[Review + Demo] Rabbit Ears Audio – Hydrophonic

In the past year, Rabbit Ears Audio released Hydrophonic, a new sound effects library loaded with a wide variety of underwater recordings. I just finished a new video where I worked a lot with this library, so I’d like to give you my opinions about it.

As Michael Raphael (owner of REA) explains in this fantastic article on Sonic Terrain, he spent a lot of time to develop this library. I think it really worth it. He got a lot of great recordings with a high value for anyone needing high quality underwater sound effects (116 files included. 24-Bit/96kHz WAV). Apart of bubbles and water movements, Michael also experimented with lots of different objects and environments, which means unique and cool sources.

Working with the library was very cool. I had to process a lot of the sounds in many different ways. I was able to get a lot of different elements from those recordings. I applied heavy pitch changes to get low drones, or processed with filters and doppler to get whooshes and movement, etc. The quality of the sounds allows you to get a lot of great things from them. Pretty flexible.

Here’s a sound design example. The intro sequence was entirely created using sounds from the library.

[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/19386406[/vimeo]

Audio only:

[soundcloud width=”100%” height=”81″ params=”show_comments=false&auto_play=false” url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/9879597″]

Apart of the common underwater movements, I also found this library very interesting for creating all kind of drones, atmospheres and things like that. There are several sounds that I also find very suitable for spell sound effects and that kind of stuff. For example, here’s a cool drone I made for the Jellyfish.

[soundcloud width=”100%” height=”81″ params=”show_comments=true&auto_play=false” url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/9890414″]

If you’re needing high quality underwater sound effects, you I’ll love this library. If you’re looking for unique organic sources for your designs, you’ll love this library. If you need to create deep and flexible drones and atmospheres, you’ll love this library. I think its uses are infinite and its price is more than affordable. So if you like it, please visit Rabbit Ears Audio, where you can find all the information.