The powerful background sounds at DVinfo.net

Georg Liigand · January 15th, 2006, 10:43 AM

Hello,

In most movie trailers, especially scary films, they use such powerful soughing bass sound in the background which is especially awesome via sub-woofer. It adds a lot to the environment in my opinion. Now I would like to ask that how could I achieve such effect myself? Are there any sound effects available for this purpose or is it something else?

Some examples of what I mean:

Mission Impossible 3 - all the time in the background till about half of the trailer.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramo...impossibleiii/

X-MEN 3 - the especially powerful background music in the beginning and later a very powerful sound effect when a big door is opened. By the way, what effects are used to make a soundtrack having so big bass? It's not just the bass increase, because that usually just screws the things up.
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/x3/

Thanks a lot!

Richard Alvarez · January 15th, 2006, 11:40 AM

Hunt around for Free sound effects sights, then look for appropriate sounds. You could of course, try and create your own as well.

Google "sound effects" and "Sound FX"

Michael Carter · January 16th, 2006, 02:16 PM

There are few things in professional life as fun as creating your own ambient "noises" like you describe, if you have the right tools. You need some sort of computer multi-track setup (such as pro tools, or any of the dozens of shareware items -- being able to see the waveforms and cut/paste is very useful). (On an OS9 bootable Mac, you can't beat ProTools Free). Additionally, you need plug-ins or off-board rack gear for ambience/reverb, pitch transposing (or a "harmonizer"), EQ (and preferably some sort of tight-Q filter) and compression/gating (and many shareware programs have a lot of these as well). It's really like "painting with sound"... record some various things and obtain some samples like car doors slamming, drum hits, explosions. Shift their pitch down, stretch their time signature, play with compression, reverb, etc. It's pretty addictive.

In my experience, audio compression seems to be the least understood of the above... look up some explanations on the web of things like threshold and ratio in compression, and play with some settings.

You could also look around for the home-studio enthusiast willing to experiment and collaborate; there are lots of folks (with huge message boards like this) who are every bit as gear crazy & creativity obsessed as the DV Net posters (and I mean that as a compliment!) Good luck.

Georg Liigand · January 16th, 2006, 03:10 PM

This is a lot of good advice! Thank you very much.

I will have a look at this and see if I can create something. Do you know any software for Windows which could do it? Is Adobe Audition okay for this purpose?

Thanks.

Michael Carter · January 16th, 2006, 04:39 PM

I'm on a Mac, not sure what's out there for windows. (Since OSX became established, there seems to be a lot of plug-in architecture built-in... surprised how much shareware has quality multi-track & effects available.)

You could check pro tools web site and see if there's a "free" version for windows. Or if you want to drop a few bucks, there's a lot of CD-quality stuff on eBay from Digi and other majors. Basically project studio software with various levels of breakout boxes, which will have anything from RCA to XLR connectors, digital ports, SMPTE time code, etc., via USB, Firewire, or a PCI host card. A lot of the Event products are well thought of (Gina, Darla, and Layla come to mind) and affordable.

Beware, this stuff's as addictive as any other "electronics for creativity" (computers, cameras, etc)... but lots of video folks own some amount of mics, small mixers, etc. Being able to do a higher level of mixing and tweaking could be handy.

Glenn Chan · January 16th, 2006, 06:08 PM

Adobe Audition should really work for you. Don't bother with Pro Tools Free for Windows, it is a joke and discontinued a few years back. It crashes (literally) every other command. Real Pro Tools is a little different, but it's not anything you can't do in Audition.

Steve House · January 17th, 2006, 07:14 AM

You might take a look at Steinberg Nuendo. It's rapidly gaining a following in pro-audio, film and video sound editing and sound design circles, winning a number of converts from Pro-Tools. More than a bit pricey but definitely a contender at the very top of the heap.

Georg Liigand · January 17th, 2006, 10:13 AM

Thanks for the replies! I will see what I can do. I'm afraid that high-quality results of such sounds need a lot of audio knowledge (pretty much like the music composers, DJs etc have in front of those large mixers) though.

Jonathan Stanley · January 23rd, 2006, 05:15 PM

Ha! You are in luck...I have been trying to find the same sound for my trailer, and literally have sat around for months trying all different methods. I am not very good at sound, so I prefer just to buy ready-made effects, but I couldnt figure out what to type in. I tried "whoosh, swish, rumble, mumble, hiss, grumble, etc." and never could find a ready made effect.

Then finally I discovered what the industry calls those sounds:

DRONES

once I did a search on sounddogs.com for drone I got exactly what I was looking for.

Hope that helps.

