I'm confused. You already have the sound? But you want someone to record it? Recording through a microphone from a speaker won't give you more bottom, it'll likely give you less.
If you just want to create rumble, even though your system can't reproduce it properly, I'd recommend downloading the demo of WAVES MAXXBASS. This will give you a two week fully functioning tool, that will generate the bottom end you want, even if your subwoofer can't reproduce it at any level you can hear.
How long is the file? If it's short, I'm happy to process it for you if you can wait a day or two. (We're at NAB, so it's a little crazy here)

Yeah, I know there's no sound in space. :) I got the idea from a bathroom in my local school: there's one of those exaust fans on the roof right up above it, and when you enter that bathroom it feels like a really low level rumble, barely audible, but you can feel it.

I'm trying to recreate that as an engine sound.

Yes, I already have the sound. I might of done the low bass, but don't really know. It's only 2-3 seconds long (it loops), so yeah, I'll wait the couple days. I'm in no rush.

Thanks

SEnd me a link to it now....so I can work on it.
dse at sundancemediagroup dot com

Don't you think asking for something that's "bowel shaking" is just asking for trouble?

MUST you make me sink this low?

Rob Mack

Well Rob....He does want some "deep lows." Maybe this forum has sunk to a new frequency? Seriously, the Mythbusters guys did this as one of their Myths....claiming that 5.12 Hz was the bowel frequency, and they debunked the myth.
I dunno what to think. I've got some pretty heady reports from WWII on this subject that the Brits wrote up, pretty compelling stuff, and it's the forerunner to some of the new surgical techniques we have today based on sonics.
Every time I read it, I long for a copy of the SNL skit for "Ooops, I Crapped My Pants."

When I was in college and doing sound reinforcement for performances and plays this low rumble was one of our many grails.

I wonder if you can get more of this if you build and tune a box to set your subwoofers on?

BTW, we joke a little at work about how the mesh of Aeron chairs is good because it doesn't catch any of that "bowel rumbling" like foam does. So there's another plus for the Aeron...Otherwise, you can buy activated charcoal seat cushions online...

Rob Mack

Hmmmm.....Charcoal seat cushions....
For editors overcome with GAS.
(Gear Acquisition Syndrome)

HappyFriar my home system has a reasonable sub and it definately can take you to the point of feeling ill it set too high

The sub is a Yamaha YST-SW150 is you want too llok it up and see if it has the grunt to do the job.

Studio stuff is the MX-Audio LX4 5.1 which I can test on as well.

Paul

Sure. Why not. :)

Seriously, when you walk in that room, that IS what happens. At first I tought it was just me hearing things. Then my teeth started to ache. Then I had to go to a different bathroom.

Seriously, it was an amazing sound. You could litterterly walk into that little room, feel the bass, walk out & felt nothing, just heard the same exaust fan you hear everywhere else in the building.

I wish I could record it, but I wouldn't be able to get any of it's depth.

I actuatly got the idea to re-create the sound from watching the Alien 3 special features on the 9 disc Alien set. The directors/sound engineer specifly put really low bass in the spaceship scene's. When played to a test audience older folk kept leaving. The director thought that they didn't like the movie. When asked about it after the movie the people said they had to go to the bathroom. Turns out the bass was "upsetting" them. :)

"the Mythbusters guys did this as one of their Myths....claiming that 5.12 Hz was the bowel frequency, and they debunked the myth."

The mythbusters, said it was 5.12Hz huh? I've always have heard it was more like 12Hz. My source probably wasn't reliable, we did play some loud low frequency sinewaves one night kicking back having a few brews in the studio, which had dual 15inch Erie's and a pretty powerful amp. Nothing happened that night in the studio, but the next moring was kind of rough for us though. I think we blamed that on the budget beer we where drinking which I recall was probably Milwaukee's Best. I'ld like to watch that mythbuster episoded and see how they came up with the 5.12Hz as being the frequency.

After some Milwaukee's Beast you should be able to cover the full audio spectrum :0)
J

Assuming the low rumble is made by the ships engines then actually it does make noise. If you are in the ship you could hear it. If you are outside the ship in the vacuum of space you won't hear it.

Red, the Brits claimed it was 10.75 Hz. I've heard everything from 2Hz to 25Hz. Don Davis of AES fame once claimed it was a combination of around 10-12, plus a specific harmonic. I can't find the source, but I'm pretty confident Iv'e got it at home.
Was funny watching Mythbusters, because they were using Sound Forge in the heart of apple land. I don't know where they got that number either, but they had an "expert" from Leo's Pro Audio on the show.

mythbusters had the engineers out from Meyer Sound:


"The story of the Brown Note, also known as the “Disco Dump,” asserts the existence of a low frequency vibration which, when reproduced at sufficient volume, resonates with the depths of the human digestive tract to cause what medical personnel call “involuntary gastrointestinal motility.” Put in less technical terms, the Brown Note reputedly precipitates a loss of sphincter control, giving rise to immediate defecation. Different versions of the myth place the frequency between 5 and 20 Hz, and recent variations claim that the effect has been produced at loud rock concerts.

