This topic of automatically playing the releasing/setting sound of the independent brake when a locomotive starts/stops came up recently on the LokSound groups.io forum. The solution to this is relatively easy depending on what came with the locomotive sound file you are working with. There are a couple of cases. For those that may not familiar with the different brakes on locomotives this short read will bring you up to par. Service Brakes are also known as Train Brakes.
<Note>
This discussion has nothing to do with the Automatic (Train) brake. It deals solely with the Independent brake sounds.
The Easy Solution
First the easy one. In this case the file already includes the brake set/release sounds and has them enabled via F17. They are just not automatically employed. Utilizing the LokProgrammer, open the sound file, we will use the example file S0821-LS5H0DCC-Diesel-EMD-8-710G3A-T2-LATE-EXH-T-V6-R6.esux. Once opened, go to the Decoder Pane and then the Function Mapping sheet. Look down to F17 and across the page to the Sounds column. There it is, [29] GP40 26L Brake Set/Release Automatic 1. See figure 1.
Figure 1 Sound Slot 29
The [29] tells you it's located in Sound Slot 29. The only issue is it isn't automatic in the default case. The Conditions column says F17 has to be pressed for it to work. Are you going to remember that every time you run this engine?
Here's the solution. In the Conditions column click on the drop down, scroll to F17, select that dropdown and click Ignore. Scroll up to F8 click on the dropdown and select On. See figure 2.
Figure 2 Function 17
When you first opened the Sound File and went to the Sound Pane you should have the template files on the right. If not, they are located here under the LokSound Template Pack heading. Download and install them and then tell the programmer where they are located by using the Tools menu and Program Settings of the LokProgrammer software. Restart the Programmer. Now you should see them.
What we are going to do is copy that sound slot to the templates and use it wherever we want. Utilizing the S0821 sound file select the Sound Pane. Click on Sound Slot 29 in the left column, click on the directory you want to copy the sound slot to on the right (the author created a 'My Sounds' directory using Windows). The right pointing arrow in the middle should light up. Click it and the sound slot is copied to your directory. See figure 3.
Figure 3 Copying a sound slot file
Now you're going to do the opposite and copy the saved sound slot file to an empty sound slot in your Sound File that doesn't have the Brake Set/Release Automatic brake sound.
In the Sound Pane of your sound file, on the left, click on an empty sound slot where you want to put the brake function. Now on the right, click on the Brake Set/Release Automatic brake file you saved to the templates. The left pointing arrow should light up. Click it and the file is copied into your sound slot. You now have the automatic sound in your sound file and can activate it according to the procedure under "The Easy Solution".
Customizing
If you want to change the brake sound in the states of the sound slot file or the prototype's brake sounds are very different than the ones you have it's an easy drag-and-drop exercise. Remember, all sound files have the WAV files needed to simulate both applying and releasing the independent brake. It's easy to move those files around. Remember, though, that in this example the names will match because we used the Automatic brake from the same engine. With two different sound files they will usually be different. Don't get confused!
To start, load the Sound File you added your Brake Set/Release Automatic brake to, open the sound slot file for the Independent brake (sound slot 11) in the sound pane. Click on the Apply state. Look on the top left and in the Sample drop-down you'll see the name of the WAV file for applying the brakes. Make a note of the name. Do the same for the Release state. Now open the sound slot you put your Brake Set/Release Automatic brake sound into. In the list of WAV files in the lower right scroll until you find the Apply WAV file you made a note of. See figure 4.
Figure 4 The Independent brake Apply WAV file
Once you find it, drag and drop the file on to the Apply state of the Brake Set/Release Automatic brake. Do the same for the Release state. Now save the file write it to the decoder and test. You're done!
Hopefully you learned a lot with this article. In any case the main rule, as always, is have fun!
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