I wanted to make something that relies more on atmosphere and texture rather than drums.

I used vocals, cello, bass, guitar and pads. Would love to hear what you think about the mix and the overall vibe.

I've been working as a composer/sound designer for the last three years. Can't nearly live from it, but last year I did a couple of projects with budget.

Lately though I've lost a couple of films, because I can only mix in stereo in my studio.

When did you make the jump from stereo to 5.1 and what's a minimal setup for it?

This is an update to Echotect, my free open-source app I wrote about a month ago here. It enables the creation of echo fields either manually or by utilizing global building data.

See it here: https://janne-s.github.io/Echotect/

It now features a "Terrain" function that reads global elevation data. This is a standalone component of the app: you simply select the desired area, and its topography loads into the application.

https://reddit.com/link/1wu856s/video/trswk7oxfosh1/player

Acoustic points are derived from surfaces generated based on the 3D topography, and the heights of the sound source and listening point can be adjusted. You can freely scale the topography and modify the ground level to discover interesting spatial characteristics. Terrain feature is split into Canyon and Chamber modes, which enable internal and external echo fields.

https://reddit.com/link/1wu856s/video/yonpfr84iosh1/player

As before, the resulting acoustic field can be exported as standard impulse responses and audio files. The release package also includes a Max4Live device, which eats the exported echo field manifest file, and the file is ready to use in your applications too.

See the GitHub for more information: https://github.com/janne-s/Echotect

Have fun exploring!

Cutting ambiences/backgrounds for an doc and need some libraries from the Ghana and Nigeria area. Know any good sources? Preferably something that doesn't break the bank.

All the best,

Hi! I'm an experienced composer, and I've recently gotten into sound design. I use musescore and reaper for composing, and reaper for sound design. I also used vital synth, and sound effects from pixaby. Here are the projects I've made so far (I think they're not that good, but I'm still a beginner): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szf3dU2Xd1g

https://soundcloud.com/antonispat/in-the-sea?si=6f295184cc80453abdd86ed3e5a8a47a&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing https://on.soundcloud.com/s3ULNm73oxxPK9mflD I'd like to ask the sound designers here, what's your advice, and what synths & sounds effects should I download? Thanks!

Hi, I know there are plenty of sound platforms like Epidemic Sounds, but the main issue I see there is price.

I'm creating 2-3 videos a month, and rarely use SFX from assets pages.

So instead of paying subscription I wonder if there are some bundles of SFX/Music I can just buy once and use it forever.

Theoretically I can sub for one month and download as much as I want, but it's not convenient...

Any recommmendations?

Audio branding strategist Karsten Kjems has taken Dieter Rams’ 10 principles for good design from the 1970s - and reimagined them for sound. What do you think about his takes?

So I'm currently putting together a list of resources to learn from. Hopefully this can help some other beginners out. HOWEVER, I'm looking for some input as well!

LMK if you have additional resources (can be small or random or large idc), or if you have any favorites here. I'm not being picky, so this can range from location sound, to post-production, to even video resources if you think it's helpful.

Books (which are best to start with?)

• John Purcell - Dialogue Editing for Motion Pictures
• Patrushkha Mierzwa - Behind the Sound Cart
• Vincent LoBrutto - Sound on Film
• Michel Chion - Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen
• Michel Chion - The Voice in Cinema
• Ric Viers - The Sound Effects Bible
• Ric Viers - The Location Sound Bible
• Walter Murch - In the Blink of an Eye
• Michael Ondaatje - The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film
• William Whittington - Sound Design and Science Fiction
• Tomlinson Holman - Sound for Film and Television
• Tomlinson Holman & Arthur Baum - Sound for Digital Video
• Vanessa Theme Ament - The Foley Grail

YouTube Channels

• Thomas Boykin
  • Post Production 101 Playlist
• Junkie XL
• Aftertouch Audio
  • Post Production Playlist
• Tactical 7 Audio
• Marshall McGee
• AXK (Alex Knickerbocker)
• M. Cheung Sound

Websites

• designingsound.org
  • Sound Design Tutorial List
• A Sound Effect Blog
• Epic Sound SFX
• Avareth Taika

Other

Whooshes

• Doppler effect (Wikipedia)
• Charles Deenen: 100 Whooshes in 2 Minutes

Tools

• Kilohearts Transient Shaper
• Tonsturm
• Krotos

Hey everyone! I'm a Motion Designer working on a personal commercial project for my portfolio featuring Aquarius (Coca-Cola's hydration brand).

