Staying In Tune

The Pano Tuner for iOS and Android is a free chromatic tuner that uses the microphone on your smart phone to let you know what pitch you're playing (both note name and Hz). You'll always have a tuner with you as long as you've got your phone.

There's a paid version ($1.99) but I couldn't find any info on what the "upgrade" adds. My wife uses the app dozens of times a day to keep her ukulele in tune. It works better than the clip on tuner she used before the Pano Tuner app.

The app works on any instrument. If a band has someone playing a non-tuneable instrument (for example, a xylophone or an old piano with old strings) that is not tuned to A-440, You can record the xylophone/piano playing what should be an A-440 and the app will set its A to the same freq as the xylophone/piano. Then the rest of the band can use the tuner to tune their instruments to match the xylophone/piano. 

Pretty cool app!

Here's to Future Sound Effects Designers

You have been around at a time when sound effects cannot get any louder. If you look at a waveform of many modern sound effects, the waveform covers the screen. When working on the sound for the pistol in Wrack, I decided to use a part of numerous gunshot effects I had. But first, this ....

Do you like to travel? Are you interested in creating sound effects? OK. Start travelling for the purpose of collecting raw sounds for your own sound effects library. Check with your tax expert, but you should be able to deduct the cost of these trips off of your Schedule C "Sound Designer" business taxes. The trip has to be for the purpose of collecting your sound effects. As I understand it, if you do anything as a tourist, you cannot write that off.

But, if you open your ears, there are worlds of sound effects waiting to be captured. Say you go to the Eiffel Tower. There are plenty of environmental sounds to be recorded. Has anyone ever recorded the sound of the tower using a contact mike? I'll bet there are some "unworldy" sounds there. Could you capture the same sound from some other tower? I doubt it. It certainly wouldn't have the same frequencies. Plus it wouldn't have the same "bragging rights."

Making something you love to do a business is not a secret, but lots of people don't yet know about it.

Check out the possibilities!

.... Back to the Wrack pistol. What I did was take my own and stock recordings of guns firing (not just pistols). There are twenty-one different pistol sounds layered into the one effect. There's one lightning effect (recorded during a Florida thunderstorm). There's a bit of cannon fire, too. I used no compression and was careful not to add too much of any single sound. The waveform is recognizable if you look at typical single pistol audio waveforms.

Sometimes you have to use compression, but I prefer not to if I can get away with it.

Now, take a trip for the purpose of recording some new raw material for your sound effects.

Moog EP-3 Universal Pedal

This pedal came today and I like it a lot. The only problem is it has no documentation.

The pedal has smooth output throughout the pedal's travel. I tried an FC-7 (Yamaha) before this pedal and it didn't have linear output throughout the pedal's travel. It was difficult to make smooth volume/expression changes.

The EP-3 has a "scalable output knob." I thought that would be a way to require less pedal travel to go from 0-127. Not so. I'm not sure what good this knob will do.

I ran some tests. FWIW.

Setting the knob all the way counterclockwise, my keyboard reflects that setting is data equal to zero. Moving the pedal results in no data. It's zero no matter where the pedal is set.

The position of the pedal is somewhat important to the results you'll see below. I set the knob with the pedal all the way up (heel all the way down). This is the low value position.

Most of the time, the knob changed the setting by two's, but it would also sometimes jump by one -- sometimes even numbered, sometimes odd. I moved the knob clockwise until there was a change in data.

Knob value  Low High
002              002  004
004              004  010
006              006  012
008              008  019
012              012  027
013              013  028
014              014  030                      
017              017  039                      

018              018  039
019              019  045                      

022              022  054                        

024              024  057                        

026              028  081                       

Here's where things get strange. The low number starts decreasing while the high number increases. And I'm still turning the knob clockwise.
024              024  095
021              021  102
020              020  104
018              018  107
017              017  110
014              014  113
013              013  115
011              011  118
010              010  117
008              008  121
006              006  122
005              005  123
003              003  127
002              002  125
000              000  127

Does anyone know the logic behind this?

As for the pedal, it feels expensive. There is a pneumatic kind of feel to pedal movement. That will probably change over time, but it's nice now. The base is metal. The working parts look like they're metal. The upper case/pedal is plastic, but it seems to be tough. It's heavy enough not to slide when you're trying to use it. It's comfortable when used seated or standing up. The pedal travel is sufficient to enable accuracy in volume/expression changes.

I hope this helps someone out there.

Wrack Official Soundtrack Released

The Wrack Official Soundtrack (26 tracks) has been released on Steam as DLC. It will be on iTunes after Apple's seasonal vacation, which ends December 29. It's will also soon be available on Amazon, Beats, Deezer, Google, Rdio, Spotify and YouTube.

Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/album/2JztVwteK04P5P5hnzvXsp

Music You Remember From The First Hearing

The earliest music I pretty much memorized from my first hearing was off the radio. But lots of it was from the old television serials. For me, some of the best music was the background music for the Lone Ranger. That series has been rerun many times over the years. Episodes were run during many of the local TV station Saturday "kiddie shows" back in the day.

Here's the cut from the Lone Ranger that has haunted me ever since I first heard it. I wish I knew who wrote it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrr0IT2-utM#t=148

More of this piece is played in other episodes, but this is the most of it I could find right now.

The music from the Lone Ranger got used over and over, from one episode to another. It gets so familiar that after a while you realize the music is often a hint as to what's about to happen in the episode.

There are a lot of good lessons in this "old" music.

Sound Effects Can Live Forever

For those of you interested in sound effects, this is a fascinating article written back in 2007 and republished at this link: http://www.damninteresting.com/the-wilhelm-scream/

After posting this a friend sent this YouTube link with a sampling of movies using the Wilhelm Scream. It's hilarious: http://youtu.be/cdbYsoEasio

Working With Game Developers

It has been interesting over the years to work with different game developers and development teams. As you can probably tell by many of the games I've worked on, I'm more at home with independent developers. Back in the days of working with id Software, there would be a decision to be made, and it would be made very shortly after the need for a decision. More recently, in working with Brad Carney on Wrack, I'd suggest something and Brad would make a quick decision. This is generally not true of larger development teams, and decisions usually come very slowly from them.

Larger teams are also generally not interested in hearing what a composer/sound developer has to say about anything to do with a project except music/sound. If you talk about game play, graphics, ideas for additions to the project, they look at you like you're speaking a foreign language. This has often been the case with movie production teams, too.

When Wolfenstein 3D was getting close to release, the artists showed everyone the game manual they had designed. It was impressive work. I looked it over and read it. Something jumped out at me. Instead of using the word "Nazi" for the enemy, they had used the word "German." I said something to the effect that "German" included many people that did not support what the Nazis did, so those German people would not like being the enemy in the game. They got what I was saying and changed the term. They were willing to listen to what I had to say though it was not about music/sound effects.

After working on many projects, I decided that the most important thing about a project would be the people I'd be working with. I've turned down projects because I had a feeling they only wanted a musician, not a team member. That's not to say that I would have anything to add to a project other than music/sound effects, but I'd like to think if I did have something to add it wouldn't fall on deaf ears :-)

For me, a decision to work on a project also comes down to whether the others working on the project love what they are doing. If the project is only for making money, alarms go off in my head. I'd much rather work with people who love what they are doing (and happen to make money at it). Money doesn't make up for a mechanical working environment. And projects for the principal purpose of making money usually don't do that great in the end.