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posted by LaminatorX on Friday January 23 2015, @04:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the all-sizzle-no-steak dept.

Stomp on the gas in a new Ford Mustang or F-150 and you’ll hear a meaty, throaty rumble—the same style of roar that Americans have associated with auto power and performance for decades. Now Drew Harwell reports at the Washington Post that the auto industry’s dirty little secret is that the engine growl in some of America’s best-selling cars and trucks is actually a finely tuned bit of lip-syncing, boosted through special pipes or digitally faked altogether. "Fake engine noise has become one of the auto industry’s dirty little secrets, with automakers from BMW to Volkswagen turning to a sound-boosting bag of tricks," writes Harwell. "Without them, today’s more fuel-efficient engines would sound far quieter and, automakers worry, seemingly less powerful, potentially pushing buyers away." For example Ford sound engineers and developers worked on an “Active Noise Control” system on the 2015 Mustang EcoBoost that amplifies the engine’s purr through the car speakers. Afterwards, the automaker surveyed members of Mustang fan clubs on which processed “sound concepts” they most enjoyed.

Among purists, the trickery has inspired an identity crisis and cut to the heart of American auto legend. The “aural experience” of a car, they argue, is an intangible that’s just as priceless as what’s revving under the hood. “For a car guy, it’s literally music to hear that thing rumble,” says Mike Rhynard, “It’s a mind-trick. It’s something it’s not. And no one wants to be deceived.” Other drivers ask if it really matters if the sound is fake? A driver who didn’t know the difference might enjoy the thrum and thunder of it nonetheless. Is taking the best part of an eight-cylinder rev and cloaking a better engine with it really, for car makers, so wrong? "It may be a necessary evil in the eyes of Ford," says Andrew Hard, "but it’s sad to think that an iconic muscle car like the Mustang, a car famous for its bellowing, guttural soundtrack, has to fake its engine noise in 2015. Welcome to the future."

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by ikanreed on Friday January 23 2015, @04:25PM

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Friday January 23 2015, @04:25PM (#137291) Journal

    Foley artists dub sound cues onto every moving object in movies, just in case the audience might not get that a horse is a horse. This improves "immersion".

    Taking the expectations popular culture creates and shoehorning it into virtually every product is practically the core ideal of American consumerism.

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  • (Score: 2) by karmawhore on Friday January 23 2015, @04:31PM

    by karmawhore (1635) on Friday January 23 2015, @04:31PM (#137295)
    Maybe they could make the next Mustang sound like a horse.
    --
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    • (Score: 3, Funny) by M. Baranczak on Friday January 23 2015, @05:30PM

      by M. Baranczak (1673) on Friday January 23 2015, @05:30PM (#137332)

      With coconut shells?

      • (Score: 1) by fritsd on Friday January 23 2015, @08:29PM

        by fritsd (4586) on Friday January 23 2015, @08:29PM (#137406) Journal

        If it's good enough for Monty Python [wikipedia.org], it's good enough for a Ford Mustang.
        I'm quite sure I once saw an interview with John Cleese, who said that the coconuts were not some kind of joke, but just a practical solution for the lack of budget. The BBC didn't give them budget to rent an actual horse...

        As long as the dashboard has a switch to choose between three sound-tracks:
        1. (default) masculine engine roar
        2. soothing clippity-clop like a real Mustang [wikipedia.org] (or maybe one that wears horse shoes)
        3. the quiet of an efficient 21st century electric engine

        • (Score: 1) by Paradise Pete on Saturday January 24 2015, @11:25AM

          by Paradise Pete (1806) on Saturday January 24 2015, @11:25AM (#137601)

          The funny thing is that actual horses almost never sound like coconut shells, but it's become such a standard that it seems "wrong" without it. It's part of the language now.

      • (Score: 2) by hash14 on Saturday January 24 2015, @02:10AM

        by hash14 (1102) on Saturday January 24 2015, @02:10AM (#137517)

        Carried under the dorsal guiding feathers?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 24 2015, @01:55AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 24 2015, @01:55AM (#137512)

      Which end?

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by frojack on Friday January 23 2015, @09:29PM

    by frojack (1554) on Friday January 23 2015, @09:29PM (#137432) Journal

    Could you please call the Foley Artist Union and tell them film winders aren't used in cameras any more, and strobe lights don't go Foomp when you shoot a photo?
    Kthanskbye.

    --
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    • (Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Sunday January 25 2015, @03:20AM

      by Hairyfeet (75) <{bassbeast1968} {at} {gmail.com}> on Sunday January 25 2015, @03:20AM (#137758) Journal

      Isn't funny how much ancient shit ends up just becoming a part of "what is expected" in movie sound? The camera gear sound and "whoomp" of the flash of course goes back to the old cameras with their loud gears and insane flash bulbs (the whole "Hollywood stars wear shades" thing came about because those lights and flash bulbs were so insanely bright to deal with shitty film it literally damaged their eyes and made the early stars light sensitive) and some of it like the horse "clop" and wilhelm scream have become "in jokes" that sound effect guys put in there for so long that people have come to expect it.

        I wonder if people would think there is something wrong with the movie if a photography session in a movie didn't have the wind and flash noise? Would they not go for a western without the clop? The little "tink" you get from the modern coin slots instead of the crazy loud mechanical sort on the old coke machines? Hell we still have floppy for save and a big dial phone handset for call with our modern handhelds so who knows how long that will keep showing up.

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