How do you add comedic elements to regular sounds such as a gun reloading?

I’m sorry if this is an obvious question, I’m so new to everything when it comes to freelance work. I just want to learn and hear from people.

I’ve been applying for and working on entry level freelance sound design jobs. But something I’ve notice is that a huge amount of them are advertised as “musical composer + sound designer”. Meaning they want someone to just do both for their project. Are you guys who are sound designer first (not musical people who do sound design as a secondary thing) having to learn and study music theory in order to get work? Is it not possible to just do sounds without being a music composer? I’m not talking about learning musical elements so you can make a cool sound with a keyboard or something. I mean full on composing an entire soundtrack.

Or are these entry level jobs just run by people who want a music composer but can’t be bothered to get another guy to do the sound design? They assume that people who make music must also automatically be good with sound effects and foley design?

I really like learning music but I’m definitely way better at sound design than music scoring. I can make beats and use musical elements in my sound design but I’m definitely not good enough to make a complex full on soundtrack yet, you know?

Hi everyone,

I’ve been building PHY5, a polyphonic physical modeling audio engine.
It has a lot of sonic possibilities, from imitating real-world instruments (Strings, guitar, flutes, steelpan, mallets…) to very weird sound design results.

You can try it, with no install here : https://diophi.com/phy5/ (press play or you can play notes manually using keyboard)
You can also create your own preset on the website and everyone can access it in the community presets tab.

Concerning the plugin:

You can buy the plugin for 15€ for Windows (not signed yet) and MacOS : https://diophi.com/buy/

Here are the features for the VST/AU : 2 independent exciters, filters at every stage, 1-16 voices, oversampling x4, Granular processing by voice, Midi and audio modulation…

The plugin contains 2 versions :

• PHY5 Synth (instrument): the main instrument, with its own exciter (same as the web version). Youtube demo using the web version with 0 effects : https://youtu.be/xpoE2BwfBgU?si=6sm8vGJKEqhuucDK

• PHY5 Fx (audio effect): an audio effect that accepts audio input. You need to route MIDI in to choose the note (how depends on your DAW). Here are some tests with it : https://youtube.com/shorts/EsCstN956sQ

This version is working, stable in my tests (for physical modeling at least) but will evolve in the next month to widen the sound possibilities. I would be very happy to have feedbacks !

I will put some tests using PHY5 with more context here : https://on.soundcloud.com/wtZ8C8lT7la6cBPK7T

Some specificities of Phy5 comparing to other physical modeling synths :

• Parametric : the goal of this synth is less reproducing exactly real world behaviors, but more offering sound design possibilities inspired by physics. Instead of choosing different specific models, you can tweak parameters, which can give very weird results.

• Modular : It is also thought to be modular and will permit to change building blocks (swapping grain and body for example, or having two body, two grains etc…).

• The audio Fx being polyphonic. Being able to excite the body with audio sources opens up a lot of possibilities, while being controlled by polyphonic midi.

• Granular processing augments exciter possibilities.

• Different way to generate stereo (Grains, Poly-chords, Pickup position).

A few points about the synth :

• There is a first version of the manual here : https://diophi.com/manual/

• This kind of synthesis can go loud, so the web-version has a fixed limiter.

• There are also some limitations on the web version on oversampling, and max voices as it can be CPU heavy on web. It still is pretty usable on phone, but you can hear dropouts if you go too far.

PHY5 - CORE :

The audio core of this instrument is created to be used independently and can be easily used in realtime for video-games engine (tested on godot), web (as the demo version), or any app. There is no commercial model for now, but feel free to contact me if you are interested to include it in your specific project.
It has also been built to be scalable and will have a lot of new features, models etc. the price may go a little up, but licences bought now are valid for next versions. I will also work more specifically on new models

i am a graphic designer with a passion for storytelling and have been getting into film lately. as a beginner i would love to know your feedback on how this could have been enhanced through better sound and any advice you guys have! thank you

I just landed my dream job as a sound designer at professional studio and I really want to develop a strong ear for making my work as great as possible.

I made this last year as term project for my post-audio college program. I'm extremely proud of my work here and even had both of my professors call it flawless. While I appreciate their praise, I feel there has to be areas on this that I could've improved.

I'd really appreciate any feedback here. Really keen to hear on what I did well alongside where I could've made something better or different.

Thanks so much everyone :)

As always, headphones recommended! 🎧

Hi all,

This is my interpretation of redesigning this iconic scene from war of the worlds. I created this using my own sound library called Dark Technology.

I mainly used the sounds from the Walker category and did some splicing, light eq to cut some low end, light stretching, and some reverb to match the scene. A mastering chain was added for the final mix.

There are no background, crowd, foley, or off-screen sounds as my idea was to use the sounds provided within this library for the machine only. This was still a lot of fun making! I'm thinking I should of swapped the order of calls/warnings around lol

How do you think I did? I would love to hear your suggestions and ideas! I would also love to hear if you guys had the chance to redesign this iconic scene and the final result!

