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"[Science fiction is ] That branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Multiple Sample Voice | ||
| The use of multiple voice samples to create a single, smoothed voice. |
In the story, a mysterious shining figure appears over a future battlefield, imploring humanity to turn aside from its destructive ways.
As it turns out, the figure is the creation of a scientist present at the scene, who is sickened by the uses that man has found for science. He created the voice for the figure using an exotic method.
How was it accomplished?
A great voice rolled down and over the far-flung millions. It was sweet with an infinite sweetness, yet strong enough to drown all other sounds; it was rich and vibrating, yet curiously unhuman.
| "A very simple trick. I made disks of my own voice to the number of five hundred very carefully chosen words. Then I ran them over again, a bit off key, at different speeds, to give them that queer, slurred, alien-sounding accent of the future. " |
| Technovelgy from The Shining One,
by Nat Schachner. Published by Astounding Science-Fiction in 1937 Additional resources -
|
I know that radio shows in the 1930's used elaborate sound effects, but I don't know if they actually mixed voices or sounds to create new or unique voices.
Reading this passage reminded me of the way that Lucasfilm later created the sounds and voices for Star Wars. George Lucas was determined to have unique sounds for his film.
For example, the language of the Ewoks was created by altering and layering Tibetan, Mongolian, and Nepali languages. Wookie sounds are constructed out of pieces of walruses and other animal sounds. The sound of the Imperial Walkers were created by modifying the sound of a machinist's punch press. Added to this for complexity, were the sounds of bicycle chains being dropped on concrete.
Read more about how Ben Burtt created the sounds of Star Wars.
Compare to the tik-talker from The Sign of the Tiger (1958) by Alan Nourse (w/Meyer).
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'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
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'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