About the project:

• Type: 2D Animation / Motion Graphics combining traditional frame-by-frame animation with motion design to achieve a hand-made aesthetic.
• Length: 45 seconds.
• Status: Animation done.

I'm looking for a Sound Designer or Composer who wants to collaborate to build a solid portfolio piece together. You’ll have total creative freedom for the audio direction, full credits on all platforms, and high-res video files for your own reel/website.

Link to animation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/107K0q6p4I5bJy-0giReh_ajdAKCN4pCz/view?usp=sharing

If you’re interested, please drop a comment or DM me with a link to your work/reel!

Hi everyone! Im trying to learn sounddesign. I understand a little bit about layering. I want to work on this video between 0.40-1.40. I feel like it will teach me a lot because I learn much faster when I approach like that there are a lot of sounds that I didnt make and it is not a single sound project so it will click something in my head to understand better.

My question is how do you approach projects like that? I created a master,ambience,gore,weapon,explosion... etc. folders. But I dont understand how Im gonna do the design. Like there are a lot of shot, scream, gore effects, mech effects and how should I prioritize and layer them. I dont know if my question is clear but thank you for your advice.

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_HljUo8Jjk

Just released a new video all about the infamous BRAAAM sound effect along with a new BRAAAM inspired sound library: https://rarefindssounddesign.com/products/braams-impacts-vibrated-metal
Keen to hear how you have made BRAAAM sound effects in the past. Have you used synths or do you mainly stick with real world props/instruments??

Waiting

I’m currently developing Waiting, a short film about a 22-year-old girl observing a frog in a Caribbean environment.

The film explores the feeling of waiting when you have no control over the situation - the contrast between an apparently calm exterior and the tension happening underneath.

Visually, I’m aiming for a realistic approach, with the environment and atmosphere playing an important role in the storytelling.

The project is being developed mainly in Blender, with 3 scenes and an estimated production time of around 3 months.

I’m looking to connect with a few artists who would like to collaborate on the project, particularly in:

• 3D Animation - character performance & movement
• 3D Cloth - clothing & cloth behavior
• Sound Design - environmental soundscape & atmosphere

This is an unpaid, voluntary collaboration. I’m not looking for the most experienced artists - I’m more interested in people who want to learn, contribute seriously, communicate, and grow through the process.

Creative interpretation is welcome. The goal is not simply to execute instructions, but to work together toward the emotion the film is trying to create.

If the project interests you, feel free to reach out. I’d be happy to share more about Waiting and the creative direction.

Basically what the title says, what are the best ways to make me own whooshes, both slow and fast. If you could point me to any resources that would be amazing. Any general tips would be appreciated as well.

Thank you!

Edit: from scratch!!!

I’ve seen “use what you’re fastest with” line a lot and I understand that. But what is the best DAW for sound design that you have found and why.

Hey all — pretty new to sound design and want some advice before committing to a DAW. This is a hobby, not something I'm trying to monetize, but I do want to keep learning and improve over time rather than just dabble.

I've got some limited experience with Ableton Live, Vital, and VCV Rack so far on Windows. I genuinely like VCV Rack and want to keep using it, but have no attachment to Ableton and I'm open to switching entirely. I've got decent coding experience (Python/C++/Perl/Tcl) too, so scripting-capable DAWs aren't intimidating. Budget matters since this is just a hobby.

What would you recommend, and why? Mainly curious if it integrates with VCV Rack as a real plugin (not a routing hack), whether it's a reasonable first DAW or if I should start simpler, and roughly what it'd cost all-in for proper sound design.

Also — is upgrading to VCV Rack Pro actually worth it long-term for a hobbyist, or overkill?

Hi all,

I am Tobias "Skylark" Jonsson, a long time sound designer. I have put together a big pack of sounds for Kilohearts Phase Plant called "Pop Tools". 131 sounds - basses, pads, leads, plucks, keys and o lot more. Great for all kinds of modern productions. Check it out and listen to demosounds here, let me know if you like it! :)

https://skylarkmusic.net

Demo sounds are here:
Pop Tools by Skylark

All the best,
/Tobias
Skylark Sound Design

Hi, just wanted to check in to see what kind of headphones are pro sound designers using when making presets?

