Sound Effects Preference

Ok, so maybe I like to be original, maybe it'll drag the whole performance of Jedied down a notch, but I feel it really adds something to the production.

I like to record my own...
Sound Effects.

Love them or hate them, they're an essential part of Audio Drama production.

I personally love to run around with my Dictaphone and pick up as many different and original noises as possible, wibble them about abit, and stick 'em in.

It might not be the case with all the 'classic' sound effects, Lightsabers, Blasters, etcetera, but one tries to get the right effect for the job.

Sometimes, some of the SFX don't sound 'perfect', but I find that it's more original, and it adds a slight touch of professionalism.

So, guys, what's your stance on SFX?

 

I totally agree with you. I recommend trying to create your own sound effects whenever possible.

I think the problem with most people, and you already mentioned it, is the fact that most people are accustomed to the classic sounds of Star Wars. Ones that come to mind are: Vader's breathing, buzzing of the lightsabers, cha-cha's from the Tie Fighters, etc.

I know right now for our audio parody, I had EXTREME difficulties acquiring a Battle Droid effect. I tried out the SciFi Deluxe plugin for Cool Edit, and of course it sounded neat and all, but still not a Battle Droid in my opinion. But a line had to be recorded so I used it anyway. //shrug//

I know for my next audio drama (it is Star Wars, just not a parody next time), I will more than likely use MANY original sounds for it minus a classic like lightsabers. I plan to incorporate more diverse blaster sounds for the next one because I think SW's are repetitive in some cases.

Sorry for the long response. I just agree with ya and thought I'd share my ideas.

 

I agree with you as well.

Since you're playing in an established universe, for most projects it's important to establish a familiar feeling of the universe. So when I do a Star Wars audio drama, I try to use as many of the classic sounds as possible from the movies, but I would also like to record my own sound effects if I had the means available to do so.

If you record your own sfx, you have more control over the sound. For example, using boot walking sound from a LucasArts game might sound slightly different than what the intended sound is meant to be. The LucasArts sound could be boots walking on concrete, when what you really want is boots walking on some sort of plastic material. In that case you should record your own sound.

It's those subtle differences that really add to an audio drama's overall presentation.

 

Well, i'm all for original effects. In fact, we have a bunch of them. Why? Because not all of what we needed was available already. And if it did exist, not all of it sounded that great.

We had a lot of fun too recording effects. It's funny to look back on some of hte things we were doing.

Keith

 

Yeah, I know what you mean by footsteps. That has always been a problem for me because I don't have any portability from my studio. Guess I'll have to break down and get a small DAT, minidisc, or something.

 

Even if I was doing a non-STAR WARS audio drama, I would probably still go with ready-made sound effects. It's just easier for me, as I have no way of recording my own sounds correctly, and with all the countless effects CDs there are out there, I could probably find anything and everything I would need.

Now, for my SW audio drama, it was kind of tough because some effects I couldn't find on-line like all the ones here at force.net. So it came down to actually recording a bunch of them from all three films, as well as some from the radio dramas, the DARK EMPIRE audio dramatization, and even REBEL MISSION TO ORD MANTELL.

 

Just some of the original sound effects we had to do...

Fire Extinguisher
Walking/Running in the forest
Scraping of bark
Brushing through bushes
Tree branches snapping
Clothes rustling
Feet scampering during a struggle
Food being crunched on

Then there were a lot of effects we combined existing effects to make one sound effect from like...

a new gun being unsheathed and turned on
ship approach and landing
Vornskr (a variety of sounds mixed together)
group walking in the desert
r2d2
some existing SW music was remixed
falling down a small incline in the woods
branch being used as a swatter

Of course these are just a few...many more examples in the audio drama where I tried to use some existing SW effects, but mostly tried to create new ones because I didn't want the effects to be overly obvious that they are right from the movies but not totally loose the sense of SW either. I guess there's a fine line of being too overt and then not overt at all.

Keith