My buddy Hrafn over at Think Artificial found this fantastic audio recording that sounds exactly like you’re getting a haircut. I thought it was so cool that I had to do some research.
These are called Holophonic sounds and are made to be listened to with headphones. They are recorded with a dummy head that has two microphones, one in each ear. The shape of the head and ears must be similar to a human head.
Select the red play button to listen
The Virtual Haircut (Download Zip):
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The Holophonic Matchbox (Download Zip):
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A Woman’s Voice (Download Zip):
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Blow Drying (Download Zip):
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Tuning Fork (Download Zip):
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Shears (Download Zip):
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Dogs Running (Download Zip):
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Dogs Barking (Download Zip):
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Loud Frogs (Download Zip):
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Sexy Woman’s Invitation (Download Zip):
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Jazz Band (Download Zip):
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Flutes in Singapore (Download Zip):
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Digital Vivaldi (Download Zip):
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Crumpling Bag (Download Zip):
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hehe nice, was wondering if they have one which does the drilling sound of the dentist =0P this way people can practise before going to the dentist!
hahaha dngloz… I really need the sound of the dentist :P
That hurts yaar specially the driling process.
The haircut and the matches are excellent, the womans voice is really spooky.
Great, Now I wont sleep…That womans voice has put ugly scary thoughts in my head…
srsly, that blow dryer scared me half to death!
Nice one, I already had the haircut and searched for more but couldn’t find any, all brilliant.
I thought the womans voice was sexy as hell..
The woman sounded like she was part of a perfume commerical
Outstanding audio quality… you need to have more locales with lots of varying audio sources; my bet would be for Grand Central Station, NYC.
The woman’s voice… I could swear I felt her hot breath, and was expecting a tongue in my ear!
the match made me feel warmth, weird
It’s a technique called binaural recording and it’s commonly practised with on-location sound sampling. For example, if I wanted to sample a train station for a TV show I might go to King’s Cross and stand there for a few minutes with microphones in my ears. As a recording technique it’s been around for years.
it made me feel slimey on my nose
About 20 years ago Radio 4 did an experimental audio play in binaural stereo. It used 11 actors and no words. It featured a man escaping from a chain gang/prison. You were him. Men and dogs pursued him, he went through water to lose the dogs, he found shelter,and then the guy that put him inside. It was called The Revenge. It lasted about 15 mins. The most remarkable thing is it was done by Andrew Sachs, or Manuel to most. It won an award in Barcelona I think.
I seem to remember something along these lines at Disney World in Orlando. You went into booths and they had headphones lining the walls, hanging just above wooden benches. I was very young at the time and I don’t remember exactly what it was that played but I do remember taking the headphones off a few times as I got creeped out by it.
Thanks for making me feel creeped out again! :P
Actually the Virtual Barbershop is some kind of commercial, at least the name “Starkey Cetera” has a meaning. Starkey is a company producing hearing aids and their latest product is named – correct – Cetera… :)
Freaking cool !
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! HANDS DOWN THE COOLEST THING I’VE SEEN ON THE INTERNET. I’M EVEN TYPING IN ALL CAPS, WHICH RARELY HAPPENS!
Thanks Tyler. I’m glad you enjoyed it so much! :-)
The real thanks needs to go to Hrafn for having found the original recording. I just took it a little further by finding a few more and providing an embedded player for them…
Take care,
John
Hi, a friend sent me ”the vitual haircut” to my mobile, i was impressed when i listened to it, so i did a search on google to find others and came across these othe 5 on your blog. Is there anyway i can download them to my PC to put on my moblie?
Cheers
Lee,
I’ve currently got it so that any MP3 I post automatically turns into the little embedded player. When I get a chance I’ll upload ZIP files of the recordings so they can be more easily downloaded, but for now if you know how to read source code for HTML you can see the file names in my HTML and just type them directly into your Web browser to download.
John
This is so awesome!!! A real treat for the ears!!!
Awe some………. I can feel the reality….
Imagine if they took this algorithm to video games! It would be absolutely amazing
omg!! dat was soooooo cool!!! it realy felt weired you could imagine in ur head the ppl walkin round you it was sooo creepy but really really cool!!!
I’ve heard the virtual haircut. I think its really cool. Can someone please tell me how and where i can download the other holophonic sounds. I can see it on the site but seems impossible to download it.
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