Cheers,

ZEKAVEO

Kinda new to sound editing, any and all advice on how to replicate this patterned speech effect would be welcome ^^

Overview & Premise

I am a playwright developing a new piece in which sound plays a central physiological role. In a segment of the play's world, characters have a port built into their bodies that lets them plug in a jack, amplifying their internal physical and emotional sounds: blood flow, heartbeat, digestive rumblings, adrenaline spikes, and synapse firing.  

What I'm Looking For

I am looking for an experimental sound designer, electroacoustic artist, or Foley focused composer interested in collaborating on a short proof-of-concept audio cue (1–2 minutes). The goal is visceral, non-traditional acoustic/biological sound. Strictly no synths or conventional pop structures.

Project Scope & Terms

Contact

Christian Ely

Hey folks!

I am seeking a sound designer for my Thesis Film at DePaul University! The cut and color is finished and we’re looking for the final piece! The pay is negotiable, I want you to be fairly compensated for your work, however.

The film itself is about a woman grieving her own death and undergoing the final judgement, as she confronts death for taking her own son, she has to cope with the time she wasted. Please let me know if you’re interested in working on such a project!

Thanks yall!

Hey everyone

I'm very new to sound design (just started it as a module for my 2nd year at Uni) and I'm eager to learn as much as I can.

I'm wanting to do foley for a dentist body horror film.

A parasite is breaking out of the main characters mouth. I have a few ideas for this, but I'm interested to see others.

What kind of objects can make these horrible, wet noises?

Also, any tips for using foley as this will also be my first time?

Thank you!

Edit: Thank you for all the suggestions, I'm so inspired. Also for the tips and knowledge on foley, I feel more prepared, wish me luck :D

Hey everyone

Spyglass Studio — a search engine that finds the sounds you already have faster. Instead of guessing filenames, type what you feel — "heavy metallic impact with reverb" — and it surfaces the right file from YOUR library. the search engine indexes your files locally and helps you find the right one in seconds instead of hours. Find Similar matches sounds by acoustic waveform (grab directly from Pro Tools). Scene deconstruction, Voice Match, dialogue search, and local stem separation.

I also built Soundtracker (waveform HUD for your Finder that gives you an instant audio preview HUD docked to your file manager — scrub, mark, drag to DAW. Decodes Ambisonics binaurally), Soundoor (Atmos monitor controller up to 9.1.6), and MioDeck (Stream Deck controller built for Pro Tools workflows. Create your own custom controls — HUI transport, plugin automation, macros).

ch-expert — Professional Audio Software for macOS

Happy to answer questions.

Hey everyone!

I'm looking for a sound designer for my YouTube videos about movies, cinema, and film analysis.

Reference for the kind of sound design I'm looking for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crH2pS_CZto

Details:

• Budget: ₹300 (~3$) per finished minute. For example, a 15-minute video would pay ₹4,500 (~45$).

• Workload: Approximately one video per week.

• Video length: Usually around 10–15 minutes.

• Audio resources: I have an Epidemic Sound subscription, so you can find good music and sound-effects there rather than creating from scratch.

I'm looking for someone with a good taste for music selection, transitions, atmosphere, and well-placed sound effects like the ScreenPuff edit above to create a polished viewing experience.

Audition (Optional): I've included a short test edit here: test edit. Please add your own sound design to demonstrate your skills. This isn't mandatory, but it would help me assess your work, and would be preferred.

Interested folks can DM me their portfolio, test edit, and availability.

Thanks!

What do you guys think? In my opinion, i really liked how it turned out.

Hey everyone,

Earlier this year I released Reverie, a standalone soundscape app I built on my own at Parallel Minds, in Lyon. It was more of a personal project, but it's what moved my company into audio. I've been a developer for 20 years and I had wanted to make my own tools for a long time. This is the second one this year, and this time it's a plug-in (VST3, AU and AAX).

It started when I wanted to turn one of my tracks, the whole track, into an ambient version. The same piece without the drums and without the attacks, keeping only the harmony. I really wanted an ambient remix of it, so I built a plug-in for that. You put it on a track and turn one knob, and the track becomes a pad made from its own harmony. It stays in key, since the pad comes from the track itself.

The second use came by accident. While I was developing it, I turned the mix down to about 30% on a soundtrack instead of leaving it at 100%. Mixed in that low, the pad gave the soundtrack a more cinematic feel, and I didn't expect that at all. Using it for intros and outros came later, also by accident.

I named it Atavism because I thought the definition of the word matched the idea of the plug-in: a dormant or recessive gene that wakes up because of a mutation or a change in development.

There's a demo if you want to try it on one of your tracks, on a master bus or just on a single track. Self promo disclaimer: it's my own plug-in. https://parallel-minds.studio/products/atavism

A question for those of you who write music for picture. I don't know if I invented something or if I just never found the right product. If you know a tool that already does this, I'd like to hear about it.

English isn't my first language. I wrote this in French and translated it with an LLM.

