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How The THX Noise Was Created
devilsbrigade writes "The blog MusicThing is running an interesting interview with Andy Moorer. Mr. Moorer is the man who created the sound called Deep Note, now heard in every THX-enabled movie theatre. The interview is originally from last year, but the tech-heavy discussion is still a timeless analysis of a great sound." From the article: "The score consists of a C program of about 20,000 lines of code. The output of this program is not the sound itself, but is the sequence of parameters that drives the oscillators on the ASP. That 20,000 lines of code produce about 250,000 lines of statements of the form "set frequency of oscillator X to Y Hertz. The oscillators were not simple - they had 1-pole smoothers on both amplitude and frequency. At the beginning, they form a cluster from 200 to 400 Hz. I randomly assigned and poked the frequencies so they drifted up and down in that range."
This is why there as still so many fans of programs like c-sound, pure-data, jmax etc. :(
Nothing beats creating a sound from scratch.
It takes a lot longer than pressing a preset button on a synth.
An instrument like a guitar is simple in a way, but with practice, people get so many sounds from it. C-sound is a bit like that too, you start off just making beeps and then eventually it sounds a bit like music.
except when you are in the digital domain.
"NEEEERRAAAOOOWWWWWUUUMMMMMMMMMM"
No, no. You're confused. That's the old Current Affair sound...
W
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This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
If only mod points went to 11...
Volume has to be the most irritating problem in a movie theater. Granted, the 14 year old lackeys don't give a rat's ass what they set it at, but if enough people complain through the THX survey, those 14 year old lackeys will be the most educated in town on the definition of 'audiophile.' THX will work hard to preserve its reputation vs. DTS and competitors. They'll come down hard on theater management, who will have no choice but to train and weed out failing staff. With keeping a uniform or theater clean, or keeping food safety in mind, a theater's reputation spreads. So too does "that theater's too loud, let's go to the one across town."
I had no idea until now that THX had a public survey. I'll have to use it.
First off, if you RTFA, this guy worked at Stanford in Artificial Intelligence. You don't get to do that, if you're as dumb as you imply he is.
You also have no idea how many lines of the 20,000 are data tables. Note the part where he says "the frequencies of the big chord (which had been typed in by hand - based on a 150-Hz root)..."
I'll tell you what: I'll give you 4 days to write your 5 lines of Perl. When it executes, it should algorithmically create (not download off the internet, or some bullshit) a wav file which 8 out of 10 people can't distinguish from 'Deep Note' based on a side-by-side sound test. If you succeed, I'll send you $300 through PayPal.
Until then, STFU. Some of us are trying to enjoy the show.
Education is the silver bullet.
They exist, but i dunno how common they are these days
That's it. You've done it. I officially feel old now.
The following sentence is true. The preceding sentence was false.
still got laid, though.
You don't belong here. Move along.