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A stock sound effect is a prerecorded
sound effect A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. In m ...
intended to be reused with an entertainment product, as opposed to
creating Creation or The Creation or Creations, may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Creation'' (1922 film), a British silent drama * ''Creation'' (unfinished film), 1931 * ''Creation'' (2009 film), about Charles Darwin Literature * ''Creation ...
a new and unique sound effect. It is intended to work within a sound effect library.


History

As far back as
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
, sound effects have been used in entertainment productions. Sound effects (also known as ''sound FX'', ''SFX'', or simply ''FX'') are used to enhance
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
,
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
,
film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
,
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
,
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
s, and
online media In mass communication, digital media is any communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronic ...
. Sound effects were originally added to productions by creating the sounds needed in real-time. Various devices and props were utilized to approximate the actual sounds, including coconut shells for horse hooves, and a sheet of metal for thunder. With the advent of
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
and specifically
radio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
, the role of sound effects became more important. When cinema went from silent to "
talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...
", sound effects became a large part of this new medium, too.
Audio recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording t ...
technology continued to evolve, making it easier to record and replay sound. As this happened, the more commonly used and harder-to-replicate sound effects were pre-recorded to make them more accessible. Prerecording also allowed the same sound effect to be used many times. Both producers' and listeners' sensibilities began evolving with the technology, and the need for more realistic sound effects or for using the "real" sound increased. Therefore, a more urgent need developed for prerecorded sound effects. Over time, the quality of audio recording and playback increased, as did the demand for a wider variety of highly specific sounds. For example, rather than use a generic gunshot, a producer might request a gunshot from a specific type of gun, shot under precise conditions. Access to "real" sound effects became increasingly important to producers. These collections of prerecorded sound effects, both real and artificial, began to be referred to as stock sound effects and were organized into libraries. As their usage increased, stock sound effects libraries became the valuable assets of
sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...
artists and
production companies A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...
. Some stock sound effects have been reused so many times that they have become easily recognizable and even cliché. Examples of these include the scream of a
red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...
, castle thunder, or the Wilhelm and Howie screams. Many of the original sound effects libraries originated in the mid to late 1950s from film and
television studio A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for ...
s that employed the artists who created them, such as
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
and
Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
.
Audio Fidelity Records Audio Fidelity Records was a record company based in New York City, most active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having produced the first mass-produced American stereophonic long-playing record in November 1957 (although this ...
was one of the first record labels to join in releasing compilations from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, notably Elektra alongside Jac Holzman's released ''Authentic Sound Effects'' in 1964 as a 13 volume series. Over time, independent companies such as ''Sound Ideas'' and ''Hollywood Edge'' became involved, both distributing the major studios' libraries as well as making their own available to the public. The
internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
ushered in a new generation of technology, entertainment media, and sound effects libraries.
Sounddogs Sounddogs.com, Inc. is a commercial online library of sound effects based in Marina Del Rey, California, with offices in Canada, Argentina, and Uruguay. It is the first and largest online sound effects and production music library on the internet ...
became the first to distribute sound effects libraries over the internet and Soundrangers became the first to create an all-new sound effects library for internet-based entertainment. Dozens of other websites now provide stock sounds for
movie A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...
s, video games, and
software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
. Others such as Freesound aim to provide free sound effects under the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
. Over the years, with the evolution of
sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...
technology and new formats, the format used for sound effects libraries also evolved. Sound libraries are now available on many types of media, including
vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...
,
reel-to-reel tape Reel-to-reel audio tape recording, also called open-reel recording, is magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording tape is spooled between reels. To prepare for use, the ''supply reel'' (or ''feed reel'') containing the tape is plac ...
,
cassette tapes Cassette, also known as cassette tape, refers to a small plastic unit containing a length of magnetic tape on two reels. The design was created to replicate the way a reel-to-reel machine works with tape moving from one reel to another while bein ...
,
compact discs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of holding of uncompr ...
,
hard drives A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnet ...
, and via the internet. Sound effects libraries now include more complex, layered, and mixed sounds along with a wider variety of incidental real-world sounds.


