Hi! I've decided to get into game music and sfx, and i was referred to this forum by a friend of mine. Anyhow, i just finished my first to sfx, and put them into counter-strike source and made a little video. These were my first attempts at making sound effects ever, so if anyone has any idea how i can improve them or has any advice it would really help me out a ton! I made them using ableton live 6's built in FM. The BGM is some crappy song i threw together in ableton also with a beat that i made in the FM. Im new to midi/digital music also, but i have been playing and writing music on 'real' instruments for a few years. Here's the link to the video, plz let me know how i can improve: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3473601712785672266 Thanks!!! -kat

I like the AK47 sound better than the handgun's. However, both of the sound effects seem a bit flat to me. They almost sound like firecrackers, and perhaps that's the problem: I think I'm expecting a louder bang, or perhaps a sharper one. The lack of a clear echo might be throwing me off as well, but that seems like a difficult addition since it would depend upon the environment. The core of the sound effects seems okay, though. Good job!

While it might have been just the video, the sounds seemed a bit delayed. As if there's too much time to get to the 'shot' part of the sound.

I agree with Ezbez, the sounds doesn't match up with the visuals on screen. Kat, take a look at the sample and make sure there isn't any empty space at the start of the audio clip. If there is, this will make the sound not sync up correctly.

Also, the next stage is to learn how to add effects to make the gun fire apply to different situations. For example, a gun shot in the small room sounds much different than a gun shot in an open field. Some of this is sound design, some of it is audio programming but all of it is important for you to fully understand if you're going to be a professional sound designer.

Also, looking at the clip, there is much more you can do sound design for. Why not branch out and see if you can make the entire clip come alive with sound.

Finally, make sure you're not using any copyrighted material. Best of luck!

>>"I agree with Ezbez, the sounds doesn't match up with the visuals on screen. Kat, take a look at the sample and make sure there isn't any empty space at the start of the audio clip. If there is, this will make the sound not sync up correctly."

I see what you mean! But it's alright because it syncs up in the actual game. It has to do with youtube I think. Either that or Windows Movie Maker or Fraps, which are the two programs that I used to make the video.

>>"Also, the next stage is to learn how to add effects to make the gun fire apply to different situations. For example, a gun shot in the small room sounds much different than a gun shot in an open field. Some of this is sound design, some of it is audio programming but all of it is important for you to fully understand if you're going to be a professional sound designer."

Interesting! I thought this had more to do with the coding of the actual game than the sound effects. I do realize that it is crucial to use multiple variants of my sound effects, so that it isn't the exact same gunshot sound or walking sound, etc. over and over. However, for this video, i merely edited the game by replacing two of the files. I have only been doing this for about 3 days now, so i don't have nearly enough sound effects yet.

>>"Also, looking at the clip, there is much more you can do sound design for. Why not branch out and see if you can make the entire clip come alive with sound.

Finally, make sure you're not using any copyrighted material. Best of luck!"

I do plan on making many more sound effects, and eventual getting involved in a project as a sound designer or as a composer. However, these effects were just made in the process of very basic learning and experimentation with Ableton Live 6. I really don't completely understand the fine points of frequency modulation at this point, but I'm going to start to work on it when I get out of college next week and my workload is much lighter.

As far as copyrighted material, are you referring to the game I put the sound effects in? I only wanted to record a video within that game because it lets people view my sound effects in ~some sort~ of context. Those clips were not made for that game and I am not planning on distributing them ever. They were just for purely educational purposes.

One more thing. As far as sound effect creation goes, what is the best program to use? I would be willing to spend ~some~ money on it at this point. But thinking ahead it would be nice to know what you all would recommend. As i mentioned before, i am currently using Ableton Live's built in Operator FM, as well as additional sound effects such as delay/chorus/etc.

Thanks for the feedback, i'll do my best to improve these effects!

I was referring to the SFX themselves, not the video. I was asking if you've taken these gun sounds from a published collection and are claiming it is your own material. If so, it may not be a problem but you should check with the license agreement first.

For example, many of the SFX collections I own allow you to use their materials to sync up to video or video game animations. What they do not allow is simply reselling them to someone to use in any way they wish. This is copyright infringement and could lead to many problems.

To help avoid this, I make the buyer of my sound design agree to a statement that all SFX given would be used only in that product and that the actual sound files will be embedded and encrypted (or some other way of protection) so that the end user (or consumer of the video game) doesn't have access to the original SFX files. This helps protect me and makes clear that if the files are not protected, then the person to blame is the developer.

I also produce my own SFX by recording sounds and editing them myself. This is a much easier method legally- since I own all of the rights to the materials and can do with them what I please.

Programs to create SFX with? I use three:

ProTools 6 HD (at work)
SoundForge Pro (at home)
Sonar Producer 6 (at home)

I also use a plethora of plugins and filters to help modify and create unique sounds.

>>"I was referring to the SFX themselves, not the video. I was asking if you've taken these gun sounds from a published collection and are claiming it is your own material. If so, it may not be a problem but you should check with the license agreement first."

Oh I see what you mean now.

No, I created the actual firing sound effects for the Ak47 rifle and the p228 pistol on my own using a frequency modulator. The other sounds effects such as the reloading effect and the footstep/walking SFX were made by Valve Software, which i credited in the end of my video.