Sound Effects

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Hi there. I’m George Vlad and I love to record [anything]. I generally focus on exotic ambiences, pristine nature, rare vehicles and old aircraft. I travel extensively in order to find places where nature is still largely undisturbed by anthropophony. Read about my trips on my blog or follow me on Youtube.

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Environments & Ambiences Atacama Desert Play Track 40 sounds included, 246 mins total From: $190

Atacama Desert is a collection of stereo and quad soundscapes recorded in the barren but amazingly beautiful desert plateau of Western Chile. This is the most arid desert on Earth, with some weather stations here having never recorded any rain. It’s a breathtaking place with incredible silence and powerful winds. The soundscapes in this collection were recorded around giant rock pillars, endless rock plains and fields of sparse dry vegetation.

This library is the perfect way to portray the barren expanse of the Atacama desert. Some of the soundscapes recorded are the lightest of desert airs. The others feature wind, from light and soft to heavy and gusty. Lastly, some of the recordings also include flies buzzing around.

This library was recorded in several locations on the border between Chile, Argentina and Bolivia . Reaching this part of the world was no easy task, as you can see in the second part of the teaser video.

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Wild Animals Sound Effects Whale Song Play Track 17+ sounds included, 108 mins total $175

Whale Song is a collection of underwater recordings of humpback whales singing and calling in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Madagascar. These soundscapes were recorded in pseudo-stereo with two hydrophones and also include the sounds of corals, fish, shrimp and water movement.

Humpback whales migrate to this part of the Indian Ocean every year to mate and give birth. Their fascinating songs and calls can be heard underwater from tens of miles away, however reaching this part of the world can prove quite challenging as seen in the second part of the teaser.

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences Arabian Desert Play Track 67+ sounds included, 416 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
From: $190

Arabian Desert is a collection of stereo and quad soundscapes recorded on the Arabian Peninsula in the Empty Quarter, the largest expanse of sand dunes on Earth. The recordings range from soft to medium and gusty/blustery wind, with variations including sand spray, vegetation movement and insects.

This collection of recordings will help portray the vast expanse of the Empty Quarter. Many of these soundscapes are not much more than soft wind. There’s also gusty and blustery wind, recorded with microphones at the top of dunes and underneath the sand surface. Wildlife is incredibly sparse in the Empty Quarter and is represented in this library by buzzing flies and other insects.

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences African Desert Play Track 29+ sounds included, 227 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$170

African Desert is a collection of immersive stereo soundscapes recorded in the remotest parts of the Namib desert. It covers a variety of locations, from sand dunes and canyons to desert pavement and rocky outcrops. Subjects include sand movement recorded with hydrophones, soft to medium wind blowing over the surface of the dunes, and insects, birds and reptiles creating a sparse ambience full of minute detail.

The purpose of this collection is to portray the soundscape of the Namib desert in all its sparseness and beauty. Some of these recordings are not much more than very soft wind. A few of the included soundscapes feature sand being blown over the surface of dunes. There’s a variety of wildlife calls too, from insects like cicadas, crickets or flies to barking geckos and occasional birds. This is not a wildlife library though, as the focus is more on the lifeless beauty of this mostly barren landscape.

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences Wild Rain Play Track 69+ sounds included, 523 mins total From: $150

Wild Rain is a collection of rain soundscapes recorded in 4 rainforests across 3 continents: the Amazon rainforest, the Borneo rainforest, the Congo basin rainforest and the Ethiopian cloud forest. The library features rain falling on vegetation and forest floor, from sparse drops to moderate and heavy rain. Several recordings of rolling thunder are also included. All recordings also include the sound of the forest and wildlife to varying degrees. Cicadas, frogs, birds and even an elephant can be heard in the background. Lastly, Wild Rain comes with extensive metadata and is UCS compliant.

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Bundles Nature / Wildlife Bundle Play Track 550+ sounds included, 3429 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
~~From: $2,065~~ From: $1,600

The Nature and Wildlife bundle by Mindful Audio is a collection of libraries that covers a wide variety of natural environments and animals. These recordings have been captured in pristine areas like deserts, rainforests, cloud forests, temperate forests, woodlands and wetlands. The wildlife includes elephants, baboons, monkeys, frogs, cicadas and a varied assortment of bird species, all recorded wild in their habitats. This is the content you’re getting:

Atacama Desert
African Jungle
Amazon Jungle
African Cloud Forest
African Desert
African Wild West
Woodland Atmosphere
Eerie Forest
Wetland Atmosphere
Wild Rain
Arabian Desert
Volcano
Whale Song

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences Amazon Jungle Play Track 49 sounds included, 357 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
From: $160

Amazon Jungle is a collection of unique ambiences recorded in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. The library was recorded during the rainy season when birds are vocal and humidity is at its highest. These recordings feature species such as the Screaming Piha, Toucans, Howler Monkeys, Trogons, Tinamous, Owls, very vocal Bamboo Rats and a multitude of insects and frogs.

