To say that the market for independent sound effects has exploded is something of an understatement. When I started A Sound Effect back in 2013, there was a small but great selection of SFX libraries available from the community. Fast-forward to today, and the amount of content from independent sound effects creators is simply staggering, both in terms of quality, quantity and coverage.
With that much quality-content out there, if you want to stand out, you need to do some thinking first
For the end-user, this is great news, as there’s so much excellent content to choose from. For indie SFX creators, the equally great news is that more and more people are becoming aware of indie SFX, and the interest just keeps growing.
There’s a challenge though: With that much quality-content out there, if you want to stand out, you need to do some thinking first.
Creating an indie sound effects library is no simple task, and it usually takes a lot of time, effort and energy, requires quality equipment, and can often cost you out-of-pocket money too (for props, gear, access or transportation, for example).
That’s why I’d wholly recommend you take one crucial step before beginning your SFX library adventure. It may seem like common sense, but I know from first-hand experience it’s something a lot of people tend to forget:
Research what’s available already – before you start
1. Want to know what’s already out there? Try searching through the vast number of libraries on A Sound Effect to get an idea. Try some variations on your topic keywords to get a feel for the current coverage.
2. Looking for inspiration for new sound effects libraries? The results of our most-recent survey on sound effects that are hard to find can be found here (new survey coming soon).
Running A Sound Effect, I’m often contacted by new indie SFX creators who are looking to have their sound effects libraries released. And more than often, it’s a whoosh library, a futuristic UI library, an electromagnetic field library, a (vegetable) gore library and similar.
While many are great in their own right, when there are numerous similar libraries out there already, standing out and getting your library to gain traction can be a huge challenge. Think about it this way: Why should someone pick your gore or UI library (or any other crowded category) over the, say, 10+ quite similar libraries out there?
And even if you manage to put a different spin on a SFX library in a crowded category, you’ll need to do some thinking on how to make that easy to understand for customers (who are looking at a large number of seemingly-similar libraries). That’s not always easy.
If you’re going to be spending hours, weeks and months, thoughts, talent and resources creating a new sound effects library, you owe it to yourself to familiarize yourself with what’s already available
Of course, for many, getting into indie SFX is just as much a passion project as it is about making money on the sounds. There’s a lot to be learned – and often, a lot of fun to be had – from coming up with an idea, recording, editing, packaging and publishing a library.
But once it’s out there, for the vast majority of SFX creators, it’s definitely rewarding to have people noticing your library, and to make some money off of it too. And the more crowded a given category is, the harder that’s going to be.
So if you’re going to be spending hours, weeks and months, thoughts, talent and resources creating a new sound effects library, you owe it to yourself to familiarize yourself with what’s already available, so you won’t end up disappointed after all that hard work.
This isn’t to say what you should and shouldn’t make, but after you’ve researched what’s already out there, you can make a much better-informed decision on how to proceed.
This isn’t to say what you should and shouldn’t make, but after you’ve researched what’s already out there, you can make a much better-informed decision on how to proceed
You can then decide whether to go ahead creating a library in an already-crowded category – or if you should do a bit more thinking to see if you can put a different spin on it, find a less crowded category, or see if you can downright spot a hole in the market instead.
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If you want to do some more research before having a go at your first sound effects library, I recommend checking out these fine reads:
• DIY SFX libraries – Your guide to your first sound effects library
• Sound Effects Survey – what people are looking for
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Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects Magic – Alchemy Play Track 4213 sounds includedFrom: $135From: $108SONIC SPELLS WITH REAL PERSONALITY MAGIC – ALCHEMY is a professional sound effects library built from real chemical reactions and elemental forces. It delivers short, character-rich magic sound effects perfect for spellcasting, magical UI design, and fantasy storytelling. Designed to sit cleanly in a mix and shimmer with personality, these spell sounds are ideal for games, trailers, audio dramas and more. Real reactions, recorded with obsessive detail.
Magic Sounds from Real Chemical ReactionsNo digital fakery here. Every sound in MAGIC – ALCHEMY began as a live experiment — alcohol burning in jars, butane growling through pipes, fuses igniting, water swirling in glass. These are true-to-life textures, captured in a lab-grade recording setup. The result? Magical sound with depth, realism, and spark..
Short, Sharp, and Ready to UseThese are not long, cinematic flourishes. This library is about immediacy — short, dry, punchy magic effects that are easy to slot into your project. Ideal for game asset design, magical feedback sounds, and trailer moments where clarity counts.
Three Spell Flavours: Holy, Cursed, NeutralNeed a healing chime, a cursed hex, or something more ambiguous? The Designed section is grouped into Holy, Cursed, and Neutral categories — giving you emotional options that match your scene’s intent, whether you’re crafting a fantasy RPG or a subtle magical interaction.
