Where to find sound clips for free?

[bigboss97]

Just watched episode 13, it was impressive and "scary". I think the shocking effect only works with the perfect sound. In this case, how do I know where to find the right sound for a car hitting a human body? Is there a kind of open library or I've to do experiments myself? (of course not with the car) :-)

[ryanconnolly]

Just watched episode 13, it was impressive and "scary". I think the shocking effect only works with the perfect sound. In this case, how do I know where to find the right sound for a car hitting a human body? Is there a kind of open library or I've to do experiments myself? (of course not with the car) :-)

I use Final Cut studio, so I have Soundtrack Pro (which comes with a ton of sound fx)

For this one I used a body hit sound, a metal door closing and also did my own Foley of a stick hitting a pillow. All of these elements mixed together is what made that sound effect work.

[nextgenxbox]

Yeah the one thing to remember, as Ryan mentioned, about sound effects is you shouldn't simply use one effect. Don't just say "I need an effect of a foot stepping on something squishy" and pick the 1st result that comes up in the sound library for "squish" ... take several, mix them together... and heck, get your own sound of your own foot stepping into something squishy.

[tokenuser]

Interesting topic for a show ... the homemade foley artist.
As it was pointed out, sound makes or breaks an effect.

FWIW the "crunch" of a body hit or bone being mangled is often achieved using celery (snapping the stalks) or a head of lettuce (ripping a head of lettuce in half).

As for sound libraries, there was a fascinating story on NPR several months ago about a guy in China who was trying to build the worlds largest sound library ... if I find a link, I'll put it back in this post.

[littlematty]

The following sites have been good for me to find sound effects in a pinch,

http://www.freesound.org/
http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ (now have freeplay effects). Thanks Ryan for originally suggesting this one to me.

Hope it helps.

[bestcomputer001]

Freesound is really good...thanks man!