Creating motor/engine sounds

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8 comments, last by holy_moly 20 years ago
Hi there, i would like to know some easy and fast way to make a loud truck-like sound... i don''t have any sound-software,so point me to anything you know,please..
hey
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1) get a truck
2) get a microphone
3) plug the microphone into your computer (it is important at this point that you don''t get the microphone and the truck confused, as plugging a truck into your computer can have unexpected results )
4) get someone to rev up the engine on the truck
5) press record on sound recorder (you should have this if you''re using windows)

http://www.geocities.com/ben32768

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Goto www.sound-ideas.com

they have a huge library of royalty-free sound effects Audio CDs (including cars and trucks engines) but they dont come cheap.
Here''s an odd idea:
___Use low pitch instrument with MIDI. Just about anything with a buzzy sound [such as a viola] can mimick an engine in its low notes. This might cause some inconsistancy from sound card to sound card, but strings usually sound very close to each. PLUS, you can easily simulate the shifting of speeds by raising and lowering the "pitch-wheel" for higher and lower speeds, respectively.
thats an advantage of a laptop. you can take it places a desktop cant go. if you have access to a laptop and a microphone, just take them both and stand in front of a truck (just make sure the truck is not in gear. don''t say i didn''t warn you).
i made a semi truck sound once by:
playing a loud, low note on a bass guitar,
using a freeware sound editor, faded up and down real quick,
then, faded up and down again at a lower frequency,
then, used my voice to finish it off.

it didn''t sound like a truck, of course, but it sounded better than just my voice. plus, it was funny to see a picture of a big rig and hear that odd sound.

i ended up going to the local library (city library, not my dinky town library). they had a wide selection of tapes and cds, and there were some sound effects ones. one selection was 4 cds of everything from 20 different types of footsteps, to horses, to glass breaking, you name it.

free, and professional quality, what more can you ask for?



crazy166
some people think i'm crazy, some people know it
The biggest deal with sound is that you can get creative. You want a loud, deep rumbling sound...If you can''t get a truck (or can''t record one), then find something else. The MIDI Idea was a pretty good one...I''ve made some effects that way...but I also made some thunder with a piece of sheet metal, and a demo copy of SoundForge...I also made a "sword being unsheathed" sound with two pot lids. A lot of people just record everything they can think of, then edit the sound to get what they want. Basically, just bang stuff together, and record it. Then tinker with the wav file with a good editor.

Another thing you can do is rent a portable DAT, and just record everything while walking around...the only problem with this is the $$$.

Anyway, just my two cents.
Microphone plus can of beans (I think you get the idea...)

MENTAL
Alternatively you could just use a minidisc + a good quality microphone. It''s much cheaper than a DAT recorder, portable, and of comparable quality.
--------------------------www.4bitterguys.com
Don''t waste your money on commercial sound FX libraries; they aren''t created for use in the interactive realm. Here''s why...

What you need are recordings of an engine turning on/off, at idle, 1000 rpm, 2000 rpm etc. The game needs to pitchbend and crossfade between these samples to simulate an engine going through its paces.

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