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Destruction & Impact Sounds Volcano Play Track 13+ sounds included, 116 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$150

MAFX019 Volcano is a collection of unique sounds recorded in Ethiopia’s Afar region at Erta Ale volcano. Erta Ale is one of only a handful of volcanoes with lava lakes in the world, situated in the Danakil Depression, one of the hottest and most inhospitable places in the world. The name means Smoking Mountain in the local Afarigna language and Erta Ale does not disappoint in this regard, as you can see in the video. This place is also known as the Gateway to Hell, an appropriate moniker given the 47C/117F temperatures and lots of dead fauna we encountered.

There were only a few lava pits when the library was recorded but plenty of continuous and violent toxic gas releases. Occasionally the ground would move creating low frequency rumbles and debris falling. I had to use a long boompole in order to suspend my trusty MKH8060 over the edge and I improvised a spaced omni array by taping the MikroUsi mics to a video tripod ballhead. The expedition wasn’t 100% risk-free but it was more than worth it for these beautiful sounds.

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences African Jungle Play Track 80+ sounds included, 460 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
From: $190

African Jungle is a huge collection of unique ambiences recorded in Central Africa’s Congo Basin rainforests. To my knowledge, these are the first surround field recordings made in this area. Last year I spent a whole month off the grid, listening to and recording a variety of habitats at all times of day and night, at the height of the rainy season when birds are most vocal. It took me many days of travel to get to these places, from using trains, boats, cars and planes to hiking on foot in the jungle.

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Environments & Ambiences African Cloud Forest Play Track 35+ sounds included, 215 mins total From: $140

African Cloud Forest is a collection of immersive ambiences recorded in Ethiopia’s high-altitude montane rainforests. These recordings will transport you to the heart of remote cloud forests, teeming with wildlife and free from man-made noise.

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World Sounds Human Africa Play Track 46+ sounds included, 260 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
From: $125

Human Africa is a collection of authentic ambiences recorded in rural and urban locations across various countries in Africa.

The library covers a wide range of settings, from urban idyllic countryside ambiences and conversations in various languages to traffic and skyline soundscapes. Each file is carefully meta-tagged with location, time of day and language (if present) information.

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Environments & Ambiences Manhattan Atmosphere Play Track 30+ sounds included, 124 mins total $100

Manhattan Atmosphere is a collection of urban ambiences recorded in New York City in March 2018. It covers popular areas such as Times Square, Broadway, Trump Tower, subway stations, train rides, sirens and bridge traffic.

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Vehicle Sound Effects Comrade Tractor Play Track 6+ sounds included $125

Comrade Tractor is a 5-channel recording of a Universal 650M tractor, designed in Soviet era Romania and virtually unchanged since the 1960s. Powered by a 4.8 liter Diesel engine, this beast hadn’t been started since 2004. I got to drive it for an hour and all I can say is it doesn’t go too fast but it growls like a tank.

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences Eerie Forest Play Track 30+ sounds included, 154 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
From: $140

Eerie Forest is a collection of subtle ambiences recorded at night in dense forests in the regions of Transylvania and Moldova, Romania over two trips in Spring and Autumn 2017. The library features soft wind, distant hum, vegetation rustles, dogs barking at various distances, church bells tolling, a variety of owl species and other birds like ravens and woodcocks. All these elements are not foreground, but rather washed-out, echoey and atmospheric.

Eerie Forest is not suitable for foreground sound elements as the recordings are very soft and subtle. Make sure you check out the demos before you purchase.

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Vehicle Sound Effects Junk Cars Play Track 7+ sounds included $125

Junk Cars is a collection of on-board multi-channel recordings of old, barely-functioning European cars. The first car in the library is a 1995 Opel/Vauxhall/Holden Astra with a 1.6 liter Petrol engine, a broken exhaust and in a very sorry state. It wasn’t roadworthy when I found it, but with a little help from a car mechanic we managed to get it on the road.

Important! More cars will be added to the collection as they are recorded. Get your copy now and you will receive all subsequent updates for free.

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Trucks, Buses & Van Sounds Cargo Trucks Play Track 10+ sounds included, 232 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$150

Cargo Trucks is a collection of on-board multi-channel recordings of heavy goods vehicles, also known as cargo trucks or lorries. The first truck in the library is a 2012 Mercedes-Benz Actros semi end dump truck, a vehicle used to haul tarmac and other material from quarries in Europe. It is powered by a 12 liter V6 Diesel engine doing 480 HP and sounds as mean as you can imagine.

