Help needed with sounds!

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The lost Ninja
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Help needed with sounds!

Post by The lost Ninja »

I wanted to create some new sounds for GR, only for personal use.
(When they turn out to be good, I might as well upload 'em here :D ).
I had one soundfile, which I wanted to use for the "Ding", but it was pitched way too high, in-game it sounded like a smurf-techno voice, or like a little child. :(
What does the "Ding" react on, and what do I have to do with the sound so that it seems normal?
Same question goes for the "Engine".
btw, I'm using the Audacity tool, completely new to that utility, but I'll soon get the hang of it.

Any sound-experts around here?
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Rich Nagel
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Re: Help needed with sounds!

Post by Rich Nagel »

For the "Ding.wav" sound file:

When first starting a race, GeneRally plays the "Ding" sound effect four times... 3 at a lower pitch, and the last at a higher pitch (6 semitones up; i.e. a "C" to a F""). At the end of a race, the sound is also played when the cars pass over the start/finish line, and is played at the original pitch.

What I don't remember is, what pitch the first 3 dings are played at at the beginning of the race; the first 3 may be the original pitch of the sound file, or the 4th may be... I can't really remember.


As far as the "Engine.wav" sound file:

You'll have to do a lot of experimenting with this one. The safest method is to edit the pitch to match the original GeneRally "Engine.wav" sound file.

The reason for the experimentation: The pitch that is played in-game is directly linked to one of the parameters of the car that is currently being used to race with. e.g. In my "Sound Pack Pro" sound packs (as well as several of the other sound packs that I have released in years past), I had to create a lower-pitched version, as well as a higher-pitched version for each of the packs, in order for the engine sounds to be as useful as possible.

One set of cars that comes to mind was most of Strava's cars; specifically his NASCAR cars for GeneRally. Using the *standard* (lower) pitched version of my SPP engine sounds for NASCAR/stock cars, resulted in the engine pitch sounding WAY too low in the game... sort of like a tractor <G>. The higher pitched versions sounded proper though in the game.

Anyhow, engine sound file pitch will have to be twiddled with, as like I said, it's directly related to one of the parameters for the various cars (I forget offhand which parameter it is though, maybe 'overall power'; or something like that?).


Lastly (IMPORTANT!), save all of your WAV files with a sampling rate of ***22,050***... mono/stereo and 8-bit/16-bit doesn't matter. But, the sampling rate will make a *BIG* difference on how they sound within the game.
Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel
www.richnagel.net
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TuomoH
GeneRally Trackmaster
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Re: Help needed with sounds!

Post by TuomoH »

Rich Nagel wrote:(6 semitones up; i.e. a "C" to a F"")
Sorry for nitpicking but that's 5 semitones - 6 semitones sounds evil. ;)
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Rich Nagel
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Re: Help needed with sounds!

Post by Rich Nagel »

TuomoH wrote:
Rich Nagel wrote:(6 semitones up; i.e. a "C" to a F"")
Sorry for nitpicking but that's 5 semitones - 6 semitones sounds evil. ;)
You are 100% correct, sir!

GAWD! And I'm a musician to boot <LOL>! Musta been too early in the morning, with no coffee <G>.
Rich ¥Weeds¥ Nagel
www.richnagel.net
¥Weeds¥ GeneRally Stuff - ALL broken links FINALLY fixed!
¥Weeds¥ File Archives - Music, stuff, and more.
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