This file is one of the Wolfstone archives of the Halloween mailing lists. You can find out more, and reach the entire collection here: http://www.pobox.com/~wolfstone/_r/HalloweenArchive.html This particular archive deals with "psychoacoustic" topics. This includes: o terror tone - - - - - Subject: RE: HALL: Crossing "The Line"(long & dry) Date: Fri, 1 Jan 99 05:07:23 -0900 From: The Sound Commando On 12/31/98 11:08 I received email from David Kiihne which stated ... >I wanted to setup subwoofers in a room (or throughout the haunt).......(edit)..... Based on past >experience in movie theatres ....(edit)..... "ultra low" sounds tended to induce, >or at least heighten, anxiety. This actually works quite well on most people. You don't even need to go all that low. Say around 30 - 40hz. If you sustain that for a period, I belive what happens is that the heart begins to be affected. It will make you at least anxious. If not nausious. >Actually, what really got me thinking seriously about it was listening to >the soundtrack from "The Seventh Sign," Great film! I'm not intimate with the sound track. But love the film. > Is it possible that the composer/recorders of the music >(deliberately or not) made use of the same phenomenon? I'm sure they were aware of any sub frequencies in the track. > Do you know if the >techniques you described are actually used in the entertainment industry? I don't think what I had described is being used. It requires that a fairly complex set of parameters be met. Also, the film industry is very reluctant to except change. Especially esoteric changes. There are some 3D IMAX theatres that incorperate binaural sound elements in the headset feed. This is yet another psych-acoustic phenomina that reproduces sound that has been recorded EXACTLY as the head recieves it. Known as a HRTF (acronym inserted for levity) or Head Related Transfer Function. I type too slowly to go into that. But it is doubtless the only true form of 3D audio. Again, this effect requires that conditions be JUST RIGHT during playback to be effective. Headphones being the ideal. You can rent a "head" with mics installed the precise distance inside the "ears" to capture what sound would be striking the eardrums. It's VERY cool. I have tripped out more than a few people with these type recordings. But they are not practical at all for haunt pourposes. I don't know off the top of my head what books might be availabe on these topics. I don't recomend anyone try willy-nilly to do the hemi-sync sort of thing. It is conceivable that you could put yourself into a coma if you hit on the wrong brainwave frequency. Or you may simply cause youself to poop your pants. As I recall .... it is around 8hz that you lose sphincter control. Now there's more than you had hoped to learn! - - - - - Subject: HALL: Crossing "The Line"(long & dry) Date: Thu, 31 Dec 98 00:57:33 -0900 From: The Sound Commando First, let me say that I think this thread of "what truely scares" is probably the most appropriate one I have seen in the time I have been on the list. It addresses the FUN-damental purpous of a haunt created by the living. The exchanges it has wrought will doubtless lead to some memorable experiences for more than a few guests in the coming year. Now to the anecdote which has prompted this response. I have to say that I am still not possitive I should broadcast this information to such a large group. Knowing that there are doubtless those who might attempt to use it irresponsibly. But after vacilating over it for a couple days now, I have decided that without a fair amount of research and study noone will be able to reproduce it. I have been very involved in psycho-acoustics for over a decade. In a nutshell, that has to do with how the mind/brain reacts when presented with various types of sound. For example: It is most common to use the sound of large amounts of falling water (ie:rain; ocean waves; etc) for the purpous of relaxation. Why is that? Why would simply hearing these things cause a physiological calming? The reason is that when water drops en mass it generates a large amount of negative ions. If you are in the vacinity, this abundance of negative ions has a bonifide physiological affect. The mind being a wonderous creature remembers this. So when you hear a convincing reproduction of one of these sounds it takes the que and triggers the physical response it remembers. Now to a more complex form of psycho-acoustic trickery. Around 1991 I was working with a couple neuroscientists from Loma Linda and UCLA on a concept we had for triggering psychological emotional responses using sound. The idea was that when a tense scene came up in a film, we would cause you to be very tense. A happy scene, we would trigger a joyful response. Etcetera. The way this worked was based on decades old data of brainwave