However, as soon as Soundly launched it was doing things differently. How? In this post by sound effects guru Paul Virostek, he highlights five killer features that make Soundly break away from the pack.
Written by Paul Virostek
1. An introduction to Soundly
2. The Soundly Quick-Start Guide
3. How to Organize Sound Libraries with Soundly
4. How to Find and Use Sound FX Clips with Soundly
I just got word that Soundly kicked off a very special offer today, giving access to the full Soundly Pro version (with its approx 40.000 cloud sound effects & more) for free: All new and registered users can use the promo code SUMMER to unlock all the pro features for 14 days – no payment information needed.
New users, download Soundly for free for Windows here, and Mac here – and then enter the promo code SUMMER while registering. If you’re already registered, go to user -> profile within the Soundly app, and enter the code SUMMER in the promo box.
1. Organize Your Sound Library
What it does: Soundly makes it easy to add, sort, and search sound libraries. It can index local, cloud, and network clip collections. Adding sound fx is as simple as dragging and dropping them onto Soundly’s window. Each library is displayed separately, so filtering results is easy. The app provides search suggestions and tracks search history. Playback – including from the cloud – is fast and fluid. A slick waveform display allows playing and processing whole clips, and even smaller portions, too.
Why it’s cool: It’s a common problem. You have some sound fx on your laptop. Others are on an external drive on your desk. More still are scattered across a network NAS drive. It’s tedious to hunt and peck across a handful of locations to find the sound you need. It’s worse when you have the pressure of a deadline. Soundly keeps all your sounds in one place, lets you search them swiftly and audition them easily. It’s fast, effortless, and, with its new 2.0 interface, attractive, too.
2. Import Clips to Apps
What it is: Adding and finding clips is great, but sound pros need to use them, too. Soundly allows sound clips to be transferred to editing apps with a tap of a button. The app can send entire clips, or selected, small portions of longer files. It’s simple: just drag the section into an editing app and the clips is transferred. Pro Tools users have bonus features: single or multiple clips can be transferred with “handles” either to the cursor location in an editing timeline or the bin.
Why it’s cool: No one wants to be slowed down by digging through folders and navigating editing app file browsers. That slows work and kills creativity. With Soundly, a simple mouse drag can take the cool sound you’ve found and send it to any other app. It’s even quicker for Pro Tools and Reaper users: just click the Pro Tools icon to send the clip selection to the timeline cursor. That makes it faster to get clips into your project and get back to work.
3. Cloud Sound Library
What it is: Soundly doesn’t just manage clips, sort them, and send them to other apps. It launches with access to a professionally recorded sound library that is streamed instantly from the cloud. Any user can access 1000 popular clips, and Pro subscribers can choose from around 40,000. The sound library features everyday sounds that will are useful in any project, as well as elite recordings such as military vehicles, too. Want more? No problem. The Soundly store offers the Freesound.org library, as well as collections from independent community field recordists and sound designers.
Why it’s cool: Merely downloading the app gives users access to 1000 pro sound effects completely free of charge. That’s a good way for budget-conscious sound pros to enhance their existing sound collections. And, when you have a little more cash or are working on more demanding projects, getting instant access to 40,000 more clips is only a few clicks away. Soundly’s cloud library makes worrying about finding the right sound effect a thing of the past.
Popular on A Sound Effect right now - article continues below:
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Mattia Cellotto’s extraordinary sound libraries are some of the most popular releases in independent sound effects – and here’s your chance to get them all at a nice discount. Here’s what’s you get:
NEW: ANIMAL HYPERREALISM IV contains animal vocalisations – from hippos, hyenas, vultures, dwarf mongooses, elephants, African cranes, parrots, tigers, pigmy hippos, rhea ostriches, to brown bears, pheasants, wildebeests, African wild dogs and many more. Features 2000 individual sounds in 294 files.
CATACLYSM is a collection more than 1400 sounds in 400+ files of recorded, synthesized and designed sounds created to support important destructive moments and add a stronger sense of extreme consequence to any sound.
ANIMAL HYPERREALISM VOL I is a library containing themed animal vocalisations & sounds, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1300 individual sounds in 290 files.
ANIMAL HYPERREALISM VOL II is a library containing themed animal sounds & vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 2000 individual sounds in 283 files.
ANIMAL HYPERREALISM VOL III is a library containing sounds themed animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1700 individual sounds in 279 files.
