Sound Libraries for students

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greymog

Well-known member
How would a teacher at a university, in charge of first year audiovisual students, manage some kind of structure where students would go about building their own sound and music libraries?

My girlfriend is a teacher at a university here, and she is aiming at getting kids to build their own libraries, acquiring them throughout the year, as the program in that uni has skimped on audio for a while. She's trying to change that, I'm trying to help her, was wondering if anyone had done this at a university before, built their own library, even if it took ages, what would be the structure upon which they would build it? Any examples existing? We know there ultimately is no right or wrong answer, but are just in it for the extra guidance.

Some of the research she's doing involves Daniel deshays, Michel chion , along those lines...

Any help appreciated DVX, she and I will use this account.
 
Sound libraries for FX are easy and fun... whenever a student is out on a production, or even just traveling around, a simple hand-held recorder can be a great tool for gathering sound beds, sounds of passing vehicles, sounds of natural outdoors, sounds of machinery... whatever is going on at the time. These can be cataloged and stored as FX libraries that are - and this is the best part - completely license-free. There are also pre-recorded FX libraries out there (for everything from no/low-budget to big-budget).

For music, there are several things to do. If there are students who are musically inclined, they can create their own. Again, this is license-free if they create their own music. There are also plenty of buyout-license tracks out there (buy the library, or purchase per-track, and a perpetual usage license comes with it). There's a sticky on the Audio main page that has links to several great resources.
 
There is two ways I read this question. The first is how do you get the sounds in the first place. And like Alex said the best way is to go out and record them.

The second read is how do you maintain the library. That can be anything from hand written notes to a filemaker dB, to iTunes to a dedicated sound library application like SoundMiner.

I have done all of the above. Soundminer is great but it's not cheap. I do recommend a dedicated db. I have a filemaker dB that I built before I sank the cash into soundminer.

It will do the basics like cataloging, searching, playing, and copying. I did use it to build/ maintain a library for a small film school I was teaching at. I was toying with making it more of an application, but?...

Anyway IF your on a Mac (I used Applescript a lot to do the file functions) it will work. I do have a compiled version but it hasn't had much debuging. If you have FM you can run the uncompelled version. If she's interested I can send her either. She may have to be a beta tester for the compiled version though. I don't have any way to test it on Windows but I doubt highly that any of the Applescript calls translate (as in not a chance in hell).

I was planning on porting it to a SQL db that would run on both platforms but that could be a long way off.

Back to sounds. If you can get some interesting stuff from your area you should be able to trade with other sound editors. This is fairly common among editors and your in an area that most of us probably don't have a lot of sounds from.
 
Hi Guys thanks for the replies, I'm honored to see them, Noiz thanks for chiming in, your posts have always been most helpful.

My girl and I have been into sound for a while, the question is less technical really, as this is something we want to teach students. Basically more of if I want to build my sound library, and my music, i.e. I want to make those choices over time, how do I listen?

I know it sounds broad, but I do want to start and maintain a discussion. I will post her research links once the talk gets a bit more specific, right now I'm the 'dvx' connection for her class, so helping out, but it interests me a great deal.

So in accumulating the library, hopefully with a personal or stylistic stamp earned through experience, the question is more 'what is the train of thought' rather than the technical way to get there.

Thanks again all

Tarek & Christelle
 
Not really sure about what your question is. The "train of thought" is generally "I need Honda civic coverage for this piece (doors, gears, driving, by's, wipers, etc.)" so I go out and spend a half day or so recording the car. Bring the recordings back, slice and dice. Name them and catalog them with descriptions and add them to the library.

Often you grab them and use them and then go back and do the cataloging etc. It just depends on the deadline.

There are folks who spend all their time creating FX and little r no time editing to picture (Ric Viers is one who may visit this list from time to time) so they are probably working from a "I want a library of XYZ" because Hollywood Edge (or whoever) has said that they would market that library.

I do a little of that just because. For instance I have a library of cities. Places I spent a few days or weeks recording the sounds of. You always need backgrounds and the more the better. And if the kit is handy I always record thunder and rain storms.
 
I am sorry it doesn't sound too clear, but yeah, going out and recording is definitely the first step, this is how we'll get them to start listening, and observe all the little nuances that you miss in the moment when you review.

I guess we'll be doing a lot of go record a city, and then with a big library of FX try and recreate the ambience you caught naturally, over and over. We've got city, mountains, beaches and caverns. We'll be doing a lot of that.

I will have more examples online of this work, things that come up during the process etc. But I take it for now the main advice is get out there and record.

I should have an example of a situation I apologize, I will have one soon. We're doing a lot of reading, I'd like to add to the main question in a couple of days and keep this alive.

Thanks again Noiz. I appreciate the reply :)

T
 
greymog said:
I am sorry it doesn't sound too clear, but yeah, going out and recording is definitely the first step, this is how we'll get them to start listening, and observe all the little nuances that you miss in the moment when you review.

