I spoke with Rubén on his experiences creating Burkina Faso Sounds, his new African library:
There aren’t a lot of independent sound libraries recorded in Africa out there. How did yours come about?
This library is the result of all the sounds I brought home from my trip to Burkina Faso to shoot a video for Oxfam Intermón, a Spanish NGO.
From the very first moment the production company I work with told me that the project was confirmed, I knew I was going to be able to record enough sounds to compose a small library – and here it is!
I have always admired those great trips with people like Chris Watson or Tim Prebble going into the wild to record that bird song or that magic ambience so far from city noises. On this trip I have been able to taste just bits of an experience like that – and it has been enough to want more.
What types of ambiences did you go for with this one?
There are 99 recordings included, and they are composed of AMBS, FX, SONGS and WALLAS – so there’s a large range of sounds in this library.
You can find things like ambiences from markets, traffic, forests, a very interesting rice field full of frogs and crickets, women making food, kids playing at school and more.
The songs are mainly formed by women singing traditional songs while they work in the fields.
What equipment did you use to record it?
The whole library is recorded with a M/S rig of Schoeps CMIT 5U + MK8 into a Sound Devices 744t.
Recording in Burkina Faso
You can get the library in both RAW M/S and decoded M/S. I know it is not very common to find libraries in M/S format but I wanted to give you possibilities.
Before I got my M/S mic rig I was trying to get some samples of similar arrangements and it was an impossible task.
What was traveling and recording in Burkina Faso like?
The trip was amazing. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world and they have almost nothing. But when you arrive in a village they give you everything they have. That really makes you think. The school classes are full of around 80 kids each and they are so quiet and so anxious to learn, every kid wants to go to school so bad.
During the trip, we visited some cooperatives for women. Here, the women grow and process mangoes half of the year and cashews the other half to the local consumers and to export abroad.
In the library you can find the sound of the cashew factory where around 50 women were peeling and crushing cashews ONE BY ONE with old big nut crushers with almost perfect metronome timing! |
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When I entered the factory wearing my headphones I felt totally overwhelmed. Cashews will never seem expensive for me anymore!
When you’re not traveling Africa recording sound libraries, what else do you do?
I guess I do pretty much the same that the rest of the field recordists in here. I’ve founded a company called Labarba where I work mainly in advertising and small productions doing location sound, post and sound design.
I hope this first library turns into a large series of libraries from around the globe.
At the moment this is the first release and I have started a blog called Furry Sounds where I’ll be uploading sounds and stuff. So this is the starting point!
Check out the preview below, and grab his all-new African library for $32 here.
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Pipe Noise & Flow is a sound effects library built around the hidden voices of pipe systems, large and small. Captured over several years across industrial plants, residential buildings, factories, sewers, underground tunnels, caves and public infrastructure, this collection brings together a wide range of sonically rich material.
You’ll hear water, gas, and air moving through pipes made of metal steel, copper, aluminium, plastic, glass, concrete, and stone. There are massive flows and subtle trickles, bursts of pressure, hollow resonances, eerie whistles, and the strange tonalities that emerge when systems crack, leak, or fail. Many recordings feature broken or deteriorating pipes, full of texture and unpredictability. While there is plenty of industrial and subterranean grit, you’ll also find more subtle sources like kitchen sinks, bathroom plumbing, and everyday interior systems; sounds that can lend realism or eeriness to intimate scenes.
This library is designed to be flexible and inspiring. Use it to create detailed ambiences for sci-fi, horror, and post-apocalyptic settings, to build layered mechanical textures for machines and user interfaces, or to design unique elements for hybrid weapons, alien devices, strange creatures or abandoned environments. Whether you need the realism of urban infrastructure or the surreal qualities of a forgotten machine, Pipe Noise & Flow offers an unexpected toolkit full of possibility.
What’s inside:
- Flowing water, rushing air, and gas movement through pipes
- Large industrial pipes, small tubing, and flexible hoses
- Pipes made of metal, iron, copper, aluminium, plastic, glass, concrete, and stone
- Broken, leaky, and deteriorating pipes with rich textures
- Interior plumbing: kitchen sinks, bathroom drains, home radiators
- High-pressure bursts, trickles, drips, and hissing valves
- Tonal and pitched pipe resonances, drones, and hums
- Mechanical rattles, clangs, gurgles, and thumps
- Subterranean ambiences and underground utility spaces
- Studio performances exploring controlled flow and resonance
- Eerie whistles and howling vents for otherworldly design
- Abstract textures and tonalities ideal for creature sound design
- Inspiring source material for sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and surreal soundscapes
- Useful elements for user interface design, machine textures, and hybrid weapons
- Ready-to-layer assets for creating atmospheres, backgrounds, and special effects
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Footsteps Sound Effects MachinEra: Robotic Movements Play Track 166 sounds included, 3 mins total $54A dynamic collection of robotic sound effects capturing the essence of synthetic motion—from heavy mech footsteps to agile servo twitches. Organized into Robot_Big and Robot_Small, this pack delivers detailed mechanical gestures that give life and character to any robot—ideal for film, games, animation, and futuristic sound design. Bring your bots to life with authentic movement, precision, and personality.
🤖 What’s Inside?
✔️ Robot_Big: Heavy robotic footsteps, mechanical stomps, structural clanks, and full-motion sequences for large-scale machines.
✔️ Robot_Small: Servo-driven motions, nimble joint movements, mechanical twitches, and intricate robotic details.Useful for films, video content, and games, this pack provides ready-to-use, professionally designed sound effects, tailored for creators who need polished sounds without extra processing. The Ultra High Resolution version may contain more variations and audio files than the High Resolution pack, with pristine 192 kHz quality that ensures excellent flexibility for projects requiring additional processing.
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A high-octane collection of sci-fi engine sounds designed to power futuristic vehicles, starships, drones, and advanced machinery. With layered boosts, charged accelerations, and energetic propulsion, this pack delivers cinematic engine sounds with punch and scale—perfect for games, trailers, film, and sci-fi storytelling. Give your machines the roar of tomorrow.
🚀 What’s Inside?
✔️ Engine Boosts: Aggressive power surges, acceleration bursts, energy charges, and propulsion blasts.
✔️ Sci-Fi Motions: High-velocity thrusts, futuristic drives, and stylized engine pulses.Useful for films, video content, and games, this pack provides ready-to-use, professionally designed sound effects, tailored for creators who need polished sounds without extra processing. The Ultra High Resolution version may contain more variations and audio files than the High Resolution pack, with pristine 192 kHz quality that ensures excellent flexibility for projects requiring additional processing.
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