quake part IV: the usual NIN-related guessing game

gerald rice (jer@nothing.reno.nv.us):

The new sound FX and music for Quake are really good -- make the game entirely more enjoyable! Does anyone have any idea what Trent is saying in the fourth track? I guess it could possibly be someone other than Trent, but it definitely sounds like him.

vassago cane (swr44358@esu.edu):

Yes, kids, it's time for your favorite game: "What The Hell Is Trent Mumbling In The Background NOW?!" Okay, die-hard NINnies:

In track four on the Quake shareware, Trent is undoubtedly saying SOMETHING! Your guess is as good as mine as to what it is. Could it be a sample from a previous album? Another conversation between two drag queens backstage? Or perhaps Trent trying to tell us that the next album will NOT be called Impossible Pain? Who knows? Your interpretations and suggestions please!

paul j. furio (staticE@ix.netcom.com):

Blech. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I tried to figure this out. I sampled it into my ESI-32 16-Bit Stereo Sampler From E-Mu (Now With SCSI Standard, just to screw all of you who bought it five months ago without it) and reversed the sample, mucked with it a little, but it's too thickly layered to pull out any discernable phrases. It sounds like about five different whispered conversations on top of each other, some backmasked, some not -- but anywho, I couln't pull any of it apart.

I think I'll just listen to it as I fall asleep and dream of moody mazes and superpowered nailguns....

norm (norm@griffin.co.uk):

...Some of it is backwards, but they've laid so much over it I can't work it out with my software. Any ideas?

adam williamson (adam@scss.demon.co.uk):

I'd guess it's something like...

"You're a really sad bastard, you know that? You've sat up all night with your little .WAV tools trying to work this out, haven't you? Yes, you have, don't lie to me. Get a life, get out a little more, stop playing Quake so much, okay? Just relax, relax, relax, relax...."

steven thurgood (steven@thurgood.demon.co.uk):

Excuse me? Stop playing Quake so much? Boy, you need to get a life. :-)

phuzzy (phuzzy@sover.net):

It sounds like there is whispering in the beginning, but if you crank the volume you'll notice it sounds like backwards speech -- and it is. Set up your .WAV recorder to record from the CD, record the first 45 to 60 seconds of the song, and reverse it. There is a lot that is hard to make out, but at about 30 seconds it is very clearly saying, "stay alive -- talk too much -- too long." If anyone can make out more, please e-mail me.

jody tamar match (match@earthlink.net):

Wait...is that the part that we tried to record, played it backwards, and it sounded the same? It was weird.