It has been a little while since the last SFX Independence post. So many new sfx libraries have come to our attention during that time that this roundup comes in two parts, designed to make it more digestible. Part 2 will follow later in the week.
Our aim is to provide readers information about the best and most innovative independent sound effects library available, so if you’d like your recently-released library to be considered for inclusion in the next roundup, all you need to do is fill in the Independent SFX Library submission form.
Tim Nielsen – Yellowstone
The Yellowstone SFX Library comprises 120 stereo tracks, recorded at 96/24 by supervising sound editor and sound designer Tim Nielsen. This 8GB pack of sounds from the Yellowstone geothermal volcano in Wyoming, USA, includes giant geysers, bubbling mud pots, fumaroles, hot springs, water streams and more.
Recorded using a SoundDevices 722, using Schoeps MS rig (CMC6 XT extended frequency bodies with an MK41/MK8 Capsule setup) and a Telinga Stereo Parabolic microphone.
Released: August 2014
Price: $50.00
Tim Nielsen on IMDB
Sonic Salute
SoundMorph – Sinematic
SoundMorph’s Sinematic is a new collection of cinematic sounds designed to provide flexibility, whether you are designing trailers, composing or songwriting. Featuring over 500 sounds recorded at 24bit/96khz, all files come embedded with Soundminer & Basehead metadata.
Sinematic is a creative collaboration between SoundMorph, Real Cardinal (BioWare, Comaduster) and Frederic Devanlay (Future Weapons, Solar Sky).
Released: July 2014
Price: $99.00
SoundMorph webpage
Sinematic product page
The Recordist – RubberZ PlastiX HD Pro
The latest library from The Recordist is over 850 sounds made from rubber and plastic objects, and is the result of many years and dozens of experimental recording sessions.
Recorded exclusively with the extended frequency response Sennheiser MKH-8040 (mono and stereo) microphone at 24-Bit 96Khz, Frank Bry describes it as “a synthetic symphony of sound insanity”. So whether cartoon animation, video games, TV or film, these quirky and wacky sounds are suitable for when you need something a bit more “far out”.
Released: July 2014
Price: $79.00
RubberZ PlastiX HD product page
The Recordist webpage
Chuck Russom FX – Guns: Volume 1
Guns: Volume 1 is An extensive multi-channel library of gun recordings, featuring 12 weapons firiing live rounds in an outdoor environment. Each Handgun, Semi Auto Rifle, and Bolt Action Rifle includes multiple single shots (10 or more). Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles, and Machine guns inlcude multiple single shots, bursts, and long bursts (generally 20 rounds or more). Every gun in the library features sounds from 10-16 microphone positions, covering close, medium, and distant perspectives.
As a collection of multichannel recordings the objective is to provide different microhpone perspectives that allow for maxiumum flexibiltiy when designing bespoke gun sounds.
Released: August 2014
Price: $175.00
Guns: Volume 1 product page
Chuck Russom FX webpage
Dynamic Interference – DynInt005: Middle East Ambiences
Dynamic Interference present a collection of urban stereo ambiences recorded in Cairo, (Egypt) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates). The recordings give a flavour of living and active cities, and feature Calls to Prayer playing in the distance while people go about their daily lives.
Ranging from 21 seconds to nearly 11 minutes in length, these 50+ files offer a total of 90 minutes of Middle Eastern ambiences
Released: August 2014
Price: $70.00
Middle Eastern Ambiences product page
Dynamic Interference webpage
Soundopolis – Nature’s Fury: Rain, Wind and Thunder
Nature’s Fury is a collection of over 5 hours of rain, wind, and thunder – recorded over 5 years in many locations. The Rain, Wind, and Thunder packs may be purchased as individual libraries, however the bundle saves you $5 and comes with three very different 4-minute long 5.1 surround designed thunderstorms.
Released: August 2014
Price: $1350.00 for the bundle or £25.00, $15.00 and $100.00 for Rain, Wind and Thunder, respectively.
Nature’s Fury: Rain, Wind and Thunder product page
Soundopolis webpage
The Recordist – Thunderstorm II HD Professional SFX
Continuing the meteorological theme – and a second appearance from The Recordist – is a library of over 90+ sound effects ranging from powerful lightning strikes less than 1000 feet away to deep, booming thunder claps over 20 miles way.
Thunderstorm III HD Professional Sounds Effects contains 118 24-Bit 96kHz Broadcast WAV files and is available now.
For those of you interested in a little backstory about how the library came about and some of the techniques used to create it, check out the first part of Frank Bry’s guest article in Designing Sound.
Released: August 2014
Price: $175.00
Thunderstorm III HD Pro SFX product page
The Recordist webpage
Boom Library – Prairies
Presenting the sixth new nature library by sound recording Gordon Hempton – The Sound Tracker®
Prairies details the multi-faceted plains of the North American natural landscape. As well as a range of wind recordings (gusting, blustering, breezing and roaring), the Prairies library pack is full of indigenous animal sounds, including songbirds insects, coyotes and prairie-dogs.
The library provides a rich portrayal of the Great Plains, offering over 5 hours and 5GB of high-quality unaltered recordings. Prairies is also available from Gordon Hempton’s Quiet Planet website.
Released: September 2014
Price: €149.00
Prairies product page on BOOM library
Prairies product page on Quiet Planet
BOOM Library
Gordon Hempton
SoundBits – SciFi Computer Voices 1.0
SciFi Computer Voices 1.0 is a lexicon of single computer- and scifi related words, designed in 4 different typical robotic voices, so that you can build your own phrases.
Containing nouns, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, exclamations, numbers and syllables, SciFi Computer Voices 1.0 features over (4 x ) 1100 different words in a 6.2 GB pack.
Ideal for (mobile-)game-, multimedia-, music- or movie-projects, all sounds are delivered as dry 24Bit, 96kHz stereo wav-files.
Released: September 2014
Price: Currently €69.00 (usual price €99.00)
SciFi Computer Voices 1.0 product page
SoundBits webpage
Dynamic Interference – DynInt006: Stately Museums
When was the last time you heard wolves howling amidst the sound of a city’s hum? Stately Museums provides that just opportunity, with recordings of the National Zoo in Washington DC – a space devoted to nature in the center of an urban sprawl.
Dynamic Interference step up to the oche once again this month, with a pack featuring ambiences from the Museum of Natural History, Museum of American History, Museum of Air and Space, Museum of the American Indian, The Freer Gallery, the subterranean exhibits of the Sackler Gallery and the Museum of African Art, the Administrative Ripley Center, and the aforementioned National Zoo.
Released: September 2014
Price: $100.00
Lol. The exchange rate between pounds and dollars is terrible!
I think that was supposed to be $135.00.