Jan 26, 2024 20:00:00

This is what happens when you correct the audio imperfections of 'Steamboat Willie' where Mickey first appeared

A software developer noticed that there was a flutter echo (sound disturbance) in the short animation ``

Steamboat Willie '', which was the first to use a soundtrack method, and performed a process to remove the flutter echo and shared the results.

absorptions: Smoother sailing: Studying audio imperfections in Steamboat Willie
https://www.windytan.com/2024/01/smoother-sailing-steamboat-willie-flutter.html

``Steamboat Willie'' is known as the first public production in which Mickey Mouse appears, and features comical movements, sound effects, and light music. It became a hot

topic for a while because it was expected to finally become public domain in 2024.

Steamboat Willie (1928 Film) - 4K Film Remaster - YouTube


According to software developer Oona Raisanen, there are some flutter echoes in Steamboat Willie, and you can sometimes hear a sound mixed with noise. Flutter echo is a noise that occurs when sound is reflected from surrounding structures and the echo remains. Using his knowledge as a software developer, Raisanen set out to improve this noise.

For example, at 1 minute 45 seconds into the video above, there is a scene where the character Pete is chewing tobacco and applying his saliva to the bell. If you look at the frequency of the bell's sound, you can see that the sound is not consistent at all.

After finding software that could naturally process these sounds and cancel out the flutter echoes, Raisanen took several scenes and processed them to cancel out the flutter echoes.

Below is a comparison video summarizing the scenes. The first whistling scene is a little difficult to understand, but the second scene has a cow mooing, the third is the bell that rings when the cow is lifted, and the fourth is the bell that rings inside the goat's body. When you listen to the sound, you will notice that the harsh noise has been reduced.

Before and after you can see what difference will be made if you remove the flutter echo of 'Steamboat Willie' - YouTube


By the way, if you look at the original audio track, you can see strong vibrations at multiples of the movie's frame rate of 24Hz and the North American power frequency of 60Hz. Mr. Raisanen speculated that ``projectors may have been operating in recording studios at the time,'' but in response to this idea, ``there is a possibility that projectors were actually operating in order to synchronize the music with the images.'' was pointed out .