Behind the Scenes of the Windows Vista Sound Schemes

Chris Flores — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 00:54:00 GMT

I'm posting this on behalf of my colleague Steve Ball.

Hi, my name is Steve Ball and I'm a Principal Program Manager Lead on the Windows Sound Team. I'd like to take a moment and give some background on sound schemes in Windows as well as the new sound schemes released as Ultimate Extras and their relationship with the default Windows Vista scheme.

Default Windows Vista Sound Scheme
The default Windows Vista sound scheme was designed with the same principles that were used in designing the Windows Vista visual elements and desktop experience. In contrast, the Windows XP sounds, while appropriate at the time and for that product design, were very ‘Western' and literal, using pianos and western orchestral instruments. The XP sounds were designed to complement the ‘photo-realistic' Bliss desktop (blue sky, green grass photo.) The Windows XP sounds can also be rather percussive and jarring in the context of day to day PC use, so it was an explicit goal to re-orchestrate the default Windows Vista sounds to complement the softer, cleaner theme and user interface elements in Windows Vista.

For Windows Vista, it was an intentional design goal to avoid ‘reinventing' the User Interface language for sound. For example, the "new mail" sound in Windows XP and in Windows Vista consist of the same pitches, interval, and timing.

New Mail (Notify)

The Windows Vista ‘new mail' sound has simply been re-orchestrated to match the softer, more -rounded Windows Vista Startup Sound whose ‘sonic palette' was derived from the gentle and flowing Robert Fripp Soundscapes sessions that were recorded at Microsoft Studios in 2005 and 2006.

Session 1: http://channel9.msdn.com/Showpost.aspx?postid=151853

Session 2: http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=287615

Fan Fact: The shutdown sounds for both of the new UE Sound Schemes are pulled directly from these Fripp sessions. There are in fact two shutdown sounds included with each of these UE schemes - for each scheme, there is also longer shutdown sound in the %windir%/media/%scheme_name% folder that is actually too long to use as a Windows Vista shutdown sound -- but we included it anyway so Fripp fans could get a greater sense of context about where this shorter sound came from - or map it manually to a different sound event if they wish.

Here is some additional background about each of the new schemes:

Ultimate Extras Glass Sound Scheme
The "Ultimate Extras Glass" sound scheme utilizes the same design language and principles as the default Windows Vista sound scheme, however, this set has an additional glassy ‘edge' that can be heard as a more percussive envelope applied to each of the sounds. From one point of view, the sounds in this set feel like they are made with ‘glass' instruments. The sounds in this set have a sort of clinking glass root with a polished or ‘frosted' haze effect applied to their outer surface - this is intended to be directly analogous to the transparent ‘glassy' window effects that are built-in to the Windows Vista chrome.

Ultimate Extras Pearl Sound Scheme
The Pearl sound scheme further extends the intentionally-subtle design attributes of both the Windows Vista default sound scheme and the Ultimate Extras Glass scheme, with less focus on reverberant, sometimes clinking ‘glassy' sounds in exchange for a richer, milky, more percussive sonic palate. The Pearl sounds are harder and less reflective and reverberant, more like the rich and rounded surface of a pearl in contrast to the fragile resonance of a wine glass. More concretely, the Pearl sounds are cleaner, clearer, and brighter than the ‘Glass' sound scheme.

Both of the new Ultimate Extras sound schemes embody more percussive elements in contrast to the soft edges of default Windows Vista sound scheme and they extend of the existing sound design language established by XP and Windows Vista. Functionally, the percussive elements of these sound schemes may also help users hear Windows events from a greater distance, if that is desired. They are intended to provide an extended personalization option for users who wish to differentiate their Windows Vista experience from the default experience.

Occasionally, people stop me in coffee shops and cafes and ask: did the Robert Fripp sounds make it into Windows Vista? There is a long answer and a short answer. Here is the short: the Windows Vista Startup Sound is the primary "Fripp" appearance in Windows Vista, although many of the new inbox sounds were orchestrated based upon the sound and feel of the hours of Fripp Soundscapes we recorded at our Windows Vista sessions.

For some additional background on the Windows Vista sounds, click here to check out our Windows Vista Sounds Q&A.

If there is interest, I can go deeper in future posts about any of these areas.

- Steve

The Sounds of Windows Vista

JimAll — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 02:15:00 GMT

When you try the RTM version of Windows Vista, you will notice that something changed between the last release candidate and the final product -- we added new sounds to the 45 places where Windows provides an audio cue to the user, including a new Windows Vista Start-up sound that was developed in collaboration with musician Robert Fripp.

If you have used Windows Vista, one of the most significant things you've likely noticed is the new Windows Aero interface. While Windows Aero may sound like just a cool name, it's actually an acronym that stands for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective and Open. Prior to RTM, the Windows Aero experience was intentionally incomplete. What was missing were the cool new sounds that were designed specifically for the Windows Aero experience. While the Windows XP sounds were appropriate at the time Windows XP was built, they were very 'Western' and literal (e.g., you could tell that the sounds were played by a piano and other western orchestral instruments). The Windows XP sounds were not consistent with the interface design goals of Windows Vista, so we overhauled the sounds to complement and blend with the softer, cleaner Windows Aero Glass theme and user interface elements for Windows Vista.

Sounds are obviously an important part of how people interact with their PC. The idea is to use your ears to get information from a sound without even thinking about it. For example, certain sounds on our PC tell us when we have a new email or instant message.

It was our goal for the sounds to be just noticeable enough that if they weren’t there you would miss them, but they’re subtle enough that they don’t get in your way. Just like the visual cues of the new Start button, the audio cues of the new sounds are "rounded" and "translucent." The default sound scheme in Windows Vista is intentionally much gentler and softer than in previous versions.

While I have personally been involved in the Windows Vista sound project for some time, the new sounds were only recently added to the builds (we had to save some surprises for people!), so I have only been experiencing them for a few weeks. What is amazing to me is how much the new sounds change my experience -- and I know it will do the same for you!

jim

P.S. -- here are a few interesting facts about the new Windows Vista Start-up sound.

The Windows Vista Startup sound:

is made of dual ascending 'glassy' melodies played on top of a gentle fading Fripp 'AERO' Soundscape
has two parallel melodies played in an intentional "Win-dows Vis-ta" rhythm
consists of 4 chords, one for each color in the Windows flag
is ~4 seconds long, end-to-end
is a collaboration between contributors Robert Fripp (primary melody + Soundscape), Tucker Martine (rhythm) and Steve Ball (harmony and final orchestration)
would never have been possible without the great work of Microsoft's Steve Ball and his team. There’s an interview with Steve airing tomorrow morning (November 10, 2006) on NPR radio (we’ll post a link when it's available), if you’d like to hear more about these new sounds and the process of generating them.

Windows Vista Team Blog : Robert Fripp

Behind the Scenes of the Windows Vista Sound Schemes

The Sounds of Windows Vista