Save Your Ears: How To Protect Your Hearing As An Audio Professional, With Doctor Of Audiology / Audio Engineer Steven Taddei - A Sound Effect Podcast Ep 16

Protect your hearing - for audio professionals

Posted September 22, 2021 by Asbjoern Andersen in Film sound, Game audio, Sound community highlights

The A Sound Effect podcast is back with an interview on a hugely important topic: Your hearing, and how you can protect it when working in sound - with insights from Doctor of Audiology / Audio Engineer Steven Taddei:

Interview by Jennifer Walden, hosted by Asbjoern Andersen and Christian Hagelskjaer

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Here’s what’s in this episode (with starting times):

0:00 Introduction and new independent sound effects

02:45 Your hearing is absolutely essential when working in sound – and to help you protect it, we invited Doctor of Audiology Steven Taddei on the show. As an audio engineer himself, he knows the unique challenges we face in the audio industry – and here, he generously shares his insights, methods and key advice on how to protect your ears and keep your hearing in pristine condition as an audio professional. Learn more about Steven Taddei on LinkedIn here, and hear his Hearing Tracker podcast here. The NIOSH Sound Level Meter iOS app mentioned in the interview can be found here.

34:44 Find more great podcasts about sound from our friends in the Audio Podcast Alliance

Hear the episode below:

Sound effects libraries highlighted in this episode:

Ethno Instruments Singing Bowls Play Track 550 sounds included, 280 mins total $39

Singing bowl is a type of metal or glass/crystal bell that vibrates and produces a rich, deep tone when played. Also known as Himalayan or Tibetan, singing bowls are used in meditation and yoga practice.

Singing bells are very useful in sound design and music production, because of rich and slowly evolving tones and textures.

For this library I recorded metal and crystal singing bowls in many different sizes.

Also, several polyphonic performances, played by trained yoga-master, are included as a bonus.

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User Interface (UI) Sound Effects Smart UI Play Track 1200 sounds included, 61 mins total $47.20

Smart UI by Epic Stock Media is a one-of-a-kind collection of modern user interface sound effects that truly packs a punch when you need your sound to be noticed.

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Environments & Ambiences Sounds of England Volume One Play Track 50 sounds included, 117 mins total $5

A collection of random soundscapes from Everyday England.

Like an up-to-date version of one of those classic ‘BBC Sound Effects LPs’, ‘Sounds of England Volume One’ showcases just a few of the soundscapes you might hear in everyday England (the one of people going beserk when England win a big soccer game isn’t everyday but is glorious).
Parklife, skateboarders, traffic, police helicopters, a distant pub, fireworks night and much more make up the first volume in this series.

MP3 and WAV included.

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Bundles Videogame Foley Essentials Vol. I Play Track 4394 sounds included, 134 mins total $60
Videogame Foley Essentials was created with the goal of assisting all editors and sound designers alike on their newly found videogame ventures, ready to satisfy all your foley needs.

You’ll find on this library the following folders with clear nomenclature and respective metadata pertaining to various interactions either with environmental objects or the characters you’ll find in the game itself:
- Buttons & Switches: everything from simple button presses (of all shapes, sizes and materials, including light switches), to plugging-in sounds of plastic devices and simple mechanisms being interacted with.
- Clothing & Accessories: quick and snappy movement sounds from pants and jackets of diverse materials for all weather conditions; backpacks, pouches, belt buckles, keychains and zippers jiggling; rummaging and dressing-up takes of all the aforementioned clothing pieces and accessories.
- Doors: door handle one-shots ranging from old/decrepit wooden doors to slick/modern ones; closing and opening sounds of multiple door types; insertion, removal and turning sounds of keys on numerous locks; hinges creaking and screeching.
- Drawers & Cupboards: all types of drawer sounds based on metallic and wooden surfaces, both with and without bearings; small office cabinet sounds; creaky and quiet cupboards with and without simple lock sounds.
- Footsteps: numerous one-shots of different shoes on a neutral surface (two shoe types, boots, tap dancing shoes, high heel boots, medium heel shoes, slippers, pool slippers and barefoot), while also including certain ground textures (bark, dirt, dry leaves, dry pine tree leaves, gravel, different plants, sand and wet dirt).
- Rummaging & Jiggling: textures being handled in several ways, from rummaging/dropping/dragging/handling/jiggling sounds of scrap, wood, metallic fragments, plastic and cardboard boxes, cans, plastic bottles, metal plates and plenty of other materials/interactions.
These sounds were created with videogame development in mind, meaning all sounds are short and snappy one-shots with dozens of iterations each, capable of being layered, stretched and bent with surprising results. All audio files were mixed at the same volume level, carefully cleaned-up of any unnecessary background noise and artifacts ready to be dropped onto any audio middleware solution such as Wwise or FMOD. The goal is to help the editor/sound designer on their workflow by simply dropping these ready-to-go sound batches on their middleware projects, avoiding auditory repetition and fatigue for the gamer whilst keeping them totally immersed on their upcoming adventures.
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Where to find the A Sound Effect Podcast:

