Dìdi_sound-01 Asbjoern Andersen


Director Sean Wang's feature-length debut 'Dìdi' – in US Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2024 and one recipient of the Dolby Institute Fellowship – tells a slice-of-life tale of self-discovery of a 13-year-old boy on summer break between middle school and high school. Here, supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Andy Hay discusses his approach to capturing the energetic, youthful vibe of skate videos, designing drug experiences, and supporting the film's emotional moments through sound effects and thoughtful mix choices.
Interview by Jennifer Walden, photos courtesy of Sundance Institute; Andy Hay
Please share:
Animal Hyperrealism IV Is Here!

Director Sean Wang’s film Dìdi – in US Dramatic Competition at Sundance 2024 and one recipient of the Dolby Institute Fellowship (providing for a final mix in Dolby Atmos) – tells the tale of an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy, who spends his 2008 summer vacation learning what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.

Dìdi‘s supervising sound editor/re-recording mixer Andy Hay – at Formosa Group – spent just five weeks editing and mixing the film. For Hay, the truncated schedule compelled him to go with his gut to great effect. They didn’t have time to second-guess creative ideas, such as using the sounds of a keyboard/mouse/scroll wheel to convey the protagonist’s emotions as he’s chatting with friends online. Instead, they made quick decisions on what could work, and spent time perfecting key aspects (like the skateboard videos) that needed to be ‘right.’

Here, Hay talks about dir. Wang’s enthusiastic approach to filmmaking, how they took full advantage of the Atmos surround field for this slice-of-life story, how they handled the punky skateboard sections, how they supported the story’s emotion with sound, and much more!

I watched a short film by Director Sean Wang, called H.A.G.S. (Have a Good Summer), in which he reaches out to some of his pals who’d signed his yearbook. It’s so fun and inventive!

Dìdi_sound-02

‘Dìdi’ Director Sean Wang

Andy Hay (AH): It is! And this movie for Sundance Dìdi has elements that are similar in tone. This is a feature so it’s more fleshed out and takes you on a bigger journey, but I fell in love with Sean’s aesthetic from watching his short films.

He’s made a couple of shorts. One of his most recent is Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó, which is a story of his two grandmothers, and it has earned a 2024 Oscar nomination for ‘BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM.’

Sean is really smart, effervescent, joyous, and just a great young dude with real talent.

 

Dìdi_sound-03

From L to R: Claire Loudis (post producer), Sean Wang (writer/director), Andy Hay (re-recording mixer/sound supervisor), Carlos Lopez Estrada (producer), and Valerie Bush (producer)

Dìdi was one of the Dolby Institute Fellowship Recipients this year, which provides for the film to be mixed in Atmos. How did mixing in Atmos make an impactful difference for Dìdi? Can you share some specific examples of how or where in the film Atmos made the biggest difference?

AH: Yeah, we did, which is nice because Dolby similarly got involved with Blindspotting – a film we finished in 2018. I met Glenn Kiser back then, and he came out to watch the printmaster for Dìdi. He’s fantastic, and it’s great that Dolby cares enough to get involved, to be supportive, and to offer this opportunity to indie filmmakers.

They genuinely care about, and recognize new talent – their selection is very targeted and based on their assessment of real talent that deserves to be nurtured, which is lovely.

Dìdi is a real, honest slice-of-life coming-of-age story, so the sound is predominately realistic. You want to be there with those characters, so we keep a lot of the action on screen in that sense, but we used Atmos objects for a couple of cool abstract moments. One, in particular, is a drug trip sequence that makes full use of objects, with immersive music coming up and around you, and circular panning of dragons and a talking squirrel. We got to flex our muscles there with the use of the Atmos system. Having full range surrounds with precise linear and height panning is such a joy to work with.

…we gave him a level of expertise that opened his eyes to new possibilities in terms of what can be achieved in the mix.

This was a fun experience for Sean because I think this was the first endeavor for him where he’s had more time in the mix than he’s used to. We did edit and mix it very quickly (we had five weeks from turnover to printmaster) but we gave him a level of expertise that opened his eyes to new possibilities in terms of what can be achieved in the mix.

