A lot of people are concerned with their graphics, and with good reason. But the difference between a good game and a great game is in the sound. If a game is painful to your ears, you're not going to play it for more than five minutes. I'm currently working with voices. Does anyone know of a good place to find a free audio program for the mac that can alter voices to extreme degrees (i.e. make someone have a deep, gutteral monster sound to them or a high-pitched whiney princess voice.) Any help you guys can offer will be appreciated.

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-50B3R K3NNy

Well, I'm not sure if it's free, but it is called Ultra Recorder. I don't know where to get it, but you can search for it on google. I think all this can do is let you 1.) record sounds from a minidisk 2.) record you 3.) change the format of a sound file to mp3 or whatever. It may be able to alter voices, I haven't checked through it that far.

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Be carefree like the
bunny; nibble on grass,
prance through fields.

I've got Ultra Recorder, but its more of a sound utility, not an editor. But thanks anyway.

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-50B3R K3NNy

Here's a good one - it's used by professionals for mixing music and movie dialog, by some people. Best of all it's a free "lite" version.

I really haven't used it much - I use peak, but I know it's good because I'm always hearing about it by friends of mine that are real pros.

It's called Pro Tools!
(url="http://"http://www.digidesign.com/ptfree/index.html")http://www.digidesig...free/index.html(/url)

Not too many people that I know - know that there's a free version, so I'm glad I get to share it!

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Another thing that I know about it that I forgot to share is that there are these plug-ins called "VST plug-ins" (Virtual Studio Technology) that are realtime and work with Pro Tools. There should be some for pitchshifting.

You'll have to look around for these, though, and I doubt that they're free. However, I also doubt that they'd be too expensive.

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I've got this program called Peak now, from the makers of Deck, but it doesn't have a pitchshifter plug-in or function. It can use Premiere compatable audio plug-ins. Does anyone know of some good ones?

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-50B3R K3NNy

I was able to use the shareware SoundEffects 0.9.2 and SoundFront FX to record and manipulate sound for my game.

try here: (url="http://"http://www.eskimo.com/~pristine/audio.html")http://www.eskimo.co...tine/audio.html(/url)
and
here:
(url="http://"http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/3326")http://www.macupdate...nfo.php/id/3326(/url)

~stray

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Shift Pattern Graphics at (url="http://"http://shiftprint.com")http://shiftprint.com(/url)
(BR)
See CGE_Tips at:
(url="http://"http://coldroom.150m.com/CGE_Stuff/CGE_Tips.html")CGE_Tips(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by soberkenny:
**A lot of people are concerned with their graphics, and with good reason. But the difference between a good game and a great game is in the sound. If a game is painful to your ears, you're not going to play it for more than five minutes. I'm currently working with voices. Does anyone know of a good place to find a free audio program for the mac that can alter voices to extreme degrees (i.e. make someone have a deep, gutteral monster sound to them or a high-pitched whiney princess voice.) Any help you guys can offer will be appreciated.

**

Can't agree with you more about sound. Sound can "sell" a scene or a graphic; make it jump off the screen and seem much more realistic. Anyhow. What you describe is mostly simple pitch changes, which most sound editors can handle. You will get better results, however, if you can access a pitch shifter that preserves formants. As I recall the free version of Pro Tools (Pro Tools 5.01 LE is what I downloaded) has pitch bender, pitch shifter (time-preserved), time shifter, and a check-box to preserve formants.

By preserving the formants --those pitch qualities that describe the physical voice box-- you can generate a "feminine" voice without it turning into a chipmunk.

However, however...! Nothing yet replaces good voice acting. And the best starting point is a voice with the qualities you are searching for. Involvement in community theater is a wonderful leg up in this; I have people asking me if they can record voices for a game.

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"I know the stranger's name."
Turandot

You should try "sound studio" (http://www.felttip.com)
its perfect for voice recording, for some more advanced sound editing I would recommend Peak 3 (www.bias-inc.com) , but this app is a lot more expensive! If you want to record your own music in a multitrack environment, you should try Deck 3.5 (also (url="http://"http://www.bias-inc.com)")www.bias-inc.com)(/url) Both peak and deck are available as "lite" versions, which are much cheaper.

1. Pro Tools is a good program, but it can't do VST effects. It can do RTAS-based ones, but there aren't as many of these (and no free ones) because of Digidesign's draconian licensing terms for the RTAS developer's tools.

2. Peak is probably the cheapest program that can handle VST-based effects, but it doesn't let you automate the altering of their parameters over time.

3. A good resource for audio plugins is vstcentral.com, which lists freeware, shareware, and commercial RTAS and VST-based plugins. Note that some of the latter run upwards of two-hundred dollars.

