Of all the weather and environmental sounds I’ve worked with over the years, by far the most exhilarating is the sound of thunder. I decided to write a few words about this today, because it’s thunder & lightning season here in Norway and I’m looking out the window every day, hoping for a chance to record some great thunder sounds.
It’s difficult to record good thunder sounds. First and foremost because thunder doesn’t occur every day or even every week, or month, so on that rare occasion when lightning and thunder DO come to where you are, you need to be prepared. It’s no good being somewhere away from your recording equipment when those 15 minutes of thunder passes by. You need to be where your equipment is, and it needs to be charged, propped up, and ready to record.
Another reason why it’s hard to get good thunder sounds is the fact that during a thunder storm, it also tends to rain a lot. And the rain makes a lot of noise – which you may, or may not, want on your thunder recording. Therefore, being able to catch the sound of a lightning strike with thunder rumble – without rain – is frustratingly hard! I’ve found that when a thunderstorm approaches, you may get lucky and catch a thunder crack or two before it starts to rain. As the clouds are coming in from the distance, if a lightning strikes a little bit away, it may be far enough so you don’t hear the rain, but close enough so you get a good, well defined, thunder sound. That’s one of those “once in every 5 years” sound recording opportunities.
The sound of thunder and thunder storms is strangely invigorating to listen to. I think it touches on something deep inside of us, some primal respect and fear for the massively powerful forces of nature. During a thunderstorm I will – besides having my microphones mounted and recording everything of course – just stand there, perplexed, listening to it and watching the lightning strikes, with some kind of fear, combined with joy, exhilaration, excitement, nerve, and a strange inner peace. I think it has this effect on other people too.
Besides just listening, thunder sounds and weather sounds in general are of course often used in media productions. When you hear lightning and thunder in a film, it’s never from the actual scene where the actors are playing out the story. It’s far too difficult to actually get a good sound recording of thunder, weather, wind sounds etc. at same time as worrying about everything else, the acting, the direction, the cameras, etc. So these sounds are always picked up from a sound effects library such as ours, and then added to the film in post production. The same goes with the sound fx you can hear in computer games and other types of production. These are the kinds of people who get their sounds from our sound effects website.
Here at 1SoundFX.com we’re lucky enough to work with many great sound recordists all over the world, so we have tropical thunder storms as well as Nordic/Scandinavian thunder sounds and some pretty close-up lightning sounds from England, plus several other places. Spend a few minutes just listening to our thunder sounds – I think you will enjoy it!
The Sound Effects Bible, by professional sound designer Ric Viers, is the penultimate resource for any beginning, amateur, or working sound designer interested in creating or bolstering a sound effects library. The quality and depth of this book is not surprising, as Viers’ experience in the field is considerable. In addition to location sound design credits for major television networks, Universal Studios, Disney, radio programs and video games, Viers is also the owner of sound label Blastwave FX. Blastwave offers many of Viers’ 150 different sound effect libraries and 150,000 plus personally produced sounds for licensing to media professionals.
The Sound Effects Bible is a pleasure to read in that it offers indispensable expert knowledge and tips in a smooth easy-to-read manner, ensuring that beginning sound designers will understand the material while pros will be simultaneously be fascinated by the message. For beginners looking to get into the vibrant sound effects marketplace, this is book is literally a “how to” from A to Z on creating a profitable sound effects library. You will learn everything you need to know regarding sound effect types, the science of sound, hardware necessities, recording and editing tips, as well as strategies for cataloging and naming sounds. For professionals, the book serves to fill in any gaps in sound design knowledge and proves to be a great resource for inspiration in the creation of new sounds. As an experienced sound designer myself, I was completely taken by the suggestions and tips for creating the various types of sounds and have subsequently made lists of the processes and strategies that Viers suggests to try out in the future.
After a general introduction on Viers companies, The Detroit Chop Shop and Blastwave FX, the first chapter gives a run down and explanation of the different types of sound effects including hard, foley, background, electronic and sound design effects. “Hard Effects,” for example, are the most common type of sfx, ready for immediate use in film, such as punches, animal sounds, etc, whereas as “foley sound effects” depend on performace to create usable and convincing audio. Understanding these five main categories and the differences between them is a fantastic mental framework for building and organizing a sound library.
