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echo | collective is the label under which the guys at Dallas Audio Post release sample libraries and Kontakt instruments for use in film, music and games.
Our need for unique and interesting sounds has us constantly updating our libraries and databases. We love making noises, bending sounds and recontextualizing things into shapes and forms they were never really meant to take.
Under echo | collective our custom sounds are available to the world at large. Feel free to take a look around, listen to the demos, watch the videos and then pick up some sounds. You can follow us on twitter @echocollective
• 12.3 Gigs of sound
• Over 46 minutes of highly designed sounds
• Over 1hr 37 minutes of curated elements
• Spells, poofs, portals, energy blasts, fireballs, freezes and more
Beautiful football foley impacts recorded as they should be: outside.
Latch is a collection of a wide variety of beautifully performed and perfectly captured latches to serve all of your click, slide and snap tink pop foley sound needs.
Analog Interface is a powerful and diverse custom UI sound effects library made by recording, performing and manipulating outboard analog subtractive synthesizers and physical hardware. Hand crafted synthesis performances recorded at 96khz provide a rich pallet of sonic elements which are then designed further into complex, expressive and wildly useful sounds for sci-fi sound design, UI, motion graphic sound design, heads up display, text on screen and beyond. This library covers everything from the cleanest and simple UI selects to the grittiest of glitchy textures of sci-fi telemetry.
https://vimeo.com/823119334
https://vimeo.com/823119250
The elements are raw yet curated analog performances and textures that provide an endless sonic playground of building blocks for sound designers to craft into original manifestations. By design the instruments selected for this library project were mono subtractive synths of old and new to perform and collect patches in rich and simple states. Each synth selected provide their own aesthetic and character that culminate into a one of a kind sonic signature. The use of purely analog synthesis creates unique sounds that cannot be replicated exactly the same way twice. The slight variations in the components and the environment used can affect the produced sonic character, creating an intangible magic impossible to achieve with software alone. Complimenting the synths are collections of custom EMF recordings, servos and mechanical switches, breaking the third wall from within the machine to the physical world.
The designed sounds are the combined works of four career sound designers at Dallas Audio Post. The analog elements were layered, morphed, programmed and re-contextualized in both meticulous hand crafted methods and complex parameter randomization processes. The combined results are a collection of beautiful, compelling and engaging sounds that we believe are extremely needed in the modern sound design ecosphere.Â
Complimenting the vast UI collection are analog transitions designed for use of motion, doppler effects and signify a sample of future libraries in the making.
The end result is a sound effects library that’s not only incredibly versatile but also highly creative.
Enjoy!
The EXPLNR sounds series is a collection of sfx libraries designed and produced with the classic 2d animated explainer video in mind.
These sounds will give quick and useful coverage to the common moves used in this style. Vol 2 is a custom paper and mechanical transition library – filled with pleasant clicks and sides designed to push all of your graphics along neatly and cleanly – all custom designed with the playfulness and clean edges required to match the explainer video style. To help cover repetitive visual movements, multiple iterations of each sound are included.
A selection of designed sounds will quickly cover more complex movements. The next time you have an explainer video in the house, you know how your transitions will sound.
Junkyard Destruction is a unique library of vehicle destruction that is perfect for all of your mayhem needs.
We had a full day of all-access recording at a local junkyard. With 5 mic arrays set up, we crushed, tossed and threw rocks and stuff at a few dozen cars.
The result was a collection of complex, crunchy and 100% authentic vehicle crashes and impacts that have use far beyond their original context. The stars of the show are the high impact metal, glass and plastic debris, and the easter eggs are the forklift revs, small rock impacts, and genuine junkyard ambiences included in the pack.
Every drop and crush is delivered with carefully time aligned and mastered mic arrays both split out and mastered together.
In addition to the mic splits and mastered recordings, we’ve also generated dozens of deigned wrecks, impacts, debris fields and rock scatters with sound particles. All presented with perfect UCS metadata and ready to drop straight in to your next disaster.
Enjoy!
