# How do I do the elevator ding?



## GOT (Apr 17, 2007)

I will be doing an elevator this year. I will be using a 555 timer + a counter to light LEDs to for the "first floor, second floor, third floor" indicator lights. I would like a typical elevator DING when the lights change but am not sure how to do that. I would also like a not-so-typical ominous elevator CLANGK or GONG or SCREAM when the elevator is sucked through the ground and starts it's decend into Hell. Any suggestions?


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

desk bell?


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

Here's a link with various elevator sounds. They aren't free but might be of use. You can listen before you buy. http://www.audiolicense.net/sfx/elevators.asp

That was just a quick google search you may be able to find free ones as well.

Here's some free one's
http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/Office.shtml


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## GOT (Apr 17, 2007)

I was thinking more in line with a piezo buzzer hooked up to my circuit. But the buzz must be short whereas the LED must stay lit for a few seconds.


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## TommaHawk (Sep 18, 2007)

Rig up a mechanical bell or trigger - when your elevator drops (or rises) to a certain point, have something on the rail (or whatever) ding the bell. If you want an electronic sound, rig up an Mp3 player to be triggered in the same manner.

Add other Mp3 players or other sequences to add more sounds...


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## Scottzilla (Jun 13, 2007)

You could just make the whole thing one long sound element that syncs up with the timing of your 555. Have whatever starts the 555 timer also start an MP3 player, then all the sounds just play at the right time since they are all on one track. Also this means you are not limited to sound-making devices that you can actuate with your circuit either. You can have whatever sounds you want for added authenticity.


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## GOT (Apr 17, 2007)

Ya, I am thinking of that since I will have speakers going, and I would like to use a weird sound for the levels of hell (and, by the way, this is not a real elevator, just a simulator), but I think it would be clearer with electronics.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Check out MansionHaunter's post about sound improvement using acoustic waveguides. Since your audience will be in a big box, and your speaker assembly will be unseen on the other side of the wall... a set of waveguides would be easy to add. I've experimented with it and it adds a ton of resonance and "bigness" to the sound instead of just increasing volume. It even makes cheap speakers sound good. For a concept as big as plunging through the earth's crust into the bowels of hell, that extra sound tweak could add some extra "Whoa" to the atmosphere of your scene.

You're great at going all out on the visuals and layout of your scenes and the stories that your guests go through; for the price of some PVC pipe and a little soldering you could kick your sound up a notch to , as the Dude might say, really tie the ride together.

Besides, it'll make it easier for us to hear and actually understand what's playing in the video heheh


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## Koumajutsu (Aug 9, 2006)

If you stick a circuit like this in between your output from the 555 for the lights, and your bell (i.e. doorbell), it will create a short pulse.










in that picture is an Exclusive Or Gate (XOR) that will turn on it's output when either of it's inputs are turned on, but not both. The other gates are simply buffers each adding a small amount of delay.

One could likely do something similar with a resistor-capacitor time delay on one of the inputs, but the size of a buffer chip is generally much smaller than the size of a capacitor to create the same result.


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