Roughly the first half of the book is dedicated to sound knowledge, hardware , and assembling the physical tools needed to record sound effects. Chapter 2 is a quick and succinct explanation of the main components of sound science that every sound designer should understand, including waves, phase, sound speed, frequency, amplitude, decibels, acoustics, and reverb. Chapters 3 to 7 provide extensive information on hardware which include an explanation of relevant microphone terms, types of microphones such as shotgun, stereo, lavalier etc as well as their applications and uses, microphone accessories, types of sound recorders, and the ins-and-outs of building a “field recording package.”
Ric Viers - creator of sound effects
I found Chapter 8 to be a delightful chapter to read, entitled “The Ten Recording Commandments.” This chapter is extremely useful in pointing out potential problems that can occur during the recording process with the aim of getting recordings right the first time in order to be efficient. From experience, I know that recording and editing sound effects can be ridiculously time consuming and any tips that save precious time are always welcome. The chapter fleshes out the particulars of the Ten Commandments, but in brief they suggest including 2 second pre-rolls and post-rolls for each recording, recording more than needed, slating every take, check levels constantly, using headphones, eliminating noise, not interrupting takes, pointing microphones correctly, checking equipment frequently, and the biggest of all – not violating copyright. Armed with these Ten Commandments, a sound enthusiast will surely be a productive and effective sound recordist.
Chapters 9 to 11 offers a huge variety of suggestions on finding the best sound locations, making the most of each location, designing and building a foley state, with detailed construction tips and sound proofing. Viers even goes so far as to outline the process for constructing a foley stage in a basement, accurately presuming that many indie sound designers might not have access to a stage or large building to build a foley area. Again, this chapter fully covers its topic and could very easily be the only resource one would need to build a foley stage or foley room. In addition, practical tips on recording foley, from what materials and props to buy to what to wear when performing foley is given in vivid detail.
Interestingly, before Viers launches into the second half of the book, which covers an astounding variety of sound effect categories and how to record them, he first address the “importance of a detailed database.” This portion, Chapter 16, lays out the foundation of file naming and categorization. One might ask, why put this chapter before the actual recording process? Doesn’t the naming part of sound effects come after one records and edits that sounds? The answer is that a thorough understanding of how to title and catalog sounds is extremely important when you are editing and producing the actual files. Because, creating a distinct naming structure while processing the sounds saves vast amounts of time in the end. For example, if you were to record and cut 100 footstep sounds, for example, and simply named them “tennis shoe 1, “ “tennis shoe 2” etc. you would most likely have to go back and rename the files to include their broader category and description. As suggested by Viers, instead, a more appropriate and useful name from the onset would be “FOOTSTEPS TENNIS SHOE SINGLE STEP LEFT HARD WOOD FLOOR 01.” Viers lists the exact elements of this name structure which include, in this order: Category, Noun, Verb, Description, Number. The brilliance of this method is that it includes the category, description, and keywords in the title of the sound itself. This means that in terms of meta-data there is literally only the need for the title, as opposed title, category, description, and keywords. If you have catalogued sound effects before, then you understand what a perfect solution this is to supplying metadata with the least amount of hassle. If you have not cataloged sound effects yet, then I suggest employing Viers’ method.
The final half of the book, beginning with Chapter 17, throws down massive amounts of spectacularily usable information for actually making specific types of sound. Termed “The Sound Effects Encyclopedia,” the remaining portions of the book are dedicated to discussing in great detail how to go about finding and recording all categories of sounds, whose broad categories include: Ambience, Animal, Cartoon, Crash, Crowd, Emergency, Electronic, Explosion, Fire, Foley, Foostep, Horror, Household, Human, Impact, Industrial, LFE, Multimedia, Musical, Office, Science Fiction, Technology, Vehicle, Warfare, Water, and Weather. Each main category, furthermore, includes sub-categories. For instance, the Horror effects category includes tips on how to create Blood Drips (add flour to water to create a more viscous liquid which sounds like blood), Flesh Rips, Guillotine, Knife Hacking at Body, Monsters, Vegetable Abuse, and Werewolf Transformation. As one can see, simply be reviewing the titles of the subcategories, there is an absolute wealth of practical sound effect creation information within Viers’ sound encyclopedia.
The Sound Effects Bible is an invaluable resource for any person interested in doing sound design. Simply following the tips, techniques, and expert information provided in the book will lead a determined sound designer toward the creation and ownership of a valuable professional sound library that can generate income for years through licensing. For any professors or teachers of sound design out there, you could literally develop an entire college level course on sound design using this book alone. My only wish is that I could turn back time and somehow have read this book before embarking on my own sound career, as it would have saved me some headaches and unnecessary effort. However, as I’ve stated above, the book is still a solid resource of inspiration now and for years to come as I continue down the path of professional sound design.