Jstan

January 15th, 2006, 10:43 AM	#1
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	The powerful background sounds Hello, In most movie trailers, especially scary films, they use such powerful soughing bass sound in the background which is especially awesome via sub-woofer. It adds a lot to the environment in my opinion. Now I would like to ask that how could I achieve such effect myself? Are there any sound effects available for this purpose or is it something else? Some examples of what I mean: Mission Impossible 3 - all the time in the background till about half of the trailer. http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramo...impossibleiii/ X-MEN 3 - the especially powerful background music in the beginning and later a very powerful sound effect when a big door is opened. By the way, what effects are used to make a soundtrack having so big bass? It's not just the bass increase, because that usually just screws the things up. http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/x3/ Thanks a lot!

January 17th, 2006, 07:14 AM	#7
Steve House Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,742	You might take a look at Steinberg Nuendo. It's rapidly gaining a following in pro-audio, film and video sound editing and sound design circles, winning a number of converts from Pro-Tools. More than a bit pricey but definitely a contender at the very top of the heap. __________________ Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams!

January 15th, 2006, 11:40 AM	#2
Richard Alvarez Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: San Mateo, CA Posts: 3,840	Hunt around for Free sound effects sights, then look for appropriate sounds. You could of course, try and create your own as well. Google "sound effects" and "Sound FX"

January 16th, 2006, 02:16 PM	#3
Michael Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 108	There are few things in professional life as fun as creating your own ambient "noises" like you describe, if you have the right tools. You need some sort of computer multi-track setup (such as pro tools, or any of the dozens of shareware items -- being able to see the waveforms and cut/paste is very useful). (On an OS9 bootable Mac, you can't beat ProTools Free). Additionally, you need plug-ins or off-board rack gear for ambience/reverb, pitch transposing (or a "harmonizer"), EQ (and preferably some sort of tight-Q filter) and compression/gating (and many shareware programs have a lot of these as well). It's really like "painting with sound"... record some various things and obtain some samples like car doors slamming, drum hits, explosions. Shift their pitch down, stretch their time signature, play with compression, reverb, etc. It's pretty addictive. In my experience, audio compression seems to be the least understood of the above... look up some explanations on the web of things like threshold and ratio in compression, and play with some settings. You could also look around for the home-studio enthusiast willing to experiment and collaborate; there are lots of folks (with huge message boards like this) who are every bit as gear crazy & creativity obsessed as the DV Net posters (and I mean that as a compliment!) Good luck.

January 16th, 2006, 03:10 PM	#4
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	This is a lot of good advice! Thank you very much. I will have a look at this and see if I can create something. Do you know any software for Windows which could do it? Is Adobe Audition okay for this purpose? Thanks.

January 16th, 2006, 04:39 PM	#5
Michael Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 108	I'm on a Mac, not sure what's out there for windows. (Since OSX became established, there seems to be a lot of plug-in architecture built-in... surprised how much shareware has quality multi-track & effects available.) You could check pro tools web site and see if there's a "free" version for windows. Or if you want to drop a few bucks, there's a lot of CD-quality stuff on eBay from Digi and other majors. Basically project studio software with various levels of breakout boxes, which will have anything from RCA to XLR connectors, digital ports, SMPTE time code, etc., via USB, Firewire, or a PCI host card. A lot of the Event products are well thought of (Gina, Darla, and Layla come to mind) and affordable. Beware, this stuff's as addictive as any other "electronics for creativity" (computers, cameras, etc)... but lots of video folks own some amount of mics, small mixers, etc. Being able to do a higher level of mixing and tweaking could be handy.

January 16th, 2006, 06:08 PM	#6
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	Adobe Audition should really work for you. Don't bother with Pro Tools Free for Windows, it is a joke and discontinued a few years back. It crashes (literally) every other command. Real Pro Tools is a little different, but it's not anything you can't do in Audition.

January 17th, 2006, 10:13 AM	#8
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	Thanks for the replies! I will see what I can do. I'm afraid that high-quality results of such sounds need a lot of audio knowledge (pretty much like the music composers, DJs etc have in front of those large mixers) though.

January 23rd, 2006, 05:15 PM	#9
Jonathan Stanley Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Boone, NC Posts: 115	Ha! You are in luck...I have been trying to find the same sound for my trailer, and literally have sat around for months trying all different methods. I am not very good at sound, so I prefer just to buy ready-made effects, but I couldnt figure out what to type in. I tried "whoosh, swish, rumble, mumble, hiss, grumble, etc." and never could find a ready made effect. Then finally I discovered what the industry calls those sounds: DRONES once I did a search on sounddogs.com for drone I got exactly what I was looking for. Hope that helps. Jstan