# Achieving this strange effect... I'm stumped!



## Moderato Maestoso (Jul 27, 2013)

Hi guys,

This is possibly more sound design than sampling, but I want to apply it to musical samples, so I thought I'd post it here 

In The Lord of the Rings part 3, there is a moment when the "chief" ghost in the mountain (sorry - Tolkien names were never a strong point) laughs at Aragorn, and the laugh "morphs" into a thunder rumble (It's after Aragorn's line "you will suffer me").

I love the effect, and would like to see how it works applied to some musical samples (low string or brass sustains etc.), but I'm absolutely stumped as to how to start building the effect. I've tried a few things, but haven't even come close...

Could someone just point me in the right direction as to where to start?

Many thanks,

Martin


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## scientist (Jul 28, 2013)

the two main apps/plug-ins for this sort of thing are camel audio's alchemy and symbolic sound's kyma/capybara, with kyma being what was most likely used for something with as big of a budget as lord of the rings. within these two there are several methods in which to morph the sounds.

alchemy is the most affordable option, but quite often the results sound a bit robotic without a lot of work to get them to feel more natural. for a look at kyma, here's an interview with ben burtt showing how it was used in wall-e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eySh8FOUphM

there's no reason not to use these to get more natural sounding morphed sounds, but the nature of how it's done tends to make things more synthesized and robotic.


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## Udo (Jul 28, 2013)

You want the Kyma Tau Editor for that. Very powerful.

- Morph across two, three or more sounds
- Match or transform the frequency, amplitude, and formant envelopes of files
- Time-align multiple files

and a lot more, but .... expensive. If you decide to get the old Capibara 320, make sure you get some expansion cards with it. Best to go for a current Paca. Be aware it (and the bigger Pacarana) requires a firewire or USB audio interface. I bought a 2nd hand Paca for $2400, but that was not long after they were first released. Will probably be less these days.


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## wst3 (Jul 28, 2013)

Kyma Capibara...

dang, drooled all over my laptop!


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## dannthr (Jul 28, 2013)

I would go to a vocoder:

Have your laugh be your carrier signal for a noise vocoder over your rumble then cross fade for the morphing.

I would have to do some tests to verify exactly what to do.


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## impressions (Jul 28, 2013)

yep the "cheap" way of doing it starting the maximum resolution for the transition. a combined laugh with thunder that sounds that as much as possible, and then break it down from either sides.
after you have a few cubes like that you can smooth them up with fade ins, and add a layer that blurs the "resolution pixels".


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## Moderato Maestoso (Jul 28, 2013)

Thanks everyone!

Wow - Kyma looks absolutely awesome! A little out of my reach at the moment, sadly, and Mac only by the looks of it, which would really push the price of any investment up!

Maybe at some point in the future 

Alchemy - I hadn't thought of that. Another thing that occurred to me as I was reading that was the AET filter in Kontakt 5. I like the vocoder idea too!

Some very interesting thoughts there. I'll have a play around and see what comes out! 

Thanks,

Martin


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## Udo (Jul 29, 2013)

Moderato Maestoso @ Mon Jul 29 said:


> ....
> Wow - Kyma looks absolutely awesome! A little out of my reach at the moment, sadly, and Mac only by the looks of it, which would really push the price of any investment up!
> ....


Windows too, although not beyond Win XP for the old Capybara, I think. Paca(rana)s work with Win 8.


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## G.R. Baumann (Jul 29, 2013)

http://www.carlascaletti.com/Main/CV


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th5uM9AU8DQ

Thanks Udo, never heard about that one. ... Jawdropping! ~o)


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## Udo (Jul 29, 2013)

It may not be clear from what I said earlier, but the KYMA Paca(rana) requires its own audio interface, i.e. SEPARATE from your DAW's. Depending your interface's drivers, you may be able to switch between the Pacarana and DAW relatively easily, but it can't be used by both simultaneously, so it's best to use 2 audio interfaces.


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