Often-used examples

*
Wilhelm scream The Wilhelm scream is an iconic stock sound effect that has been used in many films, TV series, and other media, first originating from the 1951 film '' Distant Drums''. The scream is often used in scenarios when someone is shot, falls from a g ...
— a man screaming, first used in a 1951 Western and used as a
running joke A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...
by sound designers in many films and television shows *Universal stock roar — the second-largest stock sound in '' The Land Unknown''; louder than the
Tarzan yell The Tarzan yell or Tarzan's jungle call is the distinctive, ululating yell of the character Tarzan as portrayed by actor Johnny Weissmuller in the films based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs starting with '' Tarzan the Ape Man' ...
*Sharptooth roar — a stock roar in ''
The Land Before Time ''The Land Before Time'' is a franchise consisting of American animated film, animated Adventure film, adventure Children's film, family films centered around dinosaurs, including a Movie theater, theatrical movie, various Direct-to-video, st ...
'' *Spider Mastermind alert sound — (titled DSSPISIT within Doom's WAD files, also known as Animal, Creature - Large Animal Death Scream) — stock sound effect of an ear-piercing screeching roar, transcribed as "Woo-roooo!", frequently used in television and video games. Belonging in the same
Sound Ideas Sound Ideas Canada Ltd. (also known as Sound Ideas) is a Canadian audio company and the archive of one of the largest commercially available sound effects libraries in the world. It has accumulated the sound effects, which it releases in collect ...
library as the Sharptooth roar, this sound effect was compiled for
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...
by music composer
Bobby Prince Robert Caskin Prince III, known professionally as Bobby Prince, is an American video game composer and sound designer. He has worked as an independent contractor for several gaming companies, most notably id Software and 3D Realms. Some of hi ...
, which would become the alert sound for the game's final boss, the Spider Mastermind, whenever Doomguy enters its line of sight or engages in combat. *Howie scream — (also known as the Howie Long scream or Screams 3; Man, Gut-Wrenching Scream and Fall into Distance) is a frequently used film, television, and video game stock sound effect for a scream. Often compared to the
Wilhelm scream The Wilhelm scream is an iconic stock sound effect that has been used in many films, TV series, and other media, first originating from the 1951 film '' Distant Drums''. The scream is often used in scenarios when someone is shot, falls from a g ...
, its prominence in a number of movies has launched a few nicknames such as Howie Long Scream, in reference to
Howie Long Howard Matthew Moses Long (born January 6, 1960) is an American former professional football defensive end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders. He played college football for ...
's character's death scene in the 1996 film '' Broken Arrow''. It appears to have originated from a fight scene in the 1980 film ''
The Ninth Configuration ''The Ninth Configuration'' (also known as ''Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane'') is a 1980 American psychological horror black comedy film written, produced, and directed by William Peter Blatty, in his directorial debut. It is the second instal ...
''. *TF2 match loss sound - (also known as Crowd, Booing - Indoor: Small Crowd 01) is a stock sound effect for a crowd
booing Booing is an act of publicly showing displeasure for someone or something, such as an entertainer or an athlete, by loudly yelling "Boo!" and sustaining the "oo" sound by holding it out. It may be accompanied by hand gestures such as the thumb ...
, primarily associated with the 2007 video game
Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' (''TF2'') is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation in 2007. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video g ...
when the player's team loses a match, usually following after the Administrator declares "You failed!". *Click Plink — (also known as the Clicker Plinker or Plink, Cartoon - Sour Plink) a common
Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
poking or plucking sound in cartoons *WB's Slide string — a slide string 1/7 short / long / shuttered *
Tarzan yell The Tarzan yell or Tarzan's jungle call is the distinctive, ululating yell of the character Tarzan as portrayed by actor Johnny Weissmuller in the films based on the character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs starting with '' Tarzan the Ape Man' ...
— distinctive,
ululating Ululation (, ), trilling or lele, is a long, wavering, high-pitched vocal sound resembling a Howl (sound), howl with a Trill (music), trilling quality. It is produced by emitting a high pitched loud voice accompanied with a rapid back and forth mov ...
yell of the character
Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...
as portrayed by actor
Johnny Weissmuller Johnny Weissmuller ( ; born Johann Peter Weißmüller, ; June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was a Hungarian-born German American Olympic swimmer, water polo player and actor. He was known for having one of the best competitive-swimming records o ...
in the films based on the character created by
Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...
starting with '' Tarzan the Ape Man'' (
1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...
) * Goofy holler — the cry that the Disney character
Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...
makes when falling or being launched into the air, that can be transcribed as "Yaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" *Universal telephone ring — a ringing telephone, used in the opening credits of ''
The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner, aired on NBC from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in th ...
'' designed by
Ben Burtt Benjamin Burtt Jr. (born July 12, 1948) is an American sound designer, film director, film editor, screenwriter, and voice actor. As a sound designer, his credits include the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' film series, '' Invasion of the ...
*
Red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...
calls — the piercing scream of the red-tailed hawk is widely used for birds of prey, especially
bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...
s, as well as shots of nature, including deserts and mountains *The Dolphin Chirp Stock Sound Effect — debuted in the 1960s film "Flipper" and is ubiquitous, now being heard in hundreds of media. It is also used as a reference to the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Sailor Mouth" due to SpongeBob using it out of context. *
Common loon The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family (biology), family of birds. Reproduction, Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purpli ...
calls — the wailing call of the loon is widely used in film and television to evoke wilderness and suspense * Castle thunder — a loud
thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...
clap during a rainstorm, originally recorded for the 1931
Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...
film ''
Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...
'' *Diddy laugh — (also known as Two Children Giggling or Two Young Kids Giggle) a sound of two
child A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...
ren giggling acquired by The Hollywood Edge on August 13, 1990, originally recorded in 1978 for the 1990
TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is part of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, which is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The compan ...
film '' Air America'' and colloquially named for its use in the 1997 video game ''
Diddy Kong Racing ''Diddy Kong Racing'' is a 1997 kart racing game developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64. The game revolves around Diddy Kong and his friends' attempt to defeat the intergalactic antagonist, a wizard pig named Wizpig, through win ...
''.


See also

* *


References


External links

* * * * {{Citation , title=The Land Before Time Sharptooth Sound Effects, url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3l58YD1M4U, language=en, access-date=2023-06-26 Sound effects Film and video technology Film and video terminology