Guide to Creating Sound Effects

[Lucien]

I thought this could be a useful thread which people could contribute to, describing how to create certain sound effects to be recorded. For example;

- Blueberries in an airballoon, shaken = thunder (added reverb a plus)

Feel free to add on :) .

[Mindychan]

I used this method a loooong time ago: pouring rice into a bowl = somewhat of a rain-shower effect :P

[Fiona C]

Turning over sheets of paper = trying to find a page in a magazine.

~Fif

[Edwyn]

Whacking leather seats with ping pong paddles = sound of flesh being punched.

[Jason Axelrod]

Haven't tested all of these.

Snow footsteps = (Squeezing a box of corn starch)
Bones breaking = (Breaking celery or bamboo)
Cracking neck / knuckles = (Carefully crumpling plastic water bottle which has ridges)
Sounds of aura or of somewhat holy nature = (Tones of glass harmonica)
Metal sounds of blacksmithing = (Flicking bottom or side of metal stove pot. Tones differ with sizes.)

[sysrq868]

Free drop from your knees in a bed with loose clothes = movie-like fall/drop sound
Squeeze a plastic wrapper or paperbag for a sandwich/tissues/candy etc. = walking in a forest/wrapping some present up
Twitching a piece of bubble paper = over-comedical cross finger crunch sound
Taking off and putting back a battery lid in e.g. remote control = gun clip reload
Using a pair or two of scisscors cleverly = sword battle sounds
Flapping small pieces of papers (PostIt note plarping) = creak/squeak
Shaking a board game in it's own package = if you do it good, train steam effect
Tapping a book spine with two finger nails = street walking sounds
Rattling metal objects (chains, loose locks etc) = locking a prison(er) up
Rub a round and a hexagon shaped glasses together = wierd alien sounds
Clicking a ball-point pen = switching a switch on/off
Tapping a plastic DVD box with the DVD inside = march drum
Moving something on wood back and forth quickly = brushing teeth, scratching something

[Tohma Seguchi]

"Walking" (raising and lowering as if your hands were a horse trotting) small plastic cups on a hard cover book or stone(-like) surface can create footsteps with a hoof-like quality. Great for when you have a person riding horseback or a devil tottering about.

Windy atmosphere can easily be made by simply cupping hands around ones mouth and blowing just over the microphone.

Rubbing sand paper across a rock can sound like a dead body or sack of potatos being dragged across the ground.

Tearing apart the peelings of a fruit are easier than actually ripping cloth and can often sound like it or the tearing of flesh depending on how close you get it to the mic.

[Jaela]

This is gonna sound weird, but slapping or hitting a potato sounds a lot like slapping or hitting someone in the face. Great for fight scenes. XD


-Jaela

[Yugure]

wow! all of these are usefull!
I am trying to add on....
RAINSTORM OR SNOW NOISE- crinkling a newspaper
SPELLCASTING- Say any random sentance, such as "the god of cheeze is good to me" and record it backwards with echo. :D

[Myokei-kun]

I have a couple.

First make sure your lips are dry. Then swip your microphone across your lips. It sounds like someone is walking through snow.

Lightly tap the back side of your microphone against your computer screen. It makes it sound like you are hammering a nail into some wood. NOTE: I won't be held responsible if your break your monitor screen, I said tap LIGHTLY!

[169-PD]

I tried this recently.
Playing around with stapler - Reloading a carbine.

[Morningstarfairy]

ok madam original here but:

if you place your mic next to your keyboard and type andthing random or click the mouse it sounds like your on the computer (cause you are)

thats all i have so far as said madam original hehe

[Myokei-kun]

ok madam original here but:

if you place your mic next to your keyboard and type andthing random or click the mouse it sounds like your on the computer (cause you are)

thats all i have so far as said madam original hehe

OMG, thank you so much!!!! :hug I've been struggling for over 5 years on how to to make it sound like someone is on the computer, and now I know!!! xD

[Shika Megumi]

A few from my fandub... XD;;

Rustling a plastic bag - bushes rustling.
Hitting a potato on a hard surface - Body dropping.
Jingling keys - Small bells ringing; depends on sound of keys.

[MaNa Shuffle]

Hers some of my homemade tricks.

Grabbing clothing - Grabbng someone

using a waterproof jacket to make a sound like someone is an a bed in the sheets XD

useing your two fingers and tap at your desk - walking in wood

Drooping random things - dropping items.

make a blow sound with your mouth near the mic (not too close otherwise it puffs) - Wind noise.

[Silent One]

Here are some (with a special horror movie one)

Clicking your tounge - Japanese-style drum
Slowly crumbling up a nose tissue - Someone rustling in bed
Sucking through the gap (if you have one) between your front teeth - Squealing noise. Mouse. Laser. Whatev.
Lightly clapping hands - Closing cell phone.
(If you can't do it with your throat) Flicking/popping comb hairs and slowing it down - Kayako croak from "The Grudge"

[Lilium]

I think between Edwyn and Axel we have all the footstep noises we need forEVAR but -

Walking on various surfaces - Take a pair of Barbie or other type of small doll shoes and mimic walking on your desk, a book, etc for various types of footfalls. It's like min-foley! :D Best types are heeled shoes, or large Ken doll flats for men's walking. You can change pitch to alter for heavy footfalls.

