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Configuring a Soundscape     Creating a Sound Object     Dowloading Soundscapes     Option Settings     Sharing     How to Register      
CREATING A SOUND OBJECT
A Sound object is made up of a number of static (constant) and a number of dynamic (random) sounds. 
 
For example, a fire will consist of a static sound component made up of one or more looping samples.  Dynamic sounds such as "crackles" and "pops" can be layered on top of these loops to create an ever changing sound of fire (within reason!)
 
There are a number of options to control the volume and selection criteria for the underlying sound samples.  Each can be associated with a probability of occurence and the maximum number of these random sounds can be specified on each occurence.  The name of the sound file will be displayed in red if you do not have that resource stored locally in your library. 
You can download any missing resources by clicking the "Get" button.
 
The sound object window is divided into three tabs:
 
  1. Summary
  2. Dynamic Sounds
  3. Static Sounds

 

SUMMARY

 
The summary tab allows you to record the name, author, description and optional image of your sound object.
 
 
 
The url to the internet location of the image should be populated if you intend to share this sound object with others, and you should also specify the name for the image in the local image cache.
 
You should also specify the terms of distribution for your sound files.
 
It is also important to aknowledgement the original author and to attribute their work here, providing links to the original sound files used where applicable.
 
All of the sound files used in BackSounds are available under a Creative Commons licencing agreement, and have been carefuly attributed back to the original contributor.
 
 
 
DYNAMIC SOUNDS
 
The dynamic sounds in your soundscape play on a periodic basis determined by the "Frequency" slider and "Timed event" settings in the Design View.  BackSounds uses these settings to determine when it is time for a sound object to play its sounds, and will use the probability of each individual random sound and the "Max Sounds" setting to determine how many sounds should be played. 
 
The "Play Sequentially" checkbox determines whether or not these are played simultaneously, or sequentially one after the other.  When played sequentially, no further sounds will play until all previous sounds have played.  Multiple sounds will overlap when played simultaneously. 
 
 
Example 1
There are 5 random sounds each with a probability of 100% and a Max. Sounds setting of 5.  BackSounds will always play all 5 of these sounds.
 
Example 2
There are 5 random sounds each with a probability of 100% and a Max. Sounds setting of 2.  BackSounds will always play 2 of these sounds (chosen randomly).
 
Example 3
There are 5 random sounds with probabilities of 10%, 20%, 50%, 80% and 100% and a Max. Sounds setting of 3.  BackSounds will play between 1 and 3 of these sounds.  The sound with 100% will always play, and two of the others might play (more likely the 80% and 50% than the 10% or 20%)
 
In addition, you can also specify a sound to play before and after the random sounds on the "Entry Sounds" and "Exit Sounds" pages.  See the Uncle Sigmund's Clock sound object for an example of how to use this feature.
 
The "Full Volume" setting allows you to set the maximum volume for the selected sound file.  This is useful if one of your sounds files is louder than the others and needs toning down without modifying the underlying sound file.
 
You can also vary the volume of sequences of random sounds (i.e. the entry sound if specified, followed by number of random sounds followed by an exit sound if specified) by checking the "Vary Sound Volume" option under the "Dynamic Volume" tab.

When used at 90%-100% of full volume, this feature can be used to model a natural variation in volume caused by varying underlying acoustics.

 

See the Rolling Thunder sound object to see how this feature can provide realism.

 

 

 

The overal volume of a sound may be reduced further by the master volume of the sound object defined in the soundscape. For example, if the full volume is set to 90%, the dynamic volume is calculated at 80% and the master volume is set at 50%, the resulting volume of the sound will be 90% * 80% * 50% = 36% of the original recording.

 

STATIC SOUNDS
 
Static sounds provide the looping background for the dynamic sounds in your sound object.  This can be useful when it is necessary to create a mask to hide the breaks between your random sounds, or when the sound object needs to play constantly.
 
You have the option of looping all of your static sounds simultaneously or playing each sound sequentially.
 
When played simultaneously, you can create a non repeating loop by combining two or more looping samples of differing length.  See one of the Waterfall sound objects for an example.
 
When played sequentially, there is never a break between sound samples.  This is useful when the static sounds are too complex to break into component parts.
 
See the Forest Birds or the Beach Waves sound objects for an example.
 
You can also alter the probability of selection to make the repetition of "feature" sounds less likely.
 
You need to ensure that each sound file has a valid Url if you intend to share your Soundscape.
 

TIPS

 

  • Combine different loops with different lengths (for example two waterfall loops) to avoid obvious repeating sounds.
  • Add occassional dynamic sounds to static loops (for examples the crack and spit of a fire) to create realism.