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toddalin
Foreman
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 | | 07/11/2008 3:30 PM |
| So, Why Would One Need 80 Random Memory Locations For a Couple Cool Sounds?
Well, if you’re clever, you may want even more.
What I did was to make up two composite sound tracks. One composite includes sounds for the station area and these are all in the right speaker. This is comprised of the usual affair including such things as people engaged in conversation, dogs barking, luggage being loaded (including a suitcase with a dragging floppy wheel), and the trappings of urban life. The other composite includes sounds for my service yard area. Here I included the usual sounds one would hear near a train yard/junk yard/machine shop including my steam donkey, shoveling coal into the donkey, grinding, hammering, thuds, bumps, crashes, squeals, etc.
Each of the two “recordings” is 2.5 minutes long. But, it takes less than 2.5 minutes to complete a loop around the track (actually about 1.5 minutes). So does the sound start from the beginning each time a train come around and what of the minute on the end of the MP3 tracks that never gets heard???
After I created the two 2.5 minute tracks, I linked them together so they would track together. This initial sound was stored in memory location 10. I then lopped off the first 15 seconds of the MP3 track and tacked it on at the end. This is then saved in memory location 11. I repeated this (i.e., take off 15 seconds and tack it on the end) until all ten memory locations (i.e., MP3 tracks 10 – 19) were filled. Now when a train activates the MP3 player, it could start anywhere in the recording (at random 15 second intervals) and play from that point forward. So, you never know what will play and this keeps it from getting monotonous. Also, you eventually use the entire MP3 track regardless of how long the train takes to get around.
So on MP3 tracks 20-29, I shifted just the service area sounds to the half-way point (1.25 minutes into the recording). These tracks were then linked to the station area sounds and 10 versions were created, again, each 15 seconds past the prior version. Now when the station and yard sound together, they are not the same as in memory locations 10-19. So, when trains “leap frog” at the station, one set of rails accesses memory locations 10-19 and the other set of rails, MP3 tracks 20-29. This way the sound will always change when a train comes in to the station. (If the station area track is repeated, the service yard track will be different and if the service yard sounds are the same, the station area will be different.)
On Tracks 30-39, I again displaced (moved in time) the service sounds from the station sounds, this time by 30 seconds (just for variety). Also, I added “call outs” for departing trains. (E.g., “Train ### is now leaving on Track ### went onto three of the MP3 tracks, “All Aboard” went on three MP3 tracks), and both call outs combined went on four MP3 tracks. (I have a digital voice recorder and eventually, I’ll change these to true call outs for fictitious names of places on the railroad.) These memory locations are actually accessed from the freight track reed switch so as a freight train pulls in to the station, the departure of the passenger train is announced.
Similarly, MP3 tracks 40-49 will be used to announce arriving trains. These memory locations are accessed by the reed switch activated by the passenger track so it is announced when it arrives.
MP3 tracks 50-59 are used for the service yard for DIESEL trains that have their own sound systems. When a train pulls into the yard, you hear such things as brake squeal, air release, undoing the gas cap and pumping of fuel into the engine, etc. With 10 tracks available, I used different air releases, brake squeals etc. in different combinations, again for a variety. Again, these are accessed at random and continually change.
MP3 tracks 60-69 are the same as 50-59, but are for trains that do not have their own sound systems. For these MP3 tracks, I’ve also included the sounds of various diesels idling.
MP3 tracks 70-79 are also used for the service yard, but these include steam engine sounds including various combinations of such things as water filling into the tender from the tank, the air pump, coal being shoveled, etc.
MP3 tracks 80-89 may also be used for steam service and include other engine sounds for non-sound equipped steam engines, but I’ll probably just put 10 music tracks here so I can have music while working on the railroad.
By using the same base recordings then adding the station/yard sound on top, you don’t notice that the station announcement was interrupted by yard sounds and vice versa. Things like the steam donkey are continuous and sound continuous regardless of where in the MP3 track the recording starts. Also, all engine-related sounds within the yard terminate within 35 seconds of starting. The last 5 seconds fade out. This way, when an engine pulls in for service, I set them to stop for a duration for ~30 seconds. The MP3 player does its thing, then the train moves on and you no longer hear it (though the rest of the yard continues to make its noise.
Pretty cool stuff here!
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