What is this sound that I hear in numerous shows and movies?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

(ha - just previewed this post and I see the two posts above me are coming to similar conclusions).

You know, I'm gonna take a punt. I think the main "effect" we're hearing (besides some echo and reverb) is just a very large pitch shift down. I think the original recording was much higher. I just tried it in Omni (what can I say, it's a slow evening here), and it sounds a lot more like a classic bowed source when played that high. All that gorgeous grit and distinctive character - says my dollar bet - is in slowing it / pitching it down.

If we're all very nice, maybe Eric would pop back to tell us the answer one day, but sadly I think his forum-posting days are largely gone. Such a shame, that.
http://www.guyrowland.co.uk
http://www.sound-on-screen.com
W10, i7 7820X, 64gb RAM, RME Babyface, 1050ti, PT 2023 Ultimate, Cubase Pro 13
Macbook Air M2 OSX 10.15

Post

wagtunes wrote:
goldenhelix wrote:You keep saying "heavily processed". I think we have very different definitions of "heavy processing", as I don't hear anything other than probably slowing playback speed here, probably one of the simplest and non-obtrusive forms of processing imaginable.

As far as the original question, OP asked what the sound is.. I replied that I think it's a bowed cymbal, which is an adequate answer. You're honestly being annoying with the level of nitpicking here. How many steps of the process should I have included to satisfy you and your godlike ears? It was a bowed cymbal of 4mm thickness with a medium amount of X type of rosin bowed at 2 m/s recorded in a white-painted 8 sq.ft. room with a thick carpet recorded through a Shure SM57 and slowed down to 1/2.5 the speed? Yeah... I think you get my point.

Honestly, it seems like you're the only one here who is at all mystified by what "heavy processing" was done to this sound.
Well, to me, time shifting or pitch shifting is heavy processing. So I guess we'll just agree to disagree on the amount of processing done on this thing. All I know is, I've never heard a pure bowed cymbal sound like that. That's all I'm saying.

And with that, I'll drop it. But I am going to research to see if I can find out how the original sound was made. It has to be somewhere on the Internet as everything else is.

Heavy processing to me is multiple steps and/or something more complicated than what you can do with literally a tape machine 80 years ago.

To clarify, in case it's not abundantly clear at this point (it should be), I am not 100% married to the fact that it is a cymbal, but as I've stated I've found some samples of bowed cymbals that are remarkably close and, for the intents and purposes of recreating this TYPE of sound, you could do a hell of a lot worse than starting with that. It is either a bowed or scraped piece of metal of some kind, reverberating with a lot of harmonics, slowed down. If anyone's got a brighter idea (you've put forth none), I'm all ears.

Post

goldenhelix wrote:
wagtunes wrote:
goldenhelix wrote:You keep saying "heavily processed". I think we have very different definitions of "heavy processing", as I don't hear anything other than probably slowing playback speed here, probably one of the simplest and non-obtrusive forms of processing imaginable.

As far as the original question, OP asked what the sound is.. I replied that I think it's a bowed cymbal, which is an adequate answer. You're honestly being annoying with the level of nitpicking here. How many steps of the process should I have included to satisfy you and your godlike ears? It was a bowed cymbal of 4mm thickness with a medium amount of X type of rosin bowed at 2 m/s recorded in a white-painted 8 sq.ft. room with a thick carpet recorded through a Shure SM57 and slowed down to 1/2.5 the speed? Yeah... I think you get my point.

Honestly, it seems like you're the only one here who is at all mystified by what "heavy processing" was done to this sound.
Well, to me, time shifting or pitch shifting is heavy processing. So I guess we'll just agree to disagree on the amount of processing done on this thing. All I know is, I've never heard a pure bowed cymbal sound like that. That's all I'm saying.

And with that, I'll drop it. But I am going to research to see if I can find out how the original sound was made. It has to be somewhere on the Internet as everything else is.

Heavy processing to me is multiple steps and/or something more complicated than what you can do with literally a tape machine 80 years ago.

To clarify, in case it's not abundantly clear at this point (it should be), I am not 100% married to the fact that it is a cymbal, but as I've stated I've found some samples of bowed cymbals that are remarkably close and, for the intents and purposes of recreating this TYPE of sound, you could do a hell of a lot worse than starting with that. It is either a bowed or scraped piece of metal of some kind, reverberating with a lot of harmonics, slowed down. If anyone's got a brighter idea (you've put forth none), I'm all ears.
Not arguing it's not some kind of metal. I think that's obvious. I don't know anything else that can get that general texture. The problem is, figuring out the type of processing required on the raw sound to get that exact effect. For that, no, I admit, I have no clue. I guess you could start with pitch and or time shifting but that might not get you 100% of the way there.

I mean I've got plenty of bowed cymbal sounds here. So I can certainly start fooling around with them but taking pot shots in the dark is just not my idea of fun. If somebody else wants to take a crack at it they're more then welcome to. I'm just as curious as anybody else as to what it actually is.

