Game Audio Glossary Asbjoern Andersen


There are lots of disciplines involved in game development - and figuring out how they relate to your work in game audio can be a bit of a challenge, especially when you're just starting out. To help give you a better understanding of the various roles in relation to game audio, Ashton Mills has written an excellent, straightforward glossary, and he's kindly allowed us to share it here on the blog:
Written by Ashton Mills and reprinted with his permission
Please share:
 

Speaking the game development ‘language’

I often get contacted by people who are interested in getting into game audio for some advice on starting up and moving forward which is great, and although I’ve only got a few years under my belt, I’m keen to attempt to help where I can because I was given so much fantastic input from the game audio community when I was trying to get my foot in the door. I believe that language is at the core of everything we do in life, and so much of learning, whether it’s a new skill or a craft we’ve been honing for many years, is speaking the ‘language’ of that subject.

For working in the games industry this includes specific game-dev-related terminology but also an understanding of how all the bits fit together. This is often overlooked by aspiring audio folks in favour of focusing on the development of the hard skills you need to do the craft. But game development is a multi-disciplinary field, and thus a great deal of communication between different teams is required make games happen.

Understanding of how all the bits fit together […] is often overlooked by aspiring audio folks in favour of focusing on the development of the hard skills you need to do the craft

Thus, a big part of being experienced is actually about having the language to communicate with people. You pick so much of this language passively when you start working in a studio, but it’s actually very important to have a grasp of some it in the early days of your journey into the industry so that are able to have conversations and connect with people.

It can be hard to learn the language on your own, because you need to hear people use words and phrases that you don’t know before you can look them up: you don’t know what you don’t know. I though it might be interesting and helpful to put together a bit of a glossary of terms, things and job roles, and how they relate you as a game audio professional. I’ve ambitiously put ‘Part 1’ in the title in the hope that I’ll have the time to do other parts, with a few different glossaries that go over different areas. This first one is about disciplines other than audio, and how what they do relates to your role in sound.
 

Game Development roles and how they relate to audio

This is based on my own experiences. Different companies work in different ways, and even different game teams within the same studio will differ in how they work and how there are structured. This is more focussed on mid to large sized game studios rather than small indie teams where you have a small number of people wearing loads of hats. It is worth noting as well that of course all disciplines relate to all other disciplines in some respect, but I’ve outlined the key ones that come up in relation to the day-to-day life of an in-house game audio designer. If you work in one of these disciplines and my description of your role is offensively over-simplified: my apologies in advance!

 

 

Game Designer:

 

The Game Designer’s role in game development: These folks work on the core fabric of the game. Their work defines what all the other creative and technical disciplines will do. On a high level they will do things like decide on direction and vision of the game, design puzzles, combat systems, character classes etc. On a lower level things like how much damage a weapon does and what it looks and sounds like, how fast your character moves, the layout of the controls etc.

How it relates to game audio: A huge number of decisions made by game designers will inform your work as an audio designer. They will be the go-to person to discuss what things need to sound like and in many ways your role is to bring sound to their vision of the game.


↑ Back to top

 

VFX Artist:

 

The VFX Artist’s role in game development: They make all the pretty stuff that pops up on screen: explosions, muzzle flash, little puffs of debris behind players’ footsteps, bits of highlighting to draw your attention to things, magic spells etc, numbers that popup on screen to show how much damage you dealt etc.

How it relates to game audio: There is a very close link between VFX and audio. What one does will heavily influence the other, and they tend to go hand in hand. This means to need to be communicating a lot to coordinate what you’re doing, and negotiating access to the files as you’re often needing working on the same things around the same time.


↑ Back to top

 

Localisation:

 

Localisation’s role in game development: Translates the game into different languages.

How it relates to game audio: If your game has localised VO, obviously you’ll need to work with the loc team. Even if there’s only one language voiced, if you end up editing any scripts in VO sessions, the loc team will need to know so they can edit the subtitles.


↑ Back to top

 

Animator:

 

The Animator’s role in game development: They make game object move.

How it relates to game audio: The link between animation and audio is crucial. The majority of SFX in game (in everything I’ve worked on at least) are triggered from animations. For that you’ll need write access to animation sequence files so you need to negotiate with animators as you might not be able to work on the same files at the same time. For most things it’s not possible to do a proper audio pass until you’ve got the animation for the respective job, and if that animation changes at all you need to iterate on the audio again so that everything stays in sync.