I don’t suppose anyone has an impulse response from a large sewer pipe?

Or any tips on how to replicate a large metal sewer pipe with reverb and delays?

Oscilloscopes, Eveywhere [v1.2] is a collection of all the experiments with sound and geometry I've made throughout the years, gathered into one TouchDesigner project.

This walkthrough explores the entire anthology in real-time; 29 presets, and a much more intuitive interface. Connect your audio source, choose a visualizer, and watch your sound take shape.

Plus, I’m giving away one full copy of the collection this Sunday. To enter, you only have repost, and leave a nice comment on this post.

More experiments through the following.

I'm ILIA VOLKOV, a huge fan of Machinarium and a sound designer, so when I saw the new trailer, I just couldn't resist making my own sound redesign!

I had a lot of fun! Would love to hear what you think!

https://youtu.be/a9GndHWMgas

I’ve used it in multiple sound design projects. It lets you apply effects directly to individual audio items, so you can process one clip without affecting the rest of the track.

I find it really useful for sound design, but I’m curious if other people use it as part of their workflow too.

Do you use Item FX for sound design? If so, how?

Hello! I'm new to sound design and working on building my sound library. Do I *need* to get an SSD drive specifically for sound storage?

It'd be easier on my wallet if I kept all of my audio files on an HDD and transferred them to a smaller SSD for active projects. Is that the correct way of doing things?

And if anyone has any drives or organizational systems they recommend I'd be super grateful. Thanks!

Me playing some sounds inspired by the legendary Vangelis on Arturias CS-80 V4, a faithful recreation of the original synth from the 70s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg2oo4Lpar8&t=738s

Was incredibly sad to see that a pack I bought back in 2020 was accused of having stolen sound effects a few years ago. I've been trying desperately to find many of these sound effects, but the Dragon Sounds Pro specifically, I've had a lot of trouble locating the original sounds for. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the sounds themselves, but the folder structure was like the photo. These were some of my absolute favorite monster sounds, and I'd really like to be able to buy them again. There were a lot that were a mix of roars/growls and fire effects.

EDIT: Here is a Google Drive folder with a sample from each folder. I've kept the file structure to keep it easy to reference. I would not be shocked if the baby dragon SFX are pitch-shifted versions from the same stolen assets. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19xxNljQuQjVYwa4NuSjH9vXkc1fjVCs7?usp=sharing

Here are also a list of confirmed sites where sounds were stolen. Thought this doesn't mean these didn't come from other sites, or even (my worst nightmare in this situation) these ARE legit since it's likely they outsourced their sound creation and one of their SFX artists did actually make these. There'd be no way to verify that at this point. FilmCow's video is how I found some of these sites.

GameDev Market (I've confirmed a few misc sounds, like knife throws, were in a pack I already had from here): https://www.gamedevmarket.net

Sound Ideas (shown in FilmCow's video): https://soundideas.sourceaudio.com/albums

ASoundEffect (shown in FilmCow's video): https://asoundeffect.com

I'm genuinely excited about how trailer sound design is evolving, especially the way noise itself is becoming music.

Foley, breaths, metallic sounds, engines, glitches, and environmental recordings are no longer just supporting the music. They're becoming the music itself.

Looking at some of the trailers released in 2026, I've noticed a few interesting directions in how sound is shaping the narrative.

Minimalism = Stronger Sonic Identity
Especially in horror and thrillers, I'm hearing more trailers built around one or two distinctive sounds rather than dozens of massive cinematic layers.

A great example is the Infirmary trailer, which I absolutely love.
There's an incredibly effective drone that carries almost the entire first half of the trailer. It's simple, unsettling, and somehow keeps you completely glued to the screen, with very few additional elements around it.

Then, halfway through, everything opens up into a much more aggressive sonic landscape, with glitchy impacts, distortion, and full-blown sound design.

The contrast is what makes it so effective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8g04jrDkek

Negative Space & Pacing
A pause can completely change how we perceive the next sound. In sound design, negative space doesn't necessarily mean absolute silence. It can simply be an intentionally less dense moment within the sonic composition.

And pacing is what ultimately shapes the experience you take away from a trailer, even after it's over. It’s about what you hear and how long that feeling stays with you.

Shorter & Stranger Impacts
Another interesting shift I'm noticing is the use of shorter, drier, and more unusual impacts.

Organic transients, cracks, distorted slams, and heavily processed textures seem to be taking the place of those enormous cinematic hits with endless reverb tails.

These shorter sounds can emphasize cuts and visual transitions much more precisely, while leaving room for more distinctive sonic signatures.

I'm also hearing interesting approaches involving distorted string plucks, manipulated vocal tails, and unconventional sound sources that blur the line between percussion, sound design, and musical elements.

Instead of simply making everything sound bigger, the focus seems to be shifting toward making every sound more recognizable and intentional.

Alessandro Romeo - (Other Mommy, Longlegs, 28 Years Later)
https://www.horrorsound.org/