There was very much a sense of joy coming from him. He sat next to me at the console the whole time. He was fully engaged and enjoying the process, of seeing what’s possible. He was coming up with ideas on the fly, things we should try as together we shaped and sculpted the mix, and there was this sense of play as we worked. It’s really fun and gratifying when you find yourself to be in sync with the director chasing a common goal.

 

How did Director Wang want to use sound as a storytelling tool for Dìdi? What were some of his initial ideas for sound? And what were some creative sound ideas that you wanted to contribute to the film?

AH: On the first read-through of the script, it’s clear the protagonist Wang Wang (a kid on summer break between middle and high school) is going through a series of learnings. During that summer, everything gets challenged – his friendships, his relationship with his family, a new love interest, and his sense of self. The intent was to craft three different worlds that would support his state of mind as he progresses through these various learning experiences. The real world, the mundane online world of AIM, Myspace, and Facebook, and the fantastical, stylized, super-subjective world.

The film takes place in Fremont, Northern California 2008. The real world is American suburbia at its finest – backyard pool parties, public parks, mall parking lots for skating, etc.. Then, there’s this mundane computer world in his bedroom: AOL instant messenger, Myspace, and the migration over to Facebook. And finally, some subjective stylized moments when we’re clearly in Wang Wang’s head.

We can read the words he’s typing, but here we had an opportunity to play his emotion through how he types…

In this mundane computer world, it’s full bleed computer screen. We’re just looking at what he’s looking at. We have those iconic AOL notification sounds: the message sent and received chimes, and the door open and close sounds as people sign on/sign off of messenger. They’re great cultural touchstones of that era. We hear the computer fan, his keyboard, mouse clicks, and the mouse scroll wheel. Very early on, we knew we wanted to use that world as a character voice because the audience is just seeing his typing on-screen. We can read the words he’s typing, but here we had an opportunity to play his emotion through how he types, how he moves the mouse, and how he scrolls.

When he’s excited, his keystrokes are messy. He’s pounding on the spacebar, and he’s whipping the mouse around. Then, when the new love interest is online, there’s a level of excitement but he’s much more direct and clear in his typing versus the sloppy, chatting-with-friends typing. There’s a degree of hesitation in the way that he moves his mouse. The scroll wheel goes “tick, tick, tick” more slowly. He’s excited yet nervous and trying to play it cool. Similarly, there’s a moment where he’s super bummed out and he feels like he’s fucked everything up, and he’s lost everything. His keystrokes are slow and sad, contemplative and quiet.

It’s a prime example that there’s opportunity in simplicity and how that can contribute a lot in terms of how you emote via sound.

It’s interesting because to me, as a mental exercise, when we were first talking about it during spotting we thought it was a great idea but I didn’t know if it was going to translate. Still, it was worth pursuing. So I worked with my foley team – Foley Walkers in Ukraine – that I use a lot for indie projects. We had a conversation about the keyboard and mouse sounds being one of the key expressive elements in the storytelling. They gave me five different options for keyboard/mouse/scroll wheel, and I picked the ones I thought were going to be the most expressive. They did an incredible job of interpreting the notes and delivering sounds that carried a significant amount of weight in terms of storytelling.

It’s a prime example that there’s opportunity in simplicity and how that can contribute a lot in terms of how you emote via sound.

 

Can you talk about the skateboarding aspects of the film? What did that require in terms of sound?

AH: The skateboarding and skate culture was another important aspect of the film. Sean grew up in that environment. He is a skater through and through, and very particular about how skateboards sound.

Our production mixer was awesome so we got great-sounding stuff from production. We had foley do a pass as well, and their stuff came out great.

There are a few characteristics of the skateboards that dictate how they sound – their weight, length, type of wheels, etc.

There are a few characteristics of the skateboards that dictate how they sound – their weight, length, type of wheels, etc. that Sean was very much dialed into. So on the stage, we added more weight by pitching sounds down and adding EQ. We did a fair bit of tinkering with the skateboard elements to get them to feel as authentic as possible.

Another part of the storyline is that this kid advertises himself as being a “filmer” – someone who films skateboard videos. This is a huge component of skateboard culture: making your own videos to share online, using those videos to find deals in terms of promotion and getting sponsorship, or kids at home watching skateboard videos and learning from one another, the music you paste on top of your skateboard video allowing for the sharing and discovery of new music, and so on.

