Scott T. Miller

Censor / Bleep Tone

Scott — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:06:43 +0000

How do I make the ‘censor’ bleep tone?

The often heard ‘bleep’ of a censor is simply a 1000 Hz sine wave.

1000 Hz is used as it has the ability to completely mask any underlying frequencies. It is also used for various alarm frequencies and other functions for this reason.

The 1000 Hz tone has been used in many scientific and brain studies for years.

To create your own censor tone, you can use any audio editing program.

In the free program Audacity, simply click on Generate > Tone. Then adjust the frequency to 1000.

Here is an example clip I did in Audacity:

persistent

Scott — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 17:56:14 +0000

Another short passage like ones heard on Ghost Whisperer and other similar style shows.
Violins (only) and piano.

contemporary piano improv

Scott — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:35:07 +0000

Check out this piano improv:

Playing / recording a mono synth instrument

Scott — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:57:55 +0000

It’s a little tricky to try and set down some licks on a mono synth. To your ear, it may come out nice and fine while playing. But when you look at the midi track it may look like crap. The problem is that the mono instrument doesn’t read when you accidentally hit two or more keys at once.

A good way to demonstrate this out is to try and play one line from a Bach invention which is only recording on that mono synth. Whenever keys rub, the midi looks like barf. Behold some barf, especially when ornaments are involved:

lift

Scott — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:56:36 +0000

This is a short track with quiet strings. It sounds somewhat similar in style to what you hear on Ghost Whisperer and other similar shows.

Blix

Scott — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 17:57:11 +0000

Another electronic track. Check it out!