frequencies that occur during these various emotions. Those of you familiar with radio wave propagation will have a better understanding of the next bit. There is a technology known as hemi-sync that has to do with the synchonization of the two hemispheres of the brain. We expanded a principal where if you put say 1000hz in one earphone and 1005hz in the other earphone the result would be a beat frequency of 5hz. In other words, if you were to listen to either earphone seperately you could not tell the difference between the two. But if you put both earphones on simultaneously you would hear a 5hz ocillation. Your brain would sort of decode the beat frequency. So what we were working on was delivering these beat frequencies through free air sound (speakers vs. headphones) and at the known cyclic rates coresponding to the desired emotion. In this way I believe it is possible to terrorize your audience with a minimum of visual stimulus to substantiate what they are "feeling". They simply would have no choice! I must tell you now that I decided NOT to persue implimenting this technology (and wouldn't tell you if I did) because I feel this would be "Crossing the Line". Even with disclaimers and warnings tatooed inside peoples eyelids I could see lawsuits abounding. Where it is not what would be considered brain washing, it could easily be litigated in our present day court system. Too bad in a way. Because our sole intention was to heighten the movie going experience to a level heretofore unseen. A happy side note is that much of our research was subsequently used in some devices built for Loma Linda childrens hospital. That enable severely handicapped children to do things like playing virtual musical intruments and experiencing things not otherwise possible for someone with cerebral palsy, etc. I am not sure what use any of this will be. But I hope some of you find it interesting. It DOES emphasize the power of sound. I believe it also offers another example of how one might "cross the line". I now return to lurking mode. - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: A simple idea-for a change! From: "Rick R Mortiz" Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 08:18:13 -0700 I love it... would go great with that wonderful commercial sound effects setup.. is it by terror by design? the one where you hear the ghosts move past you in surround sound, or the whispering in your ear one.. Bubble away.. - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: A simple idea-for a change! From: Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001 11:32:49 EDT You're thinking of 1031 Productions. Great combination-think I'll steal = it! - - - - - Subject: Terror Tones CD From: Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 00:07:49 -0700 I received my Terror Tones CD today from Jim Kadel's Haunt Master. A few comments... The instructions suggest that, "Even though the CD tracks are in stereo, each channel holds identical sound." Either I had a few too many beers with dinner or Jim's nuts. It's most no= ticable on track one in which the sound "moves" from the left channel to the righ= t channel and back. Now low frequency sounds tend to be less directional. That's why you ten= d to only have a single subwoofer, so I wouldn't argue that the low frequen= cy sounds are the same on each channel, but certainly not the higher frequen= cy sounds. I was listening to the Terror Tones CD using a DVD player and there seeme= d to be a very audible click or pop at the beginning and/or end of several of the tracks. Has anyone else noticed this pop or was it due to my DVD player? It was clearly visible on the equalizer. Can the pop be avoided if the CD player is set to loop on a track (i.e. does the pop actually li= e in between tracks)? Overall, the CD is pretty cool. With a good subwoofer, it's certainly cap= able of simulating a good 6.0 earthquake. - - - - - Subject: RE: Terror Tones CD From: Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 11:38:41 -0700 >I was listening to the Terror Tones CD using a DVD player and there seem= ed >to be a very audible click or pop at the beginning and/or end of several= >of the tracks. Has anyone else noticed this pop or was it due to my DVD >player? It was clearly visible on the equalizer. Can the pop be avoided >if the CD player is set to loop on a track (i.e. does the pop actually lie >in between tracks)? I tried the Terror Tones CD in three different dedicated CD players, all with the same result, a very audible click (or pop) at the beginning and/= or end of several of the tracks. I tried to loop on a single track and the click is still audible. It's not something that lies in between the track= s. It must be trivial to edit a click like this out of a CD track. If anyone= has the time and experience to tackle a project like this, E-mail me