We had to have that right balance of skateboard sounds to the rest of the environment – how those skateboard sounds would be picked up by the camcorder’s microphone…

The task for us was to make all of that feel authentic and of that time of 2008. That meant taking all the elements we had from production and also from sound effects, foley, ADR, and group, and putting those all inside of an appropriate camcorder from that era.

We had to have that right balance of skateboard sounds to the rest of the environment – how those skateboard sounds would be picked up by the camcorder’s microphone – the compression and distortion and EQ. There was a fair bit of education on my part by watching these skateboard videos to understand how the technology of that era handled recording the sound of up-close skateboards.

We needed to nail that because, for Sean, it’s a huge touch point for him because it’s so much a part of his personal history. He wanted it to feel as accurate as possible so that it reaches those folks in the audience and hits them in the right place.

 

I remember watching skate videos as a teenager, like Landspeed: CKY and Big Brother – Sh*t. They had a definite look and sound to them, a particular style…

AH: The movie is a bit punk rock in those moments. It’s a dynamic mix. There are some really sweet, intimate quiet moments, and in contrast, there are these bombastic, super fun moments with the skater kids, and also a couple of parties with big source music. When we go big, we don’t hold back. There’s a punk aesthetic so we gave ourselves that freedom.

 


Popular on A Sound Effect right now - article continues below:


Trending right now:

  • ⏰ For a very limited time:
    Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

    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.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    15 %
    OFF
  • FOUR ELEMENTS - Rock The Speakerbox Professional SFX

    Master the Art of Bending the Elemental Forces

     

    Unleash the raw power of fire, water, earth, and air with this comprehensive 9 GB sound library featuring 3050 high-quality sound effects across 630 files. Whether you’re designing cinematic soundscapes or enhancing video games Four Elements delivers the tools you need to harness the energy of the natural world.

    Construction Kit – 2443 Sounds

    A treasure trove of raw, organic, and processed sounds including seamless loops divided into Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Explosion categories. Customize every detail with an extensive selection of sound components.

    • Organic Fire: Campfire sizzles, torch whooshes, and flame bursts.
    • Processed Fire: Distorted impacts and unique crackles.
    • Organic Earth: Rock crashes, gravel scrapes, and heavy stone hits.
    • Processed Earth: Stylized rumbles and granular textures.
    • Organic Water: Ocean waves, hydrophone bubbles, and fluid splashes.
    • Processed Water: Underwater whooshes and stylized liquid smashes.
    • Organic Air: Bamboo swishes, cloth movements, and pressure bursts.
    • Processed Air: Filtered gusts and dynamic noise sweeps.
    • Explosion: Firework detonations, Butane bursts, and cinematic impacts.

    Building Blocks – 416 Sounds

    Game-ready sound layers featuring Impacts, Whooshes, and Textures as seamless loops. Elevate transitions and enhance atmospheres with loops and pre-designed sound layers.

    • Fire: Explosive bursts, blazing infernos, and warm embers.
    • Earth: Ground-shaking impacts, crumbling terrain, and heavy collisions.
    • Water: Cascading waves, serene rivers, and underwater ambiences.
    • Air: Whispering breezes, stormy turbulence, and slicing gusts.

    Design Kit – 192 Sounds

    A collection of ready-to-use sound effects divided into Attack, Bend, and Explosion categories for quick integration into your projects. Perfect for high-energy scenes and immersive storytelling.

    • Fire: Crackling flames, fiery bursts, and roaring infernos.
    • Earth: Crushing impacts, shifting ground, and massive land eruptions.
    • Water: Splashes, fluid manipulations, and crashing tidal waves.
    • Air: Slicing winds, swirling currents, and thunderous gusts.

     

    Four Elements gives you complete creative control, blending organic recordings with processed sound layers to meet the demands of any project. Master the forces of nature with Four Elements. Let your creativity ignite.