The Meyer Sound team, under the direction of Schwenke and John Meyer, devised a special test and measurement system in order to test the theory at levels far beyond that experienced at any concert, and at far lower frequencies. Twelve 700-HP ultrahigh-power subwoofers had their input cards modified to allow deep subsonic frequencies, and their ports plugged to prevent a loss of efficiency at frequencies below their normal operating range. The modified cabinets were then stacked three high and faced inward in an open ring configuration. Test signals were generated by a SIM® 3 audio analyzer, with software modified to produce tones down to 5 Hz. A precision B&K sound level analyzer fed by a model 4189 microphone and ZF 0023 attenuator measured levels.

Perrin Meyer, Meyer Sound’s software R&D manager, generated computer models of the subwoofer stacks’ behavior and animations of the effect their output would have on a human-sized cylinder.

The test sessions were conducted in a large parking lot at Golden Gate Fields racetrack, on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Savage stood in the middle of the subwoofer ring, where he experienced the effect of very low frequency sounds (down to 5 Hz) at extremely high levels (120 dB SPL with a 9 Hz sine wave, up to 153 dB peak with narrow-band noise), though the higher levels were possible only above 20Hz. Safety was a prime consideration: tests were limited to about five minutes in each frequency range, and industrial-grade hearing protection was used above 120 dB. Savage was wired to medical monitoring machinery and watched closely by paramedics during the tests, while additional protection for those working in close proximity to the subwoofer stack was provided by a box of extra-large Depends.

“I had anticipated very pronounced physiological effects,” says Roger Schwenke, who supervised the investigation. “As predicted, Adam felt vibration in the chest, and experienced blurring of vision from vibration of the eyeballs. We also heard distinct modulation of his voice when he was speaking.”

The MythBuster’s challenge offered a refreshing change of routine for Schwenke, whose PhD in acoustics from Penn State University garnered him a position on Meyer Sound’s R&D staff three years ago. Currently, Schwenke heads the SIM 3 development team. “It was pretty amazing to be there,” he recounts. “I was a good 20 feet away, but I was feeling the effects as well – though less so than Adam, certainly.” Clearly, this MythBusters episode represents the ultimate embodiment of the old adage stating “It’s a dirty job but somebody has to do it.”

an added story to this -- I used stacks of (well 2, 4 and 9) servodrive subs in various locations and venues several years ago ... those things are the most powerful subwoofer made http://www.servodrive.com/basstech7.html

i recall people feeling uneasy more than anything else at below 20hz - near full
output (142-150dB) - the pulsing was very uncomfortable and caused many things to vibrate badly (teeth included) .. these levels (at those freq.) were never used during shows though (close sometimes) .

I just used the ship in space as an example (like the intro scene to Alien 3). The ship I'm using isn't in space.

But, if there was no sound in Star Wars or Star Trek, it'd get pretty borring pretty quick. :)

I've heard of some research that supposedly proved that each beer/ale/malt/lager type beverage has it's effects and flavor enhanced by it's own certain frequencies. I do seem to recall that they were all over the spectrum though, not just low notes.

I have seen much proof that the greater the frequency of absorption of darker tones of beer/ale/malt/lager leads to serious bowel shaking in addition to other less than desireable side effects. However, the lighter tones apparently have less of an impact on both the bowel and belly. I don't have proof of that latter statement though, since I don't drink beer.

"Was funny watching Mythbusters, because they were using Sound Forge in the heart of apple land."

LOL!!! Yeah, I caught the episode proving the myth of a ducks quack can't echo, and saw them using Forge in that one also.

That's a good show for us geeks. When I tune into it, I usually have to battle my wife over the remote, because she wants to watch the latest reality TV B.S. program that I can't stand.

I saw that one too. Seems very strange, them being in the heart of the Apple community, and using Sound Forge. I've seen them using the Sound Forge Spectrum Analyzer on a few Mythbuster programs for other things as well. Maybe Sony can get a story out of that one.
HappyFriar, did that file ultimately work out?

Yup. Worked great. I had to play with the volume/distance settings in the program I'm using it for, but I got everything just right. I made my wife yell "What is that noise! I thought a county truck was going down the road!" so it worked very well. :)

I was hoping to test it on some nice M-Audio studio speakers this weekend but ends up I've got to go to the doctors instead, so that'll be next weak.

Thanks a bunch!