Comments on: Chuck Russom Special: Gun Sound Design

By: Arnold Veeman

Arnold Veeman — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 14:25:52 +0000

For a musical about the siege of the city of Groningen in 1672 I was commissioned to write the songs and underscores. But I somehow got also involved in the sound design.

That meant a lot of cannon and gun sounds + impacts. I tried real recordings, recordings of others but it all just didn’t cut it!

So I ended up to recreate the sounds with a synthesizer. It ended up fantastically!! I could stack the different modeled sounds: the extreme low boom, the fuse (when necessary), the igniting gun powder and the different colliding iron parts of the gun/cannon etcetera.

The main benefit of using this technique is that I could easily build in variations too by gently but effectively using a LFO modifier. And I could do this on ALL the different sounds!

I modeled the sounds with taking in consideration the exact chemical process in mind of a fast burning mixture of chemicals (sulfur, charcoal and potassic nitrate). Recreating the sound as precise as possible and thus NOT relying on samples and field recordings.

So the variation was enormous. No shot or impact sounded the same. The shots sound extremely brutal in the big theater AND to top it of: all these sounds where invoked by a midi keyboard to my laptop! Making it very interactive too. The audience loved it and shared their experience with me a lot of times saying things like: man, this was just like watching a great action movie instead of a musical!

When I saw your post it reminded me of this and I thought of sharing this too.

Thank you that you shared your awesome insights to all of us too!!

By: Sharp shooter | Post Production Module Log

Sharp shooter | Post Production Module Log — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 20:55:02 +0000

[…] simple, I would still need to take extra care to do it right. While I was working on this, I read this article and was pleased to see my approach had a couple of things in common with an experienced sound […]

By: Julian

Julian — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 22:56:28 +0000

anyone know any materials that i can use to create gun sounds, without actually recording guns?

firecrackers, balloons anything else?

cheers

By: hypermagic_mountain

hypermagic_mountain — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:04:50 +0000

What a great gun sound. I know this is two years old, but I wonder:
The body layer seems to be an actual recording, but where do you get the mech sound from, and how to get a great punch like that? Is it from a cpmpletely different sound? The mech sound actually sounds as if a gun is shot without a bullet. Well it’s not possible…any suggestions? I’m a bloody beginner.

By: Rifle Trifle | George Hufnagl: Music and Sound

Rifle Trifle | George Hufnagl: Music and Sound — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 15:46:06 +0000

[…] the sound files themselves, I followed the advise within the Chuck Russom article and divided the sounds into 3 […]

By: Ashton Morris

Ashton Morris — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:20:39 +0000

Great article. I am going to be doing my first field recording with guns soon and this will help a lot. I really like how the Mech layer sounds too.

By: Indiana Jones and the Palace of Nostalgia « A live wire from the middle aisle

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 07:39:32 +0000

[…] where Indy’s luck never runs out, his pistol creates a powerful signature sound (see here and here), and his hat is never lost. His hope for the latest chapter in the series was to feel, for a […]

By: Zimon

Zimon — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:07:08 +0000

Excellent advice.

Thanks for sharing it with us all.

By: Hogo

Hogo — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:56:24 +0000

Clear and simple, really great tips.
thanks for sharing.

By: Tim Altman

Tim Altman — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:47:58 +0000

Awesome, thanks! Very generous of you to share your experience.