the sounds of the wilds (c) Copyright

[Iasion]

Gday all,

I love exploring the wilds, seeing new places, plumbing far valleys and peaking tall mountains.

And I love the sounds of the wilds - those animal sounds and distant bird calls - that remind me of earlier exploration in older times and strange places - such as, say ...

Qeynos Hills.

Yes, that's right - there is a characteristic sound in Qeynos (a place in old EQ1) - a slow triple bird call, vaguely like a crow perhaps -
caw ... caw ... caw ....

A very distinct sound.

And now, as I explore Mirkwood I hear the SAME SOUND, apparently - the very same slow triple caw.

Finally,
just watching "Life after People" and there was some scene of the derelict future Houston dome or somesuch - and sure enough - the SAME sound!


Qeynos - Mirkwood - Houston after people - the same pesky crows !

"Hand me the .22 Max"



It sure sounds like the same sound bite has been used in each case - probably a stock audio effect.

(Does anyone hear deal with sound libraries? Perhaps someone who does has already noticed this, and may even know the sound specifically. There maybe two versions of this same sound - the other with higher pitch and slightly different.)

Just something funny people might have noticed :-)


Iasion

[Fredelas]

You will find that the majority of games, TV shows, radio programs, and movies license these same sounds.

Would you really expect Turbine (or any other company) to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to send recording engineers out in the field and lock foley artists in a booth to create all this material? I'm sure they've come up with some of their own original in-house effects, but the rest are just cheaper to license from a library.

The fact that it is all reused can actually be a positive thing, as these sounds can help trigger the desired stereotypical moods.

P.S. -- I've had some fun extracting the sound files and slowing them down, speeding them up, or reversing them to try and discover some of the source material. You might be surprised what some of these effects started out as!

P.P.S. -- One notable exception seems to be the sound effects for minstrel skills, which were probably recorded specifically for LOTRO at the time Vivendi was doing all the recording, sampling, and arranging for the music of their LOTR games (which I believe included collaboration with Sierra/Turbine on MEO/LOTRO).

[spiritintelligencia]

P.S. -- I've had some fun extracting the sound files and slowing them down, speeding them up, or reversing them to try and discover some of the source material. You might be surprised what some of these effects started out as!

Yes, there is a great little program called "Audacity" that allows you to play with sounds. And there are many sound clips available for download... I was able to find crow sounds.

Add longer pauses between 'caws', change the pitch of one 'caw' slightly, lengthen another 'caw' out. It is very very easy to create a small library of crow sounds that seem as if they are coming from different birds. Now, if you had about 5 of these and set them to play randomly then that would be a little more realistic.

Question for the devs then: does it take up too many resources to include 5 playing at random vs. the single one played continuosly...?

[IamAkkim]

We'll have to come up with a clever name for it - like the Wilhelm Scream! =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream

--Akkim

[Raskolnikov]

Of all things, I hear a Doom 2 sound in a ton of places (TV, commercials, movies). The final boss room, where this giant demon-wall-thingie is shooting monster-spawning-cubes at you, the "whoosh" spawning noise is the one I seem to hear everywhere.

[Sarcasmo]

Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime album (1988) has a background clip of a woman's voice on a hospital intercom that says "Dr. Davis telephone please, Dr. Davis telephone please."
That same audio clip has been used in loads of places, from commercials to movies to ER and Gray's Anatomy. That's the one I hear everywhere.

[Stormwaltz]

I've heard a bird song from Asheron's Call in Rivendell. Makes me smile every time.

[Gui_Incognito]

There's a few sounds I notice quite a bit in various places. Some of the Starcraft sounds pop up in Sci-fi movies and TV. Also the famous Wilhelm scream of course. And there's a long scream/yell that was in the theme to a cartoon called Monsters which appears all over the place in horror shows (actually come to think of it, I think that's the sound from StarCraft when you click on the Terran Academy).

[IamAkkim]

Of all things, I hear a Doom 2 sound in a ton of places (TV, commercials, movies). The final boss room, where this giant demon-wall-thingie is shooting monster-spawning-cubes at you, the "whoosh" spawning noise is the one I seem to hear everywhere.

That's funny.. the "DOOM Noise" I always hear was the door-opening sound =)

--Akkim

[Ark_Guard]

I was watching a show the other night (can't remember which one) and kept hearing a sound just like the sound that's made when a Guardian uses Guardian's Ward. I thought it was funny.

