Editing Open Source Sounds - Rolling your own

[Nahuatl]

This is the reason no one mixes them like Possum Al.

Below is a picture of the waveform of one of Al's custom sounds - a mono mix of coyote and a distress that sort of shows the volume changes. In this example, he used 6 volume levels, inserts a pause, and tapers to zero volume at the end. It doesn't even show how the two different sounds are superimposed. This kind of sound does it all without ever requiring a single touch of the remote, other than turning the caller on and pausing it at the end. How would you even go about asking someone else to mix this for you? The possibilities are endless.

This is the reason I'll always prefer open source sounds. I can look at them, analyze them, edit them myself. I doubt anyone else is ever going to be able to mix sounds to Al's satisfaction.

 

[possumal]

Hey Gary: I'll bet you could, you rascal. I just try to make it a real sounding scenario, as the gradually weakening distress cries are what makes the coyotes respond. They just can't seem to pass up that easy meal. It is a lot of fun, making your own sequences, especially when they work. Being able to put your own sounds on your ecaller is a real trip for me.

 

[shamoot]

How do you know that the weakening part of the cry is what draws them? Why not the loudest or the pause?

Not calling you out, just a question.

 

[Nahuatl]

This example is one of mine, using full advantage of the Bandit's 2-channel amp and dual independent speakers. It shows how easy it is to point a few barks out of the TOA horn speaker while the cottontail screams from a more general location using the cone without changing files, balance, or speaker swiches. Add another file using just the rabbit in a single channel in an adjacent location, and a tricky caller like Al can make a coyote bark up the canyon with a single touch of a button, hopefully evoking a territorial response to go with that hungry feeling. And then switch back to straight rabbit distress with another single button punch.

As you can see, a lot can be done with creative editing. I pay full attention to the field of fire and targets. And I never have to look at the remote.

Or maybe you'd like to try it in a different fashion, and get the rabbit to scream up the canyon with the coyote in front of you.

These two files sound like night and day on the Big Country Bandit. They sound identical on my FX5.

Al, maybe one of these smart young up-and-coming hunters and wannabe sound editors will be sending us a few files to try one of these days. There are lots of hunters, and lots of sound editors, but very few sound editors who know squat about hunting.

 

[snowcamoman]

Mixing up sounds definitely is fun and productive. I prefer to use Goldwave, but have used Audacity, CoolEdit, Steinbergs Wavelab & Cubase, and a handful of others. For what hunters need to do with their sounds though, Goldwave and any of the "simpler" programs suffice. Once a hunter knows how to Copy/Paste/Mix in Goldwave, everything else is just a matter of becoming familiar with where the buttons are in the software. Again, anybody who has a computer can get any e-caller sound into their computer fairly fast once they do it a few times. I put the entire Johnny Stewart collection into digital format in a couple days from Cassettes. After sounds are recorded to the computer though, sometimes it's necessary to go back and clean them up a bit. Does the animal care if they have been cleaned up???? Probably not, but I prefer to do it just because I don't want to doubt anything in the field. Gary, are those sounds shown in the Blaze Rip-Edit-Burn clipped, or can you expand the dynamic range in the viewer so as to see the entire sound-wave? One of the handy things when using the sound editing software for recording sounds into the computer is being able to monitor the sounds and make sure they aren't clipping while recording. There's nothing I hate more than loading up a sound and seeing all of those flat clipped tops on the waves. Good topic though and I'm sure with the stereo units on the market now, hunters are going to want to start mixing their own tunes.

 

[Nahuatl]

It looked to me that one of Al's sounds might have been clipped from the get-go hence its boxy look as it stepped down. However, it was the best visual example I could find to display the process of diminishing volume.

The files I used were 50% modulated, and I amplified both X 1.95 to take full advantage of the media. Like Al, I amplify mine a lot too.

 

[JoeF]

Neat stuff guys, if you keep it up I'm going to have to get some of this software and give it a whirl.
I still have my car stereo based caller with the pair of horns that would make this fun.