METAMORPHOSIS is a huge collection of recorded source, synthesized material and hybrid sounds – more than 2300 sounds total.
GLACIER ICE is a library containing over 300 high quality sounds of ice cracking, breaking, shattering in various sizes of blocks – recorded entirely in the Italian Alps over the course of two winters.
POLARITY delivers more than 950 sounds of electricity, science and technology – captured in several locations around the world, from electricity museums to science labs.
ULTRASONIC DRY ICE is a library containing over 600 sounds themed metal resonances, scrapes and all sorts of weird.
ROCKS MOMENTUM gets you more than 1100 sounds of rocks, bricks, wood logs, stones, impacting on different surfaces, rolling, being scraped one against the other and so on. The library was recorded in the Italian alps, and in Inverness, Scotland.
WATER VOLUMES delivers you over 300 sounds of natural hot-springs, bubbles, and liquids of various densities boiling under the effect of dry ice.
METAL GROANS AND SLAMS is a library for which metal was kicked, hammered, bowed and… induced to vibrate through feedback loops?! The collection features 346 unique sounds recorded through field trips in US, UK and Italy.
CRUNCH MODE & THE BORAX EXPERIMENT are also included as a bonus: Crunch Mode features 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust & frozen goods, and The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy, gooey SFX.
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Bundles The Vault – The Ultimate RTSB Bundle Play Track 29683 sounds included, 2459 mins total $1,159The whole 9 yards.
Comprised of 11 heavy hitting libraries, this bundle includes SEISMIC CORE, OVERKILL, 4 ELEMENTS, COLLISION, INTERACTIVE, SCI FI, GEARBOX, SORCERY, HERO, BROKEN, and MELEE. Save by bundling all ELEVEN in a single library.GEARBOX:
Boutique analog mechanical contraptions, steampunk gadgetry, gizmos and machines big and small.
SORCERY:
Spells, deflects, casts, blocks, beams, and more. Unrivaled wizardry at your fingertips.
BROKEN
Car crashes, explosions, crumbling buildings, earthquakes, ripping earth and metal, to debris, and more.
HERO:
HERO – Sword fights, stabbing, guillotines, impaling, battle cries, shields, drawbridges, armor, foley and more.
MELEE:
Punches, kicks, blocks, bodyfalls, grabs, slaps, bone breaks, blood splatters, and more.
SCI FI:
Spaceships, machines, mechanicals, weapons and more. Technologies exceeding your boldest visions of the future.
INTERACTIVE:
The ultimate Game UI SFX library including clicks, pops, whooshes, musical and tonal elements, and ready to use designs for every UI action and game style.
COLLISION:
The ultimate sound effects library for massive impact sounds. Stingers, crashes, hits, whooshes and fully designed impact effects.
4 ELEMENTS:
Harness the raw power of fire, water, earth, and air with over 3000 elemental sounds crafted for limitless creativity.
OVERKILL:
Unleash pure audio carnage with OVERKILL – a brutally detailed 5.7 GB sound library featuring 3390 hyperreal gore sound effects across 607 files.
SEISMIC CORE:
Unleash raw sonic power with SEISMIC CORE – a meticulously crafted 1.62 GB sound library featuring 548 impact-driven sound effects across 108 files.
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Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Four Elements – Elemental Magic Play Track 3050 sounds included, 251 mins total $149
Master the Art of Bending the Elemental Forces
Unleash the raw power of fire, water, earth, and air with this comprehensive 9 GB sound library featuring 3050 high-quality sound effects across 630 files. Whether you’re designing cinematic soundscapes or enhancing video games Four Elements delivers the tools you need to harness the energy of the natural world.
Construction Kit – 2443 Sounds
A treasure trove of raw, organic, and processed sounds including seamless loops divided into Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Explosion categories. Customize every detail with an extensive selection of sound components.
- Organic Fire: Campfire sizzles, torch whooshes, and flame bursts.
- Processed Fire: Distorted impacts and unique crackles.
- Organic Earth: Rock crashes, gravel scrapes, and heavy stone hits.
- Processed Earth: Stylized rumbles and granular textures.
- Organic Water: Ocean waves, hydrophone bubbles, and fluid splashes.
- Processed Water: Underwater whooshes and stylized liquid smashes.
- Organic Air: Bamboo swishes, cloth movements, and pressure bursts.
- Processed Air: Filtered gusts and dynamic noise sweeps.
