It’s the start of another busy week and we aim to hit 17,000 free sound effects by Monday as we’ve a busy schedule of sound recording lined up. We’ve kicked of this week with some underwater sounds, some requested industrial sounds too and more. Here is a short breakdown of what we’ve been doing…
Underwater recordings
I never need an excuse to get in a swimming pool and if it’s in the name of sound effects, I’ll jump (in) at the chance. There have been several sounds I’ve been wanting to record and add recently so being a hot day today, I decided it was the perfect time.
First up was an attempt at recording some underwater bullet impacts. The idea was that I would create around 20 different takes using a hydrophone and then layer them up to also include some automatic rifle bullet hits too. I wanted the sound of bullets hitting the water, but recorded underwater. For this I experimented with several objects being thrown at speed into the water with the hydrophone submerged around 1 metre below the surface. I had a set of water darts (plastic missile shaped objects about 3 inches long) an tried these first. I launched these into the water as hard as I could and as close to the microphone as possible. Next up I tried some small stones, doing the same thing. I also experimented with some fishing lures too.
Unfortunately none of these takes worked and the objects just sounded like generic plops. Obviously none of these sounds were wasted and they are available to download as underwater object hits.
Next I recorded several other underwater sound effects, including me diving in, swimming past and away and some general movements. I also recorded the sound of me screaming underwater which can be used for drowning sounds. They can be downloaded here.
Industrial container sounds
I had a large plastic container used for storing chemicals in but now unused and when I had a request come through for some large tub sounds, I thought this would be a good prop for recording. After washing it out I experimented with several drags and impacts. For this it was important to get a close up recording, so performed various movements with the mic up close and almost inside the container.
Bicycle crashes
My son has an old bicycle that has been sitting in my garden waiting to be taken to the tip for some time now. So I’ve been meaning to record it being thrown around for a while. Today I did just that. I recorded it being thrown into the air and dropped, pushed and released and falling over, crashing into a gate, wall and a few other impacts. These will likely be useful if you need the sound of a bicycle crashing or falling over, but also possibly can be used as material for layering up other impacts and crashes, such as cars and motorcycles etc. Grab them for free here.
Small tree branch movements and impacts
I found a fairly large branch from a tree dumped by the side of a road the other day so dragged it back for some recording. I’ve started with some smaller branch and leaf movements and hits. These could be useful for anything from enhancing a windy scene to bird movements in a tree.
I always take feedback and also suggestions for new free sound effects. Are you looking for soundfx but just can’t find them anywhere? Let us know.
Comments are closed.