The Arrow Barrage Complete collection is a compilation of three lovingly crafted libraries that cover a huge array of textures and performances in the context of individual and massive group archery batteries. Each library has hundreds of files and thousands of unique performances and sound particles renders. Together these libraries form a comprehensive tome of textures, impacts and whooshes that can be used in contexts far beyond archery.
• 3 complete arrow barrage libraries included
• over 84 minutes of sound
• 452 elements files and over 2000 unique performances
• 234 designed files and over 1100 unique sound particles renders
Need sound effects for your explainer videos? The EXPLNR sounds series is a collection of sfx libraries designed and produced with the classic 2d animated explainer video in mind. These sounds will give quick and useful coverage to the common moves used in this style.
Vol 1 is an excellent all-around base library that includes whooshes, clicks, pops, swells, ratchets, slides, rips, drags, flicks, crumples, and dings – all custom designed with the playfulness and clean edges required to match the explainer video style.
To help cover repetitive visual movements, multiple iterations of each sound are included. A host of designed sounds will quickly cover more complex movements.
The next time you have an explainer video in the house, you know your starting point.
The Rush is a collection of massive rushing sounds that are perfect for use in timelapses, swirls, swarms, and any other massive movement situation. It features 319 sound rushed files that were generated from 30 lovingly curated sources and carefully rendered in Sound Particles.
Sound sources range from trains and race cars to vinyl, metal and paper frictions to gore, motorcycles and helicopters. Parameters are tweaked to yield textured and interesting results with detailed heads and tails that rush in and gently dissolve out.
Each rush has a different number of particles running, so you get every level from sparse detailed movement to overwhelming waterfalls of sound per sample set. Check it out today!
Clink gets you the sound of of clicks, latches and whirrs generated from a little found Herschede Starville clock mechanism.
Each take is loaded up with unique performances that explore the mechanism’s unique character from up-close.
Recorded in a quiet space with an MKH50 through a John Hardy preamp, this libary is small but mighty. Also included is a NI Battery 4 kit that is programmed to enhance the best characteristics of the source material by doing transient enhancement, eq, delay and compression that can be dialed in to taste.
Note: NI Battery 4 is required to use the kit – not included. You don’t need any version of Battery to use the audio files as a standalone sample library.
These recordings are excellent for adding character and complexity to your next mechanical element design.
Get a huge variety of simple or complex lockdown mechanism sounds with a wide array of different latches and impacts with Lockdown, a performable Kontakt instrument and sound effects library.
We brought in dozens of props big and small to generate a massive array of source material recorded at 24 bit 192kHz. These included cameras, carabiners, wrenches, rack cases, knives, can openers, tongs, crimpers, solder suckers, file cabinet doors, vehicle doors and servos and much more – all with multiple unique performances per set.
Great care was taken to record each performance with the highest sonic quality and detail. We chose a pair of MKH50s in XY as our primary setup, creating a big, clean stereo image on every sound.
The designed collection uses samples based on the elements recordings that have been transformed into entirely new and different sounds using heavy processing and layering. It was created to produce interesting design and transition sounds quickly and easily. Lockdown includes over 500 fully lockdowns of all sizes and scales.
Looking for vinyl noises, crackles, pops and buzzes? PHONO is a set of textures lovingly recorded from the blank spots of old and new vinyl records.
Comprised of various loops pops and decays, this collection spans the range of what a needle on an empty track can sound like.
108 flavors of rhythmic noise, crackles, hiss, pops, buzzes, bumps and air – packaged, looped, and ready to go. Great straight or with fx.
Get the sounds of the the Honda VTX 1300 – a distinctive cruiser motorcycle.
Its 1300cc displacement is right in the sweet spot between the zippier 750 models and the massive 1800 road warriors. This particular one was equipped with a set of custom Vance and Hines Big Shots exhaust pipes early in its life, giving it a distinctive and throaty note that can be heard up and down the highway. The VTX line is also known for its distinctive transmission, which gives a meaty ‘clunk’ with every shift.
This library is a set of recordings that were made using a combination of onboard and exterior mics at a variety of useful speeds, as well as free running on the highway. Its a smaller set, but very distinctive and useful.
