He’s also generously giving away 40 premium recordings made with the No-Input Mixer technique, for free! Here’s Stuart Keenan with more on all this:
The No-Input Mixer technique turns any regular mixer into an instrument which generates sound by connecting the output of a mixer into one of its inputs, resulting in a feedback loop which can be played and controlled using the mixer’s knobs, faders and routing options.
Most-famously used by pioneering Japanese noise musician Toshimaru Nakamura and aptly described by Canadian musician Christian Carrière as ‘the sound of the circuits inside the mixer singing’, the No-Input Mixer has a wealth of both beautiful and anarchic audio waiting to be uncovered and is a useful, versatile instrument to add to the sound designer’s arsenal of sound generating techniques.
By introducing the instrument to the creative process, the sound designer is opened up to a multitude of unique audio possibilities. Unsettling soundscapes suited to science fiction, dystopian and horror projects, impacts, interference, broken transmissions, drones, malfunctioning machinery, future technology sounds and glitch elements are just a few of the fruits of the No-Input Mixer.
A plethora of twisted tones await anyone willing to unearth the sonic treasures of the signal gone ‘wrong’
While a single output into an input brings instant results, it’s when multiple outputs and inputs are connected that the fun really begins. When coupled with guitar effects units or anything else which will affect the signal, a plethora of twisted tones await anyone willing to unearth the sonic treasures of the signal gone ‘wrong’.
An example of sounds created with the no-input mixer technique
Please note that caution should be applied when creating feedback loops as there is some potential to damage equipment. We are, after all, connecting things ‘incorrectly’. Also, things can get loud, very loud. Having said that, I haven’t managed to break anything just yet and have recorded numerous sessions using a No-input Mixer. It’s best to get used to using your master volume as a panic control if things get a little out of hand.
1: When starting out with the No-Input Mixer, it is perhaps best to not use headphones in case of any unpleasant surprises. With speakers, start off at a low volume until you are comfortable with how it all works. However, a limiter can always be used to reduce the risk of any unwanted audio nightmarescapes!
2: Keep things simple to begin with. A single channel feedback loop with no effects can produce plenty of great source material to work with and is the simplest way to get acquainted with the mixer being used as an instrument.
3: Use very short movements when tweaking your mixer controls, the smallest increment may produce a fantastic sound which could be missed if you are a little too quick on the knob or fader.
4: It is a good idea to have an EQ in the signal path as your mixer’s EQ controls will no longer be operating in their usual way due to the feedback loop. Tweaking the EQ as you go can help you sculpt a huge range of sounds from a raw feedback loop.
5: If you come across a sustaining sound that you like, let it run for a while without changing any of the mixer controls. The feedback will sometimes just stop by itself, but can often evolve into some really nice (or nasty) variations of the initial sound.
6: For a variety of drones, consider using an octaver, or simply pitch down an octave or two with software afterwards. Adding distortion will create harsher drones, which can easily be toned down and shaped with some filtering and EQ.
7: Science Fiction effects and atmospheres come easy with the No-Input Mixer, particularly, when delay units are included in the signal path. Try using a high feedback setting on the delay and experiment with the device’s settings, manually tweaking the delay time often brings a decent array of sounds, too. It’s also worth noting that when using a stereo delay, a feedback loop within a feedback loop can be created by connecting one of the delay’s outputs to its input.
8: When using battery powered guitar effects pedals, don’t worry if batteries are running low as this adds sonic artefacts which won’t be there when the power is at full, which is a nice little bonus!
9: Record everything! Many tones can be missed if record is not enabled while experimenting, so it’s best to get in the practise of capturing everything the instrument outputs from the very beginning, as it can be difficult to reproduce a sound exactly.
10: Finally, have fun, experiment, improvise and look at the No-Input Mixer as a unique sound generating tool you can delve into whenever you want a break from the more traditional sound design techniques. Also, playing with feedback and noise is just incredibly satisfying!
Stuart Keenan has compiled a special selection of 40 sound effects (548 MB total!) from his ‘Feedback Loop FX & Atmospheres’ and ‘Signal Interference’ SFX libraries – and he’s giving those away for free, as a taste of what’s in the full libraries.
