Video: Portrait Of A Sound Design Artist - With Ali Lacey

Posted March 8, 2015 by Asbjoern Andersen in Sound design guides

Just came across an interesting short by director Josh Bennet; a fine glimpse into the sonic world of sound design artist Ali Lacey:

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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 Magic – Alchemy Play Track 4213 sounds included ~~From: $135~~ From: $108

SONIC 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 Reactions

No 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 Use

These 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, Neutral

Need 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 Create

Whether 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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Game Audio Packs - Game Sound Effects Libraries Spells Variations Vol 4 Play Track 255 sounds included $10.20

Spell Variations Vol. 4 marks the grand finale of our magical sound series, delivering a diverse and powerful collection of spell effects. Inside, you’ll find summonings, blood spells, petrifications, healing spells, dark incantations, and much more!

This volume includes 255 high-quality sound effects, organized into 27 distinct spell types, each with multiple variations (3 to 17) to ensure no spell sounds the same, even when reused across your project.

Each spell type is carefully named and sorted into individual folders, giving you intuitive navigation and maximum flexibility for magical scenes, game effects, or cinematic transitions.

Recorded, edited, and mastered in 192 kHz / 24-bit, these sounds deliver exceptional clarity and full adaptability for pitching, layering, or creative processing.

A must-have library for professional sound designers seeking drag-and-drop magical sounds for video games, trailers, animations, or any audiovisual production.

More about the pack
– Intuitive file naming
– All you’ll ever need regarding magical sounds [Use them again & again
Use the sound effects over and over, in any of your projects or productions, forever without any additional fees or royalties. Use the SFX in your game, in your trailer, in a Kickstarter campaign, wherever you need to, as much as you want to.
– Totally mono compatibility
– All sounds have several variations.
– Use your imagination and feel free to use any sound for a creature other than the one described, remember that the world of sound is totally subjective.
– For any questions or problems: khronstudio@gmail.com

Features
– 255 spell sounds
– Number of Audio Waves: 255
– Format: 192KHz / 24 bits
– Win/Mac: Yes
– Minutes of audio provided: 19:21

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Foley Sound Effects Grenade Foley Play Track 1374 sounds included $15

A focused collection of grenade foley, captured with precision using replica units. This library provides the essential, clean sounds of tactical handling, interaction, and impacts.

Recorded at 96kHz/24-bit across various surfaces including steel plates, carpet, wood floorings, soil, and grass, this library offers variation for different environments. The recordings feature grenade shakes, surface impacts and rolls, pin pulls, spoon lever ejections, spoon drops, and tactical gear foley, all captured with Lewitt LCT 540 S and Shure SM7B.

This is a practical toolkit for sound designers working in film, games, and other media, providing a tonal and versatile foundation for building realistic military action.

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Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:

User Interface (UI) Sound Effects UI Interaction Elements Play Track 277 sounds included $40

UI Interaction Elements by Cinematic Sound Design delivers a meticulously crafted sound effects library designed to enhance every click, swipe, tap, and notification in your user interface. This collection brings your apps, games, websites, and software to life, providing a rich auditory experience that makes every interaction feel responsive, intuitive, and satisfying.

Inside this library, you’ll find over 200 high-quality sounds, ranging from subtle, crunchy clicks and soft taps to layered futuristic swipes, innovative button presses, toggle switches, and alert notifications. Each sound has been professionally recorded and mastered to ensure clarity, balance, and versatility across any platform or device.

Whether you’re designing a mobile app, developing an interactive game, or building a modern web interface, UI Interaction Elements provides sounds that seamlessly integrate with your visual design, enhancing user feedback and engagement. The library has been meticulously designed, with each sound layered down and optimized for a maximum performance.

Bring your interfaces to life and create a tactile, immersive experience for your users. Make your UI unforgettable, one sound at a time.

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Animal Sound Effects Forests and Mountains Play Track 96+ sounds included, 220 mins total $110

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.

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.

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 in Southern California 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.

The Birds

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) 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 $10

Hello 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.

Check all my packs on Asoundeffect

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Car Sound Effects BMW Z4 E89 2009 sports car Play Track 221 sounds included, 47 mins total $65

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.

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Universal Category System (UCS) Toy Quadcopter Play Track 10 sounds included $8

Toy Quadcopter is a focused mini library capturing the playful and high-pitched character of a toy drone in motion. Perfect for film, TV, games, and interactive media, it offers a variety of flight sounds, close fast pass-bys, slow passes, motor modulations, and essential electronic signals.
This collection includes take-off and landing sequences, beeps for syncing, calibration and low battery warnings, as well as servo engine textures and detailed proximity recordings. Recorded with precision and clarity, it’s a compact but rich toolset for designing scenes that call for small UAVs, gadgets, or sci-fi elements.

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