Questions tagged [sound-effects]

For questions about the design, creation, development and implementation of sound effects in the various media.

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34 votes
10 answers
3k views

As a sound designer, how often and when do you decide "that doesn't need a sound"?

This is a question about personal observation of designer aesthetics and taste. As someone who is hired to design sounds for all types of moving pictures, animations, graphics and scenes, I find ...
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22 votes
47 answers
3k views

You might be a sound recordist if

You are recording yourself typing right now. You've just destroyed an expensive piece of equipment during a session, but you're OK with that because it sounded cool. You accidentally dropped a ...
18 votes
10 answers
2k views

Where can I find free sound effects?

Free sound effects sites. One per answer. Please make sure that you are not posting a duplicate. If you see duplicates, please vote them down and comment to let the author know.
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13 votes
4 answers
633 views

SoundSwap - trading sound effects

This isn't really so much of a question as it is a heads up. I've added a new forum to my website called SoundSwap. All it's for is trading sound effects and nothing else. I started thinking about it ...
Shaun Farley's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
641 views

Workflow: Getting sounds into your library.

Sound design is like cooking in a lot of ways. When you cook a giant meal, it's a lot of fun. But the clean-up is boring. What they say when you're learning to cook is that you have to clean-up as you ...
ragamesound's user avatar
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12 votes
4 answers
1k views

Foley artist leather toolkit!

Good morning from Greece guys! I was surfing the internet today and i found something very interesting indeed! A toolkit created for foley artists dedicated for making the classic Swoosh, thud, bash, ...
Nikos Chatzigeorgiadis's user avatar
11 votes
12 answers
2k views

What are the small bits in your field recording bag?

Yes, yes, we've all got preamps and recorders and mics and cables and hoary marmots in our field recording sound bags. But what else is in your bag? What are the little bits and bobs you really ...
NoiseJockey's user avatar
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10 votes
7 answers
142k views

How to create the muffled sound effect like hearing through walls?

I don't know what's the correct technical audio term for it. How do you create the sound effect to simulate hearing a sound source from far away through thick walls? Kinda like you would hear standing ...
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9 votes
23 answers
2k views

What sound bursts your bubble?

When enjoying media for entertainment purposes, what specific sounds shatter your suspension of disbelief? For me, it is the call of a loon. I grew up in Muskoka, which is a cottage district in ...
MtL's user avatar
  • 1,093
9 votes
3 answers
707 views

What is expected from a sound effects editor?

What are the exact tasks that a sound effects editor is expected to fulfill? Apart from choosing the effect and editing it, are we expected to also mix, place the SFX in a space, EQ to context, etc.? ...
Andrew Spitz's user avatar
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9 votes
4 answers
2k views

Advice for cutting car chase SFX

Hi. I’m cutting SFX for a car chase scene. Very stoked-my first time. I’ve been doing some reading about techniques and such… Chris Assells has some solid tips on the 5th page of this recent ...
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9 votes
3 answers
19k views

Filtering sounds to make it appear underwater

Is there a commonly accepted filtering process to make sounds appear as if they are recorded underwater It could be a generic low-pass/band-pass filter? What cutoff frecuencies could I use?
rraallvv's user avatar
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8 votes
6 answers
691 views

What's your favorite, personally-stashed 'money' sound?

Hey fellow SSDers! I've been doing some library cataloging today, digging through some recent shows to finish some much-overdue mastering (who am I kidding though, I'm nowhere close to finished hah). ...
Stavrosound's user avatar
  • 6,688
8 votes
10 answers
19k views

How do you create the deadliest sounding gunshots?

I have been experimenting with different layers to create a perfect gunshot but they all fail and sound like toy guns. What do I have to layer in order to create a deadly sounding gunshot?
Wesley Mace's user avatar
8 votes
5 answers
4k views

"13 Ghosts" voice effect

I just want to find out if anyone knows how to create the "ghostly dialogue" in 13 Ghosts. What effects are used and how did they mix it together?
Wesley Mace's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
508 views

Why Are Professional Sound Libraries So Noisy?