Just enter your name and email address below to get the download link + the much-loved A Sound Effect newsletter:
NB: If you don’t receive the email with the download link, please check your spam folder. Oh, and existing newsletter subscribers can of course get the sounds too.
Cable FX 09.wav
Cable FX 15.wav
Drone 03.wav
Drone 04.wav
Feedback FX 02.wav
Feedback FX 15.wav
Feedback FX 17.wav
Feedback FX 22.wav
Feedback FX 29.wav
Feedback FX 33.wav
Feedback FX 34.wav
Feedback FX 36.wav
Feedback FX 50.wav
Harsh Noisescape 06.wav
Harsh Noisescape 09.wav
High Frequency Feedback 05.wav
High Frequency Feedback 10.wav
Hum 04.wav
Interference 04.wav
Interference 05.wav
Interference 14.wav
Interference 18.wav
Interference 19.wav
Low Frequency Noise Atmosphere 02.wav
Machine Gone Wild 02.wav
Machine Gone Wild 10.wav
Machine Gone Wild 14.wav
Machine Gone Wild 18.wav
Signal Interference 08.wav
Signal Interference 09.wav
Signal Interference 11.wav
Signal Interference 13.wav
Signal Interference 17.wav
Signal Interference 29.wav
Signal Interference 30.wav
Signal Interference 34.wav
Signal Interference 38.wav
Signal Interference 40.wav
Wobble Drone 06.wav
Two SFX libraries created with the no-input mixer technique:
Please share this:
-
The Junkyard Metal sound library includes 3183 clips in 98.49 GB. It collects the sound of metal hits, drops, pick ups, rattles and clatters, rumbles and rummaging, rocking, rolling, and scraping.
Featuring diverse props ranging from large metal storage containers, diesel tanks, shopping carts, and tractor buckets to to smaller propane tanks, crates, shopping carts, and bolts, nails, and ammunition, the collection provides multiple performances in each clip.
The sounds were performed from light to heavy intensities and captured at 192 kHz, 24-bit resolution with Sanken, Sennheiser, Neumann, and Schoeps microphones.
The bundle is delivered with Pro Tools and Reaper mixing sessions, full professional embedded metadata, and metadata keyword import files in 7 languages.
50 %OFF -
The Gut-Wrenching Gore Library gathers 712 clips in 26.96 gigabytes. Recorded from 6 synchronized perspectives in 192 kHz, it shares horror sound design elements in two themes: male and female vocalizations and fruit destruction.
The vocalization showcase screams, choking, gurgling, gobbling, teeth and biting, and breathing, each with a variety of takes and performances. Body blows, stabs, hits, and gore were provided by tearing, breaking, and squeezing fruit, vegetables, and other food such as watermelons, leeks, porridge, yogurt, tomatoes and others.
The package includes Pro Tools and Reaper mixing sessions, and embedded metadata in every clip.
50 %OFF -
The Car Destruction sound effects collection contains chassis scrapes, dragging, flipping, road rail scratching, multiple car chassis dropping takes include rolling down a slope, falling onto the ground, and impacting other cars.damaged engine idling and slow to fast driving with gearshifts, ramps, and steady RPMs from both onboard and exterior perspectives both on two cylinders and without oil and more.
50 %OFF
-
Ambisonic – Transportation is a great collection of ambisonic ambiences recordings performed at various transportation scenarios.
It is aimed to provide you with great spherical content to wrap your dialogue or main focus content, allowing you to create a conniving and immersing soundtrack.
You will find recordings such as a Train car interior, Jumbo jet interior, multiple cars interior under different driving conditions,
Bus interior, public transportation stations and much more.This collection is great for post-production, VR/AR interactive sound-design, game developers and any real-time 3D audio engine.
All files are tagged and categorized for your convenience – supporting multiple tag filtering browsing applications.A Sennheiser Ambeo microphone paired with Zoom H8 was used to create this product.
This package includes 68 Samples – 136 Files.
A total 2h 37m of content.