- Explosion: Firework detonations, Butane bursts, and cinematic impacts.
Building Blocks – 416 Sounds
Game-ready sound layers featuring Impacts, Whooshes, and Textures as seamless loops. Elevate transitions and enhance atmospheres with loops and pre-designed sound layers.
- Fire: Explosive bursts, blazing infernos, and warm embers.
- Earth: Ground-shaking impacts, crumbling terrain, and heavy collisions.
- Water: Cascading waves, serene rivers, and underwater ambiences.
- Air: Whispering breezes, stormy turbulence, and slicing gusts.
Design Kit – 192 Sounds
A collection of ready-to-use sound effects divided into Attack, Bend, and Explosion categories for quick integration into your projects. Perfect for high-energy scenes and immersive storytelling.
- Fire: Crackling flames, fiery bursts, and roaring infernos.
- Earth: Crushing impacts, shifting ground, and massive land eruptions.
- Water: Splashes, fluid manipulations, and crashing tidal waves.
- Air: Slicing winds, swirling currents, and thunderous gusts.
Four Elements gives you complete creative control, blending organic recordings with processed sound layers to meet the demands of any project. Master the forces of nature with Four Elements. Let your creativity ignite.
Keywords:
Elements, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Wave, Water, Liquid, Rock, Cast, Stone, Pebble, Torch, Gas, Flame, Campfire, Sizzle, Burst, Scrape, Whoosh, Impact, Texture, Attack, Bend, Bending, Explosion, Processed, Surge, Quake, Hit, Flow, Burn, Ignite, Drop, Smack, Destruction, Rumble, Hiss, Blow, Wind, Cloth, Movement, Underwater, Bubble, Ocean, River, Lake, Firework, Firecracker, Bang, Blast, Detonation, Magic, Fantasy, Forces, Fire Magic, Water Magic, Earth Magic, Fire Air, Fire Effect, Fire Whoosh, Water Whoosh, Seamless Loop, Loop, Fire Cast, Water Cast, Earth Cast, Air Cast
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4. Metadata Editor
What it is: Soundly can embed invisible bonus metadata text to sound files. It reads popular iXML, BWAV, and MP3 formats, and writes back to the universal BWAV standard description field.
Why it’s cool: metadata’s bonus text information helps organize sound collections and find clips within them. That eliminates mental clutter, speeds sound clip selection, and help you make better choices. For sound librarians, Soundly can apply metadata in batches, too, making it easy to enhance existing sound collections with helpful metadata text. Worried that it will cost hundreds of dollars to do this, like any other metadata app? Don’t be. Soundly embeds metadata free of charge.
5. Cloud Collaboration
What it is: You’re hooked on Soundly. You’ve converted your colleagues and friends, too. That’s how Soundly’s fifth killer feature helps: Soundly’s cloud collaboration tools allow you to share sound libraries and playlists of clips with others. You can even upload your own sound libraries to the cloud so they can be shared, too.
Why it’s cool: Did you find the perfect bird ambience for a studio project? Maybe you found a fighter jet pass that’s the ideal building block for a starship. It’s easy to save it to a playlist, then email the sound supervisor or other editors your list of selections. When they have a license to the same library they can start working with those clips right away. Are you a lone wolf working on your own? Soundly hasn’t forgotten you, either. Soundly’s cloud storage allows you to upload your own clips to the cloud. That means you can access them at other facilities, or at home, after work.
These are just five cool features in Soundly. There are many others: granular search results sorting, text file import and export, audio processing, and much more.
Soundly released a brand new version last week, and here are some of the highlights from the release notes:
• Related Searches
Traversing through millions of past searches, Soundly’s AI-powered search algorithm now suggest related keywords for you. That means less time searching and more time discovering!
• Multi DB Support
Soundly can now simultaneously connect to multiple shared databases, making file and database organization even easier.
• Channel Select
A much asked for feature is finally here with Channel Select, making it incredibly easy to extract one or more specific channels from multichannel files.
• Portable Mode
Copy the Soundly application to a USB stick or similar and take it anywhere you go. Great for professionals using multiple studios!
• Did you Mean
Google-style Did You Mean Functionality helps you spell your searches correctly! Combined with Related Searches and the Sound Effect Thesaurus, Soundly’s search capabilities now stands in a class of its own.
• Thesaurus Update
Soundly’s specially built Sound Effect Thesaurus has grown and is now even more accurate.