I guess we'll be doing a lot of go record a city, and then with a big library of FX try and recreate the ambience you caught naturally, over and over. We've got city, mountains, beaches and caverns. We'll be doing a lot of that.
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This can be a very fun learning project for the students. Not knowing what resources the school has available, or what the students are able to access, I'd say the best thing to do is have them keep field recorders on them at all times for a couple of weeks... maybe a month. Building an FX library isn't just cities and beaches and streams. Have them really listen to the world around them... everything from the daily and mundane at home (kitchen appliances, sounds of someone doing household chores or cooking, laundry) to sounds of libraries, class hallways, restaurants, etc. The more diverse the library, the better off they'll be, so focus not just on ambient beds but also on close-up sounds of movements and machines.

After that, perhaps a lesson on Foley and created FX... there are some great videos on Foley around Vimeo. Once they've got a taste of how that works, have them collect random objects and create their own FX recordings (it isn't Foley unless it is recorded/performed to picture playback) of these sounds as well. Sandpaper, rocks, bricks, shoes, clothing, belts and other leather items, chains, pots and pans, rattles... the sky's the limit, and it's a great lesson in creating a soundscape.
 
Building a sound library from scratch starts with digging for hours and days and weeks on the 'net for free sound FX. Many of them are crap, some are okay, and there are a few gems here and there; it's worth the search. And, as Noiz mentioned, start properly organizing them and building a data base from the start; your personal library will grow at an amazing rate and organization could become a huge chore if you don't stay on top of it.

Purchasing a decent general library isn't too expensive and will provide you with the basics.

As has also been mentioned several times - record your own. Although there are lots of cheap recorders out there, using a decent mic and at least a prosumer quality recorder makes a big difference. Besides the usual stuff - streets, parks, malls and the like - construction sites, dumps and factories are interesting places to collect sounds.

You also begin recording sounds for specific projects that go into your library. Make sure you have a very detailed cue sheet so you don't forget anything. Always record LOTS more than you think you need, then double up on it. Oh, become friendly with your local law enforcement; not only do you avoid being arrested, if you become good friends you can get to training facilities to record weapons training and the like.

Buying more specific libraries is the next step. I've done this on a project-by-project basis and usually involves things that are beyond the budget to custom record. A project comes in that needs some serious weapons sounds, buy a weapons library, etc.

Doing your own Foley work also provides lots of material for your sound FX library. Don't erase/delete anything except dead air.

It won't take long to fill up a 500 gig drive.
 
In my first year of filmschool, we got some recorders (nagra, tape recorders, because of the "analoge headroom so we didn't "pwoo pwoo" it up from start)
and we were sent to the streets of Brussels to record sounds... (being sent to the street of Brussels is always something..."mysterious", even without recorder).

Back again we had to make a sound-edit-story with all the sounds we had. Recording was just one day. Editing also.
 
Hi guys. We've read over your responses and are really liking hearing about different exercises. These are kids who don't have access to a recorder each.

dre I love that exercise. If we could share our different ways of how we collected libraries it would make situations arise.

Are there any exercises you can suggest to raise consciousness of sound around them through sound and building a library?

I know when I used to make animations (cel) I would start with sound, cut that, and derive my timing and keyframe locations using audio. That opened up so much for me in the terms of audio alone, despite all the work I've done with music and instruments before. This was totally new.

I appreciate all, and thanks for contributing guys. Hope to keep this going throughout the teaching period. :)

T & C
 
greymog said:
Hi guys. We've read over your responses and are really liking hearing about different exercises. These are kids who don't have access to a recorder each.
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How many students are we talking about? Perhaps the school, if they're finally willing to invest a little, could spring for a smaller number of basic recorders (DR-40 is a great starting place, but be sure to get a good furry windscreen for each). Pair the students off, assign them some areas around the region (travel time shouldn't be too demanding) and have them come back with sounds from that location. Move from there to small-group sessions creating FX. This is a class, so it can be more effective to have the library pooled together. Each student ends up with the compiled library when all is said and done, and the university has the library as well.

greymog said:
Are there any exercises you can suggest to raise consciousness of sound around them through sound and building a library?
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Check your PMs.
 
A good exercise for sound post is to get a clip of something that moves, anything from a door close to some mechanical contraption, and break it down for sound.

What are the parts you need to get to make it sound "real". On a door you have hinge noise, maybe a creek, maybe a grind? The wind of the door closing (depending on speed). The hit of the latch on the strike plate and the mechanics of the door latch. The hit of the door in the frame. If there is a glass pane maybe some glass rattle. If the latch is not tight the door may rattle after it hits. If someone is closing the door you have the working and release of the door handle and the latch.

Once people start breaking things down they will find lots of interesting sounds in the world because they won't hear the "door close" but a series of a bunch of sounds that make up that door close.
 
Alex: Checked it, we love you man. Christelle is writing some exercises she's done to share back with you guys I'll post them soon :)

Noiz: This is the right track. Identification I guess. It's like what does my ear actually hear, versus how my brain fills in the gaps. I have the same with drawing, and blown highlights or dark shadows come to mind (those moments where it's all white or all black but you know what's there so your brain fills in the gap).

I will share a few up here, and let you guys know how things work with the class. If it's ok with the mods (alex) maybe when students are done they can put their stuff here for critique?

You guys are awesome thx
 
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