# 1st talking skull - sound set-up help



## Curlytopd1 (Oct 9, 2009)

Novice alert!!!! I have just purchased a Cowlacious skull kit:
ST200 plus a Skull Kit. Skull Kit includes: a 4th class Bucky Skull, Servo (HiTec HS-425BB), aluminum servo mount, two 4" wire ties, 12" piece of .041 spring wire, and all the necessary screws and nuts. Uses the Scary Terry servo.

"All you have to provide is a drill, a couple of bits, and a little labor!" I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew. Assuming that I can assemble this, here is my question:

I would like to have this talking skull in my graveyard on a pedestal tombstone, but most references say the voice is controlled through a computer program. Any suggestions on how to remotely have the voice work? Do I need additional equipment to make the sounds work? I've heard some mention to save the sounds on a MP3 players or CD players. I guess I just don't "get" how to do that part of the process. Simple explanation for non-engineer.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

http://www.scary-terry.com/buckyservo/buckyservo.htm
http://www.scary-terry.com/audioservo/audioservo.htm

Hope that helps


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## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

I assume that assembly is required here, so the first place you should go is Scary Terry's site for info on the servo installation:
http://www.scary-terry.com/buckyservo/buckyservo.htm
There's also a video on the Cowlacious site that will help you with this project.
The ST-200 doesn't require computer control - it's completely stand-alone. A small MP3 player is good for the sound. You'll need a cable to run from the MP3 player to the ST-200 with the appropriate connectors. The ST-200 will only accept a mono input, but that's OK. If you use a stereo sound file, get a stereo splitter cable and send one side of the sound file to the ST-200 and the other to your computer speakers. To get both speakers to have sound, use a stereo-to-mono adapter on the connector that goes to the speakers. Remember that the servo will react to sounds other than the voice in the sound file, so avoid background sounds like music and such.
One way to have the skull talk is to loop your sound file so that it repeats every 30 secs or so, you decide what the interval should be. You can edit the file in a program like GoldWave (shareware) or Audacity (free). Just add a "silent" period to the end of the file and set the MP3 player to repeat. If you want to record your own soundtrack, you'll need one of those programs anyway. Just use a cheap computer mic to record, and play with the various effects to modify your voice (change speed, pitch, add echo etc). One caution - you should add the effects only to the channel that is going to go to the speakers. Send the "clean" channel to the ST-200, you'll get better jaw movement.
If you want the skull to speak on demand, you'll need something to to trigger the ST-200. This can be a PIR sensor like this one:
http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G4567
or a mat switch, manual momentary switch etc. There's a lot of ways to do this part, some are cheaper than others.
This should get you started - it's really pretty easy to build this.


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## fritz42_male (May 5, 2009)

I've got a similar setup but I added one of Cowlaciouses sound boards too. I have a PIR light as my trigger with a pair of wires coming off the PIR to trigger the Cowlacious sound board (it has this feature).

As someone approaches the prop, the PIR sensor light turns on so I get my ghostly illumination (blue bulb), this also triggers the sound board so that the prop talks.


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