TL;DR: get to know the animators well because you need to communicate a lot.


↑ Back to top

 

Narrative Designer:

 

The Narrative Designer’s role in game development: They write the dialogue and the stories and the lore of the game.

How it relates to game audio: If your audio design role involves working on VO then there is back-and-forth with narrative designers, from higher level things like casting characters and helping to decide on game hooks for dialogue trees down to them sitting in on VO sessions to help actors with how to pronounce and deliver the dialogue they wrote.


↑ Back to top

 

Producer:

 

The Producer’s role in game development: Organises and manages the pipeline, so that everybody is working on the right things at the right time. Uses a project management tool (JIRA) to oversee what everybody is up to and keep things moving forward.

How it relates to game audio: As an audio designer your work on a game will need to be broken down into potentially thousands of smaller tasks, and for many of these you will be depending on somebody else to finish their work before you can start yours. Producers are there to minimise any blockers and make sure everybody can work effectively on whatever is the highest priority at the time, and manage deadlines and the break down of projects into manageable chunks.


↑ Back to top


Popular on A Sound Effect right now - article continues below:


Trending right now:

  • The Zombie Apocalypse has arrived, and the virus is spreading fast. This comprehensive sound library features 20,000 high quality zombie sounds, making it the most complete zombie sound collection ever released.

    Expert Vocalizations
    In today’s films and video games, zombies have four distinct vocal archetypes. The renowned creature voice talents from The Monster Factory have expertly performed all these vocalizations, covering every genre of zombie imaginable—from the fast-paced, ultra-rabid freshly infected to the slow, hauntingly wailing undead. Our team has been trusted by AAA video game companies for over 15 years, contributing creature vocalizations to games like Star Wars Outlaws, Dead by Daylight, Until Dawn, Hellblade 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, and many more. Their expertise in creating immersive audio nightmares is highly sought-after in the industry.

    More Actions and Variations
    Unlike typical sound libraries that limit diversity by offering only a few choices, Zombie Apocalypse delivers a wider range of actions and variations. With more options for nuanced performances, you can ensure that the sounds match every movement and action of your characters. The Zombie Apocalypse library covers a wide range of actions and intensity level, including:

    • Breathing, Walking, Running
    • Idle, Detection, Attacks
    • Pain & Death sequences
    • Biting, Chewing, Choking, and much more!

    For the full list of actions, click here.

    Voice Layering Options
    For greater customization, we recorded each action with a consistent phonetic script, ensuring that different voice techniques can be perfectly layered together. You can mix 2, 3, or even 4 different voice techniques, giving you endless possibilities to create unique zombie sounds or even non-zombie creatures. Though designed primarily for zombies, this library’s layering capabilities make it versatile enough to design an array of creatures and monsters. It’s the most flexible collection of creature vocalizations available.

    Distant Microphone Recording
    While recording, we used a second Sanken CO-100K microphone positioned 3 meters away from the first, adding depth and nuance to the recordings. These distant microphone audio files will help you create richer ambiances, ensuring that not all zombies sound the same or come from the same distance.

    Unparalleled Level of Audio Quality for Unparalleled Level of Terror
    Recorded at Tone Studio in Montreal by James Duhamel, the Zombie Apocalypse library offers pristine audio fidelity with a 192 kHz/24-bit sample rate. This, combined with the talents of trusted voice actors and the increased variety of actions and variations, the layering option to keep your listeners immersed and on edge, makes Zombie Apocalypse the most complete and unique sound library on the market. If it is not the first zombie sound library you have bought, this one will definitely be your last.

    Rich Metadata Embedded
    Every file comes with UCS naming and detailed metadata, including file descriptions and keywords, ensuring that you can quickly find the right sounds for your project.

  • The ROCKS Library is a collection of more than 700 designed rock and stone sound effects, ready to use.
    From single stone impacts to large heavy collapsing rocks, avalanches, rockslides sounds, rolling and falling stones, debris sounds….

    Originally recorded at 192 kHz with two Sennheiser MKH8040, a Sanken CO-100K and a Sound devices Mixpre 6. Delivered at 96Khz.

    Each sound file has been carefully named and tagged for easy search in Soundminer and is Universal Category System (UCS) compliant.

    (see the full track list below).

  • This sound library was carefully recorded, processed and crafted to offer a unique toolset for your ice-cold freezing design needs.