A big thanks to Paul Virostek for this Soundly guide!
for Windows here, and Mac here.
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Mattia Cellotto’s extraordinary sound libraries are some of the most popular releases in independent sound effects – and here’s your chance to get them all at a nice discount. Here’s what’s you get:
NEW: ANIMAL HYPERREALISM IV contains animal vocalisations – from hippos, hyenas, vultures, dwarf mongooses, elephants, African cranes, parrots, tigers, pigmy hippos, rhea ostriches, to brown bears, pheasants, wildebeests, African wild dogs and many more. Features 2000 individual sounds in 294 files.
CATACLYSM is a collection more than 1400 sounds in 400+ files of recorded, synthesized and designed sounds created to support important destructive moments and add a stronger sense of extreme consequence to any sound.
ANIMAL HYPERREALISM VOL I is a library containing themed animal vocalisations & sounds, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1300 individual sounds in 290 files.
ANIMAL HYPERREALISM VOL II is a library containing themed animal sounds & vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 2000 individual sounds in 283 files.
ANIMAL HYPERREALISM VOL III is a library containing sounds themed animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1700 individual sounds in 279 files.
METAMORPHOSIS is a huge collection of recorded source, synthesized material and hybrid sounds – more than 2300 sounds total.
GLACIER ICE is a library containing over 300 high quality sounds of ice cracking, breaking, shattering in various sizes of blocks – recorded entirely in the Italian Alps over the course of two winters.
POLARITY delivers more than 950 sounds of electricity, science and technology – captured in several locations around the world, from electricity museums to science labs.
ULTRASONIC DRY ICE is a library containing over 600 sounds themed metal resonances, scrapes and all sorts of weird.
ROCKS MOMENTUM gets you more than 1100 sounds of rocks, bricks, wood logs, stones, impacting on different surfaces, rolling, being scraped one against the other and so on. The library was recorded in the Italian alps, and in Inverness, Scotland.
WATER VOLUMES delivers you over 300 sounds of natural hot-springs, bubbles, and liquids of various densities boiling under the effect of dry ice.
METAL GROANS AND SLAMS is a library for which metal was kicked, hammered, bowed and… induced to vibrate through feedback loops?! The collection features 346 unique sounds recorded through field trips in US, UK and Italy.
CRUNCH MODE & THE BORAX EXPERIMENT are also included as a bonus: Crunch Mode features 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust & frozen goods, and The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy, gooey SFX.
15 %OFFEnds 1759874399 -
15 %OFF
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Bundles The Vault – The Ultimate RTSB Bundle Play Track 29683 sounds included, 2459 mins total $1,159
The whole 9 yards.
Comprised of 11 heavy hitting libraries, this bundle includes SEISMIC CORE, OVERKILL, 4 ELEMENTS, COLLISION, INTERACTIVE, SCI FI, GEARBOX, SORCERY, HERO, BROKEN, and MELEE. Save by bundling all ELEVEN in a single library.GEARBOX:
Boutique analog mechanical contraptions, steampunk gadgetry, gizmos and machines big and small.
SORCERY:
Spells, deflects, casts, blocks, beams, and more. Unrivaled wizardry at your fingertips.
BROKEN
Car crashes, explosions, crumbling buildings, earthquakes, ripping earth and metal, to debris, and more.
HERO:
HERO – Sword fights, stabbing, guillotines, impaling, battle cries, shields, drawbridges, armor, foley and more.
MELEE:
Punches, kicks, blocks, bodyfalls, grabs, slaps, bone breaks, blood splatters, and more.
SCI FI:
Spaceships, machines, mechanicals, weapons and more. Technologies exceeding your boldest visions of the future.
INTERACTIVE:
The ultimate Game UI SFX library including clicks, pops, whooshes, musical and tonal elements, and ready to use designs for every UI action and game style.
COLLISION:
The ultimate sound effects library for massive impact sounds. Stingers, crashes, hits, whooshes and fully designed impact effects.
4 ELEMENTS:
Harness the raw power of fire, water, earth, and air with over 3000 elemental sounds crafted for limitless creativity.
OVERKILL:
Unleash pure audio carnage with OVERKILL – a brutally detailed 5.7 GB sound library featuring 3390 hyperreal gore sound effects across 607 files.
SEISMIC CORE:
Unleash raw sonic power with SEISMIC CORE – a meticulously crafted 1.62 GB sound library featuring 548 impact-driven sound effects across 108 files.
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