     

    Keywords:

    Elements, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Wave, Water, Liquid, Rock, Cast, Stone, Pebble, Torch, Gas, Flame, Campfire, Sizzle, Burst, Scrape, Whoosh, Impact, Texture, Attack, Bend, Bending, Explosion, Processed, Surge, Quake, Hit, Flow, Burn, Ignite, Drop, Smack, Destruction, Rumble, Hiss, Blow, Wind, Cloth, Movement, Underwater, Bubble, Ocean, River, Lake, Firework, Firecracker, Bang, Blast, Detonation, Magic, Fantasy, Forces, Fire Magic, Water Magic, Earth Magic, Fire Air, Fire Effect, Fire Whoosh, Water Whoosh, Seamless Loop, Loop, Fire Cast, Water Cast, Earth Cast, Air Cast

  • Weather Sound Effects Hyper Thunder Play Track 800+ sounds included $49.50

    Hyper Thunder is a colossal collection of thunder and lightning, 100% crafted from the ground up using innovative synthesized technics and props recordings. Not a single real life thunder recording was used. using synthesis and props manipulation crafted to deliver impact far beyond natural recordings. Built entirely from innovative synthesis and props recordings, this library pushes the boundaries of weather sound design—perfect for when you need the raw energy of a storm dialed up to cinematic extremes.

    Featuring over 800 files, Hyper Thunder spans everything from subtle distant rumbles and rolling thunder to razor-sharp lightning strikes and earth-shaking impacts. With both designed hits and source layers, you have full control—drop in ready-to-use power or sculpt your own stormscapes using the source recordings.

    Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko—longtime SoundMorph contributors to acclaimed libraries like Robotic Lifeforms 2 and WATER— Hyper Thunder blends technical mastery with bold creativity.

    Key Features

    • 800+ files of synthesized thunder and lightning
    • Both designed hits and source layers for full creative control
    • Covers subtle distant rumbles through to massive cinematic impacts
    • Crafted 100% from synthesis for a unique, larger-than-life sound
    • Perfect for film, games, trailers, and any project needing storm power
    • Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko (Robotic Lifeforms 2, WATER)

    From atmospheric detail to explosive drama, Hyper Thunder gives you thunder and lightning that are bigger, subtler, and more versatile than nature itself.

    50 %
    OFF
  • Bundles Audiohero – The Prodigy Play Track 300000 sounds included $5

    Download 50 Sound Effects for $9.99 within a month from a library of more than 300,000 tracks. We give you Access to a wide variety of collections from Sound Ideas and the Hollywood Edge, including categories such as ambiance, animals, comedy, cartoon, crashes, designed sounds, foley, feature film, guns, sci-fi, production elements, sports, surround sound, transportation, and the list goes on! Instead of purchasing a boutique library, choose from an extensive library ala carte. We provide you with the massive audio library without the large cost.

    The sound effects are all recorded in 24bit 96khz down to 16bit 44.1khz. These sound effects have been used in many productions such as feature films, video games and all types of broadcast.

    What you get:

    Purchasing this offer gets you a special code that lets you download 50 sound effects from Audiohero.com within a month. The sounds you get with this purchase are covered under the Audiohero EULA.

    50 %
    OFF
    Ends 1767135600

Latest releases:

  • Hand Combat Sound Effects Violent Combat Play Track 4213 sounds included From: $135 From: $108

    THE RAW SOUND OF CINEMATIC FIGHTING

    VIOLENT COMBAT is a professional sound effects library built for fight scenes that demand impact. Packed with punch sound effects, fight sound effects, and powerful combat sound effects, it delivers everything from raw realism to over-the-top cinematic action. With improved fidelity and greater variation than its predecessor CLOSE COMBAT, this collection gives sound designers production-ready audio for film, TV, and games.

    Violent Combat | Sound Effects | Trailer

    From Realism to Cinematic Exaggeration

    Dial in the tone you need with dedicated categories: Martial Arts, Grounded, Over The Top, and Gory. Whether it’s kung fu sound effects, karate sounds, or exaggerated wrestling hits, you can shift seamlessly from authentic to stylised.

    Successor to Close Combat

    VIOLENT COMBAT builds on the legacy of CLOSE COMBAT with higher fidelity recordings, better-organised categories, and more variation. It’s the ideal companion, giving you the flexibility to cover every style of fight scene.