    Great for fantasy genre with ice based magic, enchantment and supernatural elements, shining motion graphics, time lapse and flow motion freeze sequences.

    Bonus Aztec death whistle recordings processed by glass and icy textures.

    This Sound Library is a part of the Slava Pogorelsky – Complete Bundle.

    WHAT SOUND PROFESSIONALS SAY:

    Victor Mercader – AAA Sound Designer (Apex Legends)
    “I find myself continuously using Slava’s SFX libraries to blend it’s pristine and detailed sound designs into my own sounds. They always add that cutting edge I am missing and make my sound designs more unique and pristine.”

    Enos Desjardins – Sound Designer/Sound Effects Editor (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Black Mirror)
    “Slava has been creating some really cool libraries which I find myself using time and again. Really high quality recordings to start with but then the cool processing he has used for example in his cinematic whoosh libraries really stand out. They are not just your standard generic whoosh sounds but are loaded with character and have a unique feel to them that is really fresh and cuts through in the nicest of ways.”

    Bjørn Jacobsen – AAA Sound Designer (CyberPunk 2077, HITMAN, DARQ)
    “Slava has for several years made high quality sound effects for me to play with. I use his sound libraries across multiple projects as lego blocks of my creations.”

    Ginno Legaspi – SoundBytes Music Magazine‎
    “As far as the sound goes ‘Cinematic Magical Ice’ is both beautiful and mystical. I happen to like the icy textures that are oozing with coldness. Overall, this sound library boasts a good variety of effect samples ready to drop in various cinematic projects.”

    Yarron Katz – AAA Composer and Sound Designer
    “Slava makes some wonderful libraries. He’s relatively new on the scene and his libraries have come to critical acclaim. He takes some general ideas, like whooshes and he injects some extremely revolutionary and innovative ideas to them, so you’re not getting another whoosh library – you’re getting something very unique, very fresh. He brings some wonderful ideas to the table.”

  • Rock / Stone Sound Effects Rocks Momentum Play Track 1100+ sounds included $37

    The Rocks Momentum sound effects library 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. Defective construction materials were used for the recording of bricks, roofing tiles, cement blocks etc.

    Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free:
    This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.

Latest releases:

  • Motorcycle Sound Effects Scooters Play Track 197+ sounds included, 164 mins total $99

    SCOOTERS features various sound effects recorded from 7 different scooters, ranging from general scooters to a scooter with a modified exhaust. An old two-stroke scooter with high-pitched brake squealing sounds is also included, along with on-board riding sounds (including revving and speeding), pass-bys, idling, approaching, pull-away, engine cranking, and varied mechanism sounds. SCOOTERS sound library helps you create different types of scenes with scooter riding.

    The recorded scooters include:

    ・KYMCO VJR 110
    ・YAMAHA BW’S 125
    ・YAMAHA BW’S R 125
    ・YAMAHA FORCE 155
    ・YAMAHA Super Four (with a modified exhaust)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 (Two-stroke scooter)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 FI

    This library includes total 197 files, consisting of 170 mono files and 27 stereo files recorded in ORTF at 96 kHz. Approx. 2 hour and 44 minutes total.

    Certainly, this library was carefully tagged with rich Soundminer metadata, including marks in the recordings highlighting interesting sounds.

    All the recordings were recorded, edited and mastered with love and care.

  • City Life Sound Effects Quiet Streets 3d Play Track 100 sounds included, 580 mins total From: $135 From: $78

    Quiet Streets 3D is the latest chapter in Articulated’s Quiet Streets series, offering a meticulously crafted collection of quiet urban ambiences. Designed with both creativity and precision in mind, this library captures the essence of urban stillness through the advanced Schoeps 3D ORTF recording technique, resulting in multi-dimensional soundscapes that reveal both horizontal and vertical spatial details.

    This library features 100 files delivered at 96kHz/24-bit. With a total size of 74.8 GB and over 9 hours and 40 minutes of carefully curated ambiences, Quiet Streets 3D is a comprehensive resource for creating immersive urban soundscapes.

    A Global Journey Through Quietude

     

    The recordings span cities across three continents, capturing the unique characteristics of urban environments in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bangkok, Naples, Kuala Lumpur, Montreal, Regensburg, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Strasbourg, Singapore, and more. Each location offers its own subtle yet distinct textures, from the hushed buzz of a late-night street in Bangkok to the subdued murmurs of a Parisian alley at dawn.