We recorded multiple channels on every movement:
• Onboards consisted of Line audio CM3, Crown PZM and Sanken COS11 mics
• A handheld MKH416 rig covered bys and exteriors
After a half day of recording we had material ranging from idles and slow starts to fast bys and highway runs.
The Burroughs Protectograph that we acquired was manufactured around the turn of the 20th century and had a single unique function – to stamp and emboss checks for banks. The Burroughs corporation has been around since 1886, and was an early force in the adding machine, check stamper and typewriter industries. This Protectograph version had an electric mechanism that would move large printheads down through a ribbon and would stamp a check hard and repeatedly for as long as the print key was held down. Our machine was acquired in perfect working condition.
Its keys have a short through but a satisfying clack, and the punch mechanism is a huge whir stamp sound than can cycle if the punch button is held down. We rolled with the case both on and off, which revealed very different sounds from the main electric mechanisms.
We ran the whole session with three perspectives miked up – front by the keys, in the back by the punch and a wide perspective perfect for bgfx placement. The front and back mics were Schoeps CMC6.MK4 and the wide mic was an AT 4050 in omni about 5 feet away. Listen to the straight examples give a clear accounting of the type of sounds we got from this machine, and the bent examples show what can really be done with those sounds and the Kontakt instrument.
Motion Texures is a broad library with a narrow purpose: to draw sonic lines and create gently moving sonic textures.
The concept is that consistent sound of friction will translate well to visual design elements that have CG and text movement on screen.
We recorded the friction sounds of dozens of small to medium sized props in constant motion. Major categories include metal, plastic, cloth, wood and skin. Some of the most interesting sounds came from the props that had small cavities such as the spray can lid and the water bottle. The constant changing of the cavity state relative to the mics creates strange vocal sounds.
Once the sounds were recorded we employed a proprietary smoothing process as a second pass to the sounds and provided them in addition to the original textures. These smoothed out sounds still have the organic quality of the original recordings, but with far fewer transient events. The end result are sounds that feel straighter than the more circular sounding original textures.
Inside of the Kontakt instruments we stacked layers and effects to create a broad base of deep and interesting textures. Many of the Kontakt presets mangle the sounds far beyond recognition of the original recordings.
Remington Rand is an early American typewriter and adding machine manufacturer formed in 1927. The last Remington Rand branded business machine rolled off the line in 1958. The adding machine that we acquired was an electric version in good working condition. Remington Rand also manufactured things like shavers, pistols and calculators.
Our adding machine has a big electronic mechanism for the summing function and nice heavy clacks for the regular keys. It also had some very sticky metal plates that would occasionally get stuck and then pop loose with a big resonant ringing sound. This specific defect made an incredibly interesting sound that is very unique to this specific machine’s wear and tear.
As with the Burroughs Protectograph we miked it with three different mono perspectives to produce three very different sounds on each move. We used Schoeps CMC6/MK4 mics on the front and back and an AT4050 for the wide perspective in mono. The close perspectives are great for big thick clicks and mechanisms, and the wide is excellent for use in one offs for bgfx tracks.
Need helicopter sounds? The Bell 407 and Bell 429 are *THE* helicopters used in police, news, rescue, military and private fleets. Over 1 hr and 45 minutes of beautiful recordings.
Rodeos and horse ranches aren't what they used to be.
These days, rodeos are polluted with big PAs pumping rock and pop music through the speakers while the cowboys ride the bulls and buck the broncs. People watch through cell phones and keep a safe distance from the action. Horse ranches are overrun with the sounds of 4 wheelers and dirt bikes on the tracks nearby.
The recordings we have come from before that time.
Years ago we rolled out to the rodeo with full access, a portable DAT machine, and a determination to catch every angle we could take a mic to. The house band played from a balcony unamplified while the cowboys rode the bulls and the crowd cheered. The children rode sheep in a sport called “mutton busting” and the women mounted stagecoaches and raced around the arena at breakneck speed.
…and when the show was over the crowd stood up to leave, but the cowboys were still competing – so they kept riding.
The steer wrestling contest happened in an almost empty arena. We were there — up close, capturing every gate release, the sounds of the cow struggling to stay on his feet, and the single trainer cheering the cowboys on. The dirt and the grit and the steel clacking around were all there, exposed and clean and in their native environment.
