Vote in the "Make it Rain" contest

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2013-07-10 13:58

Four official entries have been posted in the "Make it Rain" contest to see whose Propeller code is best at simulating the sound of falling rain. These are the entries, one of which you can vote for in the poll above. Click on each link to get to the entrant's code, run them all on your Propeller if you can, and listen to the rain before deciding.

A. Ahle2
B. Ariba
C. Christof Eb.
D. Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

And here's Don Pardo to tell what Fabulous Prize the winner will receive.

That's right, Phil, the lucky contest winner will get ... um ... let's see ... recognition! Yeah, that's the ticket: recognition. (And how come you get to enter, Phil?) Back to you.

You heard the man, folks. Recognition! Woo hoo! (Don, we talked about that. Why do you keep bringing it up?)

-Phil

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2013-07-10 16:49

For truly lazy voters -- you know who you are! -- I've recorded each of the entries as one-minute MP3s in the attached zip. The record volume for each was adjusted so that they all have approximately the same loudness. Any entrant who believes their recording to be an inaccurate representation is welcome to contact me.

Thanks,
-Phil

Publison · 2013-07-10 17:18

Great sounds, Love the tweaking of values.

Thanks Phil for getting this started!

Jim

Cluso99 · 2013-07-10 19:24

Thanks for posting the mp3's Phil. I would not have voted otherwise as not enough time

Are you sure you didn't just record rain for yours??? It sounded the most realistic. The others had additional effects which IMHO made them unrealistic.

W9GFO · 2013-07-10 19:34

I think the droplet sound that appears every few seconds in Cristof Eb's entry would make a nice sound effect all on its own.

Hmm, sound of "falling" rain? I don't think falling rain makes much noise at all... :cool:

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2013-07-10 20:09

W9GFO wrote:

I don't think falling rain makes much noise at all...

Oh, but Grasshopper, you must listen with your inner ear, then you will hear not only falling rain but the sound of one hand clapping. Go now and meditate upon this. Enlightenment is nearly within your grasp!

-Phil

Cluso99 · 2013-07-10 23:51

W9GFO wrote: »

I think the droplet sound that appears every few seconds in Cristof Eb's entry would make a nice sound effect all on its own.

Hmm, sound of "falling" rain? I don't think falling rain makes much noise at all... :cool:

I guess it depends on where you live. Mostly, unless it is a drizzle, it sounds precisely like Phil's rendition here! It pours here.

Ahle2 · 2013-07-11 13:15

@Phil
I can hear that you are using a RC-filter with "too low" cut off. Your rain sounds great with that setup on your board. Obviously.
However, my rain sounds muffled with that RC-filter (and so does the others), because it was (they were?) tweaked for full audio range.
Here is how mine should sound like whit a "proper" RC-filter.

Ahle2Rain.zip

/Johannes

Ahle2 · 2013-07-11 13:20

By the way. I can confirm (according to my ears) that the other versions sounds much better using full audio range as well.

I hope you are not using the standard demo board RC-filter with a cut off of just 1.5 kHz. Do you?

/Johannes

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2013-07-11 13:51

Yes, I did all the recordings with the Demo Board.

-Phil

Dave Hein · 2013-07-11 14:33

Is there a way I can change my vote?

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2013-07-11 15:00

Ahle2 wrote:

By the way. I can confirm (according to my ears) that the other versions sounds much better using full audio range as well.

That being the case, perhaps you could record and zip all of them for a better comparison?

Thanks,
-Phil

Cluso99 · 2013-07-11 17:06

Ahle2: Thanks for posting your mp3 Johannes.
I still think there is too much "motorboating" on your rain sample - don't know how else to describe it.

What about a contest for a 2 minute game tune? Perhaps Johannes would have an unfair advantage here - I've heard some of his tunes WTG!

Rayman · 2013-07-11 17:15

Fun contest!
I just voted for Ahle2 although I only listened to about 10 seconds of each one...

Ariba's sounded great too, but a little muffled as if it were raining outside the house.
So, if the contest for which one sounded like rain inside my house or car, I would have gone with Ariba.