Author, Adam A. Johnson
About the author: Adam A. Johnson is a music composer who owns and operates Architect of Sound ™, a music company that provides custom music scoring and sound design for Film/TV/New Media projects both in the U.S. and abroad with clients in Canada, Ireland, Haiti, Egypt, and Dubai. Credits include the United Nations, Aquafina-Pepsico, the National Endowment for the Arts, US Customs, Exxon, NYC Mayor Bloomberg and more. Additional services include sonic branding, foley, audio sweetening and mixing, and music supervision. He also owns and operates the sound effects library SFXsource.com.
There was a birthday party at my friend’s place for her son’s dog who was turning three years old. Invitations were given to all her son’s friends and in case they had dogs, they were very welcome to bring their canine friends to the party. The high – light of the event was the barking dog sound effects which she had arranged. Many of the boys did get their dogs along. So the party was pretty wild, with boys running around and dogs running behind them. Along with the usual games like musical chairs, treasure hunt etc., each boy was supposed to get his dog to perform any special trick which he may have taught the dog.
Cute dog delivering a package
When the doggy section began every one sat glued to their chairs as each child readied his dog to perform a unique trick. But as soon as a boy got his dog on stage to perform a trick, every one heard a dog growling from behind the bush. For a minute every one stood in silence, thinking that a mad dog had entered the compound but it turned out to be dog barks sound effects. My friend had actually recorded many dog sounds from a free dog barks sound effects audio from the internet.
Although it was a free dog barks sound effects audio, the sound quality was excellent and very authentic. There was no computerized mixing of the barking dog sound effect at all. This is what made the audio such a hit, both among the children and the dogs as well. What followed was an utter riot as the dogs went crazy barking their heads off and there were a sizeable number of different breeds, all barking at the same time. It took a while to calm the dogs and resume the show.
By now the kids wanted to observe the reaction of their dogs to other the other sounds. The strategy was changed and instead of playing the dog sounds in the presence of all the dogs, the boys were asked to take their dogs for a walk around the house. Then my friend would play another free dog barks sound effects which could range from a grunt to a wail and we would watch the reaction of the dog. If the dog barks sound effects was the whining of a pup, the dog would begin to search for it.
Sounds of animals both big or small have always fascinated my techie friend, who is always trying out new sounds in his sound studio. One day when I visited him at his studio, he was busy recording cat sounds to use as ring tones as birthday gifts for some of his colleagues.
He then played some of those cat sound effects for me and I must say that it was very intriguing to find a purring of a cat being emitted so distinctly from the phone. He had copied the cat sounds mp3 file from the internet and the sound quality was very good. It was almost as if a cat was sitting by my side on the sofa.
I remember he played a couple of those cat soundsmeow for me. There was a wide variety, right from a tiny meow of a kitten to the hissing of an angry cat. Of the many cat sounds that he played my favorite was the meow of a kitten. It reminded me of a time when a kitten was caught in the middle of a thorny bush and was crying out for help.
As I was browsing through his music collection, I was startled by the angry snarl of a cat behind me. I nearly froze as I thought that I had stepped on his house cat’s tail. I imagined being taken to the hospital and getting vaccinated for the cat bite but it turned out to be one of his cat sound mp3 recorded sound being played to give me a scare.
Then I decided to give these cat sound effects a shot and asked him to record a few of them on my phone. He agreed and gave some of the best cat sound meows that one would not even hear from a house cat. I wanted to purr and if I could have made any one of those cat sounds, I would have.
I decided to play a prank on my colleagues, so I hid my phone in one of the office drawers and then phoned from the office phone from another room. I watched as my colleagues wore baffled looks on their faces, hunting frantically for a lost kitten. Yes, I set the tiny kitten’s meowing as my ring tone. When I revealed to them the source of the cat sound effects, they were very impressed.
A friend of mine was going through a very low phase as she had lost her mother to cancer. Her family rallied around her but still she found it very difficult to let go of the sad memories of the final days. Then her daughter came up with a brilliant idea. She got together all the old photos of her grand – mother, of her mother when she was a baby and her growing years, along with photos of the three of them in happier times. She scanned all the photos and then began to put them together in a slide show, along with background music of bird sounds of different birds.