1.1 update adds a 12-minute 6-channel recording of a 2004 MAN TGA truck, powered by a 410hp 12-liter Diesel engine

Important! More trucks will be added to the collection as they are recorded. Get your copy now and you will receive all subsequent updates for free.

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences African Wild West Play Track 70+ sounds included, 365 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
From: $140
African Wild West is a collection of lush and immersive ambiences recorded in Senegal over the course of a 3-week trip in 2017. The library consists of 70 recordings totaling more than 6 hours, available both as stereo and surround. The recordings have been captured with a Sennheiser Double Mid-Side rig both at all times of day and night in the following locations:

Djoudj National Bird Sanctuary, an immense wetland teeming with wildlife

savanna areas in Northern, Eastern and Central Senegal

desert oases at Desert de Lompoul, Western Senegal

arid forests in Central Senegal

tropical forests in Niokolo-Koba National Park, South Eastern Senegal

the banks of the river Gambia

mangrove forests in the Saloum Delta, on the Atlantic coast
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Trucks, Buses & Van Sounds Saviem TP3 Offroad Play Track 6+ sounds included, 142 mins total $100

This is a 6-channel recording of a 1969 Diesel Saviem TP3 4×4 truck driving off-road on sand dunes in the desert of Lompoul, Senegal.

The library is recorded at 24 bit/48 kHz with 2 DPA 4060 mics in the cabin, 2 DPA 4061 mics in the engine compartment, 1 DPA 4061 on the air intake and a Sennheiser MKH 8040 on the exhaust.

The car sounds nice and gritty, throaty at times, and very rattly in the cabin. It’s certainly something you don’t come by every day.

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Nature & Countryside Ambiences Wetland Atmosphere Play Track 33 sounds included, 179 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
From: $110

Wetland Atmosphere is a collection of pristine ambiences recorded at wetlands, marshes, bogs, lakes and other similar areas around Europe.

The library consists of 33 recordings ranging from 3 to 10 minutes in length, available both as stereo and surround. The recordings have been captured with a Sennheiser Double Mid-Side rig which was left out overnight in remote locations. This was to make sure that man-made noise and human interaction was kept to a minimum.

Locations include but are not limited to:
• Remote islands in the Danube Delta, the best preserved Delta in Europe
• Swamps in Northern Romania, teeming with frogs and far away from civilization
• Marshes and bogs in Central Sweden
• Lakes surrounded by trees in Central Sweden
• Wetlands in the Somerset Levels, England

The library is accompanied by a comprehensive species list covering 68 birds and 7 amphibians in total.

Highlights include Bitterns with their booming calls, Common Loons and their wails being reflected off of trees, geese, ducks and swans making a racket, the insect-like clicking of Savi’s Warbler and the incessant croaking of various frogs and toads.

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Aircraft - Jet/Propeller Plane Sound Effects WW2 Aircraft Play Track 59 sounds included, 96 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$140

WW2 Aircraft is a collection of recordings of rare World War 2 aircraft. It features icons such as the Supermarine Spitfire, Bucker Bu-131 Jungmann, North American P-51 Mustang, Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Grumman F8F Bearcat and others. The library consists of 59 recordings ranging from 13 seconds to over 10 minutes in length. The sounds have been recorded with the Sennheiser MKH416, MKH8040 and the Sony PCM D100.

The library covers exterior flybys from slow to very fast, aircraft taxiing by, engines starting up, idling, revving, stopping and a few takeoffs. It also includes an on-board recording of a Bucker Bu-131 biplane as it starts up, taxies, takes off, flies, lands and then stops. The planes have been recorded at a variety of distances, from close to relatively far away. As an added bonus, one of the P-51 Mustangs recorded had had its guns removed, which caused an awesome whistling sound every time it swooped down at a certain angle.

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Car Sound Effects Dacia 1310 Play Track 4 sounds included $100

4-channel recording of an old Dacia 1310 driving in the city and on motorway, recorded with 2 DPA 4061 mics (one on the engine and the other on the exhaust) plus a Sony PCM D100 in the boot. These sounds can be used to portray this specific model, but also as sound design material for old carburetor engine vehicles or rickety rattletraps.

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Materials & Texture Sound Effects Metal Atmosphere Play Track 29 sounds included, 120 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$100

Metal Atmosphere is a collection of contact microphone recordings of wire fences vibrating in the wind.

The library consists of 29 recordings ranging from 1 minute to over 10 minutes in length. These have been recorded by taping JrF contact microphones to wire fences and other structures through which sound travels easily.

