Subliminal message

Hello I am using windows 10 and I want to make a subliminal recording however how do I make it so that the spoken Affirmations are 17 dB, or lower. and the music (background) is at -37.52 decibels and I also want the affirmations to keep repeating under the background music ?

The repeating thing isn’t too hard. Open or record your message. Drag-select the performance and Copy.

End > Paste > End > Paste…etc. That will produce a series of message repetitions.

Screen Shot 2021-07-28 at 1.36.00 PM.png
Give Up Smoking Give Up Smoking Give Up Smoking Give Up Smoking

Open your foreground music so it’s right under your message. If you did it right, they will both play at once.

Select and SOLO the foreground music. Effect > Loudness Normalization > RMS -20dB.

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…or whichever value you like and whichever loudness standard you want. There are two standards. LUFS and RMS.

Select and SOLO the repeating message. Effect > Loudness Normalization > RMS -20dB, or whichever value you want.

Remove the SOLOs and play the combination. That’s what the show is going to sound like.

File > Export in the format and setting of your choice. Audacity will permanently smash the two tracks together, forever.

However. You are loudly warned NOT to use MP3 for the exported show. The MP3 format creates subliminal distortions and you can’t stop it.

Koz

You can get into simple trouble with this technique because if you get the music volume where you want it, it’s possible it may exhibit clipping and peak distortions. If you do get little red bars in the song (View > Show Clipping), then you can apply gentle limiting to the track.

Select the music track > Effect > Limiter.

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Limiting to -1dB should keep you out of trouble and you should not be able to hear it working.

Koz

What kind of music are you going to use for the foreground? Artsy yoga/meditation stuff? John Philip Sousa?

I always wondered if you could pull off a meditation to “Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Koz

While I agree with the Stars and Stripes Koz. I was thinking about using maybe the subtle sound of a stream or a really light rainstorm without thunder

Prime Rorschach-audio territory.

This is getting better and better. Soft spring rain in the trees. I thought this is how it should be done all along.

Although since it doesn’t rain here and deciduous trees are few and far between, I would go with this.

https://www.kozco.com/pix/ZumaBeach-3K.jpg

If you have trouble with any of those tools, post back.


Koz

how do I make it so that the spoken Affirmations are 17 dB, or lower. and the music (background) is at -37.52 decibels

These are negative values so the music would be quieter than the affirmation (and truly in the background).

Ok Once recorded, drop the volume of your affirmation subliminal track to around -17 dB, or lower. and the music (background) is at -37.52 decibels,It needs to be barely audible in comparison with your foreground audio would this work

Ok this is getting monotonous all I want to do is make 2 recordings. The First one being the affirmations @ 17 dB and the background music @. 35 Decibels than hide the affirmations within the music or whatever sounds I choose to use why is that so hard to accomplish ?

When dealing with digital audio, dB levels are negative because they are relative to “full scale” (the full height of a track).
0 dB = Full height of a track
-6 dB = half the height of the track
-12 dB = quarter of the height of the track
-18 dB = one eighth of the height of the track
-24 dB = on sixteenth of the height of the track

“17 dB” (positive 17) is not a valid level because it would be many times bigger than the height of a track.

Ok now how would I make the music ie the foreground 20 decibels above the subliminal affirmations which should barely be able to be heard if the foreground is 20 decibels above the hidden subliminal affirmations that being the case at what decibels should the affirmations be and how would I accomplish this

I wonder if we’re just talking past each other. There are positive dB values. They’re Sound Pressure Levels or SPL.

Real world things are measured in dB-SPL. Planes taking off, cars driving by, orchestras, discos, etc. Zero dB-SPL in this case is sound so quiet nobody can hear it. Sounds work up from there in positive values. Massive explosions can have a valid dB-SPL value.

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Those three sentences at the top have simple dashes, they do not indicate negative values. That was an unfortunate choice of English composition.

There are no direct relationships between the negative electronic numbers and the free-air positive numbers. If you are trying to work in dB-SPL, then it’s would be terrifically handy to have an SPL sound meter.

That’s mine.