Beautiful bird song
The bird sound effects were so expertly recorded that if the slide show had been a documentary film, it would have definitely won a prize for sound recording. Photos from her grand – mother were accompanied by the chirping and twittering sounds of birds which sounded more like a song of the birds. This was inter – spaced with the calling of the red tail hawk and that of the crow. The bird sounds were meant to capture the mood of the grand – mother in the photos.
Then the mother’s section started. Photos by the beach had been given the background sound of birds chirping sweetly by the sea shore, along with the sound of waves and the wind blowing. It made the photo come alive and I could see my friend re – living the entire moment. I could identify the squawking of eagles, the call of the sea gulls and many other smaller bird sounds. Their hiking trips had sounds of birds singing sweetly by a waterfall. These bird sound effects almost made us feel as if we were sitting in a cottage by the country – side with birds tweeting in the vicinity.
This was a wonderful way of making photos do the talking. It sounded truly amazing as she had synchronized the bird sound effects beautifully. After the slide show finished, I saw my friend looking happier than before. Perhaps the memories gave her the assurance that all was not lost. The sound of birds in the background definitely lightened the atmosphere and I could feel the tension lifting from the room by the time the slide show was over. I had never listened to bird sounds with such concentration before and the experience was great.
Inspired by the success of the funny videos TV show, a producer downloaded a dog barking noises sound clip to use as his next experiment to study human behavior. He made a few copies of these and placed them in a few shops in the mall to see the reaction of the people. In one shop, the people were alarmed and rushed out of the shop immediately, while the kids were curious to know as to how the dogs got into the shop, as pets are not allowed inside shopping complexes. At other shops, the results of the dog bark sound effects varied.
Dogs can make the funniest noises
He then recorded the reaction of people going into a bakery, in the mall. This time the producer placed the dog barking noises sound clip at the very entrance of the shop. So every time the customer stepped onto the door mat, they would be greeted by a sound of a dog barking. Most of them got startled and hurriedly left the area without entering the bakery. The smarter ones tried entering a second time only to be greeted by smiling waiters within the shop, who would then explain to them that it was the dog barking alarm sound effects.
Then the producer decided to play a prank and placed a dog barking noises sound clip in a ladies departmental store. As it was a holiday, there were many ladies out shopping for dresses. After a while, a lady was spotted running out with a few dresses. The producer had put the sound clips in the trial rooms. It was hilarious to see women scurrying out of the trial rooms. The dog bark sound effects did serve its purpose well and thoroughly entertained those who knew about this experiment on human behavior. The ladies, of course, were not too pleased.
The producer was so fascinated by the responses that he decided to install the dog barking alarm sound effects clip as his door bell. Now every time some one rang his door bell, they were greeted by the dog barking sound effects clip. At first, many were taken aback by the noise and the guy who came to deliver his milk really thought that he had purchased a dog. This dog bark sound effects had a two fold advantage. He never had to take a dog for a walk, while every body thought that a dog was guarding his house.
Have you ever wondered how sound effects are created? Some people imagine that you need sound processors and compressors taking up half your room. But it is not really so. In this article I want to show some curious stories from the world of sound effect design. First however, I should try to explain what a sound effect is. Firstly, it is an aural sensation; secondly, it is an acoustic wave. Sound effects are used to warn about dangers, navigation and communication. If you want to learn how to make sound effects, you have to experiment with aural sensations. Can you remember the needle and balloon practical joke? A great way of scaring someone. Simple and easy to make. A loud sound is created by releasing air under pressure emitting a low-frequency sound similar to an explosion. This explains why the victim is so frightened. Much safer than using an actual stick of dynamite for the same purpose.
Jet Engine Sound:
The first example of my experiments with sound effects is how I discovered (accidentally) how to recreate the sound of a jet engine. One day I was designing an NPC for a certain game project and I was hard pressed to come up with some new ideas. Then I just grabbed a blank sheet of paper, folded it in half and dragged it across the wall. It made a sound like a jet engine and a flying F-16. This experiment saved me having to go to an air show to record a real fighter jet sound.
That is not the last thing you can do with a sheet of paper. You may be familiar with the Japanese art of origami. After watching a Prison Break episode where Michael Scofield uses the art of origami to send information I attempted to make a “prison break origami duck”. Obviously, it turned out to be much harder than it would seem, so I tried and tried again to make the goddam duck. Having just failed with another prototype duck, I crumpled it between thumbs and forefingers. A few moments later the sheet became useless, but I got a sound similar to that made when moving through tall grass.
