TPiR Buzzers Question

[SRIV94]

OK, here's another inane topic but given that it was the bells and buzzers of shows like TPiR that got me hooked on the game-show genre to begin with, here's my question.

While watching the tape I made of yesterday's TPiR, I noticed that the SafeCrackers game was played (and lost).  My earliest recollections of the game were that the "klaxon" buzzer would sound in a loss, yet when I watched yesterday the other buzzer sounded (not sure if there's a technical term for it).  Was there a reason for the change in buzzers (or was this a mistake)?  And this begats a bigger question--how it is decided which buzzer is used for a particular game?  I know it's a meeting of the minds as the games are laid out, obviously, but with some exceptions, it seems that the buzzers can be interchangeable (I'm pretty sure several pricing games have changed buzzers through the course of TPiR's run).

Anyone--have at it.

Doug

[cmjb13]

I assume you mean "klaxon" as losing horns as opposed to the buzzer we all know and love (Bonkers, 10 Chances, etc..)

Chosing which sound is played during which game probably has to do whether one sound sounds better than another and matches the feel of the game.

Would you rather have the common buzzer played 10 times on 10 chances or the "klaxon" played 10 times? IMO, it's a better sound to match the particular game.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 10:25 AM\'] I assume you mean "klaxon" as losing horns as opposed to the buzzer we all know and love (Bonkers, 10 Chances, etc..)

Chosing which sound is played during which game probably has to do whether one sound sounds better than another and matches the feel of the game.

Would you rather have the common buzzer played 10 times on 10 chances or the "klaxon" played 10 times? IMO, it's a better sound to match the particular game. [/quote]
I figured you'd be the one to jump in, Chris B.  And thanks.

Perhaps I'm mixing my SFX (hey--that makes me a sound effects mixer), but I always thought of "losing horns" as what played after either buzzer sounded (like on a double overbid).  I consider "klaxon" to be what sounds after one Showcase overbid or any "times up" signal in a game involving a clock (or when Peter Tomarken is denied a spin--but that's another story ;-) ).

I can think of a few games in which only one buzzer was required for gameplay but both were used (probably trying to gauge the feel of the game, as you said).  I'm pretty sure Check Game, Card Game and Check Out (among others) have experimented with both buzzers.

Doug

[cmjb13]

I consider "klaxon" to be what sounds after one Showcase overbid or any "times up" signal in a game involving a clock

The horn I'm thinking of is when you pull safecrackers handle and it doesn't open. I think we are thinking of the same thing.

I can think of a few games in which only one buzzer was required for gameplay but both were used (probably trying to gauge the feel of the game, as you said).  I'm pretty sure Check Game, Card Game and Check Out (among others) have experimented with both buzzers.

Those effects are on a keyboard so I would assume it's possible for one sound effect to go bad and use the other as a backup. I believe those sounds come from some sort of tape/zip/digicart drive connected to the keyboard, but don't quote me on that.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'cmjb13\' date=\'Dec 24 2003, 10:46 AM\']

I consider "klaxon" to be what sounds after one Showcase overbid or any "times up" signal in a game involving a clock

The horn I'm thinking of is when you pull safecrackers handle and it doesn't open. I think we are thinking of the same thing.
 [/quote]
Which brought me to the first point of my original post.  Instead of that buzzer sounding for SafeCrackers in yesterday's show, the "common" buzzer sounded instead (the klaxon was heard a few times throughout the program, including the one Showcase overbid and the clock running out the first time in Time Is Money [the second time, they didn't bother as the contestant had her mind made up with two seconds left and while the clock ran out the sounder wasn't played]).

I do recall seeing that keyboard when CBS did its Television City special last spring (I gotta get myself to L.A. one of these days so I can see a taping--I probably wouldn't make the greatest contestant, but it'd be real fun to go just the same).

Doug

[SplitSecond]

The SFX on Price are on a MIDI sampler triggered by a simple MIDI keyboard, with each key labeled and assigned a separate sound effect.  The live-to-tape audience sweetening is achieved with a similar setup.

Whereas most MIDI applications use a sound bank with different programs that change the sounds (samples) the entire keyboard triggers (the entire keyboard triggers a synthesized string section on the pitch of the key you hit, for instance), the Price SFX setup uses just one program, but each key triggers a different sample (C for a single "ping", D for repeated "pings", for instance).