WRITTEN BY JEFF SHIFFMAN
CO-OWNER OF BOOM BOX POST
Growing up in the Midwest, it seemed like everyone had a basement (not a thing here in LA). A basement is a bonus space the size of your entire floor plan. For adults, this means lots of storage (functional but boring); for kids, a giant playroom! When I was young, my dad bought two used pinball machines from a friend and plunked them down in our basement. These were mid-70’s era classics with all the (literal) bells and whistles. At any time of day you could hear these very specific sounds emanating from our basement, working their way into the consciousness of one young sound designer in the making (me).
Needless to say, these two pinball machines became family treasures. So when it came time for my parents to downsize their house (no room for pinball), I just couldn’t resist keeping one for myself and my family.
The machine I chose is the absolute classic “300” by D. Gottlieb & Co. It’s a bowling themed game with tons of opportunities for unique play and a really cool bowling ball bonus mechanic. I had it freighted from Detroit, MI to Culver City, CA where it now has a permanent home in my garage.
My family plays the machine all the time. It’s a great way to get away from traditional screens in the house. Naturally, as these sounds have now woven their way into my West Coast life, I couldn’t resist recording the heck out of the thing to share with all of you. So here we have it: “Pinball” by Boom Box Library.
This isn’t the first time I’ve recorded this machine. I guerilla recorded some of these sounds in my parent’s basement years ago to serve as the basis for the “Space Heroes” pinball machine featured in 2012’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle series. Those recordings were minimal and sufficient, but this time the process was legit.
PHASE 1 - PLANNING
Planning a recording is key. Experimentation came early as I played the game a ton, listing off each and every possible sound the machine could make. I started with the obvious - bumpers, plunger, rolling, etc, but made sure to get less obvious coverage as well, like the creaky metal front service door, coin slot and overall hum of the machine. With a creative ear, many of these sounds can be manipulated and used for all sorts of sound design, like recutting the chimes to create casino jackpot bells, or pitching the hatch way down to create a dungeon door.
When the day came for recording, I was very thankful for this list as I didn’t time this recording too well; it was unseasonably warm in Los Angeles and I was about to spend hours encased in a makeshift blanket fort inside my garage.
PHASE 2 - PHYSICAL PREP
So… about that blanket fort. A quick google search will reveal that there’s not much out there in terms of vintage pinball machine sound libraries. And for good reason. The typical pinball machine weighs about 300 Lbs, making it a very cumbersome task. I did not want to have to move this thing to a second location. But a garage can be less than ideal for pristine sound recordings - which I learned the hard way by test recording a ton of material and tossing the results. My solution was inspired by the same process that soundproofed our mix stages. I would build a box within a box to keep the sound out. Scrounging some left over 2x4’s and sourcing lots of heaving moving blankets, I was able to cobble together a frame and walls that entirely engulfed the machine. Once inside, the dead space was perfect for capturing clean recordings.
PHASE 3 - THE RECORD
I utilized a Sennheiser MKH 8050 to record the machine. This is a Pro Audio Condenser Microphone that we use a lot in Boom Box Library recordings.
In order to capture as much variance as possible, I recorded both outside the play glass (normal play position), inside the glass (with the top pane removed) and even under the main play board, which I learned was accessible when I had the machine serviced. The ability to get deep into the guts of the machine provided an opportunity to get hyper-specific with the recordings. I even spent some time at the rear of the machine, behind the scoreboard, capturing the clicking score reels at the source. The machine has a strong electrical hum when in its ‘on’ state so I also dedicated some time to recording non-electrical mechanics (button clicks, switches, etc) with the machine turned off.
I’m really proud of the coverage of these recordings. If you’re looking for vintage pinball sounds, I can’t imagine a more thorough library. It’s been really exciting to see this library come together and to finally put these sounds that have been burned into my brain since childhood out into the world.
GRAB YOUR COPY OF PINBALL NOW AT BOOM BOX LIBRARY!