And now for something different. A riddle maybe? What sound does a slowly torn glued paper make? The sound that annoys you at night, but is close to you when you are hungry. A sound that comes from a fridge. Depending on how quickly you tear the paper, it makes the sound of freezing or unfreezing.
For the next example we will use a lemon cut in half. Crushing it in your hand will produce the sounds of tearing flesh or a bullet or weapon digging into it.
And another vegetable example. Have you ever wondered how sound designers generate the sounds of broken bones? Worry not, no arms or legs need to be broken in the creation of these sounds. A piece of leek will suffice. The sound changes depending on whether you brake the stem or twist the leaves. It can also be achieved with the use of a carrot.
Squishing a lemon to create the sound effect of ripping flesh
Sound of a flamethrower
As a kid I used to play a game called “Alien vs predator” with my friends. If you played it, you may remember the sound of a flame-thrower. It is rather simple to recreate, though not as safe as squashing lemons. All you need is a spray deodorant and lighter… The sound may need to be repeated, as a real flame-thrower flames longer than our home-made variety.
Making Sound Effects for Games – Sword clanks etc.
When I was making sound effects for a browser based strategy game Spellarena I had to recreate some medieval sounds, such as a sword cut. I could not record the sounds at the Grunwald medieval fair (the yearly July 1410 Battle of Grunwald reconstruction), because I was working on the game in August and time travel is sadly unavailable. I pondered the problem of recreating these sounds in the studio for quite some time. The swish of a sword came from a two-meter feeder cable, while at the same time I was making attempts to record the sounds of two forks and a kitchen knife clashing together. When I finished recording I was actually quite astonished with the final effect. It was surprisingly lifelike.
Sounds of magic spells:
Now for some magic. Personally, I love to play a spellcasting character in fantasy games, so making sound effects for a mage in Spellarena was pure pleasure. The sound of a ring of fire can be created by quickly huffing into the microphone (adding some reverb will help make sound sounds more “fantasy”). Similarly, a firewall sound is created by slowly huffing into the microphone and editing sound in reverse.
Spellarena Video
When making sound effects for the MMORPG Krai Mira, my task was to create the sounds of one of the opponents – a mutant from the ruins of a dead city, which carried a heap of junk on its body. For making the sounds of its movement I used a lot of cutlery shaken in a container for drying dishes. The sound of a hitting cap was a combination of the sounds of a two-meter feeder cable and a small pot lightly hit with a hammer.
In the Krai Mira universe we can encounter one more strange creature – a Helicer. This acid-spitting insect is quite a threat for a young traveler. To recreate the sound made by its four legs I combined the sound of scissors and a matchbox waved up and down.
One of the most difficult sounds I had to record for the Krai Mira project was the sound of a metal trap shutting and opening. I needed to use a garlic press and a large cheese press. Having recorded both sounds I had to combine them in Audacity and set high frequency (14 to 16 khz).
Sound of huge lighting rigs coming on
To make the sound of lighting up large old lamps used in cinemas I used a cigarette lighter, adding some reverb to the sound with 1.5 second decay and set up low frequency (100 hz)
One of the sound effects I had to create for the Krai Mira was the sound of walking over swampy terrain. To recreate this sound you really do not need to take the recorder out on a rainy day, or make a homemade swamp in a potted plant. All you have to do is slowly squeeze a wet rag with your fist.
Metal stacking sounds
Metal blinds are great for making the sounds for a game’s main or loading menu which shows moving metal elements. To record this sound you have to drag your finger quickly from the top to the bottom of the bind. This method can also be used for making sound effects accompanying some robot animations, such as a dragonfly robot’s wings.
Making a sound like an old recording
To bring your sound effects back to the 30s or make it sound like from an old radio, you have to adjust the Equalizer in Audacity to the middle band ( 1 khz – 3 khz ) and turn off the high and lower band (see image)
Making a sound effect sound like it's from a very old recording
Sounds of static electricity
And now for some physics. On winter days you may experience electric sparks jumping from your fingers to metal objects. To record the sound of this spark you have to rub two blankets together and then slowly move the blanket towards the microphone. You can use your own hair instead of one of the blankets, but be warned that after a few charges your haircut will look like Beethoven’s or Shopenhauer’s. After doing the recording it is advised to earth your electrostatic charge by touching a radiator, so as not to damage your sound equipment. A stronger spark sound can be recorded from a kitchen stove lighter.
