10
votes
Why Are Professional Sound Libraries So Noisy?
Library producer here (echo collective, echo collective:fields)
regarding cleaning background sounds -
All background fx cleaning is destructive and alters the source in some way. The reason this ...
- 10.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Why Are Professional Sound Libraries So Noisy?
I want to tell the story from the designer perspective and I totally agree with Rene's answer. I do sound design for video games. I always prefer non-edited files even if they require some extra work.
...
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8
votes
As a sound designer, how often and when do you decide "that doesn't need a sound"?
my .02
Adding sync sounds gives a sense a reality and often a sense of weight and grit to any given scene. If reality, weight, and grit are what's required artistically then the tendancy would be to ...
- 10.7k
6
votes
Making a "Gears turning" Effect, and then grinding to a halt
You need two components - metal clangs for gear hitting gear and grinding sound for the shaft rotating. Record lots of metal clangs - you need many variations and often finding the sound that matches ...
- 496
5
votes
Accepted
Video game music setup
The DAW is not that important (FL is ok to start). Since you are getting started and you will find difficult to design the sounds, you need a good set of VSTi plugins that emulate the video game ...
- 206
5
votes
Sox how to normalize volume of multiple audio files
Normalizing your audio probably won't have the desired effect that you're trying to achieve.
Probably what you want to do is load all your audio into a software application, where you can mix the ...
- 768
5
votes
Accepted
Garbling and distorting voice with (or without) sox
I may be wrong but this sounds to me like a simple ring modulator.
- 1,553
4
votes
Sound coming from behind using stereo field
Well one method is to invert the phase of one channel of the stereo signal. It's a trick long used in moviemaking. When the sound has phase correlation and definite stereo image ("phantom"), we can ...
4
votes
As a sound designer, how often and when do you decide "that doesn't need a sound"?
(As an aside, this topic has been addressed very thoughtfully here.)
An excellent question, and one that is not asked enough by the inexperienced or newly inaugurated craftspeople in our community. ...
- 15.4k
4
votes
Replicating "computer readout" sound
Each individual grain in that loop is a complex piece with varying pitch through its course, repeated fast, but with space between each grain. There are numerous ways to do this, but myself I often ...
- 3,122
4
votes
New sound designer/field recordist heading out on US tour. Any suggestions?
Well, it depends on how much you can actually get away from the show and the bus. Getting to acoustically unspoiled locations means getting far away (usually) from the highway. OTOH, during a month ...
4
votes
Can I take "historical" sounds from non-fictional movies for my project?
If it's public domain then yes it would be ok, but I wouldn't trust copyright information people add as Youtube descriptions.
There are some public domain video archives that might have the kind of ...
- 496
4
votes
Accepted
Creating the sound of a thousand legged monster! Ideas?
Right off the top of my head [& I'm not a foley artist, so you'd have to work out the details]
elements...
sharp points to feet - high transients
lots of legs - 'skittering'
rhythmic walk ...
- 7,039
4
votes
Accepted
How do I make whispering in ear sound convincing?
I don't know if any of the following will work or not, but maybe worth an experiment.
Try a delay of about 1/2 of a millisecond, if you have the capability, between the two channels, of the mono ...
- 316
4
votes
Accepted
What does the term "pumping" mean to define a techno track?
Pumping is a technical term which (for the most part) describes the compression technique used.
Having said that, many people mess up this term with various ways, others with sidechain bass ...
- 1,460
4
votes
Accepted
How to make low-tech microphone sound effects?
Things
Tubes, straws, pipes and hoses
Cups
Put things in mouth (e.q. water or sweets... don't choke!)
Pillows
Balloons (scream all you can while pressing a balloon to the mouth)
Combs and paper, ...
- 3,702
3
votes
Video game music setup
To make chip music sounding 'nostalgic' you will also need to recreate the techniques used in the old days where sound channel is limited. Like you can have only 2 square waves channel. (that was NES'...
- 328
3
votes
As a sound designer, how often and when do you decide "that doesn't need a sound"?
In professional music production there is a rule: Never more than 3 sounds at a time, more a human cant process properly! And I apply it to sound design for movie as well! I always try to have ...
- 1,782
3
votes
As a sound designer, how often and when do you decide "that doesn't need a sound"?
A fantastic question and very thought provoking discussion happening here!
Personally, I'm a huge believer in less is more. Whether it be through only adding limited sfx when editing or subtly ...
- 385
3
votes
As a sound designer, how often and when do you decide "that doesn't need a sound"?
Coming from the game audio side of things I've done this all the time. You'll often get approached with an asset list of what the designer thinks needs sounds in the game. Lots of times they have ...
- 301
3
votes
Tree Grown Sound Effect (Tree Ents in LoTR)
why not try cutting open a pomegranate and squeezing one half slowly. It's a really nice thick woody sound. Put it through some effects and there you go. Plus you get to enjoy a little snack as you go!...
- 31
3
votes
Accepted
How to filter guitar sound to create a backing track
Vocal isolation/eliminations plugins generally work on the principle that lead vocals are centered and are going to have a particular EQ range. Guitars don't really have any such standards.
Your best ...
- 625
3
votes
Serial Sound Design?
Not sure what you mean here by 'feeds into'? Beyond summing audio together there's convolution, or using one source to modulate another like FM or AM. You could check out Soundhack for convolution ...
- 4,465
3
votes
Accepted
Bud Spencer Terrence Hill - Hits Sound Design
They hit meat (side of pork/beef, hams) with belts - as far as I remember correctly :)
- 191
3
votes
Recommended sound effects library for designing system sounds?
http://www.affordableaudio4everyone.com/Affordable%20SFX%204%20Everyone/HudMenuInterfaceToolbox.html
or
http://www.ueberschall.com/de/product/162/Future-FX;jsessionid=z2l2yv6mqafztz7eqm8jo2gd
or
...
- 191
3
votes
How would one "morph" human vocals with a bat scream?
The "morph" you're describing is known as (both) spectral cross-modulation, and spectral convolution.
From what i've read in your question, I gather you're interested in essentially crossfading the ...
- 71
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