Slashdot Mirror
Free Sound Samples?
TwistedSquare asks: "I like to write small games from time to time, and have often wondered about adding sounds. Searching around on the internet, I can find loads of GPL sound libraries but no sound effects/samples that are both royalty-free and free (as in beer). Can anyone suggest how I could find such effects and does anyone else find it odd the contrast between the amount of GPL software and non-GPL-type items in areas such as sound effects?"
I have sat through hours of DVD extras and have come to the conclusion that sound effects are done from scratch by sound gurus for every single movie. It's almost like professionals ALSO don't have a huge library to draw upon.
Ok, so maybe they don't do it from scratch every time, but they always talk about how they record everyday sounds and modify them, from swooshes for punching to clangs and ching sounds etc. I'm sure for a few dollars you can record your own high-quality sounds. Look at the "inside the matrix" DVD for one guy who describes the sound made by the keanu power-plant sphincter door (the one that keanu is 'flushed' through') as a 'choonk'ing sound comprising a heap of different sounds, everything from a tyre iron hitting an empty tire to a wet fish hitting a bench.
Try a search for 'foley' for a host of groovy techniques to make sounds.
/* affect != effect */ void affect(int *thing,int effect) { *thing += effect; }
(Responding to myself)
In case you need some ideas to get you started:
- Simple musical notes -- m(f) = sin(t/f) where f is the frequency. IIRC, 440hz = A natural below middle C, and you multiply by 2^(1/12) for every half-note higher.
- More realistic notes -- M(f) = (m(f) + c1*m(f*3/2) + c2*m(f*4/3) + c3*m(f*4/2)
... )*k1/(k1+t*k2), where the c's provide harmonics and the k's give a fade out.
- I'm sure a little googling will give even better formulas...
- White noise -- w = random
- Equipment -- w*c1*sin(t/f1) + w*c2*sin(t/f2)
..., where the c's & f's are used to modulate the white noise (because machines typically cycle)
- Rain -- w*w*w
- A waterfall -- c1*w + c2*w*w + c3*w*sin(t/f1+k*rand)
..., where you have 1) a steady roar, 2) some random splashes, 3) random, quasi-periodic fluctuation in flow, etc.
Heck,this could be more fun than writing the game!-- MarkusQ
Ok, so they arent free, but the guy that brought you the greay music for Quake 2 and 3, and also produced the textures and sound effects for the Unreal * games somewhere along the lines, offers discs jam packed full of music, textures, and sound effects... $50 I think they go for, and you can use them for whatever. Fair price if you ask me... and you know the quality of the stuff before hand