Sound of a Star Wars pneumatic / hydraulic door opening or closing
Star Wars?! Are you kidding?
Some sound effects are actually quite easy to make, although most people just do not know how to make them. For example the sound of a door opening in Star Wars. You just plug one nostril and blow air from the other one. Simple, is it not? As long as you do not have a cold.
A sound of a door streight from an SF movie can also be made by adjusting the height of a computer chair or with kitchen furniture (thanks to the kitchen cabinet door air spring).
Being a sound designer is sometimes funny, because every day, even while doing shopping, I think of how various sounds can be recreated in the studio. If you have just started dabbling in sound effects or are looking for ideas to create a sound or sound background, let me give you a piece of advice. Before you start creating the sounds for any material, see it with no sounds and try to imagine the sound you would like to add to it. Write down all your ideas in a notebook, so you do not have to waste time trying to remember them.
Creating the sound effect of a parachute opening
Finally, I will reveal how to make the sound of a parachute opening, by giving you another riddle. You may not like to carry it around, but it sure helps on a rainy day. Good luck !
Piotr Koczewski
About the author: Piotr Koczewski started working in game development in 2006 as a Musician and Sound Designer. In 2008 he released an ambient music album inspired by post-nuclear SF, called “Wasteland Theme”. He co-organized in 2009 the Video Games Live concert in Poland. You can listen Piotr`s music at his website www.piotrkoczewski.com
As a sound designer, sound engineer and sound effects publisher, I spend a lot of time working with audio recording equipment, trying to capture sounds that people will want to use in their media productions, and thus, want to buy from our library.
There are sounds that are easy to capture (i.e. pouring water into a glass – usually the first sound recorded by anybody who ever got a microphone). ? And then there are sounds that are notoriously difficult to capture, and chief among them: Animal sounds. Animals really are a sound professional’s worst nightmare, because they are totally unpredictable, won’t stand still, won’t make a sound when you want them to, and generally make life hell for a hopeful sound recordist.
Even among animals, there are those that are (relatively) easy to work with, and those that are more difficult. Generally speaking, horses are difficult because their entire existence is based on moving around. They are quite literally made to move, to run away from danger. So as you can imagine, standing still with a professional sound recorder and microphone (perhaps multiple microphones), all rigged up with cables and headphones – trying to get good horse sounds is a thankless task! Not only are the horses perpetually restless and want to keep moving around all the time; they are also curious. Show them a piece of sound recording equipment or an odd looking microphone with a wind muffler on, and they will simply stand there and observe, not uttering as much as a peep. They’ll watch, consider, and perhaps silently chew a couple of times. Much to the audio professional’s frustration!
Anyway, in the horse wav sounds section of our site, you can hear what we’ve managed so far. Many of the sounds you’ll hear there were recorded by me personally. There are some horse trotting and galloping sounds, horse shoes clattering on the floor and on hard shingle, some horse neighs and snorting. My wife and I both use this rather cool horse whinny sound as a text message alert sound on our cell phones. This particular sound was recorded in the summer of 2008 with a Zoom H4 portable sound recorder and the actual horse is called Queen of the Moor. She’s the one pictured with me, above.
I’ve also recorded some longer sounds, of horse racing stadiums. This sound and this sound were both recorded at the Meadowlands horse racing track in New Jersey, in 2007, during the annual Hambletonian race for 3 year old trotters and pacers.
I hope you’ll enjoy and find some use of our horse sound library. Thanks for reading!
As a sound designer, sound engineer and sound effects publisher, I spend a lot of time working with audio recording equipment, trying to capture sounds that people will want to use in their media productions, and thus, want to buy from our library.
There are sounds that are easy to capture (i.e. pouring water into a glass – usually the first sound recorded by anybody who ever got a microphone)? And then there are sounds that are notoriously difficult to capture, and chief among them: Animal sounds. Animals really are a sound professional’s worst nightmare, because they are totally unpredictable, won’t stand still, won’t make a sound when you want them to, and generally make life hell for a hopeful sound recordist.
Even among animals, there are those that are (relatively) easy to work with, and those that are more difficult. Generally speaking, horses are difficult because their entire existence is based on moving around. They are quite literally made to move, to run away from danger. So as you can imagine, standing still with a professional sound recorder and microphone (perhaps multiple microphones), all rigged up with cables and headphones – trying to get good horse sounds is a thankless task! Not only are the horses perpetually restless and want to keep moving around all the time; they are also curious. Show them a piece of sound recording equipment or an odd looking microphone with a wind muffler on, and they will simply stand there and observe, not uttering as much as a peep. They’ll watch, consider, and perhaps silently chew a couple of times. Much to the audio professional’s frustration!
