Robot Shutdown

Today I had a student ask how to make old science fiction machinery sounds. The sound he wanted was for a robot starting up then slowly shutting down. We tried a few different things and finally settled on using Reason to create a random sequence of notes.

I started with a chromatic scale and then randomized it using the change events function. We played it back in Subtractor and messed with the patch until it sounded like what he was going for. The tricky part was pitch bending the sequence. Reason 3.5 does not support tempo automation, so although we could use the pitch bend wheel the notes were all at the same speed. To get around this we exported the audio and loaded it into NN-XT as a sample, then applied automation to the pitch wheel with a twenty four semitone range.

Robot Shutdown

Gondola Ambiance

If you’ve never ridden in one, you might have wondered what it sounds like inside a gondola as it carries people up a snowy mountain. Well, now your curiosity can be culled with the sound that’s included in this entry.

The gondolas at Lutsen Mountain are pretty loud. Most of the sound is a consistent low frequency vibration from the cable, but along with it are some squeaks, creaks and groans from the hinge and structure of the gondola itself.

If you think about it too much it can be a bit unnerving. It’s probably best to enjoy the view while humming Beatles songs. Here’s a recording made inside the gondola as it makes it’s way to the top of Eagle Mountain.

Gondola Ambiance

Waves of Ice

The shores and waters of Lake Superior can change dramatically from day to day. After two days of calm, the lake revolted with waves of ice crashing against the rocky shoreline. I have never heard such a sound and eagerly made a recording. These waves were literally made up of water and densely packed plates of ice. When each wave would crest, shards of ice clattered down the trough of the wave, and when they reached the shore the plates of ice would shatter against the rocks.

Waves of Ice

Snow Melting into Lake Superior

This is one of my favorite PCM-D50 recordings so far. Once again, there was a very still evening after the snow had fallen. At the shore small rivulets of snow melt dribbled into the lake.

I put the recorder on a rock pointing toward the ensemble of water droplets and captured about six minutes of this musical sound. Here’s one minute and thirty three seconds of what I acquired.

Snow Melting

Snow Falling on the North Shore

I rarely experience the near silence of still, late nights in remote areas like the Northern shore of Lake Superior. The quiet was amplified (is that an oxymoron?) by a two inch layer of fresh snow that seemed to absorb the outdoor ambience. The lake was as still as I’ve ever seen it. The combination of these factors made it possible to actually hear the snow falling. You can identify the sound of the snow falling as a high frequency crackling as the flakes touched down on my surroundings. The large wet flakes sound similar to rain. There’s also an irregular, low frequency thumping sound that might be plates of ice gently bumping into each other on the lake.

Snow Falling