Large Bells Using a pot (preferably thin steel or brass) and a large spoon of wood or metal, play with it to try different sounds and different positions over the mic. It can imitate a large (read: church or school) bell quite effectively.

Ripping cloth/flesh/etc - Press your nails firmly on a slightly textured surface - I use the TOP of my index fingernail and the TIP (if your nails are cut back behind the blunt part of your finger it won't work as well) - and drag/scratch along that surface. What you are restig it on, what type of surface, etc would effec it. My keyboard makes a nice cloth-ripping sound at the right speed, and doing it on the TV (not hte screen) makes an interesting "passing car" windrush sound :)

[Lone Peanut]

These are cool, love this link, some of them are so obvious I never thought of them hehe :-)

For that 'inside a helicopter/chopper' sound blow into the microphone whilst waving your finger side to side in front of your lips. Use various fingers and speeds plus varying tightness of lips to emulate different types of helo.

[Jason Axelrod]

Ziplines / Zippers - Taking a semi-sharp object such as a knife or scissors (I used scissors) and sliding them against a polyester or nylon surface. Note it doesn't take much pressure to get the sound you're looking for, so don't ruin whatever material you're using by pressing harder. I used a sleeping bag for my recordings. This method is useful for zipline sound effects moreso rather than zippers, as zippers are easy to come across but usually cannot provide the duration of a longstanding zipline effect.

Zipline Samples (http://www.1337videos.com/~icyaxe/Jason/sfx/Ziplines.mp3)

[Nuko]

EarthQuakes or Hard wind.. Record your Fan Going Full Blast 8D

[Full Metal Kari]

Opining a squeaky door quickly or slowly = Mouse squeak.

[Cassie]

I haven't tested out any of them yet, but here's a good site I found for creating SFX:

http://www.ruyasonic.com/rdr_sfx.htm

[UltraRob]

Nifty site! Thanks Cassie! :)

Rob

[UltraRob]

Digging through through rocks- pawing through a bowl of nuts or cereal.

Rob

[Gotham]

I haven't tested this out but I was planning on using it if it sounded good.

Footsteps in loose gravel: Fill a bowl with clean (preferably) kitty litter then, depending on the pace of the footsteps (walking, running etc), crush the palm of your hand on the kitter litter.

For slower footsteps, like sneaking, slowly roll your hand from the palm to the finger tips. For running, quickly roll your hand from palm to the finger tips. It should get that kind of "Grsch" noise.

[Tsurughi]

I have a couple good ones:

Gunfire- Make a raspberry noise or horse-like snort into your microphone and decrease the speed.

Banging on Metal- Take a tin container, place it on top of your microphone, fill the container with small rough objects(by rough, I mean not smooth like, say, a marble), and while recording, tap lightly or moderately on the top of the container. I just used my pencil tin for this.

Rustling through Chests/Drawers- Begin by preparing your microphone as explained in ‘Banging on Metal,’ but instead of tapping, roll your fingers across it like you are typing on a keyboard, and then slow this noise down.

Comedy-type Slap- Whack your thigh with the flat side of a right triangle or any other piece of thin, smooth plastic. Don't overdo it and hurt yourself though. I'm not liable for any injuries you sustain with this one. It really produces a good effect though if you do it right.

Footsteps- Tapping gently on a lightly textured(not polished or lacquered)wood surface with your microphone. This technique works best with a headset-like microphone or one with a squishy foam piece on the end(I think it’s called a wind screen/guard..)

Whistling Wind- This one’s a little hard for me to describe. Clasp your hands together as if in prayer, and interlock your fingers, making sure there are no gaps in between your fingers. Then line your thumbs up vertically, leave a tiny space between them, place your lips against the knuckles and blow.

Train Whistle- If the ‘Whistling Wind’ technique makes a strange “Whooo”ing noise, you can taper the pitch to your liking and turn it into a train whistle.

Demented Squirrel Chattering- Blow sharply into an oboe reed, then slightly increase the speed of the sound.

[ViolentAJ]

Explosion:

Blow really hard into your microphone.

[Kai-chan]

Clothes Blowing around: Use a hankerchief and swish it around in front of your mic. I saw them use this technique on a behind the scenes thing in inuyasha. :3

[Randommirokulover]

thanks for all of these guys!!!


you can take a fork and scrape it against glass to make it sound like nails on a chalkboard. (though im sure everyone knows that one :P)

[Keruri]

If it doesn't hurt your teeth, chewing solid pieces of ice with your mouth closed makes the best (and extremely accurate) "walking through snow" effect I've ever come across. To think I was searching for years and stumbled upon this by accident.

[Sukisho]

If it doesn't hurt your teeth, chewing solid pieces of ice with your mouth closed makes the best (and extremely accurate) "walking through snow" effect I've ever come across. To think I was searching for years and stumbled upon this by accident.

That's interesting..I'll have to try that since I like eating ice lol

[nikko14]

Hey, does anyone have any tips on sound effects for pokeballs? (Like sending a pokemon out of the ball)