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This collection has over four hours of streams, rivers, and waterfalls, all recorded without birds or man-made noise. The 91 recordings offer a variety of perspectives, from close-up to distant, highlighting the natural gurgles and splashes. Everything was recorded in northern Norway, Belgium, and northern France.
I created this collection primarily for myself, aware of the many Rivers and Streams libraries out there, but I couldn’t resist sharing it after enjoying the recording process so much. The sounds capture everything from the intense rush of water just above the roaring rapids to the gentle flow of rivers hundreds of meters away. In quiet natural environments, the sound of flowing water can be heard from very far and this really impacts the soundscape in a beautiful way. I also designed some waterfall samples, focusing on texture to avoid the typical pink noise. These additions sound powerful yet natural. There are also low-end recordings of a large waterfall, captured between rock formations, which deliver a deep roar with minimal high frequencies—perfect for enhancing water sounds.
Many of the recordings were captured during a 30-day hiking trip through the northernmost parts of Norway. Crossing rivers without bridges was a significant part of the journey, and these sounds instantly take me back there, wet feet and all. I hope you’ll find them useful!
Expressive Winds is striking, unusual, and distinct.
I wanted to make a collection of wind sounds made for moments when the wind conveys an emotional message or sets the tone for a scene. The collection features howling, whistling, buffeting, gusty, and rushing winds, all with pronounced character. I experimented in the whole range from powerful and dynamic to slow and static. Some are gritty and dark, while others are otherworldly or light. Many are tonal or designed, but all stand out as something unique.
Through a couple of months of fun experimentation each night it turned out to be more than 9.5 hours of stereo wind sounds across 107 files. All files are thoroughly and carefully tagged with metadata and have UCS-compliant file naming.
I had a blast making this, I hope you’ll have too working with it!
Gentle drizzle to thundering rain storm
Rain ambiences is a collection of detailed dripping, splattering and pouring rain. It has a little more than four and a half hours of rain recorded in ORTF or NOS in nature preserves, rural and urban areas.
I looked for the most wet sounding spots and spent hours relaxing to the sound of rain. It was really fantastic to record!
The sounds were mostly recorded at night and the ambiences have texture and detail with a range from rain aftermath to stormy downpour on many different surfaces. All files are thoroughly and carefully tagged with metadata and have UCS-compliant file naming.
Whistling, fluttering and buffeting wind recorded indoors
Interior wind is a collection of pitched tonal howls, steady breezes and dynamic powerful gusts in stereo and surround. It’s full of whistling, fluttering and buffeting wind recorded indoors. It has more than 3 hours of indoor wind ambiences from houses, apartments, cabins, halls and a car. All files are thoroughly and carefully tagged with metadata and have UCS-compliant file naming.
Characterful wind without man-made sound or birds
It’s a collection of wind from an inside perspective made with years of patience waiting for the right storms to come along while finding different locations with their own character.
Pure singing wind and creaking houses
Mostly recorded at night during the cold winter, the sounds are isolated wind through cracks, crevices, wind shafts and slightly open doors or windows. Some with the structure creaking and moving, others just howling tones. Others are the powerful sound of wind pushing against the wall or roof, adding pressure and buffeting.
Great variety and many locations
One of the locations we went to was in a house placed under a 120 meter (394 feet) tall power line. The power lines would resonate with a very low and ominous howl while the pylon would emit a specific note when the wind came from the right direction. Another recording session was done in a small wooden cabin in rural Denmark with all walls moving, creaking and making cracking sounds. Others were recorded in apartments or more traditional houses in rooms and attics.
Getting control of the wind
I looked at the wind direction and open windows and doors on the other side of the house to stimulate air flow and record through the tiny cracks. This way I got some control and could play with the tones and force of the wind.
Recording techniques
The surround files were recorded with an IRT Cross in surround while the stereo files range from XY to ORTF depending on the source.
Everything was recorded with MKH50 microphones on a Sound Devices 744T.
Close, Medium and Distant recordings
The collection has variation in distance to capture both the creaks and movement in the room while others are recorded in closer proximity to isolate a detailed howl or whistle.
UCS naming and metadata
I gave careful consideration to the file naming and metadata of the collection, keeping filenames short and concise while providing extra information in the metadata to help narrow search criteria.
• Quad IRT Cross and Stereo ORTF
• 96 kHz / 24 Bit
• 42 files with an average length of 4,5 minutes
• More than 3 hours of material
• Detailed metadata and file naming
Wind ambiences is a collection of mono, stereo and surround recordings ranging from light breeze to powerful storm. Cold and tonal gusts, detailed swirling and strong buffeting wind. It’s more than 2.5 hours of material full of character with a focus on a cinematic sound avoiding birds or man-made noise. All files are carefully tagged with metadata and have thoughtful UCS-compliant file names.
I used a double NOS setup, with Sennheiser microphones and recorded in various conditions, including choppy, gusty, whistling, howling, calm, airy, swirling, and more. The slightly wider placement in NOS compared to ORTF helps to diffuse the less tonal wind characteristics.
Most of the recordings were made during winter, when the barren trees provided a tonal quality that allowed the wind’s characteristics to stand out without being overpowered by noisy leaves. I included both very tonal and more noise-based layers in the collection, making it easy to create layers and control the ratio between them. I also added nine variations of expressive mono recordings that were captured in close proximity to sticks and other debris, creating tonal resonances that sound beautifully natural and full of character.
I gave careful consideration to the file naming and metadata of the collection, keeping filenames short and concise while providing extra information in the metadata to help narrow search criteria.
• Quad NOS, Stereo NOS and Mono
• 96 kHz / 24 Bit
• 39 files with an average length of 4 minutes
• More than 2.5 hours of material
• Detailed metadata and file naming
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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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.
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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.