New Sounds for Gaim, thanks to Brad Sucks

by steven  []  -  17 replies

When looking for help in creating an improved set of sounds for the open-source instant messaging application, Gaim, I turned to a virtual rock star. The ironically named Brad Sucks was a great help and came back with a great set of sounds.

Here, for contrast, are the previous set of Gaim sounds (still included in current releases of Gaim) and the BradSucks-engineered new set (to be included in the upcoming 2.0 release of Gaim).

Gaim Instant Messenger sounds: Before and After (all files in WAV format)
Gaim 1.x Gaim 2.x (by BradSucks)
Message Sent Message Sent
Message Received Message Received
Arrive/Online Arrive/Online
Leave/Offline Leave/Offline
Alert Alert

Thanks Brad! Ok, what’s next…

Replies to Steven Garrity’s post: New Sounds for Gaim, thanks to Brad Sucks
Daniel []
http://www.deltatangobravo.com
Great work Brad and Steven. I'm running these sounds right now in GAIM. I'm still kind of fond of the old alert noise, though it does scare the crap oput of me when I forget and leave my speakers turned up. Anyway, nice improvemements.
David Schontzler []
http://www.stilleye.com
I have no idea how people can deal with their chat apps making noises.
Jim Will []
You're right. Brad sucks :-)
Chris Messina []
actsofvolition@factorycity.net
http://www.factorycity.net
Hey Steven, great to hear that this project produced such a cool set! In the spirit of open-source, I went ahead and took it upon myself to share it with the Adium community. Sweet!
nathan []
Somewhat nitpicky I realize, but since the 1.0.0 release gaim has been using a three segment version number (major.minor.micro).
james []
Well, the files are 5 times bigger but I don't know if the sounds are 5 times better. Are these going to converted to mono or have their bit rates lowered before before the official release? If so, have you listened to what they sound like at those settings?
Martey []
http://www.marteydodoo.com/blog/
I like the fact that the new sounds are far less strident than the old. I assume that Minghong will appreciate it, too.
Nick Douglas []
popsnap@gmail.com
http://nickdouglas.net
James, the files are like 100 KB. Don't tell me your computer can't handle that.
Mere Usability []

I've posted here about Gaim in the past. It has not been entirely positive. However, I am happy to announce that I am finally able to recommend Gaim as I've always wanted. I'm not sure if it's the new version of GTK+ or Gaim 1.1.1, but I'm satisfied. I agree, the old sounds are disturbing.

I listened to the new ones before reading the comments. Although I understand that it's possible to grow fond of a good application's quirks, it surprised me that so many had any objections whatsoever. Good work!

P.S. -- It still needs a consistent visual identity, though. Much as I've started to love it, I still mistake the current icon for some kind of prize ribbon and the logo on the site appears to be a turkey. Is it a State Fair theme?

Ben []
bpwright@gmail.com
http://occasionallywright.typepad.com
The sounds are too soft and smooth for me. I know that sounds stupid but I listen to a lot of music on headphones while I'm at my computer and I want the Gaim sounds to stand out during the middle of a song. As it is (I'm using Brad's sounds) they blend right in and I usually miss them. So far Trillian is still a better app for my needs.
Hylke Bons []
hylkebons@hotmail.com
don't like the sounds, ripped and edited right out of windows (usb plug/unplug)
laurac []
laura.c@plutohome.com
I think one of the biggest hassles with instant messaging is that it’s tied to the computer. If I’m away from the computer, like watching tv, I may miss an important IM. I can leave the speakers on the PC really loud, but then I’m always jumping up and running back to the PC to read an incoming IM in case it’s important. Most of the time it’s not. I can subscribe to a service with my cell phone—but that costs money. So here is (I think) the perfect solution, and a good GAIM plug-in that’s not too much work.

I just installed a Pluto Home system (plutohome.com). It’s a free, open source smarthome and media server. You put Bluetooth dongles on all the pc’s in your house, and then when you enter a room your Symbian Bluetooth phone turns into a remote control for everything in that room. It already tracks your movement—if you start listening to music in 1 room, your music will follow you as you move with your phone to another room. And it already sends messages to the phone based on events. For example, when the song changes, the cover art shown on my phone changes to show me what’s playing.

So that got me thinking? Why not make a GAIM plugin for pluto so that whenever I get an IM, I see it on my Bluetooth phone? That way I can either type a reply on the phone, or go back to the computer if I want to use the keyboard, or ignore it if it’s not important. And I’m not having to run back and forth to the computer to check IM. And it’s free since it uses Bluetooth! Plus, I think it’s such a real convenience it would be a great way to get people to switch to GAIM.

I talked to the programmers at Pluto and they said it would be really easy since their stuff is already written in small modules and plugins. However, since we’re all open source, we could also just take whatever pieces were useful and do something completely new using the same concept.

Many of the other GAIM projects listed are either specific for only some users (like Apple iChat), or would only be used by geeks (like the Perl interpreter). But not having to run back and forth to the computer is something everybody wants (imho). I don’t see how to recommend a new idea for GAIM, so I’ll just try the forums and hope somebody else likes it too.

Alex []
Nice, smooth sounds that dont't make me jump when I fall asleep with Gaim on. Good stuff.
AvatarX []
Heaps better than the default sounds however I would prefer somthing that doesn't sound like an electronic keyboard, somthing a bit more futuristic. Also I feel the login/logout sounds should be spead up by about 1/3 as they go on for a bit too long.
Leon []
thank god. Gaim's default sounds are the most annoying god damn things on the face of the earth.
Caleb []
caleb.marcus@gmail.com
You're right about the default Gaim sounds. However, I've made some new ones of my own that I think are better than these, but that's really personal preference. I'm not sure where to post them righ tnow, so if anyone wants them, I'll email them to you.
Furious []
If I'm not mistaken the "Gaim 1.x" sounds actually date all the way back to TiK -- they're ancient!