Built for Professionals, Whatever You CreateWhether you’re layering magic for a fantasy film, adding interactive audio to a mobile game, or creating rich textures for audiobooks or theatre, MAGIC – ALCHEMY fits right in. It’s mix-ready, flexible, and full of sonic character.
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Forest and Mountains features nature and wildlife sounds from California, Washington, and Oregon. Included are a number of bird recordings and forest ambiences, along with some insects, winds, rivers, and rain. Â
These were recorded over the past three years in various forests, foothills, and mountain environments.  A lot of these took place in or near Southern California’s Angeles Forest and San Gabriel Mountains, an area that spans 1200 Square Miles and varies vastly in terrain.
Also included are some sounds from Northern California, along with recordings from the Pacific Northwest.
The recording techniques for this varied as sometimes I went with the recorders running unattended to capture night, dawn and early morning. Other times I’d record while being close by.
Working as a Sound Effects Editor I’ve curated this collection with Editors in mind. Background Ambiences and Spotted FX can really bring a location to life and give it so much story and character and that was a lot of the inspiration behind putting this all together.Â
The Locations
California (61 Files) – This is where a majority of the sounds from this library were recorded and specifically Southern California. Variety of areas and different environments, mostly around Angeles Forest, from Lower Elevation Foothills to more rugged mid-elevation Mountain Canyons and then much Higher Elevation and more remote terrain. Also included are a few recordings from the Eastern Sierras and Northern California.
Washington (19 Files) – Southern WA in Gifford Pinchot Forest and various Northwest Forest areas near Puget Sound.
Oregon (16 Files) – Lakeside Recordings in forest and marsh at Klamath Lake in SE Oregon.Â
The BirdsÂ
Prominent / Specific Birds (36) (Closer Mic Perspective and more detailed) (* denotes multiple versions)
Acorn Woodpecker, Barred Owl, Black-headed Grosbeak, California Towhee, *Canadian Geese, *Fox Sparrow, *Great Horned Owl, *House Wren, Northern Flicker, Oak Titmouse, Pacific Wren, Pileated Woodpecker, *Raven, Robin, *Song Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, Swainson’s Thrush
Other Birds Featured (17) (Mixed together from various perspectives, calm to busy depending on time of day, and then closer to more medium and distant sounds.)
Acorn Woodpecker, American Coot, California Quail, California Towhee, Cassin’s Finch, Fox Sparrow, Great Horned Owl, Hose Wren, Mallard, Mountain Chickadee, Northern Flicker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Pied-billed Grebe, Common Poorwill, Raven, Red-tailed Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Steller’s Jay, Western Tanager, Western Wood-Pewee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Wilson’s Warbler, Wrentit, Yellow-throated Blackbird, Zone-tailed Hawk
General Forest (9) – A mix of some wildlife (Chipmunk, Deer, Bullfrogs), and more general lighter forest ambiences.
Insects (7) – Crickets from various perspectives and different forests along with some Grasshoppers.
Rain (4) Light to heavier in a canyon with dense vegetation, some with distant birds.
Rivers (5) Smaller detailed creeks to faster moving rivers.
Wind (11)Â A mix of calm to heavier with gusts, vegetation, and tree creaks.Metadata
Detailed with descriptions and markers and photos to easily navigate and allow for options when searching. UCS was used to categorize and various bird species are identified. I’ve also labeled the metadata with what I consider Lower Elevation (up to 1500 feet), Middle Elevation (2000-5000 feet), and Higher Elevation (above 5000 feet).  Included are the season of the year which was mostly Spring and Summer. Using Open-Tier in Soundminer you can use these to help get a bit more specific to particular environments.The Gear
Sound Devices MixPre-3 & 6 | Zoom F3 & 6 | Sony PCM-D100
Mics
Sennheiser MKH 8020 | Sennheiser MKH 8040 |
Sennheiser MKH 30 | Clippy EM 272
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Game Audio Packs - Game Sound Effects Libraries General UI Sounds Play Track 136 sounds included $10Hello Creators!
Here’s my new pack: “General UI Sounds“
I wanted to create a sound pack to cover different situations in an user interface.
I hope you enjoy implementing this sounds in your project!Making-Off
All this sounds were originally recorded with a Zoom H6 (cardiod microphone), and were processed in Logic Pro X, mainly editing the recorded material but also I used the Logix Pro X sampler.
Some considerations
1. Keep in mind this sounds can be used in a variety of situations, I put a name to the SFX but this doesn’t mean it can’t be used in other contexts.
2. The sounds are in 44.1Khz/16 bit format. I have the original files at 96khz/24bit also, if you need this format, please contact me.
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