PDA

View Full Version : An idea about sound in the blade?



RandallFlagg
01-28-2009, 12:19 AM
I don't know if someone's already thought of this, but here goes.

Has anyone thought about or tried using the tube of the blade as a resonator chamber for the sound? Placing the speaker to a part of the blade that makes the blade itself act as a kind of accoustic guitar's interior?

Just a thought.

Hasid Lafre
01-28-2009, 12:53 AM
Ok think about this for a seccond.

The led is like half an inch from the end of the blade, where do you think the speaker would go?

Ideal
01-28-2009, 01:03 AM
while it would be super cool to have the sound coming from the blade itself, like Hasid pointed out, there really isnt any room to put a speaker close enough to the blade for the sound to travel

although im sure someone with enough acoustic knowlege might be able to figure something out (ive got a few ideas that came to mind while i wrote this, but i have zero idea how to actually pull it off

RandallFlagg
01-28-2009, 01:04 AM
Ok think about this for a seccond.

The led is like half an inch from the end of the blade, where do you think the speaker would go?

Wire the speaker so it pressed against a thin plate that was attached to the blade by the emitter. The order of placement would go like this: Blade, LED, speaker, wiring. It would all have to be sealed at least 80% to gain the accoustics from the tube (blade), but it would be deeper and louder than the tiny speakers used currently.

RandallFlagg
01-28-2009, 01:09 AM
while it would be super cool to have the sound coming from the blade itself, like Hasid pointed out, there really isnt any room to put a speaker close enough to the blade for the sound to travel

although im sure someone with enough acoustic knowlege might be able to figure something out (ive got a few ideas that came to mind while i wrote this, but i have zero idea how to actually pull it off

I just thought of this from an old toy that my Brother used to have: The Star Trek TNG Tricorder. When you flip it open, the sounds start up, right? Well, I took it apart and the speaker was very small and made barely audible sounds when removed. But when it was placed back into the chamber of the toy, the sound amplified by about 20-50% because of the accoustics inside the plastic housing.

Ideal
01-28-2009, 01:59 AM
i have a really interesting idea of how this could work, i just dont have the skills/materials to pull it off.

im gonna hit the drawing board and see what i can come up with in terms of a user friendly approach to this, but as of right now, my idea would require molding plastic pieces to help carry the sound (a method i have no access to)

ill update whenever i make some progress

RandallFlagg
01-28-2009, 02:02 AM
i have a really interesting idea of how this could work, i just dont have the skills/materials to pull it off.

im gonna hit the drawing board and see what i can come up with in terms of a user friendly approach to this, but as of right now, my idea would require molding plastic pieces to help carry the sound (a method i have no access to)

ill update whenever i make some progress

Sweet! Thanks.

Novastar
01-28-2009, 03:04 AM
This kind of idea has indeed been considered before, but Hasid has hit it on the head--with a little thinking, the problems of getting sound up into the blade are fairly involved.

Additionally, you would not want the sound to SOLELY be sent into the blade because you would achieve the same thing if you enclosed the speaker into the hilt with zero holes for sound to escape. Uh... well unless people plan to drill a bunch of tiny "speaker holes" in the bottom portion of their blade (the area that just sticks out of the hilt).

Placing the speaker near the heatsink would be a big mistake, as it could warp the materials/drum/construction of the speaker.

"Carrying" SOME of the sound through some chambers that somehow lead up PAST the LED & optics and up into the blade... is definitely an idea... but this would be a complex feat that MIGHT NOT YIELD results.

The only feasible thing I have thought of (and have actually tried as a VERY crude test with other "test" materials) would be to have several holes drilled through the heatsink... on a heatsink that is WIDER than the LED star in the first place (for example, the "main" TCSS holders... not the 1.25" setups)... and find a way to "carry" a bit of the sound up there. Problem is... I hate to say it, but I think it would work so ABYSMALLY poorly... that all that work would be a waste.

It worked fairly poorly in my experiment, but... well... it WAS something. Sound was "up higher". That's about it. Still sounded like it came from the "hilt", and... without holes in the sides of this thing--barely anything escaped.

Now... doing even MORE work to achieve essentially the same result as above (drilling heatsink) would be an even bigger waste. So... a prototype for proof-of-concept would be better than just going crazy and trying to do it all to the nines from the get-go... only to find out the result was either useless or "the same as putting sound in the hilt".