And yes, it would be nice if Eric would stop by and tell us how the sound was made. I can't find anything on the Internet at all and that truly surprises me.

Post

A synth like Sculpture could do this for sure. Chromaphone or Prism maybe too. Some FX on top.
I also could imagine that some acoustic or electro-acoustic instruemnts with some processing can do this.
But that´s the goal with such sounds. Sound organic/acoustic mainly for me but still not exact sure what it is.

Post

Cinebient wrote:A synth like Sculpture could do this for sure. Chromaphone or Prism maybe too. Some FX on top.
I also could imagine that some acoustic or electro-acoustic instruemnts with some processing can do this.
But that´s the goal with such sounds. Sound organic/acoustic mainly for me but still not exact sure what it is.
Yes, Chromaphone could probably pull this off.

Post

In fact, if you could combine Chromaphone with String Studio that would be really cool.

Maybe that's a new vst they could make.

Post

It is the bundle of coins in the staccato string players pocket. He is obviously a busker.
Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.

Post

You know, I'm not so sure its definitely metal... slowing whatever it is down is I'd say a dead cert, but bowing all sorts of things can produce weird tones. I just slowed down a spike fiddle in Omni (told you it was a slow evening). Google Spike Fiddle to see what one is - I didn't know. At regular pitch its this scratchy squeaky thing, but 24 semitones down it has much of that Rusty Spoke richness. It's not the same, just an illustration of what simply slowing down can do to bowed sounds (nb - aware this is a Spectrasonics sample, I've put tones across it, will remove it if anyone has any issues - https://app.box.com/s/itynnjmdwf2cdsaa5k4ref1f1ri4fyq3 )
http://www.guyrowland.co.uk
http://www.sound-on-screen.com
W10, i7 7820X, 64gb RAM, RME Babyface, 1050ti, PT 2023 Ultimate, Cubase Pro 13
Macbook Air M2 OSX 10.15

Post

wagtunes wrote:Again, please listen to the video I posted.
The video you posted is one example among wide variety of bowed metal sounds that can be very different from each other.

Post

goldenhelix wrote:You keep saying "heavily processed". I think we have very different definitions of "heavy processing", as I don't hear anything other than probably slowing playback speed here, probably one of the simplest and non-obtrusive forms of processing imaginable. This isn't Star Wars and it isn't an elephant cry. It's a bowed piece of metal of some kind, probably slowed down a bit. It might be a cymbal, it might be a bicycle spoke, it might be the license plate on your mom's Camaro.
Yeah, different impression of what heavily processed means. I doubt anyone would listen to that star wars sound and think, elephant. Where the original sound in this case is still discernible. It does sound like it might have been slowed down. The variety of sounds possible with bowed metal is very wide.

Post

wagtunes said: "In fact, if you could combine Chromaphone with String Studio that would be really cool.

Maybe that's a new vst they could make."

Actually, if you listened to the string studio user created sounds for free download (which you can still get by asking AAS even if they're not posted) you might come to the conclusion that is what they did. You wouldn't have to add much to string studio to get chromaphone (the first version).

Post

It's metal. There's no doubt about it for me. I think, all things being equal, the name "rusty spoke" is not likely to be an accident.

It's kinda humorous to me the convoluted solutions that are being proposed to get this sound when the answer is more or less obvious and much more simple. It's a piece of metal being scraped with something. What that metal is and what is being scraped against it almost doesn't matter if you're looking to get pretty damn close to the sound in question.

But by all means, start breaking out synthesizers and string libraries...

Post

Sounds like bowed or scraped metal to me.
Incomplete list of my gear: 1/8" audio input jack.

Post

goldenhelix wrote:It's metal. There's no doubt about it for me. I think, all things being equal, the name "rusty spoke" is not likely to be an accident.

It's kinda humorous to me the convoluted solutions that are being proposed to get this sound when the answer is more or less obvious and much more simple. It's a piece of metal being scraped with something. What that metal is and what is being scraped against it almost doesn't matter if you're looking to get pretty damn close to the sound in question.
Ha ha - and perhaps Digital Native Dance was performed by digital natives.

As far as I can see, no-one else has posted anything to shed light on creating this effect except me. Maybe it was metal, maybe not, we'll probably never know. But something slowed and something bowed is hard to refute, based on my little example above.

Night all.
http://www.guyrowland.co.uk
http://www.sound-on-screen.com
W10, i7 7820X, 64gb RAM, RME Babyface, 1050ti, PT 2023 Ultimate, Cubase Pro 13
Macbook Air M2 OSX 10.15

Post

noiseboyuk wrote:That sound is the now legendary "Rusty Spoke" originally in Spectrasonics Distorted Reality series, and now a sound source in Omnisphere 2.

As to what it was originally - I too would guess some kind of bowed something.
Wow, thanks. I fired up Omni, and yep that's it. I figured it had to be from a popular sample library or synth given how ubiquitous it is.

Post Reply

Return to “Instruments”