Anyway, in the horse wav sounds section of our site, you can hear what we’ve managed so far. Many of the sounds you’ll hear there were recorded by me personally. There are some horse trotting and galloping sounds, horse shoes clattering on the floor and on hard shingle, some horse neighs and snorting. My wife and I both use this rather cool horse whinny sound as a text message alert sound on our cell phones. That particular sound was recorded in the summer of 2008 with a Zoom H4 portable sound recorder and the actual horse is called Queen of the Moor. She’s the one pictured with me, above.
I’ve also recorded some longer sounds, of horse racing stadiums. This sound and this sound were both recorded at the Meadowlands horse racing track in New Jersey, in 2007, during the annual Hambletonian race for 3 year old trotters and pacers.
I hope you’ll enjoy and find some use of our horse sound library. Thanks for reading!
I vividly remember watching my first nature movie which portrayed the lives of a young couple in the African jungles and how they reared a lion cub. The entire movie had big cat sound effects which made the entire movie come alive. It seemed as if I was in the interiors of Africa with the big cats. The movie effectively captured all the sounds that big cats make. Be it the early morning roar of the lion or the grunting and growling of hungry lions, it was all there.
I think the best way to observe big cat sound effects is in the wild life sanctuary for big cats or on a safari in the jungles of Africa. It is an experience in itself and every one must go on a jungle safari to appreciate the law of nature and the jungle. Imagine coming face to face with a lion, a leopard or a tiger. Just listening to the roar of a lion forty feet away from me was a humbling experience indeed.
The other place where you can experience big cat sound effects is the circus. I remember when ever the circus came to town, all the children would flock around the main ring of the circus just to catch a glimpse of the lion jumping from a ring of fire and then letting out a big roar after a successful jump. The tiger at times was not so obliging yet he would growl whenever his trainer would crack the whip. This was actually the trainer’s way of giving him the cue for the next jump or trick. Nevertheless, the response of the kids to the big cat sound effects was always one of awe and admiration, as the entire tent would resound with the mighty roar.
Now you can get big cat sound effects of your choice from different websites that have pre – recorded sounds of different animals and allow free downloads. This way, no harm comes to the animal nor is the animal cruelly dealt with to emit these sounds. The sounds are recorded in their natural surroundings and so many times we get to hear the different animas along with the big cats. These sites save people from coming under the scanner of the animal rights activists. It also saves you the time and effort involved in recording these sounds live. It definitely is a great way to enjoy big cat sound effects.
Dog barks sound effects may be used in a variety of ways. For instance, for people who do not keep pets at home, the mere sound of a dog barking in the vicinity is enough to keep them standing at the gate until the owner of the house ushers them inside. Dog barks sound effects range from a whimper of a dog crying in pain to a happy yelp and goes on to a menacing growl of a rottweiler. It could be used as a burglar alarm to deter unsociable elements from entering a home.
ave you ever listened to dog barks sound effects in the forests or by the seaside? The sounds of the wind, the sea, the birds and the dogs at times combine to form a harmony so perfect that it seems as if nature is playing its own orchestra and manages effectively exudes the mood of nature from happy or sad to fierce. A lot of these sounds and many more can be had from websites that allow you to download free dogs barking sound effects from their sites.
Many a times, movie makers when shooting a movie in the wild, use the dog barks sound effects to enhance the impact and quality of a scene. At times they utilize the free dogs barking sound effects provided by websites. These websites are particularly helpful when the actual dogs used in a movie sequence refuse to obey the command of their trainers. Animated movies on nature, made for children often use these free dogs barking sound effects to bring alive the characters in the movies.
Imagine trying to train a dog to bark at his cue in an annual school drama. It will take weeks of training to get the dog to understand when he has to bark or let out a whimper. All the training can go waste if on the final day the dog gets distracted by someone or something on stage or in the audience. Free dogs barking sound effects are thus used in school plays or incorporated in songs or rhymes to make the performance more effective without actually having to train a dog to bark or emit the required sound at a particular juncture in a home production, without too much effort. These sites definitely save you the need to go through the hassle of training a dog to do his bit.