    A Commitment to Quality

     
    Over two years, our team travelled to these cities to document quiet moments in urban life. Recordings were made at various times of day and across seasons, capturing the interplay of natural and environmental sounds. The ambiences feature layers of biophony (birdsong, rustling leaves), geophony (wind, distant rain), and faint traces of anthropophony (passing footsteps, distant traffic). Care was taken to minimize intrusive noises, ensuring that these recordings integrate seamlessly into projects that require clarity for dialogue or sound effects. Note: at times some distinctive authentic events were kept in order to give the choice for the editor to use them in their projects. These are tagged as marker on the spectrogram.

    A Versatile Tool for Storytelling

     
    The library’s 8-channel 3D ORTF format provides an intricate sense of space, making it ideal for surround sound configurations in film, video games, and immersive media. For those working in stereo, we’ve included a high-quality downmixed version of every file, offering flexibility without compromising quality.

    Recorded with the acclaimed Schoeps 3d ORTF system, it has a total of 8 discreet channels, 4 on the lower plane arranged in 2 pair of ORTF similar to a IRT-Cross, and doubled with a higher plane of 4 more microphones. The channel layout of the sound recorded and delivered is as this: L R Ls Rs hL hR hLs hRs (whereas h stand for high). Learn more about this configuration here: https://schoeps.de/en/products/surround-3d/ortf-3d/ortf-3d-outdoor-set.html

    Every file is embedded with UCS-compliant metadata, allowing for intuitive searching and streamlined integration into your workflow. The metadata includes detailed descriptors, location names, and environmental characteristics, making it easy to find the perfect ambience for any scene.

    A Timeless Collection for Any Project

     
    Whether you need the intimate quiet of a European alley or the expansive stillness of an Asian metropolis, Quiet Streets 3D provides a rich palette of urban soundscapes. This library is not just a collection of audio files—it’s a carefully curated journey through the subtleties of urban life, designed to enhance the emotional depth and spatial realism of your projects.

    With Quiet Streets 3D, you’re investing in a resource that will remain relevant across countless future projects.

    42 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
  • All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1 and FEL Clippy XLR EM272 microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. Library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.

  • Electricity Sound Effects Massive Thunder Play Track 616 sounds included, 217 mins total $29.99

    MASSIVE THUNDER – 616 files of Thunder sound effects, at varying distances and intensities. From low and slow rolling distant rumbles to violently fast and bombastic direct cracking impacts. Massive Thunder comes in at over 3 hours and 37 minutes of short and long scenes of thunder and lightning for every occasion. Recorded during several storm seasons and dozens of independent thunderstorms, with indoors and outdoors perspectives. Massive Thunder’s filenames are in the Universal Category System format with additional Metadata baked-in.

    Don’t need a Massive amount of Thunder and Lightning sound effects? We offer ‘Mini’ sound effect libraries as companions for all of our ‘Massive’ sound effect libraries. All recordings are unique to each library with no overlap. Go Mini today, and upgrade to the corresponding Massive library later, when you need more of that particular sound effect.

    40 %
    OFF
  • Car Sound Effects Jaguar XJ 2010 full size car Play Track 46 sounds included, 60 mins total $65

    All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1, FEL Clippy XLR EM272 and JrF C-Series Pro+ microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. The library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.

Need specific sound effects? Try a search below:


 

Quality Assurance (QA):

 

Quality Assurance (QA)’s role in game development: Tests all the content that goes into the game and makes sure everything is working as intended, and to feedback their findings to the appropriate person (programmer, designer, animator audio designer etc). These people are the lifeblood of the game, never underestimate their importance and expertise.

How it relates to game audio: When you finish a task QA will then need to check it to make sure you’re doing what you intended to do. You need to communicate with them to let them know how to test your work and what the acceptance criteria are, and they need to communicate with you with feedback and if there are any bugs or omissions in the audio. Some companies have dedicated audio QA but most of the time this is not the case. The better your relationship with QA, the better the end result is going to be.


↑ Back to top

 

Gameplay Programmer / Audio Programmer:

 

The Gameplay Programmer / Audio Programmer’s role in game development: They write and maintain the code that makes the game (/audio) work.

