I played this several times wondering why no sound was coming out until I released I’m connected to the bluetooth speakers in the other room with my coworkers
This episode was written and produced by Fran Board.
Over the years, Microsoft has made at least ten iconic startup sounds for Windows—from the triumphant “Ta-da!” of Windows 3.1, to the ambient chime that Brian Eno crafted for Windows 95, to the orchestral sweep of Windows XP. In this episode, we explore the creation of the classic Windows startup sounds through Windows 7, and what each one says about Microsoft’s evolving technology. Featuring former Microsoft Lead UI Designer Jensen Harris and Sound Designer Matthew Bennett.
Or any classic anime/kung fu sound effect in a DAW. Achieving the central spice of it anyway.
Preemptive warning: WATCH YOUR EARS. We are gonna be applying really high levels of resonance + some drive to this basic sound and it can hurt while fiddling, so do all this at a lower volume than usual.
Get ANY synth that can output white noise or even just a white noise sample you ripped from somewhere. Above I have Ableton's Analog synth with OSC 1 on only, set to noise, and the Amp envelope a straight block with all sustain, no release. The Amp level is set to 18 because you want a good ratio of noise to filter resonance, which you'll see what I mean by in a minute.
Then put on any low-pass filter with a lot of resonance and if possible a drive option. For this, I chose Ableton's default filter, with the PRD circuit emulation to allow me to apply drive. You can totally just copy my settings here, but the Envelope amount should be set to taste as it can vary how chunky or fresh the sound is. Remember what I said about the ratio of noise to filter resonance too, because if the noise sample is too loud, the SQUELCH of the resonance will be muddied. So if you feel like the sound is too "sandy" or flat white noise still, try reducing the source noise volume and upping the resonance.
Finally, for extra color, I've added an Overdrive plugin with low drive and wet% and a delay plugin with a fast delay rate. This could literally be anything you want to color up the sound--reverb, phaser, delay, heavier drive, whatever!
Now, have fun tweaking the frequency knob on the filter and watch this sound come to life. You can get anything from radios to laser blasts to hard crunchy punch sounds to exaggerated mech movement.
I absolutely love this sound element and use it in a lot of my sound design, you can make it the central focus or pare it back until it's just a layer. I spent years not knowing I had this right under my nose and was bowled over when I found out the key element of a lot of classic sound design was readily available. I prefer using Serum with all its modern possibilities to do this, but wanted to prove it could be done on the most basic tools too. Here's a video of me playing with the frequency knob and adjusting the envelope.
NOTE: in my vid, the resonance squelch lasts a little long after the sound for my taste. To reduce that, also automate the resonance knob and turn it down after the Anime Moment has been achieved
Yes. Yes it has. I know some of you must have though this blog had gone inactive but it, and I, are still very much active! I had gotten caught up in some new endeavors, one of which I would like to call college. It’s a busy, painful, but necessary thing. It has, though, given me the chance to take more and more pictures, but professionally this time. I’ve done things like this:
And this:
And much more. Also, I’ve learned how to actually edit my pictures, touch them up, and make them look nice. Am I a pro at it? No. Not by any means, but I’m getting better.
All of this is to say that I haven’t forgotten about this blog, I needed some time to figure out how to work it back into my schedule. So I’m back, I might post a little less frequently, but I’m back.
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