Nature SFX library?

[dropblacksky]

I'm working on a project that will require primarily nature sounds and am looking for a lowcost library as my base upon which to build the design.

I'm not in a position to drop 1000's on one of the big libraries, so I'm looking for a smaller, more specific set related to nature (winds, animals, birds, foliage...etc). I'll be supplementing it with some individually purchased and created sounds, but I'm hoping to find a good basic set to start with for only a few hundred bucks at the most.

Any ideas?

[starcrash13]

Forget commercial libraries. Get yourself a small, inexpensive portable recorder and record it yourself. It is so much more satisfying to cut your own stuff and it almost always fits better in the track.

Nature is just outside your door (or maybe a bus ride away).

[dropblacksky]

I totally agree...and I will definitely be taking my zoom H2 out into the world.... unfortunately, the project requires quick turnaround and some more exotic environments than the Bay Area can offer...so I can't rely totally on my own recordings...

[ggegan]

Originally Posted by starcrash13

Forget commercial libraries. Get yourself a small, inexpensive portable recorder and record it yourself. It is so much more satisfying to cut your own stuff and it almost always fits better in the track.

Nature is just outside your door (or maybe a bus ride away).

I totally agree. If you use a commercial library, you'll sound just like hundreds of others out there and there will be nothing that you are offering that can't be offered by anyone else. An editor's most precious assets are a unique high quality proprietary library and the imagination to put it to use in a creative way.

One of my big complaints as a mixer is how the widespread usage of commercial libraries has contributed to a lot of mediocre, vanilla flavored, uninspiring sound tracks. They're definitely no fun to mix.

[dropblacksky]

This project pretty much just fell into my lap and has a very short turn around time.

Philosophically, I prefer to use as few library samples as I have to and always process them in ways to make them not sound canned...I never use stock samples or presets when doing music either....so again, I agree.

I'll certainly do as many personal recordings to blend in as I can...but it's simply not logistically possible to cover this particular project. I hope to create my own voice through blending and manipulation...

I always appreciate the philosophical advice...but some practical advice would be helpful in this case as well.

[ggegan]

Well, one way to go is Sounddogs.com You can audition the FX online and buy them individually. I know there are other online libraries as well, but I have worked with the guys who started the company on a couple of features in the past and they had pretty decent FX in their library. I haven't personally used the online library, but it's worth looking into. If you check out the testimonials, it's a who's who of Hollywood sound supervisors, many are friends of mine whose opinions I trust.

I know the Audibon society has songbird CDs for sale and also information on where the specific birds live (you wouldn't want to antagonize any birders out there by putting a Western songbird on the East Coast). I think you can get them on their website.

Good luck

[danijel]

i've used sound ideas wild world of animals, and it's not exactly audiophile quality. most of the recordings sound like taken from old tapes (LP@7-8kHz), and often they will have strong BGs under the FX you need. having said that, it contains, as they put it, 'hard-to-capture audio', so it is probably worthy for specific projects. i'd go for online library, as garry suggested.

[seanmccoy]

You might also check out soundsnap.com. There's quite a bit of useable stuff there, it's free, and not from libraries. It does require a bit of auditioning to sort out the garbage, but the site works very efficiently.

[Berolzheimer]

I'll second Sounddogs.com. Since you only buy the individual tracks you want it should be cost effective, and they have a number of different
libraries online there. Rob has also recorded a lot of stuff himself and he's a great fx recordist.

[dsteinwedel]

I'll give a 3rd to Sound Dogs. You should be able to find a lot of exotic BG material in there. I've always had good CS experience with them too. The only problem you might run into is low-fi auditioning, which on BGs can be a bit hit and miss (no idea how much hiss is really in that recording vs what's compression artifact).

Dave

[philper]

Originally Posted by dropblacksky

I totally agree...and I will definitely be taking my zoom H2 out into the world.... unfortunately, the project requires quick turnaround and some more exotic environments than the Bay Area can offer...so I can't rely totally on my own recordings...

The H2 is kind of noisy and lofi for what you are talking about doing. It's more technically challenging than that to get good nature recordings.

Philip Perkins

[philper]

Originally Posted by dsteinwedel

I'll give a 3rd to Sound Dogs. You should be able to find a lot of exotic BG material in there. I've always had good CS experience with them too. The only problem you might run into is low-fi auditioning, which on BGs can be a bit hit and miss (no idea how much hiss is really in that recording vs what's compression artifact).

Dave

The problem w/ Sound Dogs is that for subtle nature sounds their auditioning system is too lo fi to tell what is really happening in the tracks. Also, many of the tracks are too short to be of a lot of use, like only a few seconds. Check Sonomic as well--same kind of online deal as Sound Dogs--some good variations on the basics. All these library sounds are generally good generic sounds, but they are intentionally chosen to BE generic, to work as BGs in films. We found that for nature sounds that had to occupy the foreground in various projects, especially non-film type jobs like installations, we needed custom recorded sounds that were then heavily edited, treated and mixed w/ other elements.

Philip Perkins

[minister]

Sound Ideas Just Birds & Animals Sound Effects

Sound Ideas Just Birds & Animals II Sound Effects

[rhumphries]

Originally Posted by seanmccoy

You might also check out soundsnap.com. There's quite a bit of useable stuff there, it's free, and not from libraries. It does require a bit of auditioning to sort out the garbage, but the site works very efficiently.

I've used Soundsnap on occasion. I run across sounds on there that sound awfully familiar-- some of the cartoon sound effects in particular. I know that they say that they are all legally obtained sounds, but I'm not so sure I believe them-- They also make it hard to flag a sound as a potential copyright violation. This is what they ask of you:

If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any user submission or other content infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to Soundsnap website with the following information in writing:
(i) A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

(ii) Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;

(iii) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;

(iv) Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail; (v) A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

(vi) A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. Soundsnap's designated representative to receive notifications of claimed infringement is Anastasios Frantzolas. Please post any notices to:

Anastasios Frantzolas OJOO LIMITED
Bouboulinas 11,
1st floor,
1060 Nicosia
Cyprus

That seems a little suspicious to me and doesn't instill any confidence that I can use the sounds and not get sued. Does anyone else get the same feeling?

-Richard