off-= list. I'd be willing to buy you a Terror Tones CD in order to get a remastered copy without the clicks and pops. - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Re: RE: Terror Tones CD From: "Jim Kadel" Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 21:58:44 -0400 Well..since now you're all interested in the TT-cd: Those "clicks" were part of the terror producing effect :>) ------ Actually they may/or may not be easy to remove. I can assure you that they were *not* produced from a tape recording. The next version of Terror Tones CD is going to be released this month. We've added a track that's unique in format. So on this later version of the TT-cd, track # 1 is supposed to be the *all out winner* for enhancing = fear, and anticipation in haunt patrons. This time a commercial sound engineer will be mastering the TT-cd. So I believe we'll have something that will be free of starting = track/ending track noise. Jim =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D REF = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D At 07:49 PM 8/1/01 -0400, you wrote: >YES! I have the same problem. It is on the CD itself between the tracks. = I >have also tried it in different players Home CD player, home DVD player, = PC >Cd player, PC dvd player. They all produce the click. - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Re: Re: Re: Terror Tones CD From: "Jim Kadel" Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 15:48:24 -0400 Jon, Excellent fix it point. I think this is the best answer to those who can't live with the starting/ending "clicks" on the existing CD. I believe our latest version - being released in mid August will have these removed as well. But more importantly the latest version will contain an additional track that's purported to be the best. = also... The normal progress for a product is to go through stages of improvement. I don't consider the sound quality of the *first version* of this CD to be = such as to nullify the effect as advertised. (no refunds or replacements :>) Recall that it was a List member's *recommendation about this first = version*, [heard in a commercial haunt, under proper conditions] that began this = thread. Jim =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D REF = =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D At 02:26 PM 8/2/01 -0400, you wrote: >Hi all: > >> YES! I have the same problem. It is on the CD itself >> between the tracks. I have also tried it in different >> players Home CD player, home DVD player, PC Cd player, >> PC dvd player. They all produce the click. > > On some of the first CDs I burned at home, I had this problem as = well. The pops are introduced as the CD is burned. The way it was = explained to me, they are caused by the burning laser turning on and = turning off between tracks. > > The only way I was able to cure this problem was to choose the = "Disk-at-Once" option when I burned the disks (using Adaptec's Easy-CD = Creator software). This still recorded separate tracks, but they kept = recording one after the other, so the laser never turned off. - - - - - Subject: Re: Hall: Re: Terror Tones CD From: "James Maguire" Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 18:02:05 -0400 If I get by there, I can find out. As I indicated in my other post, it is menat to be a brief burst of sound, not a continuos tone. When I use mine, = I keep the cd looping and use a relay to open and close the speaker circuit. = It worked OK for me, but it lacked the wattage to be fully effective. (i used my Harmon-Kardon computer speakers and subwoofer) The haunt was at a local garden center and I highly doubt they would have went through the trouble of re-editing. I believe in standing up for products that work - When I initially got my CD I was extraordinarily dissapointed with it. I thought I had been had. As posted earlier - I later had the fortune to experience it first hand at the aforementioned garden center. They were pumping it through a pair of 600w community speakers. It works! That reassured me that it wasn't the CD that was defective, it was my implementation of it. I'm going to borrow a 300w peavy amplified speaker from a friend and try it with that. I'm sure it will do just fine. Phobos >From: wbn at wickedbeernut.com >Reply-To: "Halloween List" >To: Halloween List >Subject: Hall: Re: Terror Tones CD >Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2001 13:35:06 -0700 > > >Recall that it was a List member's *recommendation about this first >version*, > >[heard in a commercial haunt, under proper conditions] that began this >thread. > >Phobos, > >Is there anyway to confirm that this commercial haunt used an unedited = copy >of the Terror Tones CD? > >I wouldn't use the first version in my humble yard haunt, let alone a >commercial >haunt. I consider it unusable. - - - - -