affordable sound effects creation Asbjoern Andersen


Creating sound effects libraries doesn’t necessarily require a big budget – here, Glitchedtones founder Stuart Keenan shares his approaches to creating excellent SFX libraries without breaking the bank:
 

Hi Stuart, please introduce yourself and Glitchedtones:

Hi Asbjoern, I’m an indie sound designer based in the northeast of England. I release sound effects and atmosphere libraries through my label Glitchedtones. My libraries are primarily aimed towards film, game and music productions but are suitable for a diverse range of projects, such as art installations, theatre and audio dramas. What really draws me to sound design is having the freedom to experiment with a wide range of sound sources and having little in the way of creative boundaries.

I’ve learned to use whatever I have at my disposal to its full capability and maintain a relatively simple setup which I know well

Glitchedtones is a less-than-part-time venture as I have a day job in an office four days a week. After time constraints, budget is a factor as there’s little left in the pot for nice gear and software after the bills are paid. However, I’ve learned to use whatever I have at my disposal to its full capability and maintain a relatively simple setup which I know well.

 

For great-sounding results, using affordable means, what sort of equipment would you recommend?

I’d recommend as little as a basic laptop, some decent studio headphones and a copy of Audacity! For more options and some luxury, an audio interface, microphone, monitors, a MIDI controller and a portable recorder are invaluable. There are many budget gear options available these days, one drawback is cheap preamps on recording devices though. It’s difficult to produce high-quality professional field recordings with cheap gear, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use the recordings as source material for your own designs. You may not be able to release a pristine urban ambiances library from a Zoom handheld, but you could have an incredibly unique, high-quality library of planetary environments on your hands once you start processing.

[tweet_box]Sound effects creation on a shoestring[/tweet_box]

What are your go-to tools and plugins?

Granular seems to work particularly well for creating Industrial, Dystopian, Sci-Fi or Abstract ambiances out of everyday recordings

For source material, I often use feedback loops, lo-fi field recordings and computer generated noise. I love granular samplers and processors, so these are a mainstay and something I always go for when it comes to shaping the sounds. There are lots of great free granular tools available online which are all worth exploring. Granular seems to work particularly well for creating Industrial, Dystopian, Sci-Fi or Abstract ambiances out of everyday recordings, with loads of room for creating variations of a single piece of audio. I also go for buffer and glitch plugins a lot and love anything with a random function as it’s great for inspiring ideas and building up source material to mangle later.

Fruits of the labor: Sound libraries from Glitchedtones:

Here are some of the sound effects libraries created by Stuart Keenan and released under the Glitchedtones label (more here):

  • Abstract Sound Design is a budget-friendly collection of unique audio material sourced from digital feedback loop experiments and granular processing sessions. Featuring 25 abstract atmospheres and 35 abstract FX, this library is perfect for those moments when creativity may be running dry, serving as an inspiring starting point for some serious sound sculpting. Of course, they may just fit your needs as they are, too!

For those with a limited budget, what are some particularly helpful approaches for generating useful material? Any surprising sources of great material?

I’ve created lots of varied sounds just from jamming out on effects and it’s great for unique glitch and UI sounds

It may seem obvious but record everything! For example, if you are trying out a new plugin on one of your recordings (this is especially good with a synth or effect with random or generative functions), simply record while you play and then edit out the highlights. I’ve created lots of varied sounds just from jamming out on effects and it’s great for unique glitch and UI sounds. You can then use these edits to shape into something new again. By time-stretching or pitch-shifting and layering on some more effects, you can then start crafting drones and ambient atmospheres. Also, don’t get rid of any ‘bad bits’ such as preamps hiss, mic pops and cable crackles until you’ve fully explored their potential!

 

What are some of your favorite sound design techniques?

A great amount of my work has been built on recording and manipulating feedback loops using the No-Input Mixer technique, so this was a go-to for a lot of my early libraries and still something I really enjoy. It can be so random that you can’t recreate the same sound twice using the same settings but it is a lot of fun to explore! I use a Behringer 4 Channel Mixer and a bunch of guitar effects for this. It doesn’t matter much which pedals you use but I find having a delay pedal in there really gets things going. I’ve created many drones, glitches and electrical sounds using this technique.


