Product Description
Thunderstorms are among nature’s most emotional and awe-inspiring experiences. Only a fool would fail to respect their power. For many people, thunder and lightning evoke a sense of unease or even fear. Their immense scale and energy make every storm a unique event.
This is not an “ultimate” thunderstorm library offering endless variations of distant rumbles and explosive lightning strikes. Instead, it documents a single thunderstorm that remained directly overhead for an extended period of time, accompanied by light rain. And to be honest, it wasn’t a particularly intense storm, but it certainly produced some magnificent rolling thunder.
What makes these recordings special is not their variety, but their authenticity of the experience: the immense sound unfolding above you, captured in full immersive glory. Whenever I listen to them, they bring me back to the same emotional state I experienced while standing there, surrounded by the thunder.
If you prefer to build your own thunderstorm, these recordings also work exceptionally well as a spatial foundation. You can easily combine them with stereo recordings featuring sharp lightning cracks or dramatic close strikes, while the immersive rolling thunder fills the entire space with a convincing sense of scale.
Download Rolling Thunder multi-channel demo
Spatial recording:
This library was recorded using the Multi-channel Ambient Sample System (MASS), a multi-channel evolution of the classic Stereo Ambient Sample System (SASS), a technique widely used by field recordists.
MASS uses omnidirectional microphone capsules with full-bandwidth frequency response. Directional separation is achieved acoustically by the microphone enclosure and carefully designed foam wedges rather than by directional capsules.
The system used for this recording consists of six microphone capsules in the horizontal plane and four capsules in the upper hemisphere. The six horizontal channels were chosen to match the horizontal resolution of Dolby Atmos 7.1.4, while omitting the Centre and LFE channels. The increased horizontal sampling density provides for more precise localisation, smoother spatial reproduction around the listener and a more immersive listening experience.
This microphone design preserves both inter-aural time differences (ITD) and inter-aural level differences (ILD), providing precise spatial localisation and a stable 360° sound field.
Metadata:
File naming and basic metadata follow the Universal Category System (USC). Additional metadata, including detailed descriptions, keywords, detailed microphone perspective and embedded images from the recording sessions has been added using Soundminer and is provided in a separate metadata document.
Files:
The library is provided as 12-channel, 24-bit, 96 kHz WAV files using the following channel layout: L/R/C/LFE/Lss/Rss/Lrs/Rrs/Ltf/Rtf/Ltr/Rtr. Please note that Centre (C) and LFE channels are intentionally left silent. They were added only to ensure compatibility with a standard Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 object bed. A channel guide file is also included in the library, making it easy to verify the channel layout.
Specification:
4 files, 12m (excluding the channel guide), 24-bit / 96 kHz, 12-channel WAV, embedded metadata including a photo from the recording site, library guide included.
Keywords for included sounds:
Thunder, rolling thunder, rain, drops, twigs, birds, wind, trees, weather