John Laudicini writes:
>>It could not be better. How many tracks does it take to record
something like this?<<
Actually it could be a bit better. It is really just a test to see
how well something like this could be done in a little over a day.
I'd like to spend a few days and do some things differently.
As far a track count (all my tracks are stereo), I usually use more
than I need to because I have plenty available and a fast enough
computer. For instance if I want to use the same wheel sound twice
and they will overlap each other, I use a second track. Sometimes I
use addition tracks for the same sounds because I'm too lazy to draw
volume envelopes on all the sounds on a single track, so I just put
them in other tracks and just set the mixer slider levels instead.
Not all of the sounds are playing at the same time. So it's hard to
put a number on it. You can hear the horn, bell, track clicks
(barely audible), a faked general noise filler, plus some a couple of
train sounds ontop of that, so there may be a half dozen sounds at
any one time.
John Blacet writes:
>>Needs some good bass rumble.<<
That's something I'd like to add more of too. On some sounds I
already have EQ bass set to max, and it still wasn't enough. If
available, the listener can also crank up the bass or hit the
loudness button to add a bit more.
groovyshamen writes:
>>You can hear all of the parts moving, the squeaky wheel on a
particular car going by, different wheel-different squeak, etc. and
they raise and lower in volume and pan as expected with appropriate
depth added. Even a touch of doppler effect on the whistle - cool.<<
Glad the doppler effect is audible. It was more obvious before I
added the train sound ontop of it. Some of the panning is a bit
off. One sound I'm using a pedal for that, another I'm manually
turning a pot, another I tried using an Encore UEG to control
panning. What I really needed was a simulataneous up ramp in sync
with a triangle, both positive voltages only, the ramp needing to go
from 0 to 10 volts (to control the dotcom panner), and they shouldn't
return back to their staring point when done. That's almost
impossible on an analog synth. I still need to come up with a decent
solution to that or perhaps just do panning on the synth and volume
envelopes on the computer, though that usually cuts off the reverb.
>>I'm curious how many different patches this took?<<
Since quite a few of the sounds were modifications of one patch, it's
hard to answer completely. But it is something like the Horn (and
modifications of it for distance), Bell, Engine, and then everything
else being a modification of the same general chaotic metalic noise
patch. So it's really only about 4 base patches plus knob tweaks.
>>And this was completely MOTM stuff?<<
MOTM plus stereo chorus (to stereofy mono sounds), parametric EQ (for
more bold formants and resonant sounds), Aphex aural exciter (used on
horn sound), digital delay (used for some comb filtering, and also to
delay the horn sound so it reached your ears at different times
depending on its location as in real life), and reverb.
>>And one other thought, did you start with a recording of a train
going by and work from that, or did you work from a set of sounds in
your head?<<
It was from sounds in my head. I've had to listen to real trains
around here many times, so I've paid attention to some of the sounds
they make. I didn't want to use a real recording as a referrence
because that tends to cause one to get bogged down trying to get as
close as possible as opposed to just getting it done. Actually there
was just one exception. In a real train recording I filtered out all
of the sound except what I believed were the first harmonics of the
two horn notes. Turned out I already had the intervals correct and
was only off by a semitone. I made the change to my horn sound
before recording it.
Andrew Sanchez writes:
>>How did you go about getting the sounds of the wheels (or whatever
the source is of that sound in real life)? Sorry if that is a little
vague.<<
I don't quite know what you are considering the wheel sounds. When a
train passes by me, I'm hearing a lot of high pitched metalic
screeches that I'm never quite sure whether it's the wheels scraping
on the track or brakes being applied. There is also the bouncing and
rattling sound of the train cars. Both of those sounds used noise
modulated VCO's going through filters in parallel, into a ring mod,
into more filtering, into parametric EQ, into stereo chorus, and I
can't remember which sounds exactly, but possibly a bit of comb
filtering (or not).
>>Another question I have is, did you do this solely by your memory
of the train's sound<<
As per above, it was from memory.
Richard Brewster writes:
>>A very realistic simulation, Elhardt! Thanks for sharing it. I am
interested in the train horn sounds and have wondered about their
tunings.<<
There are probably a few different tunings. I used pitches that fall
on the keys of E4 and A#4. I noticed in some train pictures that
some trains have a small third horn pointing backwards. Whether it's
a duplicated of the forward facing horn or at another pitch, I don't
know.
KA4HJH writes:
>>Now, speaking as a longtime railfan who's stood alongside the
tracks at 3:00AM and just drank in this sort of thing...there should
be much more of a roar as the locomotives pass.<<
Yes, I agree. But as a rushed synth job to guage an idea and not
wanting to over power the horn sound, there were comprimises. If I
go back to make changes, I'll see what I can do.
>>Also, the "song" of the horns is close but not quite right. The
pattern for approaching a grade crossing goes like this: long long
short looooonnnnngggg (with the last one whizzing by center stage
just as it's about to fade out for maximum dramatic effect).<<
As a layman like myself, I didn't know the pattern. And as somebody
who can hear trains in the distance from my house, the horn patterns
here seem so random. Some trains pass with a few toots, and others
are just constantly (and rudely, especially at 4:30 in the morning)
blasting very long and large numbers of sounds.
-Elhardt