How it relates to game audio: Every sound you make will need to be triggered by the game code in some way, regardless of whether you use middleware or not. Programmers will help you make that happen. Even if your implementation skills are really hot and you can hook up everything yourself using code/visual scripts or animations, you’ll likely still have a lot of dialogue with the programming team because they will have an overarching vision on how to keep the game code clean, efficient and reusable. An audio programmer is dedicated specifically to supporting the audio team, whereas gameplay programmers will be supporting you alongside all the other things they do. Audio programmers often come with other audio code skills beyond implementation as well such as DSP and building tools to improve the audio pipeline, and you will love them dearly.


↑ Back to top

 

Engine/Tools Programmer:

 

The Engine/Tools Programmer’s role in game development: They write and maintain the code that makes the software that everybody else uses to create the game.

How it relates to game audio: A tools programmer might create the application that you use to sync audio to an animation, or to place sounds in a game level for example. An engine programmer might be working on the deep-level stuff to do with how audio plays in the game. You’ll have much more of a relationship with this team if you’re using a proprietary game engine rather than a third party engine but even if you are using Unity or Unreal your paths may cross as bugs and issue come up, or for utilising more advanced middleware features, debugging or making custom tools for your workflow.


↑ Back to top

 

Community Management (CM):

 

Community Management (CM)’s role in game development: They talk to the players, manage social media and generally are the public face of the game team.

How it relates to game audio: Game communities of today have an appetite to see what happens behind the scenes and discuss the game with its creators and this can sometimes mean there being a dialogue between players and the audio team. Examples from my own experience include appearing on company live streams and panels at live events to discuss all things audio, taking questions from players through an exclusive forum for prime members and chatting to players when they come in for tours around the studio, all organised by the CM team.


↑ Back to top

 

Video/Marketing:

 

Video/Marketing’s role in game development: Makes the videos and trailers that get released to the world promote the studio and its products.

How it relates to game audio: These videos will need audio! The audio team is responsible for every noise that comes out of the company. Some studios have dedicated post-production audio people to work on the ‘linear media’ (i.e.: not the in-game audio) and some have the game audio team working on this content. Either way there is often a strong relationship between the two teams.


↑ Back to top

 

Environment Artist:

 

The Environment Artist’s role in game development: Making the props and scenery that go into game levels.

How it relates to game audio: If you’re working on ambience then what the environment artists make and where they place it will inform how you design the audio. You’ll both need to have write access to the map files for quite a long time in order to place your objects in, and usually these are locked so that only one person can edit them at a time, so I’ve found environment artists to be another one I need to communicate with a lot so that we don’t block each other, and if you have a good rapport with them then they will be more likely to inform you if they make any audio-breaking changes such as moving or removing things you’ve mapped audio down for.


↑ Back to top

 

Concept Artist:

 

The Concept Artist’s role in game development: They take the designers’ words about how things in the game should look and turn them into pictures that the rest of the art team (character, environment, VFX artists and animators) then use as a reference for their work. This is everything from weapons and environment props to creatures and players.

How it relates to game audio: Often (as always I’m talking from my experience) the rest of the art work on a particular job will be done before you start working on the audio, so you have completed models with animations and VFX all ready to go to design sound to, however it happens a lot that you need to be designing, or at least starting to design sound for things at the same time as the art team are doing their stuff. Concept art can be extremely helpful in giving you inspiration and reference for the sounds you need to make.


↑ Back to top

 

I hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions, or if you feel I’ve missed something or what I’ve written varies quite a lot from your experience then feel free to get in touch at ashton-mills@outlook.com

A big thanks to Ashton Mills for letting us share this glossary!

 

Please share this:


 


More about Ashton Mills:

 

Ashton Mills is an Audio Designer at Jagex, a game studio based in Cambridge UK, where he works on soudn design, VO and implementation across a range of game projects. (All thoughts and opinions are his own and not that of Jagex.). Learn more about him on LinkedIn here, and on Soundlister here.