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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:

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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Animal Sound Effects Collections Animal Hyperrealism Vol IV Play Track 2096 sounds included, 78 mins total $153

⏰ For a very limited time:
Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

Animal Hyperrealism Vol IV is a sound library containing animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 2000 individual sounds in 294 files. The sounds were recorded in zoos, and wildlife centers.

The asset list includes but is not limited to: hippos, hyenas, vultures, dwarf mongooses, elephants, African cranes, parrots, tigers, pigmy hippos, rhea ostriches, brown bears, pheasants, wildebeests, African wild dogs and many more. The content has been recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K, an Avisoft CMPA and a Sennheiser 8050 for center plus two Sennheiser MKH8040 for stereo image.

The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

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Bundles Audiohero – The Prodigy Play Track 300000 sounds included
Rated 4.00 out of 5
$5

Download 50 Sound Effects for $9.99 within a month from a library of more than 300,000 tracks. We give you Access to a wide variety of collections from Sound Ideas and the Hollywood Edge, including categories such as ambiance, animals, comedy, cartoon, crashes, designed sounds, foley, feature film, guns, sci-fi, production elements, sports, surround sound, transportation, and the list goes on! Instead of purchasing a boutique library, choose from an extensive library ala carte. We provide you with the massive audio library without the large cost.

The sound effects are all recorded in 24bit 96khz down to 16bit 44.1khz. These sound effects have been used in many productions such as feature films, video games and all types of broadcast.

What you get:

Purchasing this offer gets you a special code that lets you download 50 sound effects from Audiohero.com within a month. The sounds you get with this purchase are covered under the Audiohero EULA.

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Ends 1767135600

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Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:

Hand Combat Sound Effects Violent Combat Play Track 4213 sounds included ~~From: $135~~ From: $108

THE RAW SOUND OF CINEMATIC FIGHTING

VIOLENT COMBAT is a professional sound effects library built for fight scenes that demand impact. Packed with punch sound effects, fight sound effects, and powerful combat sound effects, it delivers everything from raw realism to over-the-top cinematic action. With improved fidelity and greater variation than its predecessor CLOSE COMBAT, this collection gives sound designers production-ready audio for film, TV, and games.

From Realism to Cinematic Exaggeration

Dial in the tone you need with dedicated categories: Martial Arts, Grounded, Over The Top, and Gory. Whether it’s kung fu sound effects, karate sounds, or exaggerated wrestling hits, you can shift seamlessly from authentic to stylised.

Successor to Close Combat

VIOLENT COMBAT builds on the legacy of CLOSE COMBAT with higher fidelity recordings, better-organised categories, and more variation. It’s the ideal companion, giving you the flexibility to cover every style of fight scene.

Sounds That Land With Force

Recorded with a wide range of props and techniques, each fighting sound effect has real weight. Where needed, selective pre-processing boosts impact, avoiding the flat results of real fight recordings.

Production-Ready and Versatile

Equally at home in film, TV drama, high-end game audio, or immersive theatre. From knockout sound effects to stylised fight sequences, Violent Combat is ready to drop straight into your mix.