     

    Sounds That Land With Force

    Recorded with a wide range of props and techniques, each fighting sound effect has real weight. Where needed, selective pre-processing boosts impact, avoiding the flat results of real fight recordings.

    Production-Ready and Versatile

    Equally at home in film, TV drama, high-end game audio, or immersive theatre. From knockout sound effects to stylised fight sequences, Violent Combat is ready to drop straight into your mix.


    Included Sounds – KEYWORDS

    AIR, BODYFALL, CLOTH, CRUNCH, FINISHER, FURNITURE, GORE, GRAB, GRAPPLE, IMPACT, KICK, LEATHER, MARTIAL ARTS, METAL, MOVEMENT, PLASTIC, PUNCH, SLAP, SWISH, SWOOSH, THROW, WHOOSH

    20 %
    OFF
    20 %
    OFF
    20 %
    OFF
    20 %
    OFF
  • ⏰ For a very limited time:
    Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

    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.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    15 %
    OFF
  • Weather Sound Effects Hyper Thunder Play Track 800+ sounds included $49.50

    Hyper Thunder is a colossal collection of thunder and lightning, 100% crafted from the ground up using innovative synthesized technics and props recordings. Not a single real life thunder recording was used. using synthesis and props manipulation crafted to deliver impact far beyond natural recordings. Built entirely from innovative synthesis and props recordings, this library pushes the boundaries of weather sound design—perfect for when you need the raw energy of a storm dialed up to cinematic extremes.

    Featuring over 800 files, Hyper Thunder spans everything from subtle distant rumbles and rolling thunder to razor-sharp lightning strikes and earth-shaking impacts. With both designed hits and source layers, you have full control—drop in ready-to-use power or sculpt your own stormscapes using the source recordings.

    Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko—longtime SoundMorph contributors to acclaimed libraries like Robotic Lifeforms 2 and WATER— Hyper Thunder blends technical mastery with bold creativity.

    Key Features

    • 800+ files of synthesized thunder and lightning
    • Both designed hits and source layers for full creative control
    • Covers subtle distant rumbles through to massive cinematic impacts
    • Crafted 100% from synthesis for a unique, larger-than-life sound
    • Perfect for film, games, trailers, and any project needing storm power
    • Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko (Robotic Lifeforms 2, WATER)

    From atmospheric detail to explosive drama, Hyper Thunder gives you thunder and lightning that are bigger, subtler, and more versatile than nature itself.

    50 %
    OFF
  • 638 meticulously processed stereo fire spells sound effects recorded in 96 khz and 24 bits for high audio definition.

    The collection comes with hundreds of variations, more than 1 hour of content and many different type of fire spells. It also includes source sounds for more flexibility for your projects.

    This collection is perfect for any films, video games or trailers.

    The library is fully focused on fire spells. You will find simple one shot magic firebolt, powerful high level fire spells, fire sword, berserker enchantments and so on. Spells such as fireball,  firewall, rain of fire, meteor, fire nova, magma storm, pyroblast, sword of Avernus, etc. are included in this library.

     

    THE ARCANE FIRE SPELLS
    38 %
    OFF
  • Immerse yourself in an atmosphere of natural power and tranquility with the “Rain and Thunderstorm” sound collection, consisting of 4 Vol-s.
    This collection features a variety of looped sounds: light rain, night rain with loud thunderclaps, and other effects that will help you create the perfect atmosphere – from a quiet, secluded night, long scenes, or endless atmospheric effects without abrupt transitions, to a dramatic thunderstorm on the horizon.
    The recording was made by a Zoom H3-VR recorder in the Ambisonics A format (96 kHz 24 Bit) and then converted to the AmbiX and Stereo formats (96 kHz 24 Bit), which are located in different folders of this sound pack.

Need specific sound effects? Try a search below:


What about the quieter, family-oriented moments? How did you use sound there?

AH: There’s one particular scene towards the end of the film; it’s a peak emotional moment. We stripped everything out, very consciously slowly getting rid of all the birds and creature sounds, traffic, etc. that were in the lead-up to that moment so that it wouldn’t be a huge shock and you’d gently land in this space where all you’re hearing is room tone and production dialogue.

