Better Prank Calls through Technology

I got a funny call the other day. A guy who’d read my article about turning a Mac into a Dictaphone wondered if he could use a similar technique to make prank phone calls. He wanted to extract dialog from DVDs, trigger the sound bites over a phone to simulate one side of a conversation, and then record the whole interaction for posterity.

I appreciated the irony of being pitched on the idea over the phone. But having done many hours of phone recording and dialog editing for the DVD that accompanies my book, I was intrigued by the technical challenge as well. And of course I recalled the hilarious Flash video in which a sampled Arnold Schwartzenegger calls a hapless Gateway rep. (More celebrity prank calls here and here. You may want to listen on headphones; there’s a lot of cussin’.)

The prankster who called me said he has several Macs, but is not especially technical. So I suggested he simply organize the sound bites in folders on his Mac, switch to column view (by typing Command-3), and then trigger the sounds by clicking on the Play button in the window’s preview pane. He could label different types of sounds (questions, expletives, variations of “yes”) with different colors for quick selection during the heat of a phone call. Later it struck me that he could organize and trigger the sounds in iTunes instead, which would provide many more categorization options.

To grab the sounds from DVD, I suggested he use a streamripper program like Ambrosia Software’s WireTap. Because WireTap records everything playing through the Mac, he could use it to capture incoming telephone audio as well as the triggered sound bites.

I also recommended using an audio editor to trim out the dead air between the time he clicked Record on WireTap and Play on the DVD player. That would provide snappier response when he subsequently triggered the sound bite. GarageBand could work for that editing, and has the benefit of exporting directly to iTunes.

Off the Hookup

The physical connection between the phone and computer is trickier. To simultaneously get external audio into the phone line and record the conversation, you’ll probably need a hybrid phone tap such as the JK Audio AutoHybrid, plus some adapter cables. Injecting your voice as well may require a mixer or a more advanced tap such as the JK Inline Patch. (It was’t clear to me from the AutoHybrid documentation whether the telephone handset mic remains active during the call.)

Another option would be to record the output of an Internet phone service such as Skype. Doug Kaye at IT Conversations has an illustrated tutorial on doing that, and readers offer many additional suggestions below the article. Kaye also recommends using a second machine for recording, which I agree is a good idea, because it simplifies the signal flow and increases dependability. (I used a Korg PXR4 to record my phone interviews, but you could easily use a second computer.) Also note that calling someone who isn’t a Skype user costs money.

The Lines are Turing

Hackers have used computers for tele-teasing at least since the days of the Falwell Game, but with advanced sampling and recording techniques, the creative possibilities are skyrocketing. I don’t know if the Gateway rep really believed the digitized Arnold was a live caller, but it’s clear that a pinch of technology and a dash of psychology can make robot voices seem human.

How are you using telephones and digital sound bites?