Christof's also sounded great. Had some dripping sounds like in a pool or puddle, which added an extra effect.

Phil did an excellent job, as always, too.

Humanoido · 2013-07-11 18:14

All these sound versions are great! I couldn't vote for just one. As you know, real rain will sound different each time, depending on the intensity of the rainfall, the location of where the rain is falling, the obstructions and impediments to the rain flow, impingement of the obstacles the rain is contacting, the rain style whether it arrives in sheets or in waning/ebbing ramping weather patterns, the flow eddies and currents thus produced, and where one is standing relative to the rainfall.

Christof's had a pronounced bubbling up effect that made me think the outdoor balcony floor drain was trying to keep up with the heavy rainfall. The Ahle2 version was so real, it gave a fear of drowning. Ariba's rain was totally excellent, like being in the middle of a giant rainstorm under a big umbrella. Phil's rain was so exquisitely tempered and highly realistic, I could actually start to feel the misty breeze.

This is very timely as a big Typhoon is about 20 hours away of hitting us, and prior to this month we had about 7 months of rain.

skylight · 2013-07-12 05:54

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

For truly lazy voters -- you know who you are! -- I've recorded each of the entries as one-minute MP3s in the attached zip. The record volume for each was adjusted so that they all have approximately the same loudness. Any entrant who believes their recording to be an inaccurate representation is welcome to contact me.

Thanks,
-Phil

I listened to the MP3's and the sound of all that rain made me want to go

, I'll vote later...

Pliers · 2013-07-12 07:14

Enjoyed them all. Thanks.

mindrobots · 2013-07-12 07:30

OK, my daughter and I listened and agreed.

#1)Phil's reminds us most of the rain we are used to. His soft background noise and random drips is most convincing. I didn't get any sensation of looping.

#2) Ahle2's is a close second. Its a harder driving rain. It reminded us more of something really, really being fried in oil. The sounds aren't layered and lack the subtle complexity of rain. I also get the sensation of it being a loop when I listen closely and concentrate on repetition.

#3) Ariba's background sounds remind me more of wind (or static) than rain. If those were softened and less like harsh, it would be more effective.

#4) Christof Eb was good overall but the foreground "drips" sounded very electronic to me. Maybe the attack and release need to be played with to make them sound less "synthetic"?

Overall, the entries are all impressive displays of audio synthesis! Well done, guys!

Ahle2 · 2013-07-12 09:22

@Phil

I first thought it was unfair to play my version using the standard muffled demoboard output. I have been thinking about it some more and come to the conclusion that that's what most users actually use. Even though that definitely made my version sound worse I think it's fair because the demoboard is the reference for audio on the Propeller. I wonder how real rain sounds using the demoboard?!

I think Christofs rain sounded very good if you took away the droplet sound, it ruined it for me.
Aribas rain is excellent considered the limitations of using spin(low sample rate) His way of making drops is the closest to how mother nature does it using resonance. Phils version sounds way too bright when using full range audio but very good when played on the demo board.

EDIT: Phil I thought only pure synthesis could enter the contest?! Wasn't samples forbidden?

/Johannes

Ahle2 · 2013-07-12 09:58

Here are all version (except *Christofs) running on a Propeller board that outputs full audio range.

*Sorry Christof but I don't know how to compile the binary for your latest version.

RainContestFullRangeVersion.zip

/Johannes

mindrobots · 2013-07-12 10:25

@Johannes

Is there any chance of you posting a "full dynamic" versions of your rain and Phil's rain? I think it would be interesting to compare your on the development platform you used and Phil's on the demo board. The terms "muffled" and "bright" are the reason I voted the way I did and I think it might be a even tie if both were made available on their respective platforms. Since so much of audio "taste" is subjective, this would be an interesting exercise.

A wonderful demonstration of the power and importance of analog and acoustic engineering!!

EDIT: Never mind, I just saw you update. THANKS!!

ctwardell · 2013-07-12 13:36

Hmmm, interesting.

Windows media player has decided that Ahle2's rain comes from an album called Coleccion Mi Historia and Phil's from Relaxation & Meditation with Music & Nature: Spring Showers...

