This week we are going to outer space to start off with via the A Sound Effect blog where Asbjoern has produced an extended interview with sound designers Ruslan Nesteruk and Gleb Bondarenko, who have spent countless hours researching, recording and experimenting to discover – for their game audio work, and for their recent sci-fi weapon SFX library, Lethal Energies. They look at the approach, consider all the elements of the weapon and how they might work to be able to design how they would sound.

You can enhance your weapons with the recordings of fire, air and electricity bursts.
A simple and safe way to record electricity is to record a buzzing TRS cable (that sound of plugging your guitar into an amplifier). Processed with distortion, saturation, pitch and phase shifters the resulting sound can be impressive. Additionally, these recordings are fun to mash in a granular sampler. Another sound source can be the actual electricity. Our recent Lethal Energies sound library includes the recordings of a short-circuited 5000 V transformer.

For the mechanical sounds, depending on a weapon size, almost everything that clicks or rattles is useful. Small things like plastic toys, battery cases opened and closed, mouse clicks, kitchenware, etc. 

For punch sounds, you can simply record yourself hitting various objects such as a mattress or pillow, kicking doors and banging on different surfaces. The results may also be used for any bullet impacts.

Next they take a detailed look at how to create synthetic sounds recommending good candidates to choose for a sci-fi sound design like Wavetable and FM synthesizers (such as NI Massive/Absynth, Xfer Serum, and Waves Codex). 

As part of the article they provided this breakdown of the individual sound components that went into designing a futuristic weapon sound effect. Watch this video and see the different layers...

• 0:01 bleeping layer
• 0:04 charging layer
• 0:07 main gunshot (made in Massive + overdrive and eq on it)
• 0:10 same gunshot with a bit of explosion mixed in
• 0:13 mechanical layer – simple trigger
• 0:15 bass (punch) layer – made by vocoding the main gunshot with an explosion sound
• 0:18 punch – a kick drum
• 0:21 another bass layer – derivative of the first one
• 0:24 all layers together
• 0:30 all layers + explosion added to a gunshot

This is just a small set of excerpts of this enormous article from A Sound Effect, check it out.

Navi Retlav Studio Release 'Impulse Exploration'

Impulse Exploration from Navi Retlav Studio is a collection of experimental convolution samples which they describe as....

could easily, if unchecked, contradict the laws of physics and nature. These impulses were recorded and deeply-processed to create reverb tails with unique characteristics as well as creative effects that are not accessible or easily simulated in any other way. Prepare yourself for an immersive experience of sonic trickery applied throughout the included material. We dive right into additive synthesis, to generate chord and tonal effects, then we throw away the rulebook for pitch-shifting and time-stretching, then we go even further with glitch-like effects; finally, we manipulated the timbres in combination with custom rhythmic-noise generation tools to create the extraterrestrial atmospheres that will let you turn any material into a completely unique experience and in the hands of the professionals, these deep impulses can be the new edge for mixing and sound design.

They have designed these samples to be user-friendly, with no unwanted resonances. They want you to be able to easily create Hollywood-style cinematic-effects, futuristic-glitches and ambience goodness. Just drag, drop and feel the air shake.

NRS Impulse Exploration Details

• 64 impulse response samples
• 48khz / 24bit wav files
• Compatible with any convolution-reverb software
• WAV or ReFill version (for Propellerhead Reason 8.3+ with 64 Combinator & RV7000mk2 patches)
• Wav format $19
• ReFill Format $25

AURA - Stereo Surround & Ambisonics Ambiences From A Sound Effect

The AURA sound effects library is made up of ambiences from an extensive array of locations around the UK.

It contains ambiences such as shopping centres, supermarkets, cafes, car parks, cemeteries, forests, gyms, highway traffic, bars, pubs, libraries, city backstreets, parks, London underground trains, over ground trains (interior and exterior), hallways, neighbourhoods, iconic British train stations, busy junctions, high streets, swimming pools, hustling offices and several windy environments.

AURA is made up of 80 files and comes in three formats – Stereo, 5.0 and AMBISONICS, to increase versatility even further (5.0 version also includes stereo version).

It is great to see another library released in the Ambisonics format as this enables you to extract the files into a wide range of surround formats using the free SoundField SurroundZone 2 plug-in and because the Ambisonics format containing height information as well, it future proofs your investment because as you work in the various immersive formats like Dolby Atmos or Auro 3D you will be able to decode the Ambisonics track out into the surround format you are working in.

The Ambisonics version of AURA is $93, but if you don't need the Ambisonics then you can get the stereo version for just under $50.