#966529 - 07/09/01 05:52 PM
What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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RecreationalThinker
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Since I started getting into recording last year, I have been trying to push my meager synths to the limit in order to capture what I hear in my head. I even started playing guitar and bass again after getting tired of the sample-based sounds I had available.
As I get more involved with the recording process, I find myself using a broader array of "noise makers" to get the results I want. I have used some of the following sounds, with minimal to drastic processing, in my recording so far:
jangling keys to replace hi hats/triangle
oatmeal canister hit with a wooden spoon to replace cheesy electronic toms
salt shaker/paper rubbed together to replace a shaker sound
There are many more, which yielded varying results. What have you used in your songs? How did you process it?
Apologies in advance if this topic has been run into the ground.
------------------
What's on, your mind?
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#966530 - 07/09/01 06:32 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Steve LeBlanc
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Power Drill...to simulate the sound of a power drill 
Sounds great through a Wah Pedal with lots of Distortion and Reverb
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#966531 - 07/09/01 07:01 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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strat0124
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Cool post, I've always loved doing odd things, like putting a mic inside a 12' long 2" or so piece of pvc, and placing the other end toward your given instrument/voice. Gets all these phasing/delay like sounds. Amps in a tiled bathroom is cool. I recorded myself beating a little synchopated rhythm on a barbed wire fence that was stretched really tight....made all these metallic boing sounds. I've always loved using stomp boxes to process vocals and drums...lotsa fun. I've had more fun with my little portable minidisc recorder, recording things on the fly, in fact I keep it in my truck almost all the time...just in case. Another neat thing I've done is close mic a big butcher block table my Dad built, and record my son beating out a thumb, palm, and finger rhythm...amazing how cool it sounded.
This message has been edited by strat0124 on 07-09-2001 at 04:04 PM
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Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#966532 - 07/09/01 07:49 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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ricknbokker
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Registered: 12/10/00
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Most excellent topic! I was just thinking about this subject the other day.
(honest!)
Here's one I used again just the other day.
I put a 3" length of copper pipe in the left pocket of my jeans.
In the right pocket, I put the following:
26 quarters
17 nickles
25 dimes
I then miked up each pocket w/a Radio Shack condenser, ran stereo through a rather generic bright/small room reverb, really wet, then just started tapping away.
Built a whole intro to a new song with it. Awesome!
Btw, the more dimes, the brighter the sound. Stay away from pennies...they sound like crap. Also wear the tightest jeans you've got. (don't get all moist on me now!!)
I also used to clamp two different sized Tupperware bowls side by side in a bench vise and whack away at 'em.
God, I love this crap!!!
Steve
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#966533 - 07/09/01 08:00 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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d gauss
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Loc: Somewhere in the Swamps of Jer...
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<>
my voice...
-d. gauss
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#966534 - 07/09/01 08:06 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Hippie
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Registered: 04/13/01
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My daughter, (4 years old), recently went on a pre-school field trip to the Lionel train factory, she came back with the most perfect cheapie train whistle you ever heard, I traded her a flashlight for it, and have used it on a "hear that train-a comin'" style blues tune.
-Hippie
_________________________
In two days, it won't matter.
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#966535 - 07/09/01 08:24 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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surfjunkie
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cool...
i too like carrying a minidisc around. a normal 2-minute visit to starbucks yeilded dozens of single-hit samples, including things you'd never think to layer, like a shoe squeak from across the room at the same instant as a good metallic espresso machine noise. sometimes random noises can even groove.
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#966536 - 07/09/01 09:01 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Dylan
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Great thread! I once threw a hubcap down an old stairwell and sampled to DAT. It made a killer middle eastern sounding percussion groove that I used on a project a few years back while at college. Absolutely fantastic! Another cheap trick is to use a wooden ruler held up against a desk and plucked. You can pitch shift it down to use it as a bass guitar sample.
-Dylan
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#966537 - 07/09/01 10:36 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Jeff Klopmeyer
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Empty Sparklets bottle...the big plastic fucker that you see at the water cooler at work. Try boinging the lower corner of that bad boy on a hard material covered carpet, like a stair, while miking from the hole. Whhhooooommmm! Neat-o. Just plug in your creativity in regard to how you'll actually use the sound. 
- Jeff
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#966538 - 07/09/01 11:29 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Anonymous
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There's a program out there called "Thonk" that uses granular generation to work some unbridled hilarity on an input sound file. I can't remember what I fed the thing, but what I got were several sounds that were somewhere in between wind, jet aircraft, and pouring water out of a bottle with a small mouth. They were fun to use for intros and background effects.
