cainbrogan opened this issue on Dec 30, 2001 ยท 15 posts
cainbrogan posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 1:01 PM
I'd like to come up with a .wav file., I can load into Mimic, that sounds like what the old after school Transformers character Shockwave's voice sounds like? Does anybody know anything about what parameters made his voice so cool? I'd ask the producers of the show, but I ca'nt remember what network it was on! Cain Brogan~
Little_Dragon posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 3:04 PM
Shockwave's voice wasn't that unusual. Are you thinking of Soundwave, the Decepticon who turned into a cassette player? Soundwave's voice was rather distinct, sort of a windy synthetic monotone.
If you want some .wav samples of both voices for comparison, check this link:
Shockwave's Transformers Page
cainbrogan posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 6:29 PM
Yes, I'm sorry Soundwave, he was a cassette playing Deceptacon! His voice was so cool I could never get enough of it! Plus his face looks like Optimus's, which I think is also very interesting!
cainbrogan posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 6:57 PM
I found Soundwave .wav files on the Shockwave page! That's him! Does he have his own Tripod page like Shockwave? I very interested in producing a voice similar to his, how was this done? Can anybody remember what network it was on?
Little_Dragon posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 7:39 PM
I don't recall the network. Sorry. It was a syndicated series, so the channel would have varied depending upon location.
Here's a couple of links to Soundwave web pages:
Soundwave
Tribute to Soundwave
If you really want to simulate his voice, I recommend you download a freeware text-to-speech utility. I'll look around for something useful. If I find anything, I'll post a reply in this thread.
MplsOiBoi posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 7:56 PM
Do a search on "Speech Synthesis" or "Vocoder" on the web.
Little_Dragon posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 9:17 PM
cainbrogan, if you'll IM me your email address, I'll send you an .mp3 audio clip I created from synthesized speech. Listen to it, and let me know if it sounds close to what you're looking for.
I've found a couple of nice text-to-speech programs on the net.
TextAloud MP3 is freeware; it's the source of the sound clip I've made. It can use most standard speech modules, and will output to .wav or .mp3.
TextAloud MP3 download link
CoolSpeech is the more versatile of the two. I played with this one about a year ago, and was impressed with the way you can really customize the voices. It too uses most standard speech modules, and outputs to .wav format. The program is time-trial-enabled; you can try it out for 14 days without paying.
CoolSpeech homepage
I did some research; the voice of Soundwave was performed by Frank Welker, a talented and prolific voice actor. Here's his credit-sheet:
The Many Voices of Frank Welker
cainbrogan posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 9:55 PM
Wow, you found who's done it, that's super, how did you do it?
Little_Dragon posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 10:20 PM
I read a lot, I'm really good with a search engine, and I've got a ton of bookmarks. But in this case I could have just guessed Welker at random, and more than likely been right. Look at that list. He's been in almost everything.
cainbrogan posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 10:37 PM
I'm impressed. You must have heard of him before. Do you have his e-mail address? I'd like to ask him what application was used processing the voive files...
Little_Dragon posted Sun, 30 December 2001 at 11:49 PM
I always stay behind and read the movie credits. :) Welker's shown up in almost every cartoon series I've ever seen, and he does vocals in live-action films as well. I don't know his email address; I can't even find signs of a fan club. Odd. Here's a couple of mailing addresses, though. They were posted in Welker's entry on the Internet Movie Database. Maybe you can reach him through one of these: 10635 Santa Monica Blvd. #103 LA, CA 90025 26500 W. Agoura Rd #600 Calabasas, CA 91302
cainbrogan posted Mon, 31 December 2001 at 3:20 AM
Thanks for all of your help, I was searching Netscape for two hours and did'nt come up with an e-mail...I'll try the mailing addresses and let you know! Thanks again! = )
arfarfarf posted Mon, 31 December 2001 at 6:38 PM
I have a whole studio of gadgets and boxes that make one noise or the other. I came across this little vocoder program awhile back but haven't had time to mess with it much. Maybe you want to give it a try- Check out "vocoder" on the download site. Feed it a sound wave (like a good fat analog synth patch) and a vocal track and it spits out a wave combination of the two. I got it free, I'm not sure if it is still offered at that great price. http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/audio.htm
Slynky posted Mon, 31 December 2001 at 8:10 PM
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one word, BUZZ.MaterialForge posted Thu, 03 January 2002 at 4:50 PM
Oh, man, Buzz ROCKS! I can't believe I just found out about it! Thanks Slynky!