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


Trending right now:

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    Each audio file is drag-and-drop ready, all presented in 3 formats – high quality MP3 (320 Kbps) and WAV (96 + 44.1 kHz, 24 + 16 Bit) with meticulously labelled keywords, as to create the perfect experience for any audience in a matter of moments!

    So, wether you are looking for a perfect set of sounds for an animal or human tongue licking, snake or tentacles moving / sliding friction, look no further!

    DOWNLOAD WET & SLIMY NOW to instantly turn your project into a true masterpiece!

    PERFECT FOR:

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    A unique collection of 321 metallic percussive hits perfect for metal impact sound design and transient shaping.

    Type : Source Files / WAV Mono

    Normalised : -6 dbFS

    Grouped Files for Easy Reference Included

    Recorder : Sound Devices Mix Pre 10II

    Microphones : Stille & Klang Spot, LOM Geofon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O805cKU_XrE

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  • Effective Trailer Booms Vol. 2 delivers the next level in cinematic low-end, featuring 232 brand-new one-shot sounds meticulously designed for cutting-edge trailers.

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    Elements section – 767 designed construction kit, layers, sweeteners, and single event effects.

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Need specific sound effects? Try a search below:


What’s your approach for coming up with library ideas?

I tend to find themes for libraries while freely experimenting, I’m always playing around and recording the results, just for fun and to see what happens, checking things out. Anything goes. There’s a lot of randomness and chance in my work, which I find incredibly inspiring. It’s these experiments and encounters which really inspire me to then shape the results into more tailored collections.

 

In terms of gear or tools, what’s been the one upgrade you’ve made that’s the biggest difference?

I’ve recently got Serum on a rent-to-buy deal, which is a bit of a luxury for me as it’s the first commercial VST synth I have bought. It’s all I use now for synthesized sound design, I find it really intuitive and almost anything you do with it sounds great. As much as I love noise, glitches and granular processing, I’m excited to get started creating some new libraries using Serum as a main sound source.

 

When it comes to indie SFX, what’s been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned?

I’ve learned not to be dissuaded by a lack of expensive gear and to simply go with getting the most out of what is readily available

I’ve learned not to be dissuaded by a lack of expensive gear and to simply go with getting the most out of what is readily available. It’s easy to think that without a Sound Devices rig or a Native Instrument’s Komplete setup your chances of being successful or being taken seriously in the sound design industry may be limited. However, this needn’t be the case!

 

Any essential tips for people starting out in indie SFX?

Embrace your limitations, as this is where you may find you are at your most creative and unique.
 

A big thanks to Stuart Keenan for sharing the story behind his sound design approach! Do you have any tips for affordable ways of creating sound effects? If so, please share them in the comments

 

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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:

  • Characters speak and so do the items they use. USER INTERFACE will bring the small to life with this collection of clicks, notifications, buttons, and swooshes.

    Included are: Buttons, Clicks, Jingles, Notifications, Organics, Slides, Swishes

  • Environments & Ambiences Suburban Russia Play Track 56 sounds included, 173 mins total $19

    What could be better than summertime in the country?

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    Those sweet sounds of hammers, lawnmowers, dogs, neighbors activity, forests, fields, rain and, of course, lots of cicadas!

    This library contains authentic atmospheres of villages and small towns of suburban Moscow, as well as sounds of nature, roomtones and doors of the old Dacha from Soviet era.

    KEY POINTS:

    • Authentic atmospheres of dacha, forests, fields, streams, rains, streets of small towns, night and day suburban activity and roomtones!

    • An excellent addition to your library for film, TV and multimedia – Suburban Russia during summer and autumn time

    • Recorded with Mid-Side Sennheiser MKH8040/MKH30 combo

    • Sorted by location-type categories

    • All files have metadata included

  • Introducing MOTION GRAPHICS, a complete Motion Graphics sound effects library from SoundMorph!

    Motion Graphics focuses on all the elements you might need for sound design on a trailer, a cinematic scene or a visual that is heavy with motion graphics, whether it be abstract or straight forward, Motion Graphics has all the elements and textures you could think of. Motion Graphics are something all of us sound designers run into at one point or another, so this library is an excellent addition to your sound effects tool box.

    Motion Graphics was created by and in collaboration with sound designer Rostislav Trifonov (SoundMorph Elemental library contributor).

    Motion Graphics features 650 24bit/96 kHz .wav files, all meticulously embedded with Soundminer & Basehead metadata.