 

 



Power Lists - essential audio resources and insights:

• The Sound Design Power List

• The Game Audio Power List

• The Film Sound Power List

 
  Succeed in sound:

• How to Set (and Get) the Right Price for Your Audio Work

• 10 Essential Tips for Game Audio Freelancers

• How to be a successful sound designer – with Scott Gershin

• How To Actually Live as an Audio Freelancer – by Melissa Pons

• How to set your sonic creativity free & overcome creative inhibitions – by Mark Kilborn

• 5 Useful Tips for Upcoming Sound Designers and Sound Editors

• Sound Opinions: How to get game audio pricing right

• Building a successful audio post studio – with Kate Finan and Jeff Shiffman

• Rebuilding your studio: Goals, tips and lessons learned

• Creating audio for games – with Martin Stig Andersen

• A life in sound: How to foster creativity and protect yourself from burning out – with Chance Thomas

• Better audio work habits: How a Wacom Tablet can help reduce the risk of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)

• Better audio work habits: How a sit & standing desk can reduce your sedentary studio life

• Tips and thoughts on running your own audio post production house – with William McGuigan

• 30+ year audio veteran Andy Greenberg, on building client relationships in the advertising industry

• 7 Sound Alternatives to Working For Free

• Audio Outsourcing Success: Essential Tips, Thoughts and Working Practices from Adele Cutting

 
 
The sound success series:

• How to succeed in UI/UX Sound Design, ADR Recording, & Audio Programming

• How to succeed in sound design for Film, Documentaries, and Trailers

• How to succeed in sound design for Games, Animation, and Television

How to succeed in Field Recording, Foley, and Teaching Sound

• How to succeed in Audio Branding, Music Editing, and sound for VR

• How to succeed in Theater Sound Design, Podcast Sound Design, and Podcast Production

• How to succeed in Sound Editing, Sound for Advertising, and Production Sound

• How to succeed in Sound Editing, Sound for Advertising, and Production Sound

• The Composer Success Series: Composing for Film – ft. Pinar Toprak, Nainita Desai, & Jonathan Snipes

• The Composer Success Series: Composing for TV – ft. Charlie Clouser, Sherri Chung, & Cindy O’Connor

• The Composer Success Series: Composing for Theatre – ft. Elyssa Samsel, Kate Anderson, and Daniel Kluger

• The Composer Success Series: Composing for Games – ft. Inon Zur

 
Breaking into audio – guides and resources:

• The ‘Quit Aspiring’ book – by Adam Croft

• How to get hired in game audio – thoughts and insights from your potential employer’s perspective

• Why gear is not the ticket to entry in the game audio community

• 4 Effective Ways to Break into Game Audio

• Tips for Creating a Perfect Resume for Audio Industry Jobs

• Yet Another Game Audio Hiring Article – by Ariel Gross

• 5 Tips for Getting a Job in the Audio Industry

• Applying for a job in game audio – by Matthew Florianz

• Freelance Game Audio: Getting Started and finding work – by Ashton Morris

• How to get started (and make it) in game audio – 10+ fundamental questions answered by Akash Thakkar

• Courses: How to network and get paid for your work in the game industry – by Akash Thakkar

• How to Craft a Perfect Cover Letter for Audio Industry Jobs
 
 
Finding those audio jobs:

• Get the weekly Audio Jobs newsletter

• Join the Audio Jobs Facebook group
 
 
Showcasing your work:
 
• Get a free profile on Soundlister

• Upload your demos to Soundcloud

• Upload your demos to ReelCrafter
 
 
Networking:
 
• Find game audio community groups around the world

• Find interesting audio events around the world

• Find other audio pros around the world
 
 
Coping with a layoff - and how to bounce back:

• How to prepare for – and power through – a layoff in the game audio industry, with Brian Schmidt:

• How to Survive a Game Audio Layoff – insights from Damian Kastbauer

• What it’s like to be laid off from your video game studio

• What To Do Before and After Being Laid Off

• Facebook Group: Survival Skills for Creatives
 
 
Education and knowledge:
 
• Get an audio mentor at the Audio Mentoring Project

• How To Learn Game Audio Online – A talk with Game Audio Educator Leonard Paul

• Hear the very best podcasts about sound

• Read the 100s of sound stories and guides on the A Sound Effect blog (search for stories here)

• Browse Industry Data: Game Music and Sound Design Salary Survey Results

• Browse 100+ Sound Design Guides

• Find essential books about sound – for film, games and audio post production

• Get tips and ideas for making your own sound effects

• Use the Audio Events Calendar to find audio-related events around the globe

• Get a steady stream of great sound stories from the community

• Discover 1000s of sound libraries from the independent sound community

• Take online courses in Wwise, FMOD Studio, Unity, Pure Data & Unreal at the School of Video Game Audio
 
 
Getting into independent sound effects:
 
• DIY SFX libraries - Your guide to your first sound effects library

• Sound effects survey results: Here are 90+ ideas for new SFX libraries

• How to create an indie sound bundle

• The quick-start guide to adding sound FX library metadata

 
↑ Back to top


 
 
THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:
 
A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

  • The ROCKS Library is a collection of more than 700 designed rock and stone sound effects, ready to use.
    From single stone impacts to large heavy collapsing rocks, avalanches, rockslides sounds, rolling and falling stones, debris sounds….

