Sound effects

[Mr. Guy36]

I knew we'd have to address this eventually...

Obviously, there are a large variety of sound effects written out in the books. The question is, what do we do with them? As I'm somewhat using this project to teach myself audio production, I'm interested in using actual sound effects in some places.

The way I see it is, we have two categories. One is for simple noises that kids could conceivably imitate, simple onomatopoeia, that sort of thing. The other is things that... well... aren't. The first category (in my opinion) is things like "Wham", "Plop", your usual comic book sounds. The other is all the sci-fi noises (TSEWWWWW), animal sounds (TSEEEEEERRRR) and noises of things breaking (DO YOU JUST HATE TRASH CANS?!?!?)

My vote is we use actual sounds for category 2, and our voices for category 1. Note, these are only for things that are directly printed in the text. If the narrator just describes it, we just read the description.

Thoughts?

[Gankhruun]

This is my opinion and simply an opinion only but I find saying onomatopoeia such as "Wham!" and "Plop!" to be a bit on the stupid side. Why say the words when you can just use a sound effect of a body being hit/dropped/thrown at? If you have a field recorder you can probably do those sounds yourself. I did an audio class for a good while too and we created our own sounds, whenver we were and then distorted them to be other sounds or used them as they were.

[AniDragon]

I'd vote making our own sounds, too, otherwise we have to go through a ton of red tape even to use some of the free sound libraries you can get online. Yes, that's right, even though we're not making a profit. My college actually had a sound library we were liscensed to use, and even using that one was a pain in the neck. So yeah, we made our own most of the time, too.

[Mr. Guy36]

freesound.org has a decent collection of sounds that are all licensed under Creative Commons, which is specifically designed to reduce red tape in free projects.
Doing our own foley would be really cool, but some stuff is out of reach, like a wood chipper for the Veelek. (Unless one of you has a wood chipper).

[Gankhruun]

No idea what a wood chipper is. You could substitute the sound for something else that sounds similar. I'd assume a wood chipper is that machine that turns trees into sawdust... you could use a chainsaw sound? xD

[Mr. Guy36]

Most of a chainsaw noise is engine; the chain itself doesn't sound like much. A woodchipper on the other hand is a lot of grinding, destroying sound. They describe the Veelek as grinding things up, so that's what I'm aiming for.

Part of the reason I don't want to use effects for basic onomatopoeia is I don't want to re-edit 1 through 4 AGAIN.

I'm gonna start finding sounds for chapter 5. We don't need much for that one.

[Horsefan1023 (Seal)]

I agree that we do need sound effects--I don't feel like going "BRAAAAAAAAK" when the Veleek shows up. 

But yes, some basic onomatopoeia could be left out, at least for now.  I did feel pretty stupid when I said "SWOOP" ten times, but yeah, re-editing all that would be a pain in the arse.

[Mr. Guy36]

Okay, chapter 5 is almost done (just some last leveling and panning to do), and I have sound effects in place for Darlene's house collapsing, and the Veelek actually going through it. "Plop" is left in when Marco and Ax are running down stairs as mice.
I'll be interested in feedback once I post it. (Tonight if I write enough of my paper)

[Darth Revan]

I think category 1 sounds should be left to the descression of the voice actor, if they feel comfortable enough saying "plop", or if they re-create the souble audibly with their mouth. Though if it takes away from the story, or just sounds weird, that would also fall to the director.

If each narrator has a different take, then it helps identify them against the others.

[Gankhruun]

I don't think I'll ever be comfortable saying category 1 sounds. xD Of course the books were written without audio booking in mind so there are some awkward wording in there (Run! Run! Run! comes into mind) but thankfully I don't have to worry about that 'cause Ax' parts doesn't even have that 'cause he's pretty chill in his mind, haha.

But anyway, I think Revan's on to something with leaving it the the discretions of the voice actor but then again I think the onomatopoeia should sound uniform across all chapters to an extent. It would be a little jarring if there were sound in some chapters and word onomatopoeia in others. It might mean more work but it might help to add a little immersion, ya know? XD These are just my thoughts of course.

[Darth Revan]

With the category 1 sounds, I'm not suggesting people actually use canned sounds, it would still be their voice making the effect. Like instead of saying "Pop", they actually make the sound with their mouth. But again, if the narrator feels weird about it, they shouldn't have to.

With that being said, the only way to make it uniform while keeping everyone comfortable is to just have the C1 sounds spoken.

[Gankhruun]

Hmm, I suppose so. But I'm not gonna be comfortable doing it that's for sure but I'll deal. =P

[Darth Revan]

You're not going to feel comfortable making the noise, or saying the noise?

[Slushie Man]

I'm rather late to the discussion, lol, but I think I prefer the way you suggested in the initial post. After all, when you think about it, these stories are being written as if the characters are either writing them themselves, or telling you about it themselves, and thus all SPLAT, ect would be voiced out exactly as that.

But with that said, Some of the actual sound effects like gunfire or laser blasts, animal sounds, engines turning on, giant deafening explosions, ect would be much easier/more inviting and pleasing on an auditory level for those who download and listen if they were actual sound effects from a free library or something.