Where the sounds that create worlds can come from.

In seeking to understand where they come from, Marshall McGee recreates the sounds in Anime and games he loves – sometimes from scratch:

… sometimes by learning from other creators. The building blocks of sounds that Marshall identifies – transient, body and tail – which go into making a “satisfying” sound can be applied to any world of sound, including film and music:

How Cartoon Sounds Are Made For Movies & TV Shows (via Insider):

“Even modern cartoons continue to use the same sound effects from decades ago. How were these legendary sounds made and how have they stood the test of time?” asks the 99% Invisible podcast in Episode 345, Classic Cartoon Sound Effects!:

Nerdwriter looks at the evolving sound design of magic across the Harry Potter movies…

… and Marshall seeks to create his own sounds for magic spells. He applyies the transient-body-tail principle when asking questions about the spells he’s creating sounds for, such as “What does it do?” and “What does it look like?”:

Try It Yourself

Film Riot‘s ten-minute tutorial on layering sounds:

Cinecom proves that to source sounds, you don’t even need to look further than your own face – you can sound design a video game using only your voice:

MAKE. ART. NOW‘s Josh Yeo has some fun with random (and increasingly brutal?) sound effects:

Film School: Sound Design Tricks

Further Listening

From the real world to fantastic galaxies, creating sound for film is storytelling all its own:

Film School: Sound Design

Sound designer Ben Burtt is best known for his innovative work on the Star Wars films – but the long list of films he’s worked on is only nearly as impressive as his creative techniques, which we look at here:

Film School: Ben Burtt