I recently began composing a little something for my girlfriend's dog, Lobi. The problem I'm having seems to stem from the fact that dogs hear in different ways to humans and what is good for humans isn't necessarily a dogs cup of tea. She likes mellow synth music and strings but isn't big into minimal techno at all.

Another spanner in the works is that my spectrum analyser ends at 20kHz - big problem - so working in frequencies beyond the human range of hearing is very much trial and error.

Does anyone know of a spectrum analyser that goes up to 60kHz. Or maybe have any research on music in the upper animal ranges.

Don't get me started about the cat.

I think maybe you need to get out more...

hugh

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Technical Editor, Sound On Sound

Go to your local RSPCA and see what they're using for their canine entertainment provisions. You might get some inspiration, and you'll at least be able to do some market research on musical preferences.

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Composer;
www.ogonline.org

I had a dog that liked to sing along with clarinet -
You could also try a 'Mort' also known as a hunting horn. Beagles love it.

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.. is this thing on?

Just get one of those whistles, set up a click and play it in time to the click, changing the pattern and see what effect that has.Also add dog whines and barks, as this is more doggy musical to a doggy than anything you might come up with.Dave

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My head hurts!

Quote Stan:

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I had a dog that liked to sing along with clarinet -
You could also try a 'Mort' also known as a hunting horn. Beagles love it.

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My dogs sang along to my harmonica - I've yet to know if it was in protest or enjoyment!

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I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over
Twitter

Take any CD you like. Pitch shift it by 300%. Filter out everything below 20KHz. Put a cute doggie picture on the cover. Sit back and wait for the money to roll in.

Trust me, I work with people stupid enough to buy it!

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Not much in life worth running for. Or from.

Quote Dynamic Mike:

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Take any CD you like.

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Surely not? I mean Howling Wolf is going to have a different effect to say Dog Side of the Moon innit?

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Dynamite with a laser beam...

Quote ElecTrika-MixTek:

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Another spanner in the works is that my spectrum analyser ends at 20kHz - big problem - so working in frequencies beyond the human range of hearing is very much trial and error.

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Ooo, you don't want to get a big spaniel in the works, that could really ruin your day.

Anyway, I think you may be barking up the wrong tree. Fur this project you need a real growly bass. Howl you achieve this is up to you.

(I've got my coat, I'm going...)

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* Soundcloud *
* Bandcamp *

Quote rich_h:

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Fur this project you need a real growly bass. Howl you achieve this is up to you.

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Mainly depends on the woofers.

The idea may have legs.

Here's a salutary tail:

A while back I recorded our cats at feeding time who make a range of squeaks, meows, and other lyrical expressions of impatience before they get their Felix.

I started working the sounds into a piece, and the cats absolutely loved it. They all came and hung around the studio for hours with a dazed yet peaceful expression, and continued to do so any time I put the piece on to work on it.

They clearly enjoy it, and obviously respond to recorded sound. I have also seen one of our cats jump up in blind panic when the lion does his bit at the start of an MGM film. One of the other cats was entranced by a recent Queen gig on BBC4 - she was clearly listening to it the whole way through and seemed to love it, though she wasn't as keen on Freddy's singing as the instrumental sections.

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musics

I think Bach already has that market cornered

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www.myspace.com/shambolic-charm

...try seeing what they do to AC/DC's "Rock and Roll Dalmation".

They love Snoop.

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Samplecraze
Stretch That Note

Quote Steve Hill:

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Quote Dynamic Mike:

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Take any CD you like.

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Surely not? I mean Howling Wolf is going to have a different effect to say Dog Side of the Moon innit?

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Dog Side of the Moon would be perfect, you even get a spectrum analyser on the front cover!

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Not much in life worth running for. Or from.

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J90
Sonic Visions

Quote Ed_J90:

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What type of dog is that? Is it a puppy or fully grown? I want!

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my music

Quote Mike Lynch:

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What type of dog is that?

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It's an iDog.

I imagine ElecTrika-MixTek should be pleased with the pedigree of the responses.
But let's keep things on the leash.
There are technical issues with K9 frequencies.
My converters, and many others i'm sure, shave everything above 20kHz - so that rules out the upper end - 50kHz etc. You may need a Lynx or some such doggy frendly AD/DA. Would u not? Not to mention the monitors! My monitors only go up to 22kHz.

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.. is this thing on?

Quote Stan:

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I imagine ElecTrika-MixTek should be pleased with the pedigree of the responses.
But let's keep things on the leash.
There are technical issues with K9 frequencies.
My converters, and many others i'm sure, shave everything above 20kHz - so that rules out the upper end - 50kHz etc. You may need a Lynx or some such doggy frendly AD/DA. Would u not? Not to mention the monitors! My monitors only go up to 22kHz.

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Very good points!