First Order AmbiX B-Format and Stereo @ 96Khz / 24bit.Download a Demo here:
Want to hear an example of the included recordings? Download the B-format Demo Here27 %OFFEnds 1574204399 -
Editing footsteps in audio post-production can be time-consuming. Footstep Loops II is a sound library that delivers a comprehensive kit of footstep sound effects made to ease your daily work.
The collection contains footstep sounds of various shoes and surfaces, recorded in different paces and edited to continuous but lively 30-second sound loops.
VARIETY
The Footstep Loops II Sound Library covers a wide range of different footsteps:
Barefoot, Socks, Slippers, Flip-Flops, Sneakers on Wood, Sneakers on Concrete, Boots on Wood, Boots on Concrete, Heels on Wood, Heels on Stone;
Grass, Gravel, Forest, Foliage, Dry Foliage, Stones, Puddle, Mud, Snow;
Stairs up + down: Wooden Stairs, Metal Stairs, Stone Stairs
PACEEach type of footsteps is available as a set of 13 sound files that represent a range from walking very slowly up to very speedy. Paces are sorted by Footsteps per Minute (FPM):
Ground Footsteps: from 40 FPM to 160 FPM
Stairs Footsteps: from 60 FPM to 180 FPM (up) / from 80 FPM to 200 FPM (down)
LAYERSSince all (ground) footstep loops have the same FPM paces, they can be layered easily. E.g. you can add a puddle sound element to sneakers walking on concrete etc.
CLOTHINGYou can add clothing as a layer to make the movements sound more natural. The sounds of jeans & jacket fit to all ground footsteps. Furthermore, versions with well-balanced clothing sounds of all main footstep loops are already included as ready-to-use files!
ADDITIONAL ELEMENTSSome experimental elements are also included in the library:
2 layers of floor creaks and one layer that adds the sound of keys in the pocket while walking.
TIME-COMPRESSPaces of the sound loops included in the Footstep Loops II sound library increase in steps of 10 FPM each. If you need a value in between, time-compress the file just a tiny bit – the quality loss is almost inaudible in modern digital audio workstations.
ONLINE FOOTSTEPS GENERATORTo get an impression of what you get with the Footstep Loops II sound library, go HERE and play around with footsteps online.
- 663 audio files
- 331 minutes total runtime
- all files contain meta-data / keywords for easy search
–
All sounds from this library are included in:
35 %OFFEnds 1574204399 -
43 locations from various perspectives.
STREAM / RIVER & WATERFALL features WATER MOVEMENT from JAPAN and NEW ZEALAND.
Each STREAMÂ and RIVER have their unique flows, and varieties of topographies gives each its characteristic sound – and WATERFALLS from small to medium adds nature feeling to it.
In addition, the library also features places where SPRING WATER GUSHES in Japan, and huge ELECTRIC WATER PUMP from New Zealand and more.Recorded @ 24 Bit / 96 kHz with ortf, spaced omni, XY and carefully edited.
22 %OFFEnds 1574204399 -
The Renault Master IV 2.3 DCI 165 sound library features 76 high-quality files recorded with a multi-mic setup. The engine was recorded in sync with cabin interior ambients, and you can expect different styles of driving, from casual city driving, through accelerations on a highway up to rpm ramps and constant rpm loops for game audio.
In addition to engine recordings, this sound effects library features exterior passes, whooshes and other road-related sounds recorded in mono and stereo. Last but not least, different foley recordings covering exterior and interior sound effects.
10 %OFFEnds 1574204399 -
Rock, Brick and Dirt 3 is the third of the series! This bundle includes all remastered sounds from RBD 1 and 2. With more than 100 new files recorded and designed. It’s a package of impact, Smash, Crumbling, Scratching, Landfall and more rock debris sounds. The library contains 333 files of various recording texture and perspective.
A good package to add a dirty texture to your production.
Each sound has been meticulously edited individually, All files were recorded and are delivered in 24bit 96kHz Broadcast Wave files, all embedded with metadata information for easy import and ensure fast and easy workflow.
+ free sounds with every issue: