A wonderful resource for budding and veteran sound designers is the list of ways to make certain sounds that Epic Sound has been hosting for many years. Recently it got an update which is worth checking out. Epic Sound was nice enough to send us over a nice Q & A about the relaunch:
David Filskov’s Guide To Sound Effects Relaunched
Sound designer David Filskov’s Guide To Sound Effects has just been given a major overhaul, with a cleaner look, new search options and backend improvements for quicker updates.
Here’s what David himself has to say about it:
Q: First of all, what is The Guide To Sound Effects?
DF: It’s a list – a big one! – of interesting ways of making sound effects. It has lots of ideas, ranging from how to make the always-handy sound of alien egg sacks, swinging swords, rat shrieks and scary weapons – and many, many more.
The ideas come from sound designers from all over the world – and as far as I’m aware, it’s the biggest list of sound design ideas available anywhere online.
Q: How did The Guide to Sound Effects get started?
DF: I’ve worked as a sound designer since the late ’90s, and I’ve always been on the lookout for new ways of creating sounds. Back then there weren’t many hands-on guides available to sound designers, so I started to compile my own list of the best / most interesting approaches to making new sounds.
At the time, I was part of a mailing list called VGM which a lot of brilliant sound designers subscribed to – and whenever I saw an interesting idea there, I made sure to jot it down. I also added my own ways of making sounds – and gradually, the list grew to what it is today.
At first, it was just meant for personal use, but I figured that these ideas could perhaps inspire other sound designers too, so I decided to share it.
Q: Why did you decide to relaunch it?
DF: Back when I put it online, I set it up using a simple table layout – and it worked, but it was a mess to update and maintain.
So when we recently decided to redesign the Epic Sound page, we wanted to make sure we grew the SFX guide into something that was a lot easier to manage and maintain too. With the new design, this has become much better, meaning that new ideas can be added a lot quicker than before.
And importantly, it’s now also possible for users to search for specific sound ideas and get an overview of all the sound idea headlines. So overall, I think it’s a great improvement. Of course, if there are any ideas for further improvements, I’m all ears.
Q: What’s going to happen next with the guide?
DF: I’m really thankful for the support, interest and input from the visitors over the years, and I’ll continue to build and grow the list. One of the best bits about running the list is when we get new ideas sent in from the community – so if you’ve got any ideas to share, please do submit them!
You can send them in via the contact form on the SFX guide.
That way we can make it an even more useful – and, hopefully, inspiring – resource for current and upcoming sound designers around the world.
I love that guide – not just for all the “finished” ideas it provides, but also for the general inspiration. The sound you are looking for could come from anything, anywhere – and even the most mundane or unlikely objects could yield something totally unexpected and useful/interesting. An entirely new way of thinking, for someone new to SFX.
And now it’s searchable! Way to go, David!