    Originally recorded at 192 kHz with two Sennheiser MKH8040, a Sanken CO-100K and a Sound devices Mixpre 6. Delivered at 96Khz.

    Each sound file has been carefully named and tagged for easy search in Soundminer and is Universal Category System (UCS) compliant.

    (see the full track list below).

  • This sound library was carefully recorded, processed and crafted to offer a unique toolset for your ice-cold freezing design needs.

    Great for fantasy genre with ice based magic, enchantment and supernatural elements, shining motion graphics, time lapse and flow motion freeze sequences.

    Bonus Aztec death whistle recordings processed by glass and icy textures.

    This Sound Library is a part of the Slava Pogorelsky – Complete Bundle.

    WHAT SOUND PROFESSIONALS SAY:

    Victor Mercader – AAA Sound Designer (Apex Legends)
    “I find myself continuously using Slava’s SFX libraries to blend it’s pristine and detailed sound designs into my own sounds. They always add that cutting edge I am missing and make my sound designs more unique and pristine.”

    Enos Desjardins – Sound Designer/Sound Effects Editor (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Black Mirror)
    “Slava has been creating some really cool libraries which I find myself using time and again. Really high quality recordings to start with but then the cool processing he has used for example in his cinematic whoosh libraries really stand out. They are not just your standard generic whoosh sounds but are loaded with character and have a unique feel to them that is really fresh and cuts through in the nicest of ways.”

    Bjørn Jacobsen – AAA Sound Designer (CyberPunk 2077, HITMAN, DARQ)
    “Slava has for several years made high quality sound effects for me to play with. I use his sound libraries across multiple projects as lego blocks of my creations.”

    Ginno Legaspi – SoundBytes Music Magazine‎
    “As far as the sound goes ‘Cinematic Magical Ice’ is both beautiful and mystical. I happen to like the icy textures that are oozing with coldness. Overall, this sound library boasts a good variety of effect samples ready to drop in various cinematic projects.”

    Yarron Katz – AAA Composer and Sound Designer
    “Slava makes some wonderful libraries. He’s relatively new on the scene and his libraries have come to critical acclaim. He takes some general ideas, like whooshes and he injects some extremely revolutionary and innovative ideas to them, so you’re not getting another whoosh library – you’re getting something very unique, very fresh. He brings some wonderful ideas to the table.”

  • Rock / Stone Sound Effects Rocks Momentum Play Track 1100+ sounds included $37

    The Rocks Momentum sound effects library 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. Defective construction materials were used for the recording of bricks, roofing tiles, cement blocks etc.

    Bonus: Two extra libraries included for free:
    This library also includes two additional releases from Mattia Cellotto - for free: Crunch Mode delivers 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust and a selection of frozen goods. The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy and gooey sounds.
Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • Motorcycle Sound Effects Scooters Play Track 197+ sounds included, 164 mins total $99

    SCOOTERS features various sound effects recorded from 7 different scooters, ranging from general scooters to a scooter with a modified exhaust. An old two-stroke scooter with high-pitched brake squealing sounds is also included, along with on-board riding sounds (including revving and speeding), pass-bys, idling, approaching, pull-away, engine cranking, and varied mechanism sounds. SCOOTERS sound library helps you create different types of scenes with scooter riding.

    The recorded scooters include:

    ・KYMCO VJR 110
    ・YAMAHA BW’S 125
    ・YAMAHA BW’S R 125
    ・YAMAHA FORCE 155
    ・YAMAHA Super Four (with a modified exhaust)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 (Two-stroke scooter)
    ・YAMAHA VINO 50 FI

    This library includes total 197 files, consisting of 170 mono files and 27 stereo files recorded in ORTF at 96 kHz. Approx. 2 hour and 44 minutes total.

    Certainly, this library was carefully tagged with rich Soundminer metadata, including marks in the recordings highlighting interesting sounds.

    All the recordings were recorded, edited and mastered with love and care.