So I'm guessing my machine sends off the Media Player info to MS for analysis...?

C.W.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2013-07-12 21:58

Ahle2 wrote:

Phil I thought only pure synthesis could enter the contest?! Wasn't samples forbidden?

My program does not use sampled audio. The table that you see was generated by a Perl script and is just an enveloped sine wave.

-Phil

Humanoido · 2013-07-12 22:16

Ahle2 wrote: »

I wonder how real rain sounds using the demoboard?!/Johannes

In controlled experiments, a reference baseline is established. Real rain is this baseline.

http://www.myrainmusic.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcILiQBpvFk
http://videos.transcendense.com/relaxing-natural-sound-real-rain-and-thunderstorm-video_57335ec40.html

Christof Eb. · 2013-07-13 03:39

Ahle2 wrote: »

@Phil

....
I think Christofs rain sounded very good if you took away the droplet sound, it ruined it for me.
....

/Johannes

hm, well, it is a little bit better, if you hear it with a rather low volume. :-) And it is sounding better, if I Play it with my Little tube guitar amp without negative feedback....

This contest is fun, every Sound gives different Pictures in the Imagination. Thanks Phil for the MP3s! My wife and my daugther and me would vote differently. I would like to hear some rain in a forest in Addition....

Interesting: Nobody used Forth or a C-Compiler.
And: Nobody said, that he would tend to get sleepy of all These Sounds. (((My browser manipulates the text into capitals where can I Switch this off??)))

Christof

Humanoido · 2013-07-14 00:01

Christof Eb. wrote: »

...Nobody said, that he would tend to get sleepy of all These Sounds. Christof

Previously I used the various online sound machines to generate the sound of rain and thunder with various effects to mask loud construction work all night. It worked well and I could sleep. Now it looks like we can achieve the same with the Propeller chip. Of course this is absolutely no help when we stay up nights working on the Propeller.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) · 2013-07-23 13:24

This contest nearly slipped my mind and into the cracks. Polling has been closed for awhile now, and it looks like I got the most votes, but not by a huge margin. However, I actually like Johannes' (Ahle2's) contribution the best (and voted for it). He incorporated a much richer viriety of sounds than the other entries, including mine, which added to the realism. Although his was the kind of rainfall that would wake me up to check the windows, rather than putting me to sleep, that wasn't really the main point of the competition. So I'm going to throw my votes Johannes' way and declare him the winner by a landslide. (I can do that, can't I?)

Congratualtions, Johannes!

-Phil

Publison · 2013-07-23 13:42

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

So I'm going to throw my votes Johannes' way and declare him the winner by a landslide. (I can do that, can't I?)

Congratualtions, Johannes!

-Phil

Good think you brought this up because I was going to respond last night, but got sidetracked with dinner.

Yes you can Phil!

I have to say every one is a winner.

I like Phil's for the "put me to sleep" rain.

And all the others have have special qualities that have their use in special cases.

So I will say, congrats to all the winners in my book.!

Jim

Cluso99 · 2013-07-23 13:47

Congratulations to all entries. It just shows what the prop can do.

Perhaps a contest that would utilise the full dyamic range capable of being achieved with a simple stereo circuit - (2 sets) prop-pin to 680R series, 10nF to ground, 4.7uF to the output. These values give a 23KHz cutoff frequency. BTW 820R gives 19KHz.

Publison · 2013-07-23 13:49

Cluso99 wrote: »

Congratulations to all entries. It just shows what the prop can do.

Perhaps a contest that would utilise the full dyamic range capable of being achieved with a simple stereo circuit - (2 sets) prop-pin to 680R series, 10nF to ground, 4.7uF to the output. These values give a 23KHz cutoff frequency. BTW 820R gives 19KHz.

Ray,

I guess you will be the first one.

mindrobots · 2013-07-23 13:52

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »

So I'm going to throw my votes Johannes' way and declare him the winner by a landslide.

Congratualtions, Johannes!

-Phil

By a MUDSLIDE!

It's a world of difference with the full dynamics.

Vote in the "Make it Rain" contest

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