I just started field recording about a year ago. I initially took a tech course on GameAudio, that's what initially sparked my interest. While in the class we were encourage to listen to and study ...
Lilie Jerns's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
2k views

How should you mix / master when producing music for Video Games?

Should anything be done differently when mixing and/or mastering for Video Game music, considering it will play along with various other game SFX? Should a certain range of frequencies (or multiple ...
chamberlainpi's user avatar
7 votes
16 answers
12k views

How to make nice whooshes??

Hi! I'd like to start thread to share some secrets on how to create nice whooshes, everyone has their own technics and methods so how do you make fresh, new whoshes???
TrippsX's user avatar
  • 71
7 votes
9 answers
8k views

Tips on Car Recording?

I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on recording car engines/cars in general? I'm thinking of hiring a Marantz PMD671 to record with, and as for mics, I was going to hire a few different ...
deleted's user avatar
  • 426
7 votes
4 answers
709 views

Making a "Gears turning" Effect, and then grinding to a halt

What would be a way to acquire this sound without actually building or finding metal gears that turn?
The Glis Jackel's user avatar
7 votes
4 answers
1k views

sfx library codewords

Once your library reaches a certain size then you start needing codewords to jump to the specific sounds you're looking for quickly. This is especially true with common sounds like impacts, whooshes ...
Rene's user avatar
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7 votes
3 answers
3k views

How do I prepare my sound files professionally to share with others?

Hello. I have a question about embedding the correct sort of metadata and general professional preparation for my sound files so I can pass to others and it'll be appropriate for their professional ...
littlejim84's user avatar
6 votes
10 answers
5k views

Jurassic Park - Classic Roar

Curious. Do any of you know exactly what went into that sound? I've heard a variety of things, namely elephants, lions and washing machines; I imagine it might be a combination of all three. ~Cheers ...
Miles B.'s user avatar
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6 votes
9 answers
3k views

Suggestions for a tensioned rope effect?

Hello! First time poster but (relatively) long time reader here. I am working on a kung fu short film and am currently stumped concerning a particular sound effect. Any suggestions would be so, so ...
Matt Tibbs's user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
475 views

Recording Glass Shatters

I'm planning on a short indoor recording session of shattering long fluorescent tubes. Who has done this and has sage advice to share? Mic choices? Best way to contain debris while not coloring the ...
Jay Jennings's user avatar
  • 15.5k
6 votes
6 answers
568 views

What "Boutique" SFX collections would you like to see made available?

A bit topic of the past few weeks has been smaller "prosumer" sfx collections. Chuck made one, Tim has two out, I'm working on a few, and I know others are two. Earlier today Nathan called them "...
Colin Hart's user avatar
  • 7,628
6 votes
3 answers
209 views

How do I turn ordinary speech into something inaudible, in Adobe Audition? So it sounds a bit like mumble

Doing sound design for an explainer, with lots of character animation. I have kids and adults that needs to mumble. It's a serious subject, so it can't be too cartoony. I have some speaks and yells ...
LateChicken's user avatar
6 votes
8 answers
1k views

How would one "morph" human vocals with a bat scream?

I am producing sounds for an old time vampire game. I have recorded human vocals in Latin that I would like to combine with a bat scream. It's (obviously) for a section in the game where the vampire ...
Rebal Instinct's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
339 views

Recording Guns Indoors

I have the pleasure of being able to record a gun (powder charge only) being fired inside of a large concrete room. I have read a lot about shooting outdoors from Chuck Russom, but I'm wondering if ...
VCProd's user avatar
  • 3,142
6 votes
1 answer
4k views

How to loop an engine sound so that it doesn't sound looped?

I have this audio clip here. It's of a car revving up through the gears. I'm making a game and the sound for each gear of the car is all stripped from this one audio file. Although, I need to make ...
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6 votes
5 answers
391 views

copyright on mechanical sounds

Hi all Im wondering if there is copyright on sounds coming from different machines. This could be sounds like the buzz coming from a certain Philips shaver, the tapping on an mac keyboard, the flip ...
Mikkel Nielsen's user avatar
6 votes
6 answers
966 views

Recording experiments at 192kHz: what to record?