After the rodeo we went to a local horse ranch and kept on rolling. We got gallops and canters, grunts and snorts. We handled the tack, shook the bridles, and swung the gates. We recorded in the barn and out on the fields.
These recordings come from a time before 24 bit 96kHz portable rigs existed, but they have a quality and fidelity that has survived the ages. Take a listen and remember the time when these things sounded like they should sound.
The Porsche 911 GT3 is not a typical race car.
With engine, transmission, air intake and exhaust all situated in the rear of the vehicle under a large wing, this pure driving machine has sonic characteristics very different from many familiar racing vehicles. Its exhaust note is deep and throaty and the transmission is snappy at speed.
The Porsche 911 GT3 library is a series of recordings that were made on a track just outside of Houston on media day for the Effort race team. These are 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 Rs that race on the Pirelli World Challenge series. Each car has a naturally aspirated, water cooled, four valve 4.0 liter flat six cylinder Porsche engine. These cars create 500 horse power from the factory and race with E10 fuel. The transmission is a Porsche six gear racing box with sequential shift mechanism.
With full access to the vehicles and the track, we recorded up to 13 channels on every movement.
• Onboards including Sanken CUB01, Crown PZM and Sanken COS11 mics
• Interiors captured with a Sure VP-88
• An ORTF array of Line Audio CM3s at pit row
• An array of MKH60s and a Shoeps MS rig at another straightaway on a balcony
• An ORTF array of Line Audio CM3s at a long slow turn
• A roving handheld MKH70 rig
After a full day of recording we had material ranging from idles and slow starts to whip bys and burnouts. We also got a wide variety of foley and ambient recordings that happened organically throughout the day.
In films and documentaries there are often images of people in spaces speaking to other people, who are listening attentively.
The recordings of the person doing the talking are pristine from the set. The recordings of the rest of the room don’t exist. Room tones of empty spaces don’t possess movement and life that your soundtracks require for these situations.
Quiet Spaces is a collection of recordings of people gathered in rooms of various sizes and not talking
Libraries are a natural place to capture these environments, and so a high quality stealth kit made from a pair of Sanken CUB 01s discreetly placed from a backpack onto empty tables in various libraries. We also got access to a university campus right at the end of finals week where we recorded out in the open with a pair of MKH50s in ORTF. We captured an entire class taking a test, as well as various other lightly and sparsely populated spaces in and around campus.
The end result is a beautiful set of recordings of quiet spaces that are still filled with texture and movement.
Available in two versions:
If you're after hospital sounds, here's a beautiful suite of surround sound hospital ambiences.
Access to hospitals can be tricky. Credentials are required, and different rules must be followed for every step one takes deeper into the building. It's not as simple as just grabbing a rig and walking in the front door.
Our hospital ambiences were recorded during one extensive day long shoot where we were granted access to one of the nation's top medical campuses. There are surprisingly few “hospital machines” making beeping noises at any given location within the building, which gives these sounds the flexibility to be used in any large institutional building.
Each location was recorded in dual MS and decoded using the excellent Schoeps double MS decoding tool.
The end result is an immersive set of recordings that show off the reality of what a hospital really does sound like. Pick up a copy and cover your hospital scenes the right way.
Two versions are available:
Signal Return is a performable Kontakt instrument and soundset designed to create a wide variety of interesting and textured sounds.
All of the source material comes from recordings of various devices feeding back into themselves either electrically or acoustically. No software based speaker emulators or distortions were used in the creation of these sounds. Comes with 250 .wav files – more than 2 hours of recordings + 22 Kontakt instruments (these require the full version of NI Kontakt 5.0 or higher).
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.
A Sound Effect is an excellent resource for us to keep our animated films sounding unique and exciting.
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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!
There are many great independent sound effect libraries available these days. The main problem with having so many, is keeping track of them!
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A Sound Effect is a wonderful resource for indie sound effects libraries. On top of that, it has some of the finest sound design, film and game audio interviews!
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A Sound Effect is a well curated boutique sound effects shop and a great place to find industry interviews and learning resources.