Still... having even a LITTLE more sound emanating from an area that is closer to the emitter/blade... SOUNDS cool to me. :D heheheh

FenderBender
01-28-2009, 06:12 AM
Its a concept that would yield next to nothing in reality. Your best bet is to pursue the reverse sound method that Lord Dattore Matto uses. If all you're looking for is LOUDER from the resonance, well, you get that anyway by the way we all mount the speakers. These things ARE loud. Please don't take this the wrong way, cause god knows we need all kinds of innovation in this hobby. But if I were you, I would go through an MHS build with sound and THEN after you see for yourself physically how this stuff goes together, then you can experiment. Believe me, I had a ton of ideas about stuff that I realized after I built one, that just aren't possible or feasable. I'm not in any way saying that you couldn't get sound to come out of the blade, I'm saying that it isn't feasable, and the results would be dissapointing at best.

Anavrin
01-28-2009, 07:50 AM
This is an interesting idea and the thought I just had has me cabbaged.

Y'know those claws TCSS used to carry? Imagine one with small, tone speakers inside them with room for resonance, with the tip being the escape point. Three speakers of that size wouldn't put out /much/ sound, but I'm almost curious enough to try some horrid boggin job on it... I imagine it'd be pretty quiet, but with all that resonance and three speakers (I know that won't make it three times louder, not how sound works, but it'd distribute it more evenly and it might /seem/ louder by a bit. And these things so little power, why not?), it might JUST turn out decently and sound like it's at least coming from part of the blade.

Or it would just be obscenely quiet.

Goodman
01-28-2009, 10:43 AM
Well, I have a set of those claws, and they are less than 1/4" wide, so I don't know where you would have space to mount a "small tone speaker".

I've experiemented with drilling small holes directly beneath the LED's heatsink, and as Novastar said it does bring a small amount of the sound back up towards the front of the saber, but it still doesn't sound like the blade is actually making the sound.

Honestly though, my sabers are usually moving around too quickly for my brain to pinpoint from where exactly the sound is emanating. It's simple enough for me to think "hey, that saber is making sound"

Anavrin
01-28-2009, 11:49 AM
Well, I have a set of those claws, and they are less than 1/4" wide, so I don't know where you would have space to mount a "small tone speaker".

I meant using something like the claws, but thanks for noting that! And as for a small speaker, I was thinking something like the teeny lil machine used to make that irritating ding ding noise when the car door is open. But I don't know what exact model we could get around 1/4". Like I said, it's a hair-brained idea to begin with, but the thought's taking seed and now I'm curious.

Enolmano
02-02-2009, 03:29 PM
My first idea when I read it was to simply place the speaker on the side of the blade. Above the emitter, but still in the hilt. This would probably mean a little bit o bulk on the emitter, but do you do?

This could furthermore lead to som nice sound-bouncing inte the blade.

Novastar
02-02-2009, 05:15 PM
Several people with proven experience have said their peace here (including myself)...

I will only finally say that "proof of concept" attempts would be in your best interests!!! ("your" meaning = whoever is going to try this crazy stuff) In other words--don't start by building the thing with all the expensive parts... or even with saber parts. Start by building some "mock ups" that closely simulate what the end result will be.

At that point... the truth will be revealed to you, and you can choose to go for the "true, fully functional experiment", or take your proof-of-concept prototype and say to yourself... "Well... I'm glad I didn't spend the BIG money on this"!!! :)

Anavrin
02-03-2009, 06:20 PM
Several people with proven experience have said their peace here (including myself)...

I will only finally say that "proof of concept" attempts would be in your best interests!!! ("your" meaning = whoever is going to try this crazy stuff) In other words--don't start by building the thing with all the expensive parts... or even with saber parts. Start by building some "mock ups" that closely simulate what the end result will be.

At that point... the truth will be revealed to you, and you can choose to go for the "true, fully functional experiment", or take your proof-of-concept prototype and say to yourself... "Well... I'm glad I didn't spend the BIG money on this"!!! :)

Cheers to /that/! The economy isn't doing so well I'd actually experiment on a proper piece of equipment without a /right/ good reason!