Speaker sound effect.
 

Hello all!
I'm not even sure how to name this thread properly but I'll try to explain what it is that I'm after...

I'm looking to recreate something that has been done a million times but never by me. =)

The situation is this, a man in a car and a song in the background. How can I tweak the song so it seems that it comes from the car speakers? (when cutting to something else the song will be changed back to normal..)

Can I do it FCP? Or is there any free software I can use? I'm not the owner of a pro tools but if necessary I can hire somebody that is, I guess.. (if that is necessary.) But I'm guessing that by changing the frequency you can "flatten" the sound so it seems like it comes from some small tinny speakers?

Thanks so much for the attention, any help is much appreciated.

Google "fcp radio effect" and you'll see some tutorials.

Basically it's easy to achieve using an EQ effect.

Thank you so much Vito!
Problem solved! =)

EQ is the answer but if you also add some very small room reverb and make the bass boomy it will sound more realistic as car stereo's tend to be very bass heavy.

Alright!
Good to know Gary, thanks!

A bit of compression and/or distortion helps too. If it's from an audiophile speaker, keep it clean. If played from a laptop, or overdriven small system, squish it a bit and give it some rough edges. If its from a radio dispatch, smash it and tear it up!

And, yes, reverb is important. If the speaker is in the middle of the desert and near the camera, keep it dry. If it's indoors, far from the action or in the next room, reverb is the key to making it believable.

I was given a tip that I'll never forget: Don't make it like it would really sound. Make it like people imagine it would sound. :)

Or just play it back through a car speaker and re-record it. ;-)

Thanks Jon that is a tip I'll try to remember too!

John, the song hasn't been chosen yet and if we believe in Jon... that's not even the way to go. =)

There's a lot of truth in this.

Before there were digital, convolution reverbs, sound editors would playback and record sounds in large spaces to get the "wet" signal. They could then mix and delay the dry and wet tracks to get the sound they wanted.

According to Walter Murch, he would play and record while running the tape at double or quad speed. That would make the 30x30 room sound like 60x60 or 120x120 when played back in real time. :)