FWIW, back in the days when I had lots of hair and time on my hands I did this sort of things with a 4 track and JS crow sounds. The software is so much more easy to work with and powerful than multiple decks and tracks, etc...

It would probably be fun to find one of those old tapes and look at it with modern day software.

I never considered messing with coyote sounds in those days.

 

[Nahuatl]

I got started in the 70's with a reel-to-reel to 8-track recorder and edited some with a razor and scotch tape. It was insanely difficult. By comparison, digital sounds and modern software are a walk in the park.

 

[possumal]

The bottom line for me is whether or not the sounds or sequences call in coyotes. If they don't, they won't be around long in my arsenal. I don't feel that I am anywhere near an expert on using sound editing software, but I can figure our what works on calling coyotes. Most of the sequences that I make and use are based on experience using those same sounds individually in a particular pattern. In my opinion, it is far superior to be able to punch one button and then keep your eyes peeled. With the remote set up with the buttons, it is simple to hit any of the buttons without looking at the remote. Whatever works best for you is the way you should do it.

 

[Rich Cronk]

I make and record my own sounds that actually call coyotes. No artificial pauses or automatic volume changes. Those things get people excited, but coyotes couldn't care less. If I want pauses, I simply press the mute button. Volume changes are done with simple press of a button also. Sorry guys, but that stuff is a non issue with me. Nahuatl is one of the most successful callers I know of, and I am betting he can still whack em by the pickup load with plain old sounds right out of the factory.

 

[MB]

Appreciate the many tips over the years guys. I just started using Goldwave and have transfered a number of sounds to my FX5 from old cassettes and CD's. Most of the JS CD's are sure sharp sounding.

Still working on and tweaking some of the cassette sounds. Some are difficult to clean up for a beginner like myself. The technology now though, wow! Everything on 1 caller whether its Foxpro or Minaska makes life much simpler.Haven't mixed any sounds yet, but see how it could be helpful at times.

Thanks again and good calling to you.

 

[snowcamoman]

MB,
If you're having a tough time with the "silent" areas between soundwaves, try using the Compressor/Expander feature under the Effect button, then go to the pulldown menu on Compressor/Expander and select [Reduce Quiet Areas]. Next tinker around with the Multiplier/Threshold. Try setting the Multiplier from (-2 to -3), the Threshold from (-6 to -9) and set the attack and release down to 0. See how it works and you can always Undo and try more settings. Or if you want to do it the long slow way, you can go through manually and clean up the sounds piece by piece. If you have any specific ?'s just PM me and I'll try to lend you a hand.

 

[Nahuatl]

The Johnny Stewart sounds that I use regularly came from the same commercially available compact disks, but I don't usually use the supplied MP3's. I rip the entire cd to waves and isolate the non-repeating segments. Then after a lot of listening, I usually crop a 45-60 second clip. Then I eliminate one channel first by muting it to zero, not by mixing left and right, and reformat it to mono. If it's not fully modulated, I'll amplify it to ~95%. For an e-caller, where I use a lot of pauses during calling, I insert about a second of silence at the start/finish and then into about every 15 seconds of sound, so I have a good spot to push the caller's pause button without interrupting the sound in mid-scream and without making it a 7+ minute sequence like some of Al's. For a constant call loop, like those I use on the truck for spotlighting, I do not add pauses anywhere. Then I compress the files to 256 or 320 MBps MP3 files using the LAME codec. These files play extremely well on any caller, converted MP3 stereo, IPOD, FoxPro, Minaska, public address system, or any other MP3-capable stereo or mono system, and are approximately 3/10 the size of the stereo wave, without sacrificing a lot of fidelity to the original.

In a pinch though, I feel reasonably confident that I could replace everything I currently use with a cheap cd boom box and two or three Johnny Stewart titles and still get it done. I'd probably add a partner to make up for the lack of a remote.