…would you help me compose some music? I need the sound effect of a telephone ringing, and I need it looped to last about 5 minutes if possible. The phone needs to be one with a double ring, European (doot-doot) and needs to be as it is heard over the receiver by the person calling, not as it’s ringing in an empty house. If I can’t get the European ring, I will settle for the American one. I realize I can probably get the same thing by actually calling Germany and telling them not to answer, but even though it will be subtle, I need the clarity a sound effect will give me.
I would be willing to pay you for your trouble and the format can be either cassette or CD. I have a little Tascam Mini-Studio Deck that I want to lay some soft guitar/keyboard sounds on, and that telephone ring is an integral part of what I want to compose. If it sells, I will list you as (what?) sound engineer, producer?
I put together what you want. You can pick it up at www.quoke.com/ringing.wav. According to the site I found the individual ring (and duration between rings), this is an Irish ring, perhaps you can tell from the accent. It’s 6.66meg which should tell you something, but I’m not sure what.
In the case it sells beyond your wildest dreams, please consider using one of my art pieces (also on that site) as an album cover.
Thanks very much for doing the wav for me. I downloaded it to MusicMatch Jukebox and it “broke” up just a little bit on the download, but maybe it will still work if I keep the rings low enough. I also took a look at your artwork, and I am of the opinion that the album cover would definitely overshadow the musical part. You do fantastic work, Bill, and just looking at your art on my computer screen made me feel “warm” all over!
I sent you an e-mail and signed your guestbook. I may ask Santa to bring me Tree 1 for Christmas!
There’s a segment on Pink Floyd’s album The Wall where an operator is assisting a phone call from America to (presumably) England where just such a ring is heard from the caller’s POV.
AmbushBug: That’s exactly the effect I was after and BillH sent it to me just like I wanted. I just got some cable interference which broke up some of the rings, I think. Thanks for your input. My composition will be what is known as “new-agey” as I am not that accomplished on guitar (yet) but I needed that telephone ring to convey what I will be trying to “say” with the music.
About the Pink Floyd reference: I hated that he kept getting hung up on. I have always listened to it as “a call for help” that was ignored. YMMV.
They’re done mainly with Paint Shop Pro (PSP), and also Photoshop. You can get an eval copy of PSP for free, and buying it is cheap; I highly recommend it.
“That’s funny; there seems to be somebody there besides your wife answering.”
