DCC Impulses Column - 3
3: Blackstone HOn3 Locomotive and cars.
3
within the company – we have two former locomotive
engineers here on staff! Some of us are modelers, too, and
we don’t believe in putting out anything that we would not be
proud to have on our own layouts. Of course, the 16-bit sound
(we were the first to do this!) is huge. Anyone who has listened
to 8-bit sound decoders can instantly hear the difference.
MRH:
Do you "synthesize" sounds that are not available for
live recording?
ST:
No. On rare occasions, we have manipulated digital
recordings to replicate something that no longer exists, i.e., a
tonal shift perhaps to make one exhaust chuff into another, but
they are not ‘made-up’.
MRH:
So you have to find a functioning entity for your
recording (motor, whistle, air pump, etc.) and send folks there
to record it.
Yes. In general, it takes from a half day to two days to collect
the raw recordings for each engine. It also typically takes two
people.
MRH:
I've visited your facility several times and have always
been impressed with your sound editing facility. Give our
readers a tour of it, please.
MRH-Oct 2013
