Record Sound Effects and Build a Sound Effect Library
To create sound effects for a respectable sound effect library one needs an audio recorder of professional quality. A digital recorder the size of a small digital camera will run you between $150 and $400 and will give you the quality you need for sound effects worthy of purchase and licensing. Also, many new recorders run easily on battery power, come with an acceptable T shaped microphone, can store up to 4 gigs of info via a flash card, and utilize USB connection.
Be aware, however, that any device you use must record up to at least a 48k sample rate because video uses audio with a 48k sample rate, not 44.1k. Any 44.1k samples you have will have to be upconverted to be used in a video production and this process always runs the risk of audio damage. Because of these potential problems with lower quality files, 48k sound effects are generally valued more by video editors and thus command a higher sale price should you choose to sell your sounds online.
Two basic categories of sound effects to be recorded are “ambiences” and “hits.” Hits are single audio events like a burp, splash, or car horn. Ambiences are longer recordings generally between 30 seconds and 10 minutes that contain background sounds such as those found on city streets, in a hotel lobby, or a doctor’s office.
In creating a library it is most valuable to have many of both types as they are both used in sound design. You will find that ambiences are the easiest to obtain, as you merely have to go to a new location such as a supermarket or post office and just stand there and record. Hits need a little more forethought and preparation such as collecting the items you’d like to record or stalking the neighbor’s dog for that perfect dog bark.
Recording sounds is simply a matter of pressing record on your digital recorder. Although, it is advised to keep the following points in mind as you record since they will make your work more productive and fruitful.
2. Record all of your sounds as “hot” as you can, meaning as loud as possible without overloading the microphone. You need to pull back from your source if you notice a red LED light on your recorder which signals that your incoming signal is too hot. Capturing the strongest signal without distorting is the goal.
2. Purchase a 10dB pad that fits between your microphone and digital recorder will enable you to record sounds with high decibel levels, such as jet engines or weapons. The pad lowers the incoming signal by 10dB and can be found online for $20.
3. Keep background noise out of your recordings as much as possible without being obsessive about creating “the perfect” studio recording environment because positive and unexpected events can occur such as animal sounds or car noises. A good amount of background noise can be filtered out during editing and being to strict about your recording environment will slow your work down to a crawl.
4. Protect the microphone with a windscreen or simply keep your recorder out of the wind by using physical barriers such as trees, walls, or even your jacket, because wind hitting the microphone head will ruin your recording efforts. Sometimes wind noise can be cut out during editing with a high pass filter and cutting frequencies below 200-500 khz but for the most part wind will destroy your work.
5. Music from live performances and loudspeakers must remain out of your recordings. If you accidentally include such music in the background of your ambiences it will make your recordings useless. Selling and using sound effects with such music is a violation of copyright law since that music itself is copyrighted.
It is the hope of this author that the simple advice in this article will aid new sound effect artists in their efforts to create a worthy sound effect library. New articles on editing distinct sound effects from these recordings, categorizing these new sound effects, and licensing them are forthcoming.
