In order to record sound effects for a personal or professional sound effect library one needs two things: sound itself and an object with which to record sound. The former should not be a problem finding as sound permeates existence. The later is easily available in a variety of formats and forms, though a basic handheld digital unit with a T shaped stereo microphone is the simplest and most efficient. Personally I’ve tried all sorts of pricey gear and misc throughout my sonic adventures only to discover that a solid $150 to $400 hand held digital recorder no larger than an old-school cassette tape box suffices to create sounds good enough for placement in any film, tv, and media project. In addition, these units run on battery power and the recorded files can generally be dragged onto your desktop via USB.
Be aware, however, that any device you use must record up to at least a 48k sample rate. Always record at the highest bit and sample rate possible because video uses audio with a 48k sample rate, not 44.1k. Any 44.1k samples you have will have to be upconverted to be used in a video production and this process always runs the risk of audio damage. Because of these potential problems with lower quality files, 48k sound effects are generally valued more by video editors and thus command a higher sale price should you choose to sell your sounds online.
There are two basic types of sound effects that you will be recording: “hits” and “ambiences.” Hits are single short sonic events such as a slap, gun-shot, or dog bark. Ambiences are longer background elements such as ocean waves, restaurant environments, or playground noises. In creating a library it is most valuable to have many of both types as they are both used in sound design. You will find that ambiences are the easiest to obtain as you merely have to go to a new location such as a supermarket or post office and just stand there and record. Hits need a little more forethought and preparation such as collecting the items you’d like to record or stalking the neighbor’s dog for that perfect dog bark.
The basics of recording a sound effect is literally as simple as hitting the record button. However, there are several tips to keep in mind in order to get the best recordings possible. First, make sure that you record as “hot” as possible, meaning with the loudest signal that does not clip or overload the microphone. If you notice a red LED light blinking when recording it means that your incoming signal is too hot and you will want to pull back your mic a bit from the source. You want the loudest signal without distortion. Related to this, it would also be wise to purchase a 10dB pad that fits between your mic and digital recorder will enable you to record sounds with high decibel levels, such as jet engines or weapons. The pad lowers the incoming signal by 10dB and can be found online for $20.
Second, try to keep background noises at a minimum. However, don’t be too obsessive over a “pure” recording because these background sounds can often afford surprising results such as an unexpected car honk, bird call or human noise. Also, much of the background noise can be filtered out when editing your recordings to create the sound effect product. The point here is to keep unwanted noise to a minimum but not so much that you might lose the opportunity for some unique recordings and slow yourself down being overly strict about the “perfect” recording environment.
Third, wind will ruin any recording so protect the mic with a windscreen or simply keep your recorder out of the wind by using physical barriers such as trees, walls, or even your jacket. Sometimes wind noise can be cut out during editing with a high pass filter and cutting frequencies below 200-500 khz but for the most part wind will destroy your recording efforts. Finally, your efforts can also be compromised if you have inadvertently recorded music in the background, such as the music played in a restaurant. This music is copyrighted and if it appears in your ambience recordings you will be violating copyright law and such recordings are essentially unusable.
These tips are simple and meant to point an aspiring sound effect artist in the right direction toward the creation of a sound effect library for use or for sale online. Future articles will discuss the process of editing, categorizing, and marketing these raw recordings.