  • City Life Sound Effects Quiet Streets 3d Play Track 100 sounds included, 580 mins total From: $135 From: $78

    Quiet Streets 3D is the latest chapter in Articulated’s Quiet Streets series, offering a meticulously crafted collection of quiet urban ambiences. Designed with both creativity and precision in mind, this library captures the essence of urban stillness through the advanced Schoeps 3D ORTF recording technique, resulting in multi-dimensional soundscapes that reveal both horizontal and vertical spatial details.

    This library features 100 files delivered at 96kHz/24-bit. With a total size of 74.8 GB and over 9 hours and 40 minutes of carefully curated ambiences, Quiet Streets 3D is a comprehensive resource for creating immersive urban soundscapes.

    A Global Journey Through Quietude

     

    The recordings span cities across three continents, capturing the unique characteristics of urban environments in Paris, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Bangkok, Naples, Kuala Lumpur, Montreal, Regensburg, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Strasbourg, Singapore, and more. Each location offers its own subtle yet distinct textures, from the hushed buzz of a late-night street in Bangkok to the subdued murmurs of a Parisian alley at dawn.

    A Commitment to Quality

     
    Over two years, our team travelled to these cities to document quiet moments in urban life. Recordings were made at various times of day and across seasons, capturing the interplay of natural and environmental sounds. The ambiences feature layers of biophony (birdsong, rustling leaves), geophony (wind, distant rain), and faint traces of anthropophony (passing footsteps, distant traffic). Care was taken to minimize intrusive noises, ensuring that these recordings integrate seamlessly into projects that require clarity for dialogue or sound effects. Note: at times some distinctive authentic events were kept in order to give the choice for the editor to use them in their projects. These are tagged as marker on the spectrogram.

    A Versatile Tool for Storytelling

     
    The library’s 8-channel 3D ORTF format provides an intricate sense of space, making it ideal for surround sound configurations in film, video games, and immersive media. For those working in stereo, we’ve included a high-quality downmixed version of every file, offering flexibility without compromising quality.

    Recorded with the acclaimed Schoeps 3d ORTF system, it has a total of 8 discreet channels, 4 on the lower plane arranged in 2 pair of ORTF similar to a IRT-Cross, and doubled with a higher plane of 4 more microphones. The channel layout of the sound recorded and delivered is as this: L R Ls Rs hL hR hLs hRs (whereas h stand for high). Learn more about this configuration here: https://schoeps.de/en/products/surround-3d/ortf-3d/ortf-3d-outdoor-set.html

    Every file is embedded with UCS-compliant metadata, allowing for intuitive searching and streamlined integration into your workflow. The metadata includes detailed descriptors, location names, and environmental characteristics, making it easy to find the perfect ambience for any scene.

    A Timeless Collection for Any Project

     
    Whether you need the intimate quiet of a European alley or the expansive stillness of an Asian metropolis, Quiet Streets 3D provides a rich palette of urban soundscapes. This library is not just a collection of audio files—it’s a carefully curated journey through the subtleties of urban life, designed to enhance the emotional depth and spatial realism of your projects.

    With Quiet Streets 3D, you’re investing in a resource that will remain relevant across countless future projects.

    42 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
    28 %
    OFF
  • All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1 and FEL Clippy XLR EM272 microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. Library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.

  • Electricity Sound Effects Massive Thunder Play Track 616 sounds included, 217 mins total $29.99

    MASSIVE THUNDER – 616 files of Thunder sound effects, at varying distances and intensities. From low and slow rolling distant rumbles to violently fast and bombastic direct cracking impacts. Massive Thunder comes in at over 3 hours and 37 minutes of short and long scenes of thunder and lightning for every occasion. Recorded during several storm seasons and dozens of independent thunderstorms, with indoors and outdoors perspectives. Massive Thunder’s filenames are in the Universal Category System format with additional Metadata baked-in.

    Don’t need a Massive amount of Thunder and Lightning sound effects? We offer ‘Mini’ sound effect libraries as companions for all of our ‘Massive’ sound effect libraries. All recordings are unique to each library with no overlap. Go Mini today, and upgrade to the corresponding Massive library later, when you need more of that particular sound effect.

    40 %
    OFF
  • Car Sound Effects Jaguar XJ 2010 full size car Play Track 46 sounds included, 60 mins total $65

    All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1, FEL Clippy XLR EM272 and JrF C-Series Pro+ microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II recorder. The library contains wav files of driving, interior and exterior foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is also available in UCS.


   

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags are not allowed.