Make an Impact Using Sound Effects

First, a quick primer on sound effects. While the actual term itself can mean a number of things, it’s helpful to think of effects (as far as audio is concerned) as sound that is not foley and may come from a variety of other sources such a s studio recordings, field recordings, effects libraries, synthesisers and other electronic sources. Typically, a combination of some or all of these sources are used to create a single impact sound effect that is used to accentuate drama, action and tension on screen and add another (auditory) dimension to your creation. 

So, now that you know know just how useful these effects really are, I hear you ask “how can I get my hands on some?”. To be completely honest, any moderately refined web search ranging from “cinematic impact sound effect” to “free sound effects for video editing” will lead you down a confusing Google rabbit hole, prompting you to check out sound libraries, tutorials, instructional videos, blogs, themed effect packs and so on and so on…

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to simplifying this potentially overwhelming choice but, as in many situations in life, it all comes down to balancing the golden triangle of budget, quality and speed. For example, if all you’re looking for is a good (free) explosion sound effect to add realism and dynamics to that one key action sequence in your movie, it’s unlikely that you’ll want to spend any amount of time watching an in-depth video tutorial on using company X’s latest synthesiser module to layer, blend, deconstruct and resample your audio. Conversely, if you’ve been using a Wilhelm Scream a bit too generously and are getting the feeling that your dramatic battle scene is unintentionally crossing into comedic territory, then it might be worth the time to expand your sonic palette.