Roger Huston

September 14, 2006 12:20 PM

How can I mix astronaut background sounds and change my voice so it sounds like I'm using one of the radios from the old-NASA spaceflight days?

The idea would be to include distortions and hiccups of various kinds for realistic effect. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to computer software for mixing sound, so pretty much even a basic idea would help. I'm thinking I could record (digitaly on the computer) some actual recorded transmissions, but I have no clue where to get those or what sofrware to use.

posted by Smedleyman to computers & internet (10 comments total)

sounds like a fun party!

this is a small step:
http://history.nasa.gov/40thann/videos.htm
posted by paradroid at 12:33 PM on September 14, 2006

Buy some cheap toy walkie talkies; put one in a relatively sound-proofed room and mic it. Start recording. Then go into another room and speak into the other walkie talkie.

Or, if you can't do that, find a sample of static or the crackling of a record, and record over that, and then EQ your voice to take most of the treble and bass out of it, leaving only the mid ranges.
posted by eustacescrubb at 12:34 PM on September 14, 2006

I think that the microphone and amp in a super-cheapass voice-distorter (y'know - those toys that claim to make you sound like and alien or darth vader), are so bad that they get you most of the way there, in real-time, on the spot :)
posted by -harlequin- at 1:02 PM on September 14, 2006

Download the freeware LFX-1310 plugin, choose the "AM RADIO" preset, and add the LP Noise filter as the third effect. Crank up noise, turn down the year setting, and you're pretty close. Depending on your platform and recording software, add another instance of the LFX plugin, and turn on some compression (high ratio) and the Crusher filter. In fact, you might try adding Crusher to the "AM RADIO" preset instead of LP Noise, crank down the rate and bits controls, which gets you even closer.
posted by dbiedny at 1:21 PM on September 14, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Oh yeah, depending on your computer platform, the beforementioned plugin will need to live in some kind of audio editing software that supports Audio Units (Mac) or VST (Windows) formats. I use SoundTrack Pro on the Mac, on Windows you could use Audacity and the VST Enabler.
posted by dbiedny at 1:25 PM on September 14, 2006

Great question, I'm working on a project where I need to know this exact same question. I will watch this thread with great interest.

For the record, my method was going be to use Audacity (Mac) to compress the audio waveform and strip off the highs and lows. Then I was going to add the ubiquitous *static click* to the begining and end.
posted by quin at 2:07 PM on September 14, 2006

I used an AM radio plugin recently in Cubase to make a similar sound effect (I will post it on Metafilter Music this weekend...look for Moon Patrol).

If you don't have such a plugin, the key is to cut out the low frequencies and the highs and compress it like crazy. Clip off the beginning and end of some of the phrases to make it sound like you are slow on the transmit button.

If you only have a small wave file and you only need to do it once, I could process it for you. Email is in profile.
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 2:28 PM on September 14, 2006

Make sure you get that Nasa beep in there periodically. Refer to this wav of the moon landing for an example.
posted by plinth at 6:02 PM on September 14, 2006

I posted my example of space radio talk in Metafilter Music. Unfortunately, another member of the band also did so at almost the same exact time. Check out one of the Moon Patrols before they both get deleted.

The space talk is about 3/4 of the way through the song on the bridge. It was done with VST plugins that are included with Cubase SX (and possibly lesser versions). I don't remember the exact order and settings right now, but if you want me to check I can.
posted by Uncle Jimmy at 8:38 AM on September 15, 2006

/nifty all - thanks
posted by Smedleyman at 4:14 PM on September 15, 2006