Sound effects survey results Asbjoern Andersen


Looking for ideas for your next sound effects library? Good news, the SFX survey results are in – and this time around, we’ve gathered 56 ideas in total!

I’ve carried over some of the ideas from the previous surveys, too; these are marked with an *. I’ve also added some suggestions for existing material in brackets.

A big thanks to everyone who participated – hope you find the list inspiring!

Ideas for new sound effects libraries:

• African-american walla
• Animal vocalisations, clean, 192 kHz (check out the animal libraries from Krotos here – but the more, the merrier)
• Australian crowds
• Babies crying (Baby Boom or Oh Baby could come in handy here)
• Bamboo forest *
• Basketball Trash Talking
• Car engine recordings to use with LeSound Audiomotors
• Car interiors. Especially with open window
• Cars that run normally. I often find it hard to find a car pulling in or out at a normal speed. Most of the times it’s either too fast or too aggressive. Also nice, constant drive interiors again with subtle gear changes.
• Caves – textures and layers that can be used in designs
• China Ambiences – countryside, no humans
• Christmas – Especially carolers, church interiors, vintage toys (not video games), congregations singing carols, reindeer. The only album I was able to find was all bells, store interiors, traffic, sleigh bells and winter sports. It needed sounds like wrapping presents and decorating the tree, Christmas morning unwrapping gifts, family dinners, etc.
• Circus *
• Comedic sounds/accents, updated and decently extensive.
• Common Birds for city ambiences, organized per time of day
• COMMON stuff every project needs, but recorded with several perspectives: DOORS recorded from 1 meter AND 3 meters AND 5 meters, and so on.
• Crowds Library – but not angry crowds, there are tons of those. Crowds that you can’t hear exactly what people talk about, sad crowds, happy crowds, frightened crowds – and all kind of emotions we have!
• CU tires screeches and tires on different terrains, mostly tires arriving and departing in slow speed without motor or bg bleed
• Dog foley – “footsteps”, panting, breath (there are 3 dedicated dog SFX libraries here – not specifically for dog “Foley” though)
• Dragging sounds (this could be helpful)
• Electronic console sounds
• Everyday roomtones and exteriors (these may be useful)
• Explosions (there are a number of explosion-focused libraries here)
• Fishing sounds *
• Global events (Olympics, World Cup, Tour De France etc) *
• High quality big electricity sounds / sparks (libraries such as Sparks N Arcs, Polarity or Electronic Drain might be useful here)
• HQ classic combat sounds, punches, kicks
• Individual screams and insane vocal reactions, of every age and gender
• Kids, not babies, both genders, multiple characters, solo, not field recordings, a wide variety of natural/not-hammy laughs, screams, emotes etc. Avoiding words/accents so as to remain internationally applicable *
• Metal cable snaps with that whip kind of snap and cable resonance sounds
• Metal piercing sounds (there could be something useful in the Metal category)
• Middle East cars *
• Military Voices – giving orders, taking orders by single soldier and group of them. Soldiers responses to orders etc.
• Modern car alarms
• More ‘source’ libraries – ie, not designed sounds and not raw recordings
• Motor ‘sweeps’. Not just cars; other vehicle types, tools, servos, toys, WWI biplane
Office ambiences, modern – printers, scanners, copiers, modern phones and computer keyboards. Same for police stations, hospitals, hotels etc. (this office SFX library might work – for hospital ambiences, try this)
• Organic morphing sounds. Not robotic, but mutating type fx
• Outdoor “roomtone”: just a tone of exterior air (Street, park, desert etc)
• Outdoor sport practice (without crowds)
• People Moving – sitting down, getting up, single and groups *
• Pedestrians walking and moving on sidewalks without distinctive speech and with clear footsteps, light or no traffic. (something like this, this or this might work)
• Prison *
• Pro wrestling sfx – wrestling ring, bell etc *
• Quiet crowds and group movement (Quiet Spaces or Room Tones and Quiet Places could be a good starting point)
• Rolling loops of different size, weight, texture and if possible by layers organized in frequencies of wood, metal, plastic and their corresponding squeaks. For example, loops of tree logs rolling, or different size metal tanks or pipes rolling downhill on concrete etc etc. *
• Room movement
• Seagulls (there’s a dedicated Seagulls pack here)
• Severe American Weather – Midwestern blizzards, ice storms, derechos, sandstorms and real hurricanes and tornadoes, tornado warning sirens, storm shelter doors, cleaning up debris, falling debris, TV/ Weather Channel Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Signals
• Shop bells *
• Slingshot bys library *
• Small and large crowds – general murmuring, talking, clapping, rioting, panicking… It would be really useful *
• Small “fire” (candle, lighter, old lamps) *
• Thunder hits and rumbles, clean CU (there are a number of thunder SFX libraries here)
• Tropical vacation – Tropical atmospheres not all surf, boat docks, cruise ship terminals, rainforest insects and thunderstorms, wind in palm trees, beach front sports, scuba diving, wind surfing, tropical rainshowers, Carribbean town ambiences like supermarkets and department stores, fishing boats.
• UI SFX, modern game audio
• Vocals. I do all audio for short animation now and then, mostly without dialogue but with endless amounts of ‘huh’s, ‘hmm’s, ‘ah’s and ohs’, etc.
• Walla
• Weapon impacts (for regular bullet impacts, this or this library could be what’s needed)
• Wolf vocals and howls
• Worldised Royalty Free Music

Anything missing from the list? Please leave a comment below, and I’ll add it!