In the near future I'll be renting out a Sound Devices 702 in order to experiment with recording various sounds at 192kHz - and I'd like some suggestions on what will yield the most interesting and ...
SqueakyFish's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
250 views

How to Add Soft Roundness (Prettiness) To Sound FX?

I have a question that’s been boggling my mind for a long time. How do people create those puffy, soft, airy elegant sounds in mobile games? I’m not sure how else to explain them, but it’s almost ...
Lilie Jerns's user avatar
5 votes
8 answers
895 views

What makes a sound funny?

Title says all...
Si Leary's user avatar
5 votes
9 answers
2k views

Parachute Sound?

How would one go about creating a parachute sound? I've tried flapping clothes in front of a microphone and processing them.
Chris's user avatar
  • 2,604
5 votes
7 answers
262 views

What records well to tape?

I never had the privilege of cutting tape and splicing tape. However, the studio I work at owns a couple great tape machines. What sound effects do you think would sound great on tape? I know Horns ...
Utopia's user avatar
  • 14.2k
5 votes
6 answers
445 views

Cutting a car chase

Hey all, I've been given an assignment in school to cut the SFX for a car chase and I'm having a hell of a time trying to maintain engine continuity throughout the scene. Anybody have any advice, ...
Kris Griffin's user avatar
5 votes
6 answers
1k views

8bit old school nintendo sound FX

Does anyone know where to buy these things in library form legally?
Ville Sorsa's user avatar
5 votes
7 answers
704 views

Nice SFX recording mics that are cheap enough that you wouldn't be too upset if they were blown apart in a freak recording accident?

My first question to this group. Maybe a gear question is kind of a lame start, but here goes. I've been field recording for quite some time and have acquired over the years some Neumanns, DPAs, ...
Justin P's user avatar
  • 5,354
5 votes
3 answers
3k views

How can I create, or where can I find a decent neck breaking sound?

So I am currently busy doing the sound design on a student film which has a character snapping another character's neck with her hands. Thus far I have cut in a sound effect that I found of someone ...
Gaelan's user avatar
  • 53
5 votes
4 answers
2k views

What's Your Preferred Method of Pitch-Shifting?

A question in multiple parts: First off, we're all recording at the highest bit and sample rates possible (right?) in order to extend the use of the sounds we capture. The opportunity to make bigger, ...
Steve Urban's user avatar
  • 6,029
5 votes
3 answers
398 views

How long do you usually take on a effect/on a track?

I've always wondered how long it took other sound designers to finish a single sound effect. Sure there are those 2 min wonders, but I know sometimes a sound effect can be so frustratingly obscure (I ...
Amar's user avatar
  • 144
5 votes
5 answers
454 views

Tips for recording/designing ball kicks

I need a bunch of sounds of rugby balls being kicked. I need big, I need small, and everything in between. In the movie, the kicks always happen on the field outdoors. I have an idea as to how I ...
Andrew Spitz's user avatar
  • 6,311
5 votes
3 answers
726 views

Sound Librarian (The Job-Title, Not The Software)

What is the modern definition of a Sound Librarian? Do studios / houses still hire Sound Librarians, or have the responsibilities simply fallen to the sound effects editing team as a whole? In my ...
Steve Urban's user avatar
  • 6,029
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Favorite plug-ins for building creature vocals

Besides the obvious like pitch shift, I have a few favorites such as Prosoniq's Morph and PiWarp, iZotope Spectron, and GRM tools as well as some of the Pluggo suite. What are your favorite plug-ins ...
Tyler's user avatar
  • 590
5 votes
2 answers
509 views

Do you know other wave equations?

I know that if we run these formulas on some software like MatLab, we can obtain the waveforms of some effects: - Ping wave: f(t) = sin(2*pi*t*f) * exp(-t*4) f(t) = sin(2*pi*t*f) * exp(-t*4) * (1 - ...
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