That’s the hard stuff to do because you can’t hide behind anything. Every line of dialogue, every gentle footstep, every clothing rustle has to be super dialed in and right on point. You have to be very particular and careful in your noise reduction technique so that it plays as evenly as possible; you don’t have the luxury of hiding behind BGs. It’s a fun challenge to get those things to play successfully. I somewhat masochistically enjoy that process.

Just let the moment play, get out of the way, and don’t interfere with what’s happening on-screen with the amazing performances.

In those quiet moments, you have to trust in being able to just play the silence, and delicately fill in every little movement, every little foley detail very carefully as needed. We have a couple of moments in the film like that. So again, it’s just being very meticulous in the edit and the mix to get it to play, and to sit in effectively pure silence. Just let the moment play, get out of the way, and don’t interfere with what’s happening on-screen with the amazing performances. So for me, it’s about getting the dialogue to play so we can hear every nuance that’s in that dialogue track from the day. Then, just lean out and don’t clutter it.

It’s important to me to share knowledge so that we all benefit in our careers.

I have to mention one of the sound effects editors on the film, sound designer Jackie! Zhou. She and Sean worked together on H.A.G.S.. She was instrumental in bringing some of the sound design and sound effects to the film. Like Sean, she’s young and has great instincts. I’ve been able to help guide her a bit in terms of delivering sounds to a stage – how to organize things a certain way, why we have different predub groups, etc. It’s been really cool to witness her enthusiasm and to help shepherd her a little bit as well. It’s important to me to share knowledge so that we all benefit in our careers.

 

Where did you mix the film?

AH: We printmastered at Paramount on Stage 4, which is a nice big stage that I’m very familiar with. We mixed in a medium-sized room at my friend John Warren’s place over at Esho in Burbank, which is where I mix a lot of indie projects. He has a great facility. It’s a smaller room that translates really well. John is continually tinkering and improving his stage. It’s got a great zen-vibe and clients really love being there.

When we brought the mix to printmaster on the big stage, Sean was blown away.

When we brought the mix to printmaster on the big stage, Sean was blown away. It was fun to watch him get so enthused by the scale and how the sound was hitting him. He said, “It’s like watching the movie for the first time” That moment right there just validates the entire experience for me. I knew then and there that we’d done our job correctly and that the film was going to reach his audience as he intended.

 

What makes the sound of Dìdi unique, or what was unique about your experience of working on this film?

AH: The uniqueness is just the experience of getting through a film from top to tail – from turnover through printmaster – in five weeks. That’s pretty unique for me these days as I’m typically working with much longer feature schedules.

When you’re faced with this crazy schedule, it forces you to think less and to be more in the moment…

When you’re faced with this crazy schedule, it forces you to think less and to be more in the moment, to just instinctively go with your gut on what you’re hearing and what you’re feeling and to run with it. Don’t get lost in second-guessing every sound choice, or spending way too much time trying way too many things. It’s go time! Rely more on your gut and less on your noggin.

 

A big thanks to Andy Hay for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Dìdi and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

 

Please share this:


 



 
 
THE WORLD’S EASIEST WAY TO GET INDEPENDENT SOUND EFFECTS:
 
A Sound Effect gives you easy access to an absolutely huge sound effects catalog from a myriad of independent sound creators, all covered by one license agreement - a few highlights:

  • ⏰ For a very limited time:
    Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

    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.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    15 %
    OFF
  • Weather Sound Effects Hyper Thunder Play Track 800+ sounds included $49.50

    Hyper Thunder is a colossal collection of thunder and lightning, 100% crafted from the ground up using innovative synthesized technics and props recordings. Not a single real life thunder recording was used. using synthesis and props manipulation crafted to deliver impact far beyond natural recordings. Built entirely from innovative synthesis and props recordings, this library pushes the boundaries of weather sound design—perfect for when you need the raw energy of a storm dialed up to cinematic extremes.

    Featuring over 800 files, Hyper Thunder spans everything from subtle distant rumbles and rolling thunder to razor-sharp lightning strikes and earth-shaking impacts. With both designed hits and source layers, you have full control—drop in ready-to-use power or sculpt your own stormscapes using the source recordings.

    Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko—longtime SoundMorph contributors to acclaimed libraries like Robotic Lifeforms 2 and WATER— Hyper Thunder blends technical mastery with bold creativity.