[semjaza]

That's funny.. the "DOOM Noise" I always hear was the door-opening sound =)

--Akkim

My parents have a fridge and when you open it, it makes the EXACT same sound as a door opening in Super Metroid.

[auximenes]

I've heard a bird song from Asheron's Call in Rivendell. Makes me smile every time.

You beat me to it. Every time I hear that particular bird call, I start expecting to hear the AC1 'wind through the grasses' sound. Now that I'm thinking about it, the wind sound is similar to the AC1 respawn noise, and the AC1 lighting spell damage sound.

[Jadzi]

We'll have to come up with a clever name for it - like the Wilhelm Scream! =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_scream

--Akkim

And some more examples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio

[theonekane]

There is a specific car impact sound I've hear over and over in movies, video games, heck even an x-men cartoon. It's the sound of a car that's gotten air hitting the ground again. Kind of a metallic groan/crunch.

I laugh every time I hear it.

[Teldra]

Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime album (1988) has a background clip of a woman's voice on a hospital intercom that says "Dr. Davis telephone please, Dr. Davis telephone please."
That same audio clip has been used in loads of places, from commercials to movies to ER and Gray's Anatomy. That's the one I hear everywhere.

Hmm. If you listen carefully, you will hear "Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard, please report..." on a lot of shows as well. However, Larry, Curly, and Moe wont be showing up generally...

[Eliel]

For a long time, I thought the Wilhelm scream referred to this scream: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGGArPVeG_Q

But that's a different scream entirely. I first noticed this one when it was used as the falling sound in Star Wars: Dark Forces (the Doom-style Star Wars FPS). Now I notice it even more often than I notice Wilhelm.

[FormulaTroll]

Of all things, I hear a Doom 2 sound in a ton of places (TV, commercials, movies). The final boss room, where this giant demon-wall-thingie is shooting monster-spawning-cubes at you, the "whoosh" spawning noise is the one I seem to hear everywhere.

I know exactly what you're referring to. I hear it all the time.

Another one I hear frequently is a sort of bird-like wail. The source I associate it with is the original X-Com game. I think it was the sound made when an alien was killed.

[KualaBangoDango]

Found this one mentioned in a similar thread a long time ago.

Cave claw sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0E6geAq1k8&feature=fvw This is a nature documentary about a wolf chasing a baby caribou...the sound is at about the 2:57 mark.

[Morcanden]

My parents have a fridge and when you open it, it makes the EXACT same sound as a door opening in Super Metroid.

I bet if you unloaded 5 missiles into it, you could get Screw Attack! :O

[Forjo]

Of all things, I hear a Doom 2 sound in a ton of places (TV, commercials, movies). The final boss room, where this giant demon-wall-thingie is shooting monster-spawning-cubes at you, the "whoosh" spawning noise is the one I seem to hear everywhere.

It's called "Fire, Ball - Impact and large fire burst, rumble".

Here you go.

It's one of the most overused FX out there. And here is where it comes from.

-Forjo

[Raskolnikov]

It's called "Fire, Ball - Impact and large fire burst, rumble".

Here you go.

It's one of the most overused FX out there. And here is where it comes from.

-Forjo

Hah, that's totally it! Thanks for the links. The more you know.

[Gui_Incognito]

Found this one mentioned in a similar thread a long time ago.

Cave claw sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0E6geAq1k8&feature=fvw This is a nature documentary about a wolf chasing a baby caribou...the sound is at about the 2:57 mark.

I did notice that the first time I saw BBC's Planet Earth series.

[Sandriell]

Found this one mentioned in a similar thread a long time ago.

Cave claw sound: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0E6geAq1k8&feature=fvw This is a nature documentary about a wolf chasing a baby caribou...the sound is at about the 2:57 mark.

Aww, did it have to be in such a sad video? I mean, I understand this is how nature works, but I still could not help tearing up at the end.

[atteSmythe]

It's called "Fire, Ball - Impact and large fire burst, rumble".

Here you go.

It's one of the most overused FX out there. And here is where it comes from.

It's not only overused, but it's so distinctive, and to my ears it doesn't sound like anything I can relate to. It always jumps out at me and makes me think that the show's sound fx crew are...unimaginative, at best.

The 'fast lift' sound used in Doom isn't as bad, but I hear it all the time as well, for pneumatic doors, lifts, etc.

[Serin36]

I noticed the Cave-claw thing awhile back and posted the video link.

I would LOVE to hear the Wilhelm scream in LOTRO at some point. Make it an easter-egg type thing.