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my music

Quote Stan:

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My monitors only go up to 22kHz.

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Does that make them sub-woofers?

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Not much in life worth running for. Or from.

Quote Dynamic Mike:

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Quote Stan:

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My monitors only go up to 22kHz.

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Does that make them sub-woofers?

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When i think about it, i suppose it does.

Quote Hugh Robjohns:

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I think maybe you need to get out more...

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and walk the dog.

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.. is this thing on?

Quote Mike Lynch:

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Quote Stan:

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I imagine ElecTrika-MixTek should be pleased with the pedigree of the responses.
But let's keep things on the leash.
There are technical issues with K9 frequencies.
My converters, and many others i'm sure, shave everything above 20kHz - so that rules out the upper end - 50kHz etc. You may need a Lynx or some such doggy frendly AD/DA. Would u not? Not to mention the monitors! My monitors only go up to 22kHz.

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Very good points!

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shouldn't that be 'very good pointers'?

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I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over
Twitter

must admit I had to do a CD for someone who breeds ponies for children I thought it was a joke at first till I got the email with a list of effects and sounds they wanted to use so the pony would not be alarmed by them.....

so there is a market out there for animals

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J90
Sonic Visions

Looks like a cocker spaniel puppy to me. (As the owner of two myself.) Yes, cocker spaniels are well recommended - lovely dogs.

On the music thing, our dogs stay well out of the way when I'm mixing. They love sitting by my feet under the computer desk when I'm doing anything else (it's nice and cosy in there), but the moment the music starts they're out of there.

Oh, and to the OP: if you want frequencies past 20kHz, no soundcard is going to do that. Even kit that says it can sample at 96kHz (or more) is going to have low-pass filters on the output to prevent ultrasonics. So you're either looking at specialist signal-generator cards, or modifying a regular soundcard.

Some years back I bought Sun Ra's Heliocentric Worlds. The first time I played it (at the correct pitch) my friend on the left there jumped up and barked at the nearest speaker. I find it hard to believe she found free jazz any more disturbing than any other type of music. But that is what she did.

I agree with the notion that marketing it to pet owners makes more sense than trying to make something that dogs actually like. In my career as a video tape op, I regularly had to run off a 2 hr loop of fish and birds doing what they do. The name of the program was Cat TV. And the number of copies I made makes me think a lot of people bought it.

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"To upgrade a computer, physically hardwarewise, is easier than making a lego dog kennel." Tex

... and just in case there's anyone who doesn't believe that dogs recognise particular music ...

Many years ago, the TV station I worked for played a program called "Number 96" as the last program at night. We used to watch it and when the closing credits were rolling we'd get up and take our dog (an Afghan hound) for a walk.

The program had a very distinctive theme tune.

A couple of years later, we were playing repeats of the program in the afternoon "soap" slot. I was home for lunch one day and was dutifully monitoring the station. When the end credits came up on "Number 96", the dog ran to the front door.

Leona Lewis has a very good range....

The 20kHz limit on the loudspeakers is not such a big problem. Most animals, including dogs, also hear below 20kHz fortunately.

But it's way more difficult, if not impossible, to understand what happens in the dog's brain. Animals should not have the same "feelings", "loves" and "nightmares" as we do. The "love" or "hate" concepts may not exist, or may exist differently for animals... I guess your track can only be done by trial-and-error... which requires the presence of the dog in the studio.

-j

I forgot --

This weekend, someone brought a dog to my place. It was a peaceful big black dog, similar to the one that Led Zeppelin quote in their fourth album.

Someone played the didjeridu (well, a PVC version of it, with a pretty low Ab fundamental), and it made the dog go crazy. Not sure if she appreciated it or not, but at least it had an impressive effect on her for sure

-j

For what it's worth, my initial research indicates a distaste for music that is overly compressed with digital distortion artefacts. Classic rock music with lots of dynamics and cool sounds seems much more palatable to them.

I had a dog which would sing along to every single david grey tune, but absolutely nothing else. He even started howling if you resighted the lyrics to him in spoken word. We could never figure out why.

I miss that dog.

Quote Bob Moose:

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The 20kHz limit on the loudspeakers is not such a big problem. Most animals, including dogs, also hear below 20kHz fortunately.

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The 20kHz limit was to prevent humans from hearing it to circumvent any copyright issues because I was gonna use 'Down Under'.

I think you'll find Zeppelin's black dog was depressed

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Not much in life worth running for. Or from.

I have the same problem with my dog. She's a hound and provides a very poor howling harmony, especially on the bends!

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iMac 20" Tiger, Logic Studio, Glyph GT050Q, Apogee Ensemble, XP80, JMP-1, Adam A7s, Genelec 1029s, Faderport, Alesis DM-5.

Have you tried some Bow Wow Wow?