4. If you're looking for an good sound design environment, without having to buy external audio / MIDI hardware, I'd recommend getting the Logic Big Box. This includes Logic 5 Silver, a synthesizer, a sampler, a Rhodes e-piano emulation, and a sample bank. It retails for $300, but audiomidi.com has it for $250. Logic is a good program (it's what I use), and the company that makes it, eMagic was recently aquired by Apple. There is an OS X version of Logic Platinum out now, it doesn't do VST or RTAS, just the new "Audio Units" FX plugin format, and I expect it will be a while before there are many of those. Also, as a registered user of Logic Gold 4, I'm STILL waiting for information about upgrading to Logic Gold 5. :frown:

The sampler, EXS24, is nice. Samplers play back sounds from a midi event trigger. The cool thing is though, you can transpose the sound up or down, and layer sounds to a single event, which is useful for sound design.

5. I'll offer up some plugin recommendations really quick:
   • Preadatohm and Hematohm, by Ohm Force are two cheap and nifty tools for morphing sounds.
   • Check out the Maxim Digital Audio Plugins. They sound good and are kinda usable, and best of all are free.
   • Destroy FX has lots of unusual sound-processing plugins too, and they're free.

Most of anything else I use is expensive, or a "synth" and not an effect. I've played around, in some capacity or another, with just about every audio program on the Mac, and generally have some kind of opinion in that regard. If you're curious about a particular piece of software, I'll be happy to give a short review.

6. Later this year I will be releasing a set of audio plugins as shareware (probably about $10-15/effect). I'm not going into any details on what they do yet, but I will say that they involve highly unusual sound processing techniques, and are unique when compared to what's out there currently. These plugins are being developed with Max/MSP, a rather cool sound programming environment, that is a devotion into and of itself.

7. I've also toyed with the idea of cleaning up one of my Max patches for manipulating sounds and releasing it as cheap ($15 or so) shareware, which lets you load a sound off of disk, select a few built-in (or VST-based) processes, and manipulate them in real-time with the mouse, keyboard, wacom tablet, or midi controller. It's specifically designed for sound designers. If there is interest in this, I will bump it higher up on my priority list and bump restarting my coldstone project back a little bit longer.

Blah, I hope some of you find this all useful.

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People who claim the sky is falling obviously aren't aware the earth is falling, too.
--
"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" --Benjamin Franklin.

Quote

Originally posted by sanehatter:
**
...
...

Blah, I hope some of you find this all useful.

**

Very, even if we seem to be sliding off topic. I've been in a Vision environment lately, and using HyperEngine for effects...I need to look around for a new copy some day. It all runs on a "legacy" Mac which is to the good. I like the way you can set up two or more variables on an x/y in HyperEngine, and draw a real-time curve while playing the sound. But back to Coldstone...

Oh, last note...I know all the budding sound designers know this one, but never underestimate the power of kitchen sampling. I've stuck a mic in front of my stove for a part of a fireball sound, slammed my own door repeatadly, dashed cups of water to the floor, held a kitchen knife against a counter and flicked it so it would "wubba wubba"...

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"I know the stranger's name."
Turandot

Quote

Originally posted by soberkenny:
**...Does anyone know of a good place to find a free audio program for the mac that can alter voices to extreme degrees ...

**

Generally it's true that you get what you pay for. But a guys gotta do what gots to be done, eh? I admit, I still search around for freebies, too.

Go to (url="http://"http://www.tcworks.de/home/content/en/Welcome/render_top")http://www.tcworks.d...come/render_top(/url)
Use the quick find window to search for Spark Me. It's a free audio editor and it supports VST plug-ins which is rare in a free app. (Many VST plug -ins can be had for the aforementioned you get what you pay for price. Some sound awesome, some not-so-awesome...) I haven't used Spark yet so can't vouch for it's quality. Caveat: It's cool Cocoa beans native OS X. And, I suppose if you're looking for free software, you might not have had the cash for the required OS 10.1 or better.

You'll probably need SoundApp on your system for any free audio editor you find. If it's free it probably won't have wide support for varied sound formats and you'll need Norman Franke's free converter to make your samples easier to use. Just do a Google search if you don't have it, its pretty much everywhere.

Logic was giving away thier MIDI editing software for a while, and it's a steal. The interface redraws wicked fast and it's quite powerful, god bless 'em.

Anyone interested in really cool freaky sound effects should buy MetaSynth. Look at (url="http://"http://www.uisoftware.com/")http://www.uisoftware.com/(/url) They have all kinds of Cool artsy tools. Xx is their MIDI composition tool. I use it all the time in my workflow. I think I paid between 2 and 3 hundred for the audio suite. (If it's out of your price range now, keep them in mind later down the road.)

Hope that helps someone.
-chuck

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Grant me the Creativity to Code cool software, the peace to accept all that is not Open-Source, and the Wisdom to pay all applicable Shareware fees. (Oh! ....And gimmie a huge friggen bag of money...!)

(This message has been edited by chucky3000 (edited 09-11-2002).)

Do you mean 2 and 3 hundred for the midi thing?!

I'm guessing not but just making sure...

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Have you ever noticed how people say something is smart only when it acts like something else?
People say cats are smart when they act like dogs, or when they act like humans. Can't things be smart in their OWN way?
My game's (url="http://"http://glued2seatp.tripod.com/")site(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by PinkFluffyBunny:
**Do you mean 2 and 3 hundred for the midi thing?!

I'm guessing not but just making sure...