-Danny
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Of all the things that I have lost, I miss my mind the most.
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#966539 - 07/10/01 01:21 AM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Anderton
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This is probably unique to my kitchen, but if I take a full 1-litre bottle of Ritz Selzer water and drop it on the top of the kitchen counter from a height of about 1/4," it bounces around on the five extrusions at the bottom of the bottle, creating a tone that ascends in pitch until all five extrusions are firmly on the counter at the same time.
Reading that over, it made absolutely no sense at all, even though it does describe what's happening. I think I have no choice but to post the sample in the downloads section!
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#966540 - 07/10/01 01:22 AM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Anderton
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So this got me thinking...I wonder if we should have a "Really Crazy Sounds" download section where people could send in their weird sounds to have them posted for the enjoyment of all. Whaddya think?
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#966541 - 07/10/01 05:23 AM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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badfish_dup1
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I think its a great idea but someone might just lose an eye in the process of recording the weirdest sound. But its all in the name of music so its all good
Mabye a music player eye patch for the winner?
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#966542 - 07/10/01 06:51 AM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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alphajerk
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a cricket fart.
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alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson
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#966543 - 07/10/01 08:59 AM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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RecreationalThinker
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Originally posted by Anderton:
So this got me thinking...I wonder if we should have a "Really Crazy Sounds" download section where people could send in their weird sounds to have them posted for the enjoyment of all. Whaddya think?
I think that would be a great idea! I have gotten so many new ideas for sounds from reading these posts. It would be really cool to have some examples of some of them.
_________________________
I'm not a "people" person, I'm a "thing" person.
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#966544 - 07/10/01 09:23 AM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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F7sound -
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I've gotta really think about this one since my music is made up of mostly weird sounds. I've done the kitchen utensil thing. Cat growls. Mystery liquids. Live insects. Antique noisemakers. Plastic bags. Failing equipment. So many strange sounds, so little time!
Michael Oster
F7 Sound and Vision
http://www.f7sound.com
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#966545 - 07/10/01 02:22 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Notape_dup1
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toilet flush -> Electro Harmonix Microsynth -> Electrix Warp Factory -> Line6 POD -> ran backwards.
-nt
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#966546 - 07/10/01 02:29 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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shane_dup2
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You know those pasta spoons with the spring-loaded spoon and fork type things? Well I mic'ed one up with a C414, let it spring back (it kind of clatters in a decaying series). I time stretched the sound 4-fold and made a stereo file with one channell reversed to get a kind of bi-directional long ring.
It's the weiredest thing I've heard and it almost made me sick (no joke)
s.
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#966547 - 07/10/01 03:15 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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strat0124
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Ever have someone manipulate the knobs on an analog delay stompbox while you solo away? Makes for some otherworldly sounds, and even moreso if you do em backwards!!!!!!
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Down like a dollar comin up against a yen, doin pretty good for the shape I'm in
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#966548 - 07/10/01 03:43 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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harold_dup1
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Hey I got one,
A while ago I was recording a bass line through my SWR Workingmans head. I think I was miking it but I might have been going direct from the effects send (I use that as a preamp out). I found that if I turn it off with the unit not on standby, I get this really weird squealing sound that goes up in pitch and then fades back down. Its always a little bit different too. Give it a try.
Harold
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#966549 - 07/10/01 04:04 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Jason Poff
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Registered: 05/11/01
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Feed an effect processor's outputs back to it's inputs. Definitely turn your monitors down while setting this one up. Right before the loop catches and goes into clipping feedback hell, there are all kinds of strange goings on. You have to ride the send to keep it in purgatory, but talk about weird.
Oh, and it's always different, depending on the patch (did anyone say flange w/ 90% feedback), and works w/ a crappy behringer or a lex. 960.
Jason
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#966550 - 07/10/01 04:35 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Botch.
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I've mic'd a firecracker going off in a toilet bowl, slowed the sample Waaay down, and wished I did movie soundtracks. Slamming a car door makes a neat snare sample (I stole that from someone's magazine interview, don't remember who). Finally, I wired an old speaker cone to an AC line/plug, plugged it into the wall, whoofff! Very loud, very short, but not musically useful (at least not yet).
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Botch "Eccentric language often is symptomatic of peculiar thinking" - George Will http://www.puddlestone.net
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#966551 - 07/10/01 05:58 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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offramp
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wager47: I didn't know there WAS such a thing as a 'normal, 2-minute visit to Starbucks'.
I haven't used ALL of the things in songs, some in other projects.