    Key Features

    • 800+ files of synthesized thunder and lightning
    • Both designed hits and source layers for full creative control
    • Covers subtle distant rumbles through to massive cinematic impacts
    • Crafted 100% from synthesis for a unique, larger-than-life sound
    • Perfect for film, games, trailers, and any project needing storm power
    • Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko (Robotic Lifeforms 2, WATER)

    From atmospheric detail to explosive drama, Hyper Thunder gives you thunder and lightning that are bigger, subtler, and more versatile than nature itself.

    50 %
    OFF
  • Khron Studio - Forged In Fury Vol 2

    Forged in Fury Vol. 2 – Modular Weapon Sound Design Kit

    Forged in Fury Vol. 2 continues the philosophy of providing fully modular sounds, allowing you to design and customize your weapon audio exactly as you need. Each element is carefully edited and organized into categories such as whooshes, retractions, impacts, blood, and more, giving you total control to adapt and layer sounds to your project.

    This volume includes 586 individual sounds at 192 kHz / 24-bit quality, ready to use as-is or to combine and shape into something entirely new.

    🎧 Featured Content:

    – Greatsword (123 sounds)
    Heavy metallic textures with more weight, blood, and impact than a standard sword.

    – Iron Staff (74 sounds)
    Inspired by the legendary staffs of Shaolin monks, offering solid strikes and metallic resonances

    – Karambit Knife (252 sounds)
    Fast, sharp, and deadly. Featuring rapid spins, swift cuts, and an ever-present sense of danger.

    – Nunchakus (137 sounds)
    Dynamic and versatile, infused with the spirit of classic martial arts films. Includes wooden hits, chain rattles, and fast whooshes.

    🔑 Key Feature:
    As in the first volume, each sound is delivered in editable layers (e.g., whoosh + impact + blood). Want a greatsword strike without blood? Just combine whoosh + hit and you’re set. You can even swap layers across different weapons to create entirely new variations.

    🎚️ Studio-Grade Quality:
    Recorded at 192 kHz / 24-32 bits and delivered at 192 kHz / 24 bits, ensuring outstanding fidelity. Perfect for pitching, distortion, and heavy processing without losing clarity.

    👉 Forged in Fury Vol. 2 is not just a sound library, it’s a true creation kit, giving you the freedom to craft weapons and scenes with maximum flexibility and realism.

    More about the pack
    – Intuitive file naming
    – Everything you need for a Greatsword, Iron Staff, Karambit Knife, or Nunchucks.
    – Use the sound effects over and over again, in any of your projects or productions, forever, with no additional fees or royalties. Use the sound effects in your game, your trailer, a Kickstarter campaign, wherever you need them, as many times as you want.
    – Fully mono support
    – All sounds have several variations.
    – Unleash your imagination and feel free to use any sound for something other than what is described; remember that the world of sound is entirely subjective.
    – For any questions or problems: khronstudio@gmail.com

    Features
    – 586 sounds
    – Format: 192KHz / 24 bits
    – Do Sound FX loop: No
    – Win/Mac: Yes
    – Minutes of audio provided: 06 minutes and 02 seconds

    35 %
    OFF
Explore the full, unique collection here

Latest sound effects libraries:
 
  • Hand Combat Sound Effects Violent Combat Play Track 4213 sounds included From: $135 From: $108

    THE RAW SOUND OF CINEMATIC FIGHTING

    VIOLENT COMBAT is a professional sound effects library built for fight scenes that demand impact. Packed with punch sound effects, fight sound effects, and powerful combat sound effects, it delivers everything from raw realism to over-the-top cinematic action. With improved fidelity and greater variation than its predecessor CLOSE COMBAT, this collection gives sound designers production-ready audio for film, TV, and games.

    Violent Combat | Sound Effects | Trailer

    From Realism to Cinematic Exaggeration

    Dial in the tone you need with dedicated categories: Martial Arts, Grounded, Over The Top, and Gory. Whether it’s kung fu sound effects, karate sounds, or exaggerated wrestling hits, you can shift seamlessly from authentic to stylised.