Most of the sounds are made by the wind “playing” the wires as a huge stringed instrument, while a few others are recordings of submerged wooden fences. The tone is generally dark, even menacing, bringing desolate spaces to mind.

The sounds can be used as backgrounds even if they technically aren’t proper ambiences, as there is a certain degree of similarity between the two channels which creates a fake stereo field. About half of the files also include wind gusts and wind-specific dynamics which renders them easily identifiable as wind sounds, only with extra metal elements added. Additionally there are countless impacts, risers and swells included which can easily be cut out and used as spot effects. All files are recorded and mastered at 24/96 quality which makes them excellent sound design elements ripe for serious processing.

In total, more than 2 hours of metal atmospheres and resonances from unique sources – tagged with comprehensive metadata.

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Featured Sound Creators Elements: Gears Play Track 212+ sounds included, 205 mins total
Rated 5.00 out of 5
$120

Elements: Gears is a collection of small and large gear, ratchet, cogwheel and other mechanical sounds recorded and edited over more than 2 years by George Vlad. The library encompasses more than 4000 individual sounds covering actions such as single clicks, slow movement, fast movement, short turns etc. The objects recorded include ratchet tools, plastic toys, old sewing machines, wagon wheels and ethnic noise making instruments. Some of the larger objects have been recorded using MKH 8040, DPA 4060 and a JrF contact microphone with each perspective included on a separate track.

Elements: Gears 1.1 Update adds more large gear sounds! Check out the accompanying spreadsheet.

The sounds can be used for obvious purposes such as ratchet wrenches, cogwheels, drawbridges, steampunk mechanisms, machinery etc.. As is the case with other libraries in the Elements series, these sounds can also be used as building blocks for more complex sounds such as spaceships, vehicles, industrial machinery and others. Additionally, all files are recorded and mastered at 24/96 quality which makes them excellent sound design elements ripe for serious processing.

Elements: Gears at a glance:

• 212 .wav files; more than 4000 sounds in total
• recorded and presented as 24 bit/96 kHz mono files
• 3 hours and 55 minutes total length
• 3.83 GB uncompressed size – 3.11 GB zip archive
• recorded on Sound Devices 633 with Sennheiser MKH-8040, DPA 4060 and JrF microphones
• comprehensive metadata compatible with Basehead and Soundminer

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Ice Sound Effects Elements: Ice Play Track 1500 sounds included, 86 mins total $100

Elements: Ice is a collection of ice sounds recorded and edited over the 2015/2016 winter by George Vlad. The library is made up of more than 1500 individual ice sounds including cracks, creaks, hits, impacts, smashes, drags, stomps, splashes and water under ice ambience. The sounds have been recorded over more than 4 months in Romania and Scotland at temperatures ranging between -25C/-13F and 5C/41F.

The library’s most obvious use is as Foley elements since it covers a wide variety of ice thicknesses and performances. As is the case with other libraries in the Elements series, these sounds can also be used for other purposes such as gore sweeteners, glass or wood cracks, bone breaks etc. Additionally, all files are recorded and mastered at 24/96 quality which makes them excellent sound design elements ripe for serious processing.

Elements: Ice at a glance:

• 89 .wav files ranging from 3 seconds to 8 minutes long; more than 1500 sounds in total
• recorded and presented as 24 bit/96 kHz mono files
• 1 hour and 26 minutes total length
• 1.59 GB uncompressed size – 1.09 GB zip archive
• recorded on Sound Devices 633 with Sennheiser MKH-8040 microphones and Sony PCM D100 with on-board mics and JrF hydrophones
• comprehensive metadata compatible with Basehead and Soundminer

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With A Sound Effect, Asbjoern has created a web site where our international community can browse, learn, and share the vast fruits of our labors. Together we are accelerating the very real potential power of sound design as a recognized art form.

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Supervising sound editor,
The Hateful Eight, Inglourious Basterds, Kill Bill: Vol. 1

A Sound Effect is an excellent resource for us to keep our animated films sounding unique and exciting.

Gabriel Guy

Re-recording Mixer, Walt Disney Animation Studios:
Frozen, Big Hero 6

A Sound Effect is a great asset to have discovered.

We found the site very easy to navigate, purchasing and downloads were effortless and the effects themselves are awesome! Asbjoern has done us all a great service.

We’ll definitely be back!

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Supervising Sound Editor/Re-recording Mixer, The Lego Movie & Mad Max: Fury Road

There are many great independent sound effect libraries available these days. The main problem with having so many, is keeping track of them!

A Sound Effect is a great hub, and is one of the first places I visit to look for sounds by category or genre. I started coming here to see if I could find libraries that I knew I had heard, but forgot WHERE I had heard them.

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Sound designer:
Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit trilogies

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Director, Digital - Source Sound Inc.

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