    The library features:

    • 450 + designed sound effects
    • 190 + source audio files
    • Whooshes
    • Impacts
    • Risers
    • Stingers
    • Low end and Sub Bass
    • Impulse Responses
    • Passbys
    • Textures – noise, grit, glitch
    • Ambiences
    • Buttons and Clicks
    • Mechanical Elements
    • Granular effects
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Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • Metal Sound Effects Military Truck Percussion Play Track 321 sounds included, 14 mins total $10

    A US Military Truck is transformed into a percussive instrument and hit with drum sticks and a variety of mallets ( gong, xylophone and timpani ) and sampled using contact microphones and geophones.

    A unique collection of 321 metallic percussive hits perfect for metal impact sound design and transient shaping.

    Type : Source Files / WAV Mono

    Normalised : -6 dbFS

    Grouped Files for Easy Reference Included

    Recorder : Sound Devices Mix Pre 10II

    Microphones : Stille & Klang Spot, LOM Geofon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O805cKU_XrE

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  • 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 only available in UCS.

  • Effective Trailer Booms Vol. 2 delivers the next level in cinematic low-end, featuring 232 brand-new one-shot sounds meticulously designed for cutting-edge trailers.

    Building on the original Vol. 1, this new collection is designed for cutting-edge trailers. It moves beyond simple impacts to focus on the deep sub-bass, tonal rumbles, and resonant elements that build anticipation. It’s the perfect tool for setting a dark, mysterious tone at the beginning of a trailer or providing that final, deep punctuation at the end.

    A boom isn’t just a hit, it’s the sound of intrigue. Effective Trailer Booms Vol. 2 delivers the next level in cinematic low-end, featuring 232 brand-new one-shot sounds meticulously designed for cutting-edge trailers.

    Building on the original Vol. 1, this new collection is designed for cutting-edge trailers. It moves beyond simple impacts to focus on the deep sub-bass, tonal rumbles, and resonant elements that build anticipation. It’s the perfect tool for setting a dark, mysterious tone at the beginning of a trailer or providing that final, deep punctuation at the end.

    Inside, you’ll find a massive library of deep tonal rumbles, powerful sub-bass swells, bone-chilling textures, dark resonant drones, and powerful cinematic punctuation, all designed to pull the audience in.

    40 %
    OFF
  • Cinematic & Trailer Sound Effects SpellBound Play Track 969 sounds included, 122 mins total $90

    SpellBound is premium sound effects library exploring the intersecting spaces of modern magic and science fiction energy. The result is a polished, designed, and inspiring set of cinematic magic sounds ready to bring new life to your film, game, and media projects. Brian Johnson, the creator of SpellBound and Slipstream is an award winning sound designer who after working in film, and television, has found his home designing sound for the biggest video game franchises in the world.

    SpellBound has 969 total sound effects
    Spells, explos, tails, whooshes, beds, impacts, drones, and more.

    Designed section – 202 designed multi-event show stopping full frequency sound effects.
    Elements section – 767 designed construction kit, layers, sweeteners, and single event effects.

    SpellBound can compliment your fx arsenal with traditional fantasy, modern magic, cinematic impacts, and even as an explosion sweetener. It can take over a fantasy trailer or a compliment a hybrid space magic video game.

    Thank you for licensing SpellBound. I hope it inspires you to create something exciting and magical.

    SpellBound Flyer

    28 %
    OFF
  • Kawaii UI Bundle is the ultimate bundle for cute user interface sounds.
    In this Bundle you get both volumes of our Kawaii UI libraries.
    Kawaii UI + Kawaii UI 2

    These libraries provide an adorable blend of cute, satisfying interface sounds, crafted to enhance user experience and feedback.
    Bring your games and apps to life with the Kawaii UI Bundle.

    It’s ideal for creating joyful menus, delightful HUDs, playful navigation and notifications, engaging pop-ups, and expressive text.

    Kawaii UI Trailer
    Kawaii UI 2 Trailer

    The source recordings inside are a treasure trove of physical button presses, clicks, pops, taps, mouth sounds, toks, shakers, general synthesised UI sounds, FM bells and telemetry style sounds.. Kawaii UI Bundle provides you with the essential building blocks to craft your own distinctive designs.  Combining these elements gives sound designers a robust sonic palette to create new UI sounds.

    13 %
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