THE RANDOM ACCESS THOUGHT: The N2FNH Sound Effects Library: Part 2

Saturday, July 26, 2008

The N2FNH Sound Effects Library: Part 2 - Sounds from the Internet!

No matter how many sound effects libraries you have in your possession, there will always be some sound or noise that you need that you do not have on a storage disc, a magnetic tape or a non-volatile memory card. This leaves you with two options: produce the effect yourself (something which I will detail further in the next installment) or you can turn to the Internet.

You can view the Internet as an endless planetary ocean of digital detritus (a five dollar word - used in crossword puzzles and by science fiction writers everywhere) text, sounds, images, videos, all reduced to their digitally diatomic lowest common denominator, liberally sprinkled across an equally endless coral reef of web pages, each page covering yet another equally endless array of subjects, topics,thoughts, ideas and opinions.

Pursuant to this metaphor, you should be able to find just any sound or noise you may want, but of course, it's not always so easy. Go to Google and insert an argument such as SOUND EFFECTS AUDIO CLIP or SOUND EFFECTS WAV and you soon discover that SOUND or SOUND EFFECTS more often than not refers to voice clips from popular motion pictures and television shows. If this is what you were looking for to begin with, then you're all set. Otherwise you may need to spend a few extra minutes refining your search strategy and then trolling around for just the right source.

There are a number of sound effects web page categories:

1) Non-commercial or Commercial List Sites - A list of sound effects websites.
Akin to an online 411 directory assistance. An individual or group has scrutinized the Internet. The result is a list of site recommendations: sometimes nothing more than a wholesale rundown, sometimes select personal choices.

2) Non-Commercial Websites - Free audio file downloads:
An individual or non-profit group harvests public domain audio content from other Internet sources or creates custom in-house or in-the-field recordings and posts the product for royalty-free access via a web page or an FTP site. Find Sounds is a good example of a non-commercial website which offers no cost, good quality content. Wave Surfer offers an online site navigation
file directory for free sounds by category. They even offer a free CD ROM of movie clips and effects. The downside is that many such websites provide recordings where the fidelity is abysmal. You may find exactly what you need: only to discover that the playback is has been brutally clipped or there is a noise level or an alien interference pattern that is difficult or impossible to remove.

I once came across a clip of MOTHER computer sounds from the motion picture "Alien" but the recording contained a wide band noise artifact which could not be removed.

3) Commercial Websites - Free audio file downloads:
A business in the business of selling sound effects CDs or sound effects hard drives offers preselected free audio files as an enticement to purchase a much larger package. Companies like The Hollywood Edge and SoundDogs provide free MP3 downloads. In some cases,these may be down sampled to 11 KHz/8 Bit and lower and so will be of lesser quality but with a decent
digital audio editor, the file can reverse engineered for improved fidelity. There is at least one truly obnoxious, virtually parasitic website. Try placing a search argument such as WAR OF THE WORLDS+SOUND EFFECTS into Google and invariably you will find reference to Audiosparx. Audiosparx has found a way to take your search entries and back link them to their web page. Click the link and there will be little at Audiosparx that relates to your search. They want you to purchase their custom produced libraries.

4) Pirated Sound Effects Libraries - Free...but risky!
It would appear that there are a number of website locations dedicated to the idea that media should be free. Free of purchase cost, free of copyright royalty, free of copyright restriction. In the world of multi-media, bootleg sound effects records seems laughable, but it is indeed serious business to legitimate purveyors like Sound Ideas who ask customers in their newsletter
to report cases of piracy with a promise to prosecute the offender. Beyond the legal risks, such sites may be focal points for unseen digital predators: the viruses, the worms and the programmers who breed them.

5) eBAY- The Island of Misfit Toys!
It is here on eBAY where you can bid or BUY NOW on millions of records that somebody else no longer wants. I was able to secure a copy of Sound Ideas Cartoon Express for less than a fourth of the manufacturers original suggested retail price: likewise the same with Sound Ideas The Sounds of War. Unlike pirated copies, they were not free. They were cheap, but not they were not free. In my next installment: ROLLING YOUR OWN!