**

From the look of U&I;'s page, the MIDI app alone is $129, which I have to admit, as much of a zealot as I am for thier products, that might be a little too much. Though I have an older version of the software, there me be more features in the recent version that make it worth the price.

I got the suite of tools at a Frequent Shopper sale at my musical insturment dealer's. You might be able to find the metasynth bundle cheaper retail than downloading it direct. Still, the suite of tools is quite powerful and easy to use; a bargain a any price.

If MIDI is your thing, consider the awesome shareware: FretPet. The developer is very cool, I know because I had the pleasure of beta testing recent versions. (url="http://"http://www.fretpet.com/")http://www.fretpet.com/(/url)
I advise turning on Balloon Help for this one. (Turn the volume down on your speakers if the "sqeak" annoys you.) He put alot of work into Help and the docs. He uses a Game framework, so the application's interface is fun to play with. And for $15 shareware, you can't go wrong.

Back to the Xx thing: just to push some of it's features, it has some cool "intelligent" composition tools so if you don't know what a minor harmonic scale is, it don't matter because it will harmonize everything for you. There are Auto-canon features so you can create musical compositions a-la row-row your boat when sung in the round. And there's an Evolve feature that will take a selection of notes and intelligently improvise based on it.

So there you go. Hope you find something of use.

-chuck

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Grant me the Creativity to Code cool software, the peace to accept all that is not Open-Source, and the Wisdom to pay all applicable Shareware fees. (Oh! ....And gimmie a huge friggen bag of money...!)

Quote

Originally posted by chucky3000:
**From the look of U &I;'s page, the MIDI app alone is $129, which I have to admit, as much of a zealot as I am for thier products, that might be a little too much. Though I have an older version of the software, there me be more features in the recent version that make it worth the price.

I got the suite of tools at a Frequent Shopper sale at my musical insturment dealer's. You might be able to find the metasynth bundle cheaper retail than downloading it direct. Still, the suite of tools is quite powerful and easy to use; a bargain a any price.

If MIDI is your thing, consider the awesome shareware: FretPet. The developer is very cool, I know because I had the pleasure of beta testing recent versions. http://www.fretpet.com/
I advise turning on Balloon Help for this one. (Turn the volume down on your speakers if the "sqeak" annoys you.) He put alot of work into Help and the docs. He uses a Game framework, so the application's interface is fun to play with. And for $15 shareware, you can't go wrong.

Back to the Xx thing: just to push some of it's features, it has some cool "intelligent" composition tools so if you don't know what a minor harmonic scale is, it don't matter because it will harmonize everything for you. There are Auto-canon features so you can create musical compositions a-la row-row your boat when sung in the round. And there's an Evolve feature that will take a selection of notes and intelligently improvise based on it.

So there you go. Hope you find something of use.

-chuck

**

Anything for OS 9?

------------------
Have you ever noticed how people say something is smart only when it acts like something else?
People say cats are smart when they act like dogs, or when they act like humans. Can't things be smart in their OWN way?
My game's (url="http://"http://glued2seatp.tripod.com/")site(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by PinkFluffyBunny:
**Anything for OS 9?

**

Both FretPet and All the U&I; applications are for OS 9.
Both developers are working on either Carbon versions or native OS X versions, but everything I mentioned (with the exception of "Spark Me") runs on good old OS 9.

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Grant me the Creativity to Code cool software, the peace to accept all that is not Open-Source, and the Wisdom to pay all applicable Shareware fees. (Oh! ....And gimmie a huge friggen bag of money...!)

Wow. Well, thanks for all your help, but I got my audio program long ago after the first couple of responses to this post. This has gone almost slightly overboard. GAH. Anyways, does anyone know of a program that will convert midis into mp3s?
Thanks

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-50B3R K3NNy

I) Metasynth is the bomb. I wrote a review of it here.

II) To convert MIDI to MP3, you need to render your midi file to audio first. This can be done with some sort of "Bounce to disk" feature in your audio software, or if that is lacking, by recording your Mac's output and re-recording it back in as an AIFF, SD2 or WAV file.

The reason is that each midi player is going to play your files back slightly differently. Indeed, I could (and have) taken midi files of pop songs off the net and re-assigned them new instruments with a sampler or synth, so that it sounded like a different track.

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People who claim the sky is falling obviously aren't aware the earth is falling, too.
--
"Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" --Benjamin Franklin.

Quote

Originally posted by soberkenny:
**Wow. Well, thanks for all your help, but I got my audio program long ago after the first couple of responses to this post. This has gone almost slightly overboard. GAH. Anyways, does anyone know of a program that will convert midis into mp3s?
Thanks

**

Quicktime Pro (I use 5.0.2) can export MIDI to AIFF. I'm pretty sure you can only use the built in Quicktime Musical Instruments set for this. To get external synth instruments you would have to do the above mentioned bounce technique.

-chuck

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Grant me the Creativity to Code cool software, the peace to accept all that is not Open-Source, and the Wisdom to pay all applicable Shareware fees. (Oh! ....And gimmie a huge friggen bag of money...!)