Keeping it Real: Making a
Relaxing Virtual Environment
Making a virtually real audio environment
utilizing relaxing nature sounds can be challenging but the end
product is more then worth it. In this writing I would like to
explore the making of 25 seconds of a Virtual Dream. Below
is a sample of a conventional 'crickets at night' sound. This
would be the equivalent of a sleep sound machine or an older
nature sounds recording:
Having grown up near a forested area I know
this is a poor representation of what crickets and other bugs
sound like. It does not ring true. So, the magic of mixing
begins. Here is a 'fuller' version based on the single audio
track above:
Did you notice that the sounds are coming
from all directions this time? Just like in the wild. Now we
will add more environment factors into the mix. Wind makes no
noise unless it interacts with the terrain. Combined with the
now five tracks from above we used three different wind effects
as we make wind appear to move through the trees (higher
frequency) and an overhanging eave (lower frequency) in stereo:
Finally, we add a visualization sound in this
25 second audio snippet. It could be something flapping in the
wind, the twisting and strain of wind blown tree branches or
even a campfire but lets make it a wind chime:
This 25 second sample required 9 separate
tracks of audio, pan effects, rate effects, spatial effects, and
the most valuable variable of all... time. It takes time
to create virtually real relaxation audio environments that stand the test
of time.
