The diminished 7th chord is the most proper American train whistle sound to my ears.

[JonMyrlennBailey]

This can be a steam whistle for steam locomotives or an air horn for diesel electrics. It is a musical term describing specific notes of the audible warning device. It is the stacking of those dark minor thirds. I have heard this chord played on a number of Southern Pacific GM/EMD locomotives of the 20th century in California as well as on one or more scale steam locos in California.

This note is colorful, mysterious, spooky, old fashioned, suspenseful, unresolved and dramatic especially with Dopler effect. Most modern horn sounds in America today on modern D/E's don't sound very harmonious. This dark chord defines classic American trains.

Are there any such hornsounds assets for Trainz locos producing the dark, eerie note as the diminished 7th either as payware or free from DLS?

I wish there were a way to produced a custom-tuned hornsound to suit individual likings. Unlike a piano, there should be a bending of the pitch as in pulling a cord to sound the the steam whistle or air horn an an actual American steam or diesel/electric train locomotive.

Here is a fairly-good simulation I made with an electronic digital music keyboard, I cannot emulate the Dopler effect or bending of pitch with this instrument due to changes in steam or air pressure in the sounding pipes or trumpets as by fully or or partially opening valves with the pull rope. A train's horn works something like an organ's or calliope's pipes by using compressed air or steam blown through tubes to produce tones.

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" title="American Train Locomotive Horns and Whistles Simulation" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[JCitron]

A diminished 7th is a bit different.
Enharmonic means a different spelling for the same thing. The C-sharp key is the same as the D-flat key.

There are assets but they are not a dm7 and are made up with augmented 9ths, 5ths and diminished 2nds.

You might like this:

AirChime K5LLA

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

A diminished 7th is a bit different.
Enharmonic means a different spelling for the same thing. The C-sharp key is the same as the D-flat key.

There are assets but they are not a dm7 and are made up with augmented 9ths, 5ths and diminished 2nds.

You might like this:

AirChime K5LLA

Thanks John for sharing. I listened to some of those but I don't find the tones pleasing to my ears, sir. One of these days, I'm going to have to figure out how to custom-craft my own hornsounds assets object. Are there any good learning resources for Trainzers to roll their own hornsounds at home?

 

[JCitron]

Hi Jon,

You need to ask the folks in the content-creator's forums on how to do that. I do know you need some good recording equipment that can handle the gamut that train horns have.

 

[JCitron]

. I listened to some of those but I don't find the tones pleasing to my ears,

There's a reason why the horns are dissonant and that is to make some raucous noise to jar people's attention. If the sound was pleasant, people wouldn't pay attention to it.