. 1 second for loops like that is enough.

 

Machine_pump

The first one sounds a little low-quality, but the second one is great. But the same goes here, cut them down a bit.

 

Humamb

Much better. Now I can actually listen to it as well! I'll put them in the cave directory if there are no objections.

 

Harp

Perfect.

 

Ocean

Pretty good, but the "silent" parts sound a little odd. It's great after 01:05 when the sound never really fades away completely. My suggestion would be to make the whole clip like that.

 

Also, do you have CVS set up properly yet?

[Darkness_Falls]

Thanks for the comments all! I'll take a more in-depth look later. I've actually had the flu or food poisoning the past couple days, so I've been kind've out of it. Okay, very out of it. And I'm still recovering. I'll try tweaking the sounds as you guys mention as soon as I can...