 

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    NEW: ANIMAL HYPERREALISM IV contains animal vocalisations – from hippos, hyenas, vultures, dwarf mongooses, elephants, African cranes, parrots, tigers, pigmy hippos, rhea ostriches, to brown bears, pheasants, wildebeests, African wild dogs and many more. Features 2000 individual sounds in 294 files.
     

    CATACLYSM is a collection more than 1400 sounds in 400+ files of recorded, synthesized and designed sounds created to support important destructive moments and add a stronger sense of extreme consequence to any sound.
     

    ANIMAL HYPERREALISM VOL I is a library containing themed animal vocalisations & sounds, from real to designed creatures totaling more than 1300 individual sounds in 290 files.
     

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    METAMORPHOSIS is a huge collection of recorded source, synthesized material and hybrid sounds – more than 2300 sounds total.
     

    GLACIER ICE is a library containing over 300 high quality sounds of ice cracking, breaking, shattering in various sizes of blocks – recorded entirely in the Italian Alps over the course of two winters.
     

    POLARITY delivers more than 950 sounds of electricity, science and technology – captured in several locations around the world, from electricity museums to science labs.
     

    ULTRASONIC DRY ICE is a library containing over 600 sounds themed metal resonances, scrapes and all sorts of weird.
     

    ROCKS MOMENTUM 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.
     

    WATER VOLUMES delivers you over 300 sounds of natural hot-springs, bubbles, and liquids of various densities boiling under the effect of dry ice.
     

    METAL GROANS AND SLAMS is a library for which metal was kicked, hammered, bowed and… induced to vibrate through feedback loops?! The collection features 346 unique sounds recorded through field trips in US, UK and Italy.
     

    CRUNCH MODE & THE BORAX EXPERIMENT are also included as a bonus: Crunch Mode features 230 crunchy sounds made with a variety of vegetables, fresh bread, pizza crust & frozen goods, and The Borax Experiment gets you 158 squishy, gory, slimy, gooey SFX.
     

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    Car crashes, explosions, crumbling buildings, earthquakes, ripping earth and metal, to debris, and more.


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    HERO – Sword fights, stabbing, guillotines, impaling, battle cries, shields, drawbridges, armor, foley and more.


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    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.

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Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • All files are recorded 32bit, 192 kHz, with RØDE NTG1, Line Audio Omni1 and FEL Clippy XLR EM272 microphones, Sound Devices MixPre-6 II & Zoom F3 recorders. Library contains wav files of driving, foley, mechanical and electrical sounds. It is only available in UCS.

  • PLANES & HELICOPTERS contains flybys, takeoffs, and landings of 13 aircraft models and 5 helicopter models, including small and medium-range passenger planes, private jets, tiny planes and firefighting aircraft. Recorded as close as possible to the aircraft, in airports. You’ll find turbojet, turboprop, and propeller-powered aircrafts. You’ll also find military and civilian helicopters sound effects.
    The sounds can be used for a realistic purpose but you can design spaceships or futuristic vehicles.

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  • Car Sound Effects Lada Riva 1980 compact car Play Track 218 sounds included, 51 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 only available in UCS.

  • Electricity Sound Effects Fridge Hums Complete Bundle Play Track 60 sounds included, 130 mins total $24

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  • Helicopter Sound Effects CH-47 Chinook Helicopter Play Track 40 sounds included, 46 mins total $80

    This library delivers the raw power of this legendary military transport helicopter. Originally recorded for the acclaimed Netflix series Money Heist: Part 5, this library captures every rotor, engine, and maneuver with pristine detail and fidelity—now available for your own productions.

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    • APU start ups, takeoffs, landings, and hovering sequences.
    • Close and medium imposing fly-bys
    • Interior and Exterior perspectives
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    With CH-47 CHINOOK, you’ll have a rock-solid, versatile, and epic sound resource at your fingertips – ready to take your projects to the next level.

    Note: The SoundCloud demo contains radio communiactions and some cockpit switches. These are not included.

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3 thoughts on “The 2017 SFX survey results are in: Here are 56+ ideas for new sound effects libraries

  1. SEVERE AMERICAN WEATHER – Midwestern blizzards, ice storms, derechos, sandstorms and real hurricanes and tornadoes, tornado warning sirens, storm shelter doors, cleaning up debris, falling debris, TV/ Weather Channel Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Signals

  2. Pedestrians walking and moving on sidewalks without distinctive speech and with clear footsteps, light or no traffic. Also subtle bar and restaurant ambiences with murmured, indistinct walla, light glass clinks etc. Most are too busy. And finally – a modern cell phone/computer library with new ringtones, beeps, tablet taps and tones, notifications, text alerts, start up and power down etc.

  3. Modern office ambiences – printers, scanners, copiers, modern phones and computer keyboards. Same for police stations, hospitals, hotels etc.

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