sound advice

ID:179156
 
Feb 10 2002, 9:49 pm
I'm very much a newbie when it comes to creating sound files for a game. Can anyone point me to a tutorial for creating simple sound files. Does Win2K have built in utilities that will do the trick, or do I need some additional software? Any advice would be appreciated.


There are three sounds in particular i need for my current game:
1 - a yawn
2 - a bell (ie. "ding!")
3 - some background music appropriate for a French medieval atmosphere
If you know where I can get these particular sound files already made, please let me know!
Feb 10 2002, 9:59 pm
Excellent pun!
Feb 11 2002, 12:00 am
dramstud wrote:
I'm very much a newbie when it comes to creating sound files for a game. Can anyone point me to a tutorial for creating simple sound files. Does Win2K have built in utilities that will do the trick, or do I need some additional software? Any advice would be appreciated.

For SFX I recommend Goldwave, a great shareware sound editor. Download it at www.goldwave.com. Then you'll need a microphone, perferable one that got some frequency response. There should be some alright microphones for $10-$20. I recommend against the ultra-cheap ones that comes with the computer. The sound is just too bad.

Oops! I'm late. I'll be back later with more tips.


/Andreas
Feb 11 2002, 12:48 am
In response to Lesbian Assassin
Lesbian Assassin wrote:
Excellent pun!

Do I even wanna know?

I just use my microphone and Acoustica, With that I can make e sound different!

:p
Feb 11 2002, 1:36 am
In response to Pillsverry
I play real instruments so... :P

LJR
Feb 11 2002, 10:25 am
In response to Gazoot
Goldwave looks good for sound effects (.wav), but it doesn't appear to handle music (.mid files). How can I create .mid files? (ie. from a CD or from downloaded mp3 files)



Gazoot wrote:
dramstud wrote:
I'm very much a newbie when it comes to creating sound files for a game. Can anyone point me to a tutorial for creating simple sound files. Does Win2K have built in utilities that will do the trick, or do I need some additional software? Any advice would be appreciated.

For SFX I recommend Goldwave, a great shareware sound editor. Download it at www.goldwave.com. Then you'll need a microphone, perferable one that got some frequency response. There should be some alright microphones for $10-$20. I recommend against the ultra-cheap ones that comes with the computer. The sound is just too bad.

Oops! I'm late. I'll be back later with more tips.


/Andreas
Feb 11 2002, 10:35 am
In response to Dramstud
dramstud wrote:
Goldwave looks good for sound effects (.wav), but it doesn't appear to handle music (.mid files). How can I create .mid files? (ie. from a CD or from downloaded mp3 files)

Simply: you can't.
The reason behind this is that mp3, wave, and CD audio are all digital copies of the waveform that produces that sound. MIDI is entirely different--it's a sequence of note definitions sorta like "play middle C on piano for 1 second".
You can convert from MIDI to wave, but you can't do it the other way around (practically). If you get the sheet music for what you want, there are bunches of programs that you can use it enter it in as MIDI.

-AbyssDragon
Feb 11 2002, 10:39 am
In response to AbyssDragon
Yep, what he said. And if you're not musically inclined enough to make your own MIDI files, you have a couple of choices:
  • Find acceptable MIDI files on the internet that are free to use.
  • Find a friend who is willing to create some for you. Only problem is that many such friends don't have nearly the amount of free time they'd like, and thus aren't sure how quickly they could get around to it. ;-)
Feb 11 2002, 10:43 am
In response to Air Mapster
  • Find acceptable MIDI files on the internet that are free to use.

    Which reminds me of a website: http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/emusic/. It has MIDIs of actual medieval/renaissance music. There are some restrictions on use, but the guy that made them is pretty nice about it all. Way back when, he gave me permission to use them in a game that I never finished.. so I imagine he'd do the same for anyone else.

    -AbyssDragon
Feb 11 2002, 11:01 am
In response to AbyssDragon
Thanks for the info. I'll see if I can get his permission to use some of these.

I was wondering if it is easy to combine .mid files into a longer .mid. Alternatively, is there an easy way to set up a listing of .mid files (rather than just 1) to play when a mod enters an area (usr << sound(blah.mid,1) )?


AbyssDragon wrote:
  • Find acceptable MIDI files on the internet that are free to use.
    Which reminds me of a website: http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/emusic/. It has MIDIs of actual medieval/renaissance music. There are some restrictions on use, but the guy that made them is pretty nice about it all. Way back when, he gave me permission to use them in a game that I never finished.. so I imagine he'd do the same for anyone else.

    -AbyssDragon
Feb 11 2002, 12:38 pm
In response to Gazoot
Gazoot wrote:
Then you'll need a microphone, perferable one that got some frequency response. There should be some alright microphones for $10-$20. I recommend against the ultra-cheap ones that comes with the computer. The sound is just too bad.


Any advice on where to get one of these alright microphones?
I'd really like to get one today (ie. no mail order), as I'm just about ready to release my game. However, if places like Best Buy and Fry's are going to rip me off, or only have inferior microphones, I can wait another day or two.