Included Sounds – KEYWORDS
AIR, BODYFALL, CLOTH, CRUNCH, FINISHER, FURNITURE, GORE, GRAB, GRAPPLE, IMPACT, KICK, LEATHER, MARTIAL ARTS, METAL, MOVEMENT, PLASTIC, PUNCH, SLAP, SWISH, SWOOSH, THROW, WHOOSH

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Animal Sound Effects Collections Animal Hyperrealism Vol IV Play Track 2096 sounds included, 78 mins total $153

⏰ For a very limited time:
Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

Animal Hyperrealism Vol IV is a sound library containing animal vocalisations, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 2000 individual sounds in 294 files. The sounds were recorded in zoos, and wildlife centers.

The asset list includes but is not limited to: hippos, hyenas, vultures, dwarf mongooses, elephants, African cranes, parrots, tigers, pigmy hippos, rhea ostriches, brown bears, pheasants, wildebeests, African wild dogs and many more. The content has been recorded at 192KHz with a Sanken CO100K, an Avisoft CMPA and a Sennheiser 8050 for center plus two Sennheiser MKH8040 for stereo image.

The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

15 %

OFF

Add to cart
Weather Sound Effects Hyper Thunder Play Track 800+ sounds included $49.50
Hyper Thunder is a colossal collection of thunder and lightning, 100% crafted from the ground up using innovative synthesized technics and props recordings. Not a single real life thunder recording was used. using synthesis and props manipulation crafted to deliver impact far beyond natural recordings. Built entirely from innovative synthesis and props recordings, this library pushes the boundaries of weather sound design—perfect for when you need the raw energy of a storm dialed up to cinematic extremes.

Featuring over 800 files, Hyper Thunder spans everything from subtle distant rumbles and rolling thunder to razor-sharp lightning strikes and earth-shaking impacts. With both designed hits and source layers, you have full control—drop in ready-to-use power or sculpt your own stormscapes using the source recordings.

Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko—longtime SoundMorph contributors to acclaimed libraries like Robotic Lifeforms 2 and WATER— Hyper Thunder blends technical mastery with bold creativity.

Key Features
- 800+ files of synthesized thunder and lightning
- Both designed hits and source layers for full creative control
- Covers subtle distant rumbles through to massive cinematic impacts
- Crafted 100% from synthesis for a unique, larger-than-life sound
- Perfect for film, games, trailers, and any project needing storm power
- Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko (Robotic Lifeforms 2, WATER)
From atmospheric detail to explosive drama, Hyper Thunder gives you thunder and lightning that are bigger, subtler, and more versatile than nature itself.
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Destruction & Impact Sounds The Arcane Fire Spells Play Track 638 sounds included $25

638 meticulously processed stereo fire spells sound effects recorded in 96 khz and 24 bits for high audio definition.

The collection comes with hundreds of variations, more than 1 hour of content and many different type of fire spells. It also includes source sounds for more flexibility for your projects.

This collection is perfect for any films, video games or trailers.

The library is fully focused on fire spells. You will find simple one shot magic firebolt, powerful high level fire spells, fire sword, berserker enchantments and so on. Spells such as fireball, firewall, rain of fire, meteor, fire nova, magma storm, pyroblast, sword of Avernus, etc. are included in this library.

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Ambisonic Sound Effects Ambisonic Sounds – Rain and Thunderstorm Vol.3 Play Track 19 sounds included, 55 mins total $20

Immerse yourself in an atmosphere of natural power and tranquility with the “Rain and Thunderstorm” sound collection, consisting of 4 Vol-s.
This collection features a variety of looped sounds: light rain, night rain with loud thunderclaps, and other effects that will help you create the perfect atmosphere – from a quiet, secluded night, long scenes, or endless atmospheric effects without abrupt transitions, to a dramatic thunderstorm on the horizon.
The recording was made by a Zoom H3-VR recorder in the Ambisonics A format (96 kHz 24 Bit) and then converted to the AmbiX and Stereo formats (96 kHz 24 Bit), which are located in different folders of this sound pack.

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