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New Ambience: 60s Computer Lab
🕑 Added 2020-09-09 15:49:55 +0000 UTCGreetings Patrons,
I'm back from a week at the beach and excited to be in the studio again. While I was away I watched several excellent films, but the one that stayed with me was The Andromeda Strain (1971). Perhaps a bit on-the-nose in the time of Covid, it's still an amazingly atmospheric and intense bit of hard sci-fi.
Perhaps my favorite part, however, is the score. Created by Gil Mellé and recorded entirely with synthesizers - including one called the percussotron which he developed - it absolutely drips with energy, tension and vibe.
Here's a brief clip of Gil demonstrating his instrument.
This track, 60s Computer Lab, imagines the underground facility depicted in the Andromeda Strain. The equipment is almost entirely mechanical sounding, from the keyboards, to whirring fans and tape reels. Naturally the people in the lab were allowed to smoke so you may hear a lighter or two.
I had lots of fun wrangling modern synths to sound like old ones. I also managed to get some actual analog synths recorded for this which is always fun for me.
I find myself playing this one at low volumes when writing emails and doing non-audio type things and it's remarkably calming. I think it makes a good background for mid-century scifi (obviously) but also modern environments as well.
I've attached ambience-only and music-only version for patrons. I hope this one finds it's way into your stories!
Thank you all for your continuing support.
Best,
Tim
Comments
Dvorak
btw the Ambience Only version of this is totally soothing. Reminds me of some Lustmord tracks I used to play back in the 90s when I had to find some new algorithms for really hard graphics problems. Which should've changed the world. Never did. Long ago that.
Faun
I am also playing Fallout 4 again and this would fit much better than the some of the sounds I hear.
Faun
Sounds like supercomputer will takeover movie from the 60s Colossus: The Forbin Project. it's an interesting sound scape.
Chris Behnke-Nead
I work in IT now and kinda wish my area sounded like this.
Damien Holder
As always- Brilliant!
Justin Fletchall
I am very much enjoying the track, nice job!
Ron Bishop
Great 60s & 70s Sci-Fi Jerry Goldsmith vibe!
Tabletop Audio
Great info! I guess I really should have said 60s *Sci-Fi* lab as I was using a fictional movie type setting rather than anything truly realistic.
Joseph Prozinski
This is great, but having worked in a computer room in the Air Force in the early 90's that was using old technology this needs improvement. To me it doesn't sound at all like a computer room. First I'm not sure what all the constant clicks and pops are. They don't sound right. That sound makes me feel more like I'm in a laundrymat and someone left something metal in their clothes and it is spinning around in a load in a drier. There are clicking sounds but not like them. Remember that most computer rooms will be on a raised floor with smooth metal tiles that sit in a metal framework and can be removed with a suction cup tile puller. When you walk across them there is quiet, deep, hollow, metallic thumping sound from foot steps and muffled clunking sound of the tiles shifting and rubbing against each other. You should add that kind of sound to it to represent someone walking by. There should be a more noticeable sound of fans running to keep equipment cooled. Many computer rooms also have positive pressure meaning that air is constantly pumped into them to keep air flow constantly moving out of them. When you open the door there is an outrush of air and doors will slam shut if they open into the room when closing them. There is a very subtle but noticeable hiss of air escaping under doors and other cracks in the room. This was done for dust management. The dot matrix printers are good. I'm guessing the occasional wiring sound is supposed to be from reel-to-reel tape drives, but that isn't right either. I direct you to this video for a bit more insight into the sounds you would hear in a 1960's era computer lab. I will say, the reel to reel drives are much quieter than shown on this video when the doors are all closed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lh4CMz_Z6M Now I realize that a faithful representation of all this noise wouldn't be good for a background sound as it is really a ugly sound. You are looking to do something with more artistic of in interpretation. I'm sure many people would have no problem with it as is and believe it is what a computer room would sound like. So in that regard you probably don't need to make any changes. For me it just doesn't work as intended. It sounds great, but I'll have to find some other use for it.
This is great--thanks! I've been running the new-ish Aliens RPG and there are a ton of good TTA tracks for maintaining tension and providing a slightly menacing atmosphere for different areas of a ship or base (engineering, medical, etc.). I had a harder time finding something when an alien did show its ugly head--I didn't want to launch into a full-on action-hero battle fanfare, but the eerily quiet atmospheres weren't right either. I ended up using Space Battle (music-only version), but if you can spin some magic around a more intense foreboding kind of thing, a sort of terrifying battle? Maybe more like the horror movie chase/fight kind of vibe? I'm sure you know what I want more than I do, so throw it on your list of suggestions, please. As always, top-notch work and it's appreciated!