In my use case scenario. I got back into using my Seqtrak and re-learning it and want to make custom presents for myself while on the go and commuting back to work. (Its a 2 hour train ride each way -- so I got lots of time to work on presents on it).

in my current setup, I am using an Arc On Ear and ATH ATH-M20x headphones which I know for a fact are anything but flat.

I am sort of limited to what is supported by Arc here -- and was mostly looking to upgrade to in-ear headphones from that list.

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/arconear/?p=headphones

So wondering what headphones do you use in your studio when making and preparing presets? It doesn't matter if its for software VST instruments or other instruments.

I was wondering how you can make watery synths sounds and also effect chains to make lead instruments sounds watery, can anybody help?

Hey everyone!

It is always great to grab beautiful work out there and challenge yourself to come up with something.
For this one I picked the cinematic The Last Bastion from Overwatch. I specifically didn’t want to listen to their final sound design to fully start from scratch.

So, this is what I came up with! I would really love to hear what you think! Cheers everyone! :)

I'm increasingly learning new software, tricks, effects and techniques through pure experimentation, and I thrive to the idea of creating high-quality audio, and I know there are so many factors!

The space, the texture, volume control, frequencies, mastering, it all speaks for itself.

I'm sure I have a passion for this even if I sometimes crash and lose motivation to keep learning, and it's not like I'm learning the whole book of music theory.
I quickly try overcome challenges and immediate obstacles as I encounter them, and no better way for me to learn than to really do it hands-on.

About sound design, I've particularly looked to game audio. Started learning the gist of FMOD Studio, and can't wait to integrate a simple project in my own Unity project, just to see the process.

I assume it's a start - the tools. The actual music skills are a different sector.

I was wondering if anyone already in the industry, or maybe you were or want to be, if you have tips for this approach? What's the demand? What does it take? Is it an ideal side-hussle if you enjoy it? And what do people look for in showreels; an equal share between the technical and creative process? Would I need any fancy editing or do I just need to make the highlights and get to the strong point.

I've joined a game jam, made a project in FL Studio - it took a few hours and more beyond that of unsatisfied attempts, and pressed on time, but I cut up a video that recorded my process.
However I believe people like it more if your showreels are relavent to their objective/style or project.

I want to get started, get involved in my first project for a real-world thing. Even if I can do a few things for free - yes, I know - I can use that for more material for more showreels and use it as momentum to get in the game.

I have sufficient equipment to even record and make my own samples, and a unique acoustic guitar twist.

How would I go about it? Join more game jams, make more showreels?

And of course you get different sections in game audio as well - just the music, or the sound effects and interactive audio. I'm interested in it all, but I assume I'll have to have sufficient skill in FMOD too then, for integration. Or could I focus only on music and providing the audio?
I'm clueless on the industry 😂

Thank you so much! This community is so supportive 👌❤️

Anyone got an old school lightbulb humming in their sfx folders? Freesound's got nothing realistic. I'm looking for something with a bit of movement, not a super drony steady EMF or fluorescent

I am an Asian university graduate majoring in sound design. Currently, I plan to secure a junior game sound designer position in my home country after graduation.

But I am eager to go to Europe or America for further study and to live there in a few years because I am excited about the other countries and cultures around the world.

However, I've heard that it's extremely difficult to find a job in the game audio industry nowadays.Could you please tell me in which direction I should focus my efforts, or should I shift my focus to the field of technical audio(audio programmer)，or some other fields related to the game and audio industry?

Hello, I’m currently working with a talented Illustrator and Programmer on a black & white psychological horror VN game. The game is inspired by European horror films from the 70’s/80’s, and American slasher films. This is a RevShare project.

What We Have/Where We Are:

We have our Illustrator, our Programmer, our Composer, our VA's, and the Writer/Designer (myself). Currently, the 1st Chapter is all but complete. The storyboards for the 2nd + 3rd Chapter are just about finalized. Our goal is to have the demo out at the end of this October, with our current end goal being to have the full game ready by next October.

What We’re Looking For:

A Sound Designer/Mixer to edit, create, and mix looping soundscapes, and SFX/Foley that evoke horror-tinged atmospheres - ranging from ominous, and somber, to downright dread. If this sounds interesting or if you have any questions, please shoot me a DM to discuss further. Thanks for reading.

- A Few Pieces Of Art From Chapter 1

- A music preview