Note the A and C switch. There’s two (or more) different ways to measure Sound Pressure Level. C Weighing dB(c) is more or less “measure everything whether anyone can hear it or not.”

A Weighing dB(a) pays attention to sounds people are sensitive to. Legal and hazardous sound exposure laws are generally written in A.

Did I hit it?

Koz

There is at least one Sound Pressure Level meter app for an iPhone.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/decibel-x-db-sound-level-meter/id448155923

But it does come with a warning.

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For brief explanation, dB(z) is the one that really does measure everything from earthquake waves and thunder at the low end to bat mating calls, dolphins, and hummingbirds at the high.

Koz

Any minute now I’m going to remember where I put my sound level meter…

Koz

Got it. Mine will only provide real measurements down to 60dB-SPL. Quiet Conversations. You probably need to measure down into whispers which would come in at around 30dB-SPL.

I know nothing about the iPhone App. Perhaps someone will post.

Koz

So basically all I have to do is buy a decibel meter software make a recording of my affirmations play back the affirmations and use the decibel meter to see if I am at my desired decibel level of 17 decibals. And than play the background music and when the digital decibel meter reads 37 decibals hit the record button would that work ?

Actually, the Sound Pressure meter would be used to make sure the recording is being played to the subject/patient properly. I doubt you could make a good recording of a 17dB SPL performance. That’s too quiet.

You might be able to do it this way.

Record or produce the masking/foreground sound so the peaks on the Audacity recording meter tip up into the -6dB to -10dB range. That should give you a good recording with no overloads (too loud) or background noise (too quiet) problems.

Then produce the message in the next track down at that same volume and duplicate it as above in this message thread. Then select the message and Effect > Amplify > Amplification -20 (top number) > OK. This number would be the desired difference between the foreground and background volumes. The message volume should drop 20dB. The waves on the timeline should almost vanish.

Export to the file of your choice and Audacity will mix the two tracks.

When you play the file to the subject/patient, use the sound meter to set the player volume so the music or foreground sound presents at 37.52 dB-SPL and the message should arrive 20dB quieter than that.

I would probably make a test with five seconds of just music and then five seconds of just message to make sure the difference in volume has been preserved. Then play the mixture for the actual show.

Also, as above, my meter will not do this because the quietest it will measure is 60dB SPL. Human speech in free air.

Also, you’re never going to hit 37.52dB-SPL. The best you’re going to do is approximately 37-ish. The Spring Rain In The Trees / Ocean Crashing is going to be constantly moving. Nature doesn’t lend itself to precise engineering measurements.

Koz

As I think about this (always dangerous), you’re going to have trouble applying the sound to the subject/patient. All of these sound file playbacks and precise sound adjustments are based on having a dead quiet room. Nobody has that. As I sit here typing this, I got the obvious keyboard noises, the refrigerator compressor, two mechanical clocks, a noisy lamp dimmer, the stupid dog barking up the street, cars going by, and jets going over.

New Users trying to read for audiobook publication at home always have background noise problems.

People sleep better in Sleep Study Laboratories than they do in their noisy bedroom at home.

Your Stop Smoking Stop Smoking Stop Smoking Stop Smoking message hasn’t got a chance.

Koz

That’s much easier to do.

Rephrasing this question: “How do I make the speech recording 20 dB below the foreground?”

You will need two audio tracks in the Audacity project. I’ll refer to them as “foreground” and “background”.
Since you are referring to “how loud they sound (subjectively)”, we will use “LUF” measurement rather than “peak”. (LUF is a way to measure average loudness, whereas “Peak dB” measures the instantaneous maximum amplitude)

  1. Apply the “Loudness Normalization” effect, set at “-23 LUF” to the foreground track. (Loudness Normalization - Audacity Manual)
  2. Apply the “Loudness Normalization” effect, set at “-43 LUF” to the background track (20 dB lower)
  3. Select both tracks
  4. “Tracks menu > Mix > Mix and Render”
  5. Apply “Normalize” to the mix track, set to -1 dB (Normalize - Audacity Manual). This ensures that the mix is a good volume but not so loud that it distorts.
  6. Export in your preferred format (Example: “File menu > Export > Export as WAV”)