My list includes:
*A garbage dumpster; 421 stuck inside it, dumpster the sort with a metal lid. Slammed lid. No 'verb necessary.
*The actual data disks from a defunct hard drive, the kind where 80megs weighed about 4 lbs. They ring beautifully.
*One of those generic metal salad bowls, the kind that come 5 to a set, all stacked inside of each other. The biggest one makes a wonderful gong-like sound if struck just right.
*Pringle's cans. I stopped when those terminally annoying street performer commercials came out.
*Me, gargling.
*Various switches around the house...light, gear, appliance, etc.
*Cellophane being crumpled. Recorded it in stereo, flipped one side backwards.
*The refrigerator door shutting. A nice, satisfying suck/thud sound. Enhanced a kick drum with it.
*A gin and tonic, idling at my workstation.
*A pair of scissors (Fiskars). Used as a percussive layer, way down under.
Right now, I'm working on a side project, utilising samples clipped from a voice-over session for a recent client; little snippets of the in-between takes--like one girl saying "I kicked his ASS!!", another guy saying "I'll get back with you" (edited to be 'get back with you'), and some rather rhythmic laughter--and self-sung drum parts, bass parts. Another project I did, digitizing that directory assistance voice for fourteen Western states, yielded some interesting samples I've yet to tackle for my own amusement.
_________________________
I've upped my standards; now, up yours.
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#966552 - 07/10/01 06:13 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Notape_dup1
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Originally posted by offramp@earthlink.net:
*One of those generic metal salad bowls, the kind that come 5 to a set, all stacked inside of each other. The biggest one makes a wonderful gong-like sound if struck just right.
Try putting about two or so inches of water in it. Swirl the water around as you strike the bowl - very interesting percussion noises.
-nt
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#966553 - 07/10/01 06:54 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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offramp
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Yeah, did that. Nice water gong sound; got a little concerned about my ability to keep the water in it vs. the water getting on my 414. Didn't pursue it.
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I've upped my standards; now, up yours.
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#966554 - 07/10/01 08:03 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Punchmo
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Tracking 4 guys in a metal band verbalizing their impression of attacking a flock of sheep on a hillside. Then, they decided to move the attack into the closest town. This went on for about a half an hour...VERY, VERY STRANGE! I used some of the squeals as percussive sounds.
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#966555 - 07/10/01 09:18 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Tedster
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Originally posted by Hippie:
My daughter, (4 years old), recently went on a pre-school field trip to the Lionel train factory, she came back with the most perfect cheapie train whistle you ever heard, I traded her a flashlight for it, and have used it on a "hear that train-a comin'" style blues tune.
-Hippie
Speaking of which, d'ja know that Neil Young owns a nice chunk of the Lionel Train Company? I guess Neil's got a couple of developmentally-disabled kids, and the trains have been an excellent learning tool and therapy for them...so, heck, he bought a big chunk of the company.
Me? I always thought it would be cool to get some lake freighter (y'know, ore carriers) horns...whistles...record a whole bunch of samples and snip and paste 'em together and see what I can make out of it...
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"Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine...(WAH WAH WAH WAHHH!)"
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#966556 - 07/10/01 09:18 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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Throatsinger
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Heh, lotsa stuff. A fave was using a badly damaged china cymbal in place of a snare drum on a wild fusion track. #1 has gotta be the throat-singing, though, and it never fails to get questions and open doors.
Steve Sklar/Big Sky
http://mp3.com/bigsky
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#966557 - 07/10/01 09:34 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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S_Gould
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I've tried fingerpicking the little wires on a hard-boiled egg slicer. Or using weird things as microphones - like the piezo transducer elements out of Radio Shack buzzers. I've stuck them at the bottom of paper cups & sung into them, or stuck them to the sound board of a piano, held down the damper pedal and set a guitar amp on the other side. Not to mention using my dog as a percussion instrument.
Scott
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#966558 - 07/10/01 11:01 PM
Re: What is the strangest sound you've ever used in a song?
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ricknbokker
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Registered: 12/10/00
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This is ALL great stuff!!!
I once dropped my drummer's ride cymbal on it's edge. (slipped out of my hand) When it hit the sidewalk, the bell in the middle inverted!
Sure, there was a small crack at the hole, but he got a great gong out of the deal. (yes, I bought him a new cymbal)
My cousin used to make disturbing sounds by putting one of those $4.99
microphones that used to come with tabletop cassette players inside his mouth and humming. Very disturbing stuff, but quite hilarious after a few hits out of the bong!
Steve
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