Sound FX libraries

I have always been captivated by the creativity that goes into creating and manipulating sound. In earlier blog posts I have touched on sound design and have given a general definition of what it essentially is. I have also touched on a bit of sound design history and how far the art form has come. In this blog post, I want to touch a little on sound FX libraries and field recording.

            Sound designers not only make money off of the sounds they create and manipulate for film, they also sell their sound files and libraries. A sound FX library is essentially a collection of categorized sounds. They can include general categories such as: Ambient sounds and Nature FX as well as far more detailed categories such as: Mechanical sounds and Movements. The libraries often contain very specific sounds, for example: the sound of a 2011 Chevrolet Camaro engine start and idle. These sounds are recorded with a field recorder mixed and then archived in a library. However this is just the beginning, those sounds then can be manipulated and used for other sounds in the sound FX library. That is the beauty of it, natural and unnatural sounds combined, manipulated and mixed to create new sounds.

            In my undergraduate program at Full Sail University, we utilized sound FX libraries to re-create movie trailers with our own sound design. We manipulated the sounds in the libraries to create or own unique sounds for the trailers. One sound FX library we used was Hollywood Edge. Hollywood Edge has provided sound FX for film for years and chances are you have heard sound designed FX from their libraries in some of your favorite films. Here is a link to their website where you can see a video with examples of their sound design as well as purchase theirs libraries and collections.

            Now that I’ve touched on sound FX libraries, I want to talk about field recorders. Field recorders are used to capture sound outside the studio and then loaded from the recorder to your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) or your consol to be mixed. I have been searching for a good field recorder and was pointed in the direction of the Zoom H4N. Here is a photo of the Zoom H4N taken from http://www.kraftmusic.com/catalog/audio/paspeakers/8545.

            The Zoom H4N is a portable, digital 4-track recorder with fixed X/Y stereo condenser microphones. After reading reviews for this product, I have decided that I am going to purchase it and start building my own libraries. After I purchase this recorder I will post with examples of the sound quality and designs I have created using the Zoom H4N. More to come soon.