    Successor to Close Combat

    VIOLENT COMBAT builds on the legacy of CLOSE COMBAT with higher fidelity recordings, better-organised categories, and more variation. It’s the ideal companion, giving you the flexibility to cover every style of fight scene.

     

    Sounds That Land With Force

    Recorded with a wide range of props and techniques, each fighting sound effect has real weight. Where needed, selective pre-processing boosts impact, avoiding the flat results of real fight recordings.

    Production-Ready and Versatile

    Equally at home in film, TV drama, high-end game audio, or immersive theatre. From knockout sound effects to stylised fight sequences, Violent Combat is ready to drop straight into your mix.


    Included Sounds – KEYWORDS

    AIR, BODYFALL, CLOTH, CRUNCH, FINISHER, FURNITURE, GORE, GRAB, GRAPPLE, IMPACT, KICK, LEATHER, MARTIAL ARTS, METAL, MOVEMENT, PLASTIC, PUNCH, SLAP, SWISH, SWOOSH, THROW, WHOOSH

    20 %
    OFF
    20 %
    OFF
    20 %
    OFF
    20 %
    OFF
  • ⏰ For a very limited time:
    Add this library to the cart and enter ah4launch in the cart coupon field – to sprinkle an extra launch discount, on top of the current discount!

    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.

    The resulting ultrasonic spectrum is rich and allows for truly extreme manipulation of the content.

    15 %
    OFF
  • Weather Sound Effects Hyper Thunder Play Track 800+ sounds included $49.50

    Hyper Thunder is a colossal collection of thunder and lightning, 100% crafted from the ground up using innovative synthesized technics and props recordings. Not a single real life thunder recording was used. using synthesis and props manipulation crafted to deliver impact far beyond natural recordings. Built entirely from innovative synthesis and props recordings, this library pushes the boundaries of weather sound design—perfect for when you need the raw energy of a storm dialed up to cinematic extremes.

    Featuring over 800 files, Hyper Thunder spans everything from subtle distant rumbles and rolling thunder to razor-sharp lightning strikes and earth-shaking impacts. With both designed hits and source layers, you have full control—drop in ready-to-use power or sculpt your own stormscapes using the source recordings.

    Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko—longtime SoundMorph contributors to acclaimed libraries like Robotic Lifeforms 2 and WATER— Hyper Thunder blends technical mastery with bold creativity.

    Key Features

    • 800+ files of synthesized thunder and lightning
    • Both designed hits and source layers for full creative control
    • Covers subtle distant rumbles through to massive cinematic impacts
    • Crafted 100% from synthesis for a unique, larger-than-life sound
    • Perfect for film, games, trailers, and any project needing storm power
    • Created in collaboration with Bruits.Studio’s Vincent Fliniaux and Tibo Csuko (Robotic Lifeforms 2, WATER)

    From atmospheric detail to explosive drama, Hyper Thunder gives you thunder and lightning that are bigger, subtler, and more versatile than nature itself.

    50 %
    OFF
  • 638 meticulously processed stereo fire spells sound effects recorded in 96 khz and 24 bits for high audio definition.

    The collection comes with hundreds of variations, more than 1 hour of content and many different type of fire spells. It also includes source sounds for more flexibility for your projects.

    This collection is perfect for any films, video games or trailers.

    The library is fully focused on fire spells. You will find simple one shot magic firebolt, powerful high level fire spells, fire sword, berserker enchantments and so on. Spells such as fireball,  firewall, rain of fire, meteor, fire nova, magma storm, pyroblast, sword of Avernus, etc. are included in this library.

     

    THE ARCANE FIRE SPELLS
    38 %
    OFF
  • Immerse yourself in an atmosphere of natural power and tranquility with the “Rain and Thunderstorm” sound collection, consisting of 4 Vol-s.
    This collection features a variety of looped sounds: light rain, night rain with loud thunderclaps, and other effects that will help you create the perfect atmosphere – from a quiet, secluded night, long scenes, or endless atmospheric effects without abrupt transitions, to a dramatic thunderstorm on the horizon.
    The recording was made by a Zoom H3-VR recorder in the Ambisonics A format (96 kHz 24 Bit) and then converted to the AmbiX and Stereo formats (96 kHz 24 Bit), which are located in different folders of this sound pack.


   

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags are not allowed.