Load a custom air horn into a decoder

[es80ac]

Hi everyone, I am totally new to DCC sound decoder.  Recently I bought an ESU Lokprogrammer and is wanting to get dangerous with it.  I would like to load a custom air horn sound into an existing GE FDL Loksound decoder.   I really only need to cut in the horn and do not need to replace primer mover or any other sounds.   Is there a way I can do that?  Thanks

[Mark R.]

Do you have your .wav horn file broken down into an intro / loop / exit ? The simplest approach is to open the horn section in the sound schedule and just replace the existing intro / loop / exit files with your own.

Mark.

[es80ac]

Nov 2, 2020 22:05:32 GMT -8 Mark R. said:

Do you have your .wav horn file broken down into an intro / loop / exit ? The simplest approach is to open the horn section in the sound schedule and just replace the existing intro / loop / exit files with your own.

Mark.

Thanks Mark.  I can probably cut the horn sound into an individual wav file, but not sure how to do a into/loop/exit,  can you point me to any resource that can teach me how to do that?

[Mark R.]

If you want your horn to be playable, you are going to have to edit / cut your horn file. A free sound editing program is available through Audacity. Load your file into the program and inspect its wave form. You need to determine where to cut it for the intro, the segment from the very first audio ramping up to the full output of the horn. This will be your intro file. Take note where on the wave you cut it - usually right at the horizontal cross on either the upswing or downswing of the wav.

Your loop file will begin where you cut the end of the intro.. Your loop file should be as short as possible (usually less than 1 second). Cut the end of your loop file at EXACTLY the same point on the wave as where it starts, otherwise, when it loops, you'll hear it if it doesn't match exactly. This is the hardest part of the whole project. I've spent hours trying to create a clean loop.

Lastly will be the exit file. Again, start exactly where your loop file ends and cut it where the horn stops making noise.

Once you have your three files created, paste them into one of the ESU horn templates and give it a try. Don't be disappointed if your first try is not anything like you hoped. There's an art to knowing how to cut / create the files so they work perfectly together. Good luck, have fun and don't get frustrated.

Mark.