Was it really a ping?

[xarel]

Hello all,

might be off topic, but I couldn't find a better place, so I might as well post it here (feel free to move me wherever it suits):

The question I have for years now is:

Did the ASDIC/Sonar "Ping" really sounded like the "Ping" we all know?

I stumbled upon Buchheims description many years ago:
"Plötzlich wird eine Handvoll Kieselsteine von außen gegen das Boot geworfen", translation: "Suddenly a handful of small stones is thrown on the boat from outside".
I always wondered how that sound translates to the Ping I heard in the movie and in all subsims I played, but I explained to myself that the Ping-sound is difficult to describe and that was his attempt to achieve it. After all, what do I know how it sounds if stones are thrown against a steel hull, and you are standing inside of it? I'd assume it would sound different, but he was there...

Now I stumbled upon the german Wikipedia explanation of Sonar, and in the discussion section someone asked the same question as above. The answer he got was: No it didn't sound like that, since the frequency used was 12K to 30K and wouldn't result in a sound like that (however, the sonar operator on the destroyer would hear the ping sound through his headphones). The people in the boat would register something like a snap, crack or click (german: "knacken"), which fits much better to Buchheims description.

Can someone confirm/disconfirm this?

If it wasn't a ping sound- how did it sound? I guess an example sound file isn't available.

What confuses me is that every movie and every sim I know of has the "ping"- are they really all wrong?

Best regards, xarel

[HW3]

There are some authentic sonar sounds here http://www.uboataces.com/ref-sonar-sounds.shtml
But these are not recorded inside a submarine that is being pinged.

[maillemaker]

From what I have read, inside the sub the sonar is sometimes describe as gravel being poured over the top of the sub, or a chain dragging over it.

Steve

[Sailor Steve]

The ping sound used in movies and games is the sound a sonar operator hears when he sends the ping. Several mods have tried to match the in-sub sound as described, but I've never heard anything like gravel from any of them.

If someone did match that nobody would believe it anyway.

[timmy41]

couldnt someone just submerge a tube with a recorder inside, ping it, then walla authentic sound?

[sergei]

Originally Posted by timmy41

couldnt someone just submerge a tube with a recorder inside, ping it, then walla authentic sound?

I'd give it a go if I had a sonar set

[frau kaleun]

Originally Posted by timmy41

couldnt someone just submerge a tube with a recorder inside, ping it, then walla authentic sound?

Sounds like a plan. We'll call it the Phil Spector Experiment. Because of the, you know, "walla sound."



I crack me up.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by xarel

Hello all,

might be off topic, but I couldn't find a better place, so I might as well post it here (feel free to move me wherever it suits):

The question I have for years now is:

Did the ASDIC/Sonar "Ping" really sounded like the "Ping" we all know?

I stumbled upon Buchheims description many years ago:
"Plötzlich wird eine Handvoll Kieselsteine von außen gegen das Boot geworfen", translation: "Suddenly a handful of small stones is thrown on the boat from outside".
I always wondered how that sound translates to the Ping I heard in the movie and in all subsims I played, but I explained to myself that the Ping-sound is difficult to describe and that was his attempt to achieve it. After all, what do I know how it sounds if stones are thrown against a steel hull, and you are standing inside of it? I'd assume it would sound different, but he was there...

Now I stumbled upon the german Wikipedia explanation of Sonar, and in the discussion section someone asked the same question as above. The answer he got was: No it didn't sound like that, since the frequency used was 12K to 30K and wouldn't result in a sound like that (however, the sonar operator on the destroyer would hear the ping sound through his headphones). The people in the boat would register something like a snap, crack or click (german: "knacken"), which fits much better to Buchheims description.

Can someone confirm/disconfirm this?

If it wasn't a ping sound- how did it sound? I guess an example sound file isn't available.

What confuses me is that every movie and every sim I know of has the "ping"- are they really all wrong?

Best regards, xarel

http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-1.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-2.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-3.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-4.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-5.wmv
http://www.uboataces.com/sounds/sonar-ping.wmv

Good luck!

[K-61]

Nice sound effects. I can't seem to find how to save the sound file from the Media Player in Windows 7. On my XP systems there was a hidden file options menu in the lower left corner of the player, but I can't find the file menu in the new media player. Anybody know how to accomplish this?

[K-61]

Never mind. I think the links are such that you cannot save the file using Windows Media Player. Aside from those links, my file menu is active, so it must be something specific to those links.

[Jimbuna]

IIRC there are a few files out there giving the correct 'gravel' sound effect but strangely, non have ever been put into the game

[pickinthebanjo]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

IIRC there are a few files out there giving the correct 'gravel' sound effect but strangely, non have ever been put into the game

I used one that I found in some naval archive that was much like what is being described but the problem is you barely notice your being pinged, it does not sound menacing enough. So I found another which is louder but still sounds like something hit the hull, I'll see if I can dig it up

[Convycmg]

I seem to recall reading that early sonar sets would produce something approximating a 'ping' inside the target sub but as the war went on the sound frequencies used went way beyond the range of human hearing, so couldn't be heard at all but u-boat crews could feel the ultrasonic 'pings' impact the hull. I guess to model that in game we'd need to invest in whole-body vibration-suits. Put it on the lists with high-impact saline wave machines for when you go on watch maybe?

I seem to recall also being a bit disappointed that the whole meme of submarine crews hearing a PINGGGGG and jumping to terrified attention is somewhat of a myth and a simplification. Ultrasonic 'pings' would be far more ominous and eerie I guess.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by K-61

Never mind. I think the links are such that you cannot save the file using Windows Media Player. Aside from those links, my file menu is active, so it must be something specific to those links.

[HW3]

Is there decent